- In this video we talk about the difference between a Homeowner
Association, a Residents Association, and a Community Association – how they're
governed, what they are and what are the key differences. That's starting right now.
- Welcome to Homebuyer's School,
brought to you by Brookfield Residential.
- Hi everyone, Karl here and welcome to another Homebuyer's School video, a
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So today I'm joined by Heather Cockerline – community experienced lead with
Brookfield Residential. The question we'll get answers today is what is the
difference between a Homeowner Association, a Resident's Association and
a Community Association? So that—those three terms have always been
interchanged, I'm sure people using them incorrectly or in different contexts
but can you set the record straight, what exactly is an HOA, an RA, and a CA?
- Sure. So an HOA is a homeowners association, an RA is a
resident association and those two terms we use interchangeably. So that is
basically the hub of the community, it's where people we create a space for
people to get to know their neighbours and then there's a component to a
homeowner's association or residents association that takes care of the
community and beautifying it. So that's those two things. The third one is a CA
or a community association and that is very different but they're integral part
of what we do as part of a community. So they are more the civic voice. They're
the ones that will advocate for the community to have another stop sign
installed or those types of things so it's the civic voice.
- So are you talking about things like—like playground speed—
- Exactly.
—safety, like those kinds of things?
- Exactly. So if—when
you get into your community then maybe a school develops then all of
a sudden you're noticing you know, it's too quick through there—we need to
slow the speed for the safety of the children, that's something that the
community association would approach the city about, so that is the civic voice.
- Okay. So how I see it as a homeowners association or a resident
association again more about the area, but I think the community association is
more about what like the process or how would that kind of fit?
- Well the HOA's and the RA's
are the ones that are bringing people together within the
community whereas the CA like we just said, they would look to things like
slowing speed within the community, speak with city officials on other things that
need to happen within the community because that's not the responsibility of
the homeowners association or the residents association.
- And is it the same thing but like I guess, organized sports?
- Yeah they would do things like that, so
Timbit's soccer, those types of things would happen through a community
association and in fact as a developer we have to allot certain parcels of land
within the community to facilitate an area for community associations to have
a place to do just that. So soccer or baseball or whatever that is.
- And I know we talked about
homeowner association fees which you can see in the video above and in the
description below, but do you also have to pay a community association fee?
- There are community association fees, it's a very nominal fee for a year and they
differ. So my suggestion would be that people do get involved, make sure that
you find out who your community association is, get involved, participate,
volunteer, and they do amazing things for our communities.
- Is it a requirement though for you to join a community association —like it is a
requirement if you live in a community to you know be part of them—
well at least pay the fee of the homeowners association, but is it the
same thing for a community association?
- It's not, it's a voluntary membership.
- Okay. Anything else you want to add in terms of the
difference between HOA, RA, and CA?
- I just think that they both serve an amazing purpose within
the community so it would be great if we could support both sides of that.
Perfect. So the question of the day is - are you part of a homeowner's
association and a community association and what has your experience been? Let
us know in the comments section below, and remember if you enjoyed this video or
found it helpful, hit the thumbs up button, remember to comment and
remember to subscribe. Thank you and we'll catch you next time.
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