Condominiums/HOAs

What is CAI?

Community Associations Institute (CAI) is a national, nonprofit 501(c)(6) association created in 1973 to educate and represent America's 205,000 residential condominium, cooperative and homeowner associations and related professionals and service providers. The Institute is dedicated to fostering vibrant, responsive, competent community associations that promote harmony, community and responsible leadership.

Who does CAI represent?

CAI is a multidisciplinary alliance serving all stakeholders in community associations. CAI members include condominium and homeowner associations, cooperatives and association-governed planned communities of all sizes and architectural types; individual homeowners; community association managers and management firms; public officials; and lawyers, accountants, engineers, reserve specialists, builder/ developers and other providers of professional services and products for community associations. CAI has more than 16,500 members in 58 chapters throughout the U.S. and in several foreign countries. The national office and its 42-person staff are in Alexandria, Virginia.

Community Associations Institute

and

Independent Multi-Family Communications Council

  Condominium/HOA owners and residents require quality communications products and services including video, DBS, High Speed Internet connections and telephony.

Community managers and attorneys require delivery of those products and services with quality and professionalism, pursuant to prudent contractual provisions that benefit the entire community. 

These objectives can be accomplished when condominium/HOA Boards of Directors contract with Private Communications Operators (PCOs) rather than the dominant franchised cable company. 

PCOs can develop a mutually beneficial relationship with condominium/HOA owners and managers to provide communications that increase user satisfaction, enhance the value of the community and provide managers with a partner for communications purposes.  

CAI and IMCC represent the condominium/HOA and PCO interests, respectively.  We can work together to educate both memberships to develop mutually beneficial relationships. 

Each relationship between a PCO and condominium/HOA owners requires cooperation for mutual benefit.  That mutuality of interest should produce a contract that is balanced and built upon realistic analyses of financial factors, product needs and service requirements. Each community is unique and will require a business agreement reflecting the particular situation.  It is our common opportunity to address these matters expeditiously and prudently, using the experience and model documents of our colleagues that have developed successful relationships in the past.

CAI-IMCC Cooperation Agreement

 At CAI’s 50^th National Education Conference, May 2-5, 2001, CAI and IMCC agreed to work cooperatively to educate our members about communications issues and opportunities including the following: 

·        The types, sizes, governance structure and demographics of condominiums and HOAs.

·        The availability of PCOs including their size, years of service, financial stability and technological knowledge.

·        The product and service options required by owners/residents and the PCO ability to provide what they desire.

·        The technology and infrastructure operations available from PCOs to deliver each type of service requested by condominium / HOA owners/residents.

·        The economic and financial factors influencing both users and providers.

·        The contractual provisions preferred and required by both users and providers that assure mutuality of benefit.