The CASA Alliance Newsletter - CASA Talk
The CASA Alliance 'In Their Words' study uncovered striking recurring patterns across 2,050 online narratives, revealing the core issues that define today’s community living experience. By stripping away the noise, we've identified actionable insights that help boards and managers navigate common pitfalls and emerging trends.
In Their Words - An In-depth Study of over 2,000 Online Narratives & The Recurring Patterns Underneath Them
The In Their Words study started out to be a quick review of what homeowners were saying online. Over 400 hours later I didn't just have an opinion, I had a documented study, that once you stripped out emotions, showed patterns that repeated over and over across the United States.
The study documents over 2000 online narratives from dissatisfied and satisfied owners, board members, managers, and even tenants.
Why tenants? Because if they are not already an issue within your community, you just might find that this is one of the next horizons as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have removed tenant/investor caps and more developers are building investor / owner communities.
Will investor blocks soon be governing deed restricted communities across the nation?
When a governance system exists, neighbors bond over the lobby renovation they helped select, and when it doesn't, they bond over what's broken.
I am so excited to introduce Sharon Beason.
Like many board members, Sharon joined her co-op board as president after experiencing the effects of being unseen, unheard, and watching chaos from the bleachers.
Upon joining, she soon found that it was overwhelming, but it also began to open her up to a new body of work where serving on your board could be much more than reading the board package, dodging bullets, and hiding from Gladys at the mailbox.
Within eighteen months, Sharon used her business acumen to implement a system of governance that has completely turned her co-op board around and has made board service an enjoyable experience.
Sharon now helps other board members to do the same.
The Noise Is Getting Louder
Happy Anniversary to The CASA Alliance!
I made this recording a year ago when I founded the CASA Alliance. Since then, so many things have come to light within HOA management. Some of it very dark and disheartening. But what has been encouraging is hearing ethical management companies and vendors begin to speak openly about things they once discussed only behind closed doors.
Earned credits, insurance commission sharing, pay-to-play arrangements, hidden costs, and client capture through banking and insurance are getting harder to keep quiet. Slowly, people are finding their collective voice, and board members are beginning to ask questions that go beyond the monthly management fee.
Now, more than ever, it is important to look beneath the narrative. Technology does not bring true transparency when those pulling the strings are conducting business outside of it. Disclosure does not mean understanding, and it certainly does not mean that an arrangement is ethical.
Large national organizations are driven by the people who spend the most money. It is important to look for consumer protection under what is being advertised as consumer protection and industry elevation. Understand who stands before you and what is to gain underneath the narrative.
The System Underneath
Landscape, maintenance, pool service, special projects, insurance. Could there be an added 10% or more built into your contracts? CASA has several private contracts documenting these arrangements in its possession. This is real.
The vendor pays the management company, but where does the vendor get the money? Consider what an added 10% across your community’s vendor spending could cost your membership each month, each year, and over ten years. Then consider what that money could have done for your reserves. Do you know the red flags?
These arrangements may be protected by NDAs and never appear in your association’s books. Your financial report shows what you paid the vendor. It may tell you nothing about what the vendor paid your management company. It is undiscoverable in your annual audit.
Insurance commission sharing deserves the same attention. Some will tell you there is no harm to the client and all that is necessary is disclosure. But your board still needs to understand who is being paid, how much, and whether that financial relationship is influencing the recommendation. Before signing a broker-of-record appointment, find out who you are appointing and whose interests they represent. Paid Recording of CAI 2026 Law Seminar
The same questions apply to special-assessment loans and emergency work. Yes, some communities have gotten themselves into trouble through deferred maintenance. Yes, the work may be necessary. That does not mean the price, financing, or company being recommended should go unquestioned. How much of your loan will be captured through administrative fees, vertical integration, pay-to-play arrangements? What benefit is being provided to management through the financial institution? How much will your owners pay through convenience fees? When owners can't pay, how much revenue will management and the surrounding ecosystem benefit? Do you know how to look for these things, or will you simply be blindsided?
Technology is also connecting multifamily housing and homeownership in ways board members need to understand. RealPage owns HomeWiseDocs and ClickPay, putting it inside HOA resale transactions and homeowner payments. The insurance referral agreement CASA reviewed adds another layer: RealPage’s LeasingDesk pays referral fees for eligible completed insurance quotes, while HomeWiseDocs supplies association financial, property, ownership, and insurance information to populate the applications.
There is money being paid and data moving through these relationships. This is the same RealPage that faced Justice Department antitrust litigation over allegations that its rental-pricing software helped competing landlords coordinate rents. Board members need to look beyond the convenience and ask who is getting paid, what information is being provided, and how it will be used. Read more
Resale document and transfer fees have also been challenged in court, with industry companies successfully defending those charges. But winning a lawsuit does not answer whether a fee provides value to the homeowner paying it. The industry has substantial resources and a financial interest in protecting this income source. Look at your management contract. Are the actual fees written in, or does it simply say “market value”? If it does, ask yourself why. Is a seller or buyer ordering the fresh catch of the day? Who sets that “market value,” and what keeps those fees from climbing after another successful court defense?
Start Asking Questions
Your board does not have to solve the entire industry, but it is important to understand what is happening within your own community. As a starting point ask executive management to answer these questions in writing:
Who owns your company, and which related companies do business with our association?
What money or other benefits do you receive from our banking, insurance, vendors, loans, and fees charged to our homeowners?
Are we free to choose our own bank, broker, and vendors? If not, why not? What will you charge us if we do?
Can we see the agreements behind these arrangements?
Compare the answers with your contracts and financial records. If you receive a vague explanation about “partnerships” or “no additional cost,” keep asking. No additional cost compared to what? Who is paying whom, and where does that money come from?
Bigger Questions
Why is the Australian Government pursuing many of these same structures under criminal proceedings, while the US and industry professionals call them "just business" or disclosure issues? Charges Filed Insurance Investigation
Why is British Columbia shutting down disreputable insurance practices through legislation, while our own industry supports these actions, including advertising various programs and holding industry events where it is openly discussed? Read More
Education Is Only the Beginning
There are many professional management companies, managers, and vendors who care deeply about their clients. They should be concerned about these practices too. How does an honest company compete when its proposal shows the actual cost while another company’s compensation is buried elsewhere?
There is a hard reality that many are having to face right now. You may love your management company. They may provide excellent service. They may also be extracting from your community in ways you never expected while calling you "family."
There was a time when much of this industry operated differently. Many of the names and faces still look familiar, but the ownership and financial interests behind them may have changed. Board members need to know who they are doing business with and where their homeowners’ money is going.
This is why CASA is calling for national standards, consumer protection, and an antitrust investigation into HOA management. Homeowners cannot be expected to uncover these arrangements one community and one lawsuit at a time.
If you are concerned, download the FREE CASA Alliance Advocacy Tool Kit. It contains sample letters, links to legislators, journalists, and enforcement agencies, and a report outlining the tactics with links to supporting documentation.
Even if you are not ready to act, please educate yourself. Read, follow the links, and protect your community.
PODCASTS WHERE INDUSTRY EXPERTS ARE STEPPING UP AND TALKING ABOUT WHAT'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN
The CASA Talk Newsletter is dedicated to the many professional management companies, managers, business partners, board members, and homeowners who are dedicated to elevating community association management through education true transparency, and advocating for American homeowners.
The CASA Alliance spends a considerable amount of time researching and providing free resources. If you would like to assist the efforts of the CASA Alliance, please consider a donation.
Austin, TX, USA 760 717 4160 CASAA.Talk@gmail.com
CASAAlliance.org
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