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.
88th Texas Legislative Session
by Ralph Troiano
The Texas Legislature meets every two years. The 88th session convened on January 10th and will continue its 140-day regular session until May 29th. This year 9,592 bills were filed before the March 10th deadline. Only emergency and other special types of bills can be filed after this date. After going through the legislative process, typically about 20% make it into law.
There are always bills that affect Property Owners’ Associations. The Community Associations Institute’s Texas Legislative Action Committee keeps track of the bills, does an analysis of the impacts and lets us know key calendar dates on important bills. Occasionally, there are good bills which clarify parts of existing law or extend protections for owners or associations. But more often, there are proposals which would have negative impacts on associations or just make you wonder what prompted this.
Here are brief summaries of the ten most interesting or concerning bills.
We all heard about Silicon Valley Bank’s failure in March. It was astonishingly fast collapsing to an FDIC takeover in just 48 hours. This was more about the management of the bank and its unique mix of clients and investors than a comment on the whole banking system. Unfortunately, the regulators had not responded to red flags but the red flags existed because of bank management decisions.
At C.I.A. Services, most of our client funds are handled through one of two banking partners: CIT Bank (CIT) and Alliance Association Bank (AAB). Both are divisions of much larger banks (First Citizens Bank and Western Alliance Bank, respectively). We use these two because they are the best, in our opinion, of the handful of banks around the country that understand and specialize in community association banking. Please see these links which highlight the strengths, capitalization, and asset quality of these banks: CIT (First Citizens); Western Alliance
Although bank failures are rare, we are focused on protecting your money. Unless a client has adopted a different investment policy, we use three priorities.
1. Protect Principal. We do not invest in instruments with fluctuating asset values. That means no stock, bonds, or most other instruments from the stock market. We use bank accounts and certificates of deposit.
2. Maintain Liquidity. Make sure money is available when needed to pay bills. When investing in certificates of deposit, we do a cash flow analysis in advance to ensure CDs are maturing when funds for operations or projects are needed.
3. Earn Interest. Only after satisfying the first two priorities can we think about interest. Every dollar paid by a bank is one less dollar that needs to be collected from the members. CDs earn more than a savings account which earns more than a checking account. We periodically move money between these accounts to earn a few more dollars.
We guard against bank failure by making sure all funds are covered by FDIC insurance. In the case of a failure, the FDIC will guarantee up to $250,000 in funds at a bank for each tax ID. For clients with less than $250,000 at any time, all their funds can be kept in one bank. For those with more, it takes planning and effort to keep everything insured. If most funds are at CIT, we can purchase CDs at AAB. But that would only protect up to $500,000.
That’s where CDARs and ICS accounts come in. This is a program offered by most banks working through the IntraFi Network. With this, working through your bank, you can buy CDs or put money into nearly 3,000 banks with each one providing its own $250,000 of FDIC coverage. IntraFi keeps track of everything and makes sure your funds are always put into different banks. The bottom line is that CIT and AAB are exceptionally strong banks with association expertise. And at C.I.A. Services, we make sure your funds are safe and insured.
Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Since this is a double issue, we are celebrating both March & April anniversaries.
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.
Thank you for allowing us to be your partner!
March
April
We are very pleased to announce our newest client that recently joined us!
Loma Vista Ranch (LVR) Property Owners Association joined us in March and will be managed out of our San Antonio office. Loma Vista Ranch is a new gated community that will be home to 329 families at full development.
Join us in welcoming Loma Vista Ranch!
March Anniversaries
Priscilla Aleman celebrated 15 years with the company last month! Priscilla is the West office receptionist and is always a friendly face to greet our visitors. She enjoys spending time with friends, doing activities with her church, and going on mission trips around the world.
Sally Lohrke reached her 9th anniversary with C.I.A Services in March! Sally is the fearless Team Leader for the Financial Team at the Bandera office. From transitioning in new communities to overseeing property and income taxes, it’s impossible to list everything she does. Sally enjoys game nights with her family and friends and adores her two grandchildren and is looking forward to the next one that is on the way!
Rose Housos of our accounting office is celebrating her 6th anniversary! She is a top A/P – A/R clerk with numerous other duties including bank research. Rose enjoys time with her husband and their friends – they love spending weekends at the coast for some good fishing.
Shyamal Guha of our North Houston office celebrated his 5th anniversary and became a company stockholder! Shyamal is a Community Specialist within our customer service department. He is incredibly polite with a very calming demeanor which makes him ideal in this arena. Since Shyamal started working for us, he has also celebrated becoming a citizen of the United States.
April Anniversaries
Congratulations to Rhonda Duffield on her 33rd anniversary with C.I.A. Services! Rhonda is the Maintenance Assistant at our North Houston office. Not only does Rhonda assist in the maintenance department, but she is also our go-to person for special projects and tasks. During her personal time, Rhonda loves to cruise and spend time with her family. She’s looking forward to her next big cruise to Hawaii!
This month, we will be celebrating the 16th anniversary of Angela Douglas! Angela is a Vice President and oversees many areas within the company. Angela is instrumental in all things tech as well as employee development. She enjoys traveling anywhere and spending time with her family. She is currently looking forward to her next Disney trip, where she must have a frequent visitor pass!
Kristen Craig will be celebrating 12 years at C.I.A Services this month! Kristen is a Vice President at our North Houston office and manages one of our master-planned communities. Kristen enjoys church worship, singing, and traveling. This is a special year for her as her only daughter and youngest child will be graduating from high school. They are currently working on plans for the big graduation trip.
This April will be the 10th anniversary for Robert Pampell. Robert is a Maintenance Coordinator out of our West Houston office. Robert and his wife love to take small weekend road trips to interesting places. Their dog, Poppie, loves joining; she has become an excellent road-tripper!
Christina Mann is our newest stockholder as of this month with the celebration of her 5th anniversary. Christina is one of the HIR Coordinators out of the North Houston office.
Christina is engaged to be married to her long-time love Robert, they have one son Micah together and raising her stepson, Theseus. They purchased a home last year and enjoy living in Baytown.
1-Year Anniversaries
Steven Soto is celebrating his 1-year anniversary with the company this month! Steven works as an Onsite Maintenance Tech in one of the master-planned communities we manage. Steven does a great job keeping the community looking great and helping the residents. When not in the community, Steven enjoys family time with his wife and their 3 kids. He can frequently be found in their backyard in front of the barbecue grill.
April is also the 1st anniversary of Cody Carmichael. Cody is a Community Specialist in the Customer Service Department out of our North Houston office. Cody joined the company shortly after graduating high school and has found his place with us. When not working, he likes to spend time at the gun range, checking out the latest movies, and hanging out with friends and family.
Congratulations to Sam Dykstra, on his 1st anniversary. Sam works as a Community Specialist in our Customer Service Department at our North Houston Office. Sam also joined us shortly after graduating from high school. He enjoys trying out new restaurants with friends, is a big basketball fan, and loves all things outdoors.
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.
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.
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
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.
Contact
customercare@ciaservices.com
Toll Free: 866-219-0563
Houston 713-981-9000
San Antonio 210-490-0000
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