Professional Community Association Management Since 1984
customercare@ciaservices.com
Houston 713-981-9000
San Antonio 210-490-0000
Home > Resources > Library > Archived Newsletter

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.

December 2015
eNews Monthly
Fun Times
Image

San Antonio Hockey Night

Each year, we invite our community volunteers, employees, families and friends to join us for Hockey Night with the San Antonio Rampage.  We spend a fun-filled evening watching a great sport.  If you’ve not seen a live game, it’s a real treat.

The 2016 Hockey Night will be on Saturday, January 23rd at 7:00 pm when the Rampage will take on the Bakersfield Condors. Please ask your community manager for details on how to reserve your tickets.

Hockey is a cool, fun and fast-paced game.  If you’ve never seen hockey in person, you are in for a treat.  We’ll give you a nice guide to hockey that explains the rules (yes, there are rules!).  We have great seats reserved behind Condors’ goal so we hope to see lots of action at our end.  We’ll have a bunch of door prizes for everyone including the 8th in our series of collectible cowbells with the Rampage logo.  What a great way to start off the new year – hockey in beautiful San Antonio!  

Click below to see photos of the fun from the last seven years.

2015     2014     2013     2012     2011     2010     2009

Accomplishments
Image

Manager Earns Certification

We are proud to announce that Kim Cowart, of our North Office, has earned her AMS designation.  The AMS (Association Management Specialist) designation is the second level in the career track for community association managers developed by Community Associations Institute.

The AMS designation demonstrates a higher level of commitment to the community association industry and requires two years of experience in multiple aspects of association management.  In order to qualify for an AMS, managers are required to earn the CMCA designation, and take at least two (2) approved continuing education classes on various association related topics.  

Join us in congratulating Kim on achieving her latest professional goal!

Community
Image

Giving Back - Noble November
by Dannielle Short

The C.I.A. Services family ended another year with kind works and big hearts! For over 2 decades, the individuals at the Houston offices have come together and voluntarily spent time and money to assist a few local charities in providing non-perishable foods, toiletries, toys, towels, and blankets for the less fortunate. Over the 2015 holiday season, the donations brought in over 600 food items, over 1900 toiletries, and over 200 toys and blankets. The Humble office delivered 23 boxes to Humble Area Assistance Ministries (HAAM). Second Blessing, the charity the Southwest Houston office chose, received 12 boxes and 6 bags from our generous employees.  Both just in time for Christmas!

In years past, the San Antonio office has sponsored a family in need or donated to a charity for Christmas. It’s no surprise that they rallied the troops once again to help someone feel the holiday blessings and cheer! They hosted a food bank event in San Antonio for the months of November and December. The office moto is “Fill a bag, Feed a Family”. They also sponsored the children of Boysville. Boysville is a comprehensive, residential care facility in South Texas, providing support and a home for children since 1943. The San Antonio office had the pleasure of joining the children of Boysville, in sharing a meal and a smile as they opened their gifts for Christmas.

Also, over at our Bandera office over the Thanksgiving holiday, 4 large boxes of non-perishable food were delivered to Helping Hands. For Christmas they collected money from employees to put toward board games for all age groups to be donated to the Medina Children’s Home; which is a part of the non-profit Christian care organization Arms of Hope, which assists orphans, at-risk youth and single Mother families. 

A special Thanks to the C.I.A. Services family members who helped coordinate and/or deliver the collection of donations. At the Humble office Rhonda Duffield, Vina Evans, Rebecca Arguello, and Dannie Gibson. At the Southwest Houston office Deniece Reyes, Michael Quast, and Patrick Sheffield. Ana Rodriguez was the go to at our San Antonio location, and Cindy Hawthorn, Jo Ann Peterson, and Melany Fraga from Bandera. 

Thank you to the many others who helped make this possible by bringing in donations. May 2016 be just as blessed!!

Website Highlights
Image

Online Payment Option Available

Our website contains a nice interface for online payments. Online payments are handled by Mutual of Omaha Bank through their secure website. Buttons to make payments are located at the bottom of every page and throughout our website. When you click a payment button, you’ll see a page describing your payment options. When you are ready to make a payment, we’ll transfer you to the Mutual of Omaha site. Nothing you enter on the Mutual of Omaha site is visible or available to C.I.A. Services or to your association.

The online payment page has a clean user interface and that is easy to use. You can make a payment by credit card or electronic check. With an electronic check, you simply use the routing information from one of your paper checks. The funds are then pulled from your checking account without you having to write and mail the check. Mutual of Omaha Bank charges a fee for processing credit card payments but electronic checks are free! Features include:

  • Ability to schedule payments.  They can be on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis; however, should be within the parameters of your community.
  • Ability to manage payments and property information through a personal homeowner profile.
  • Access to transactions for up to 13 months when you create a user profile.
  • Real time credit card payments (subject to processing fees).

