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Archived Newsletters

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.

February 2022
eNews Monthly
Awards
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2022 CAI Awards Gala

Each year, the Greater Houston Chapter of the Community Associations Institute (CAI) holds its Annual Gala to honor exceptional companies and individuals in the community management industry. CAI is a national organization dedicated to building better communities through information, education, and resources to the homeowner volunteers who govern communities and the professionals who support them. 

Nominations for award recipients are open to all Houston Chapter CAI members and reviewed by a panel of esteemed Executive Directors from CAI chapters around the country.

  This year, our nominations included:

  • Lindsay Scholfield for Newcomer Community Manager of the Year
  • Kim CowartJennifer Northington, Laura Tate, and Deniece Reyes for Manager of the Year
  • Artavia for Community of the Year Category 1 (1-1499 units)
  • Cinco Ranch Residential Association IIfor Community of the Year Category III (3000+ units)
  • Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council for Community of the Year Category III (3000+ units)
  • Artavia - Chicken $H*T Roullete Event for Community Spirit Award
  • Artavia - Art After Dark Event for Community Spirit Award
  • Cinco Ranch Southwest Community Council - Community Outreach for Community Spirit Award
  • Shannon Farnsworth, for Supporting Staff Member of the Year

We are excited and proud to announce that we were awarded two of these titles this year!

Community Spirit Award Artavia - Art After Dark Event!

Supporting Staff Member of the Year Shannon Farnsworth!

It is a true privilege to be awarded and recognized by our peers for our work, communities, and individual employees! Thank you to all of our hard-working employees and community members that made all of this possible!

Volunteer Spotlight
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Lucy Robertson of Artavia
by Laura Tate

Lucy Robertson has been active in the community association industry for more than 15 years.  She began managing associations in 2005.  Later, she focused on architectural controls and compliance for Aliana HOA before joining a management company as a portfolio manager. Almost 6 years ago she joined Airia Development Company.  As the Community Administration manager, she is responsible for creating and directing their HOAs and providing development architectural control services to their builders.  

Lucy is the developer representative for the Artavia communities and one of her responsibilities includes handling all HOA matters.  She currently serves as a board member on the Artavia North Village H.O.A., the Artavia Community Council, and the Artavia Master Maintenance Association.  However, Lucy goes well beyond what is required of her professionally and volunteers much of her time in support of homeowners associations.  

Her vast knowledge and experience make Lucy an amazing industry leader and volunteer.  Since 2019, she has served as a director on the Greater Houston Chapter of the Community Associations Institute. During her time on the Board, the chapter faced one of its biggest challenges: navigating through the pandemic. Lucy and the CAI Board successfully identified ways to keep their membership informed as well as engaged without the normal social element and get togethers the membership normally relies on.   

Lucy’s newest volunteer endeavor is to serve as Co-Chair of Fundraising for the CAI Texas Legislative Action Committee (TLAC).  TLAC includes volunteer leaders from all over the state that work together to represent homeowners living in community associations throughout Texas.  The work of TLAC is to advance, protect, and strengthen public policy for HOAs and to advocate for legislation that protects community self-governance and promotes civility.  Lucy recognizes the importance of ensuring that legislation governing HOAs is thoughtful and reasonable and would not have an adverse effect on associations or individual owners.  Lucy and the other TLAC members will make sure that all of us involved with HOAs are kept informed and that our voices are heard.

We appreciate all of the hard work that Lucy does for HOAs and are honored to be able to work with her.       

Banking News
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CIT & First Citizens Bank

Last month, CIT Group Inc. and First Citizens BancShares, Inc., the parent company of First Citizens Bank, completed their merger.  

For more than ten years, C.I.A. Services has partnered with a dedicated community association banking team.  The same great team and leadership for the community association banking division remains in place, so there will be no change to current operations.

Now this transformational merger has created a Top 20 U.S. bank by assets with the ability to bring together their complementary strengths and serve a broader spectrum of businesses with more products and services over time.

With the strength and resources at First Citizens, there will continue to be advancements in technology and solutions for associations.  We have been very pleased with our relationship with everyone we work with and with the benefits and specialized services they provided to our clients.  We look forward to that continued relationship.

Community Anniversaries
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Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in February.

  • Oak Hollow Homeowners Association — 21 years
  • Eastpoint Subdivision Homeowners Association — 19 years
  • Greensbrook Community Association — 16 years
  • Eilan Property Owners Association — 8 years
  • Eilan Condominium Association — 8 years
  • Colonial Lakes Office Park Owners Association — 7 years
  • Quiet Creek Homeowners Association — 5 years
  • The Mesas and Ridge at Canyon Springs Homeowners Association — 4 years

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long-term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.    

 

Employee Corner
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Employee Anniversaries

We love to celebrate special milestones with our employees. In the Employee Corner of each eNews issue, we will list all employees that have reached their first anniversary with our company.  Additionally, once employees reach five years and becomes a stockholder, we recognize them each year on their anniversary month.

This month, we have 2 stockholder anniversaries to celebrate!

Evan Ducote is celebrating his 8th year with C.I.A. Services this February! Evan is an onsite Maintenance Coordinator in Aliana out of our West Houston office. His extensive knowledge of landscaping and eagerness to be cooperative is what makes him a great asset to the team. When not in the field, Evan enjoys traveling, music.

Congratulations to Charles Driskell for reaching his 7th anniversary this month! Charles is a Maintenance Coordinator at our San Antonio Office. Charles has a lot of HOA experience; before joining us in San Antonio, he was the Board President of his community. Charles enjoys riding motorcycles, sitting around a fire with family & friends, and hunting & fishing.

Seminar Series
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Stay Plugged in With Webcasts

We offer each of our seminars in the form of a recorded webcast on demand for you to watch at any time! If you are interested in one of our seminars, they are available on our YouTube channel. The following seminars are now available:

To watch any of the webcasts, simply click on the links above.

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Associations in Practice

Our Associations in Practice Series is an offering of short videos with very specific topics.  Our newest video is Texas 87th Legislative Session.  The 2021 session of the Texas legislature produced significant changes to the Texas Property Code affecting property owners’ associations. This video explores those changes and provides specific follow-up recommendations. 

Super-Budget Concepts is a great introduction (or refresher) to our Super-budget and a nice refresher or opening to the full webinar offered in our Seminar Series. 
 
In our video, Short Term Rentals, we offer insight into short-term rental properties. We have an expert panel on board discussing everything from what a short-term rental is, to potential problems and possible solutions.
 
All of our Associations in Practice Series videos will be available on our YouTube channel. We will send updates when new material is added. You can also subscribe to our channel for news on the latest additions.
Find Us on Social Media
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C.I.A. Services, Inc. has a long and proud history of providing up-to-date news on our company happenings, industry news, and association governance.  Each month, we are pleased to share with you our eNews Monthly.  Each issue is loaded with great information! 

We have broadened our social media presence to include LinkedIn and Facebook. With these additional layers of communication, you can always find the latest information about our company, employees, association management, and other related news.  

If you are not already following us, please ”Like” us on Facebook and “Follow” us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on all things C.I.A. Services and beyond.

Read Past Issues of eNews Monthly

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.