The ability to schedule payments is a really nice feature.  If you create a personal account, you can see your transactions and make future payments with less effort. With an account, you can also schedule payments. So, for example, if you want to take advantage of our multi-payment options (Nov, Dec and Jan payments), you can schedule three eCheck payments in one session by specifying the dates and amounts. Or if you have monthly assessments, you can set those up. At any time, you can change the schedule since you have full control over your payments.

Seminar Series
Image

We are pleased to announce our 2016 schedule for the C.I.A. Services Seminar Series.  We will again present seven classroom seminars and one webinar throughout the year - each at multiple locations with a total of 28 training sessions.  Click here to read the seminar descriptions and see the schedlue.  

Our core group of seminars will be back. Each seminar concentrates on the practical aspects of the topic and provides board members with background knowledge to help them in their decision making. We consistently receive positive feedback on the content and presentation.

  • Board Member Orientation
  • Advanced Topics for Board Members
  • Meeting & Records - The Legal Requirements
  • Understanding Collections & Financial Reports
  • The Super Budgeting Process
  • Practical Deed Restriction Management
  • Essentials of Architectural Control
  • Community Website Administrator

Each two-hour seminar begins at 6:00 pm and we provide deli sandwiches in case you come straight from work.  You’ll leave with a wealth of practical information and a notebook for future reference.  You can attend our one-hour webinar right from home!  

Image

Meetings & Records - The Legal Requirements

This is a critical seminar for understanding the legal responsibilities of board members and their associations under the laws enacted in the 82nd legislative session. This seminar deals with board and members meetings and how those meetings must be announced, conducted and documented. We’ll review what can be done in board executive sessions and unannounced meetings. We’ll cover elections and voting. And finally, we’ll explain members’ access to Association records. This is an extremely important seminar for all board members.

Space is limited and advance registration is required.  To register, please send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com.

02/10/16 - Wednesday

6 – 8 pm

San Antonio

02/16/16 - Tuesday

6 – 8 pm

Humble

02/18/16 - Thursday

6 – 8 pm

Southwest Houston

 

Image

Community Website Administrator Training

This is the required training course for certification as a Community Website Administrator (CWSA) on the C.I.A Services web site (www.ciaservices.com). As a CWSA you’ll be able to maintain the pages for your community. You’ll be able to create news and events, update key personnel, add community information, display photos, conduct surveys and much more. Being a website administrator is very easy on www.ciaservices.com and you can do it from anywhere you have an Internet connection. All CWSA training is done by webinar in the comfort of your home.

Space is limited and advance registration is required.  To register, please send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com.

02/25/16 – Thursday

6 – 7 pm

Webinar

 

New Communities
Image

Welcome!

We are pleased to announce three new communities have joined the C.I.A. Services family!

The Bridges on Lake Houston Community Association joined us in late Novemeber.  The Bridges is a master planned community located in Humble/Atascocita right on the banks of Lake Houston with close access to Bush Intercontinental Airport and Beltway 8.

Fosters Ridge Community Association also joined us in late November.  Fosters Ridge is a new master planned community located in Conroe, TX with easy access to Interstate 45 and The Woodlands. It is now open with models to view and new homeowners within the next few months.

Aviara PUD Homeowners Association is our newest San Antonio community. This is a gated master planned community with easy access to Lackland Air Force Base.

We welcome you all to the family and look forward to serving you with pride.

Community Spotlight
Image

River Park on the Brazos Property Owners Association

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

  • December - River Park on the Brazos Property Owners Association - Southwest Office - Kim Moore
  • November - Community Association of the Highlands - Southwest Office - Candace Look
  • October - Cedar Springs - San Antonio Office - Tina Jameson
  • September - Eldridge Park Village - Southwest Office - Susan Bratton
  • August - Cinco Ranch Residential Association II - North Office - Laura Tate
  • July - Cypresswood Green Property Owners Association - North Office - Brenda Ellington
  • June - Fairway Pointe Community Association - Southwest Office - Libby Hodges
  • May - Eilan Condominium Association, Inc. - San Antonio Office - Ralph Troiano
  • April - Summerwood Community Association - North Office - Jennifer Northington
  • March - Diamond Ridge Property Owners Association - San Antonio Office - Rosie Saenz
  • February - Riverwalk Propery Owners Association - North Office - Linda Morris
  • January - The Lakefront Association - Southwest Office - Gina Victor

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our site.

Community Anniversaries
Image

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

  • Lincoln Green Estates Community Improvement Assn— 22 years
  • Quail Green South Community Association— 11 years
  • The Lakefront Association — 7 years
  • West Bend Community Improvement Association - 1 year

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
Image

Anniversaries

Dawna Woods is a Maintenance Coordiator at our North Office and is celebrating 19 years. She is always a valuable source of information!

Libby Hodges has been a Community Manager in our Southwest office for 10 years.  She is responsible for one of our largest communities. 

Congratulations ladies! We look forward to many more years with you!!

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.