Manage ARC Processing with an Effective HOA Ticketing System

Many homeowners associations struggle to process remodeling plans and requests for architectural modifications because of the amount of information involved in the proposals themselves and the process required to evaluate them. Obviously, some requests essentially rule themselves out automatically because they involve modifications that clearly violate HOA covenants. Beyond the pink garage or the satellite dish sprouting out of the front eaves, renovation requests still involve the assessment of multiple layers of information, including vendor proposals, material samples, diagrams, and, of course, comments and clarifications.

By the time homeowners association administrators are confident that they understand the full scope of a resident’s plans, the exchange of questions, answers, and supporting documents can go back and forth 10 times or more. Without a cohesive way to organize all that information, the entire process can bog down in delays and misunderstandings. The right homeowners association website software can make this process convenient for all parties.

Keep vital details organized together

Perhaps the single most important advantage that an effective HOA ticketing system can offer your community is the ability to keep information together about each remodeling or renovation request. If you receive these details in bits and pieces—some attached to e-mail messages, some hand delivered, some discussed in phone conversations—it’s painfully easy to lose track of data without which you can’t make a considered decision about an individual request.

A well-designed homeowners association website with the software power to support essential administrative tasks includes the ability to collect and attach all information about an ARC request under a unified ticket. Residents can enter all their information into a cohesive location—and Admins can customize that ticket with an input form designed to request all the details they need for evaluation against the terms of current covenants.

Enable Admins to comment and trade notes privately

In a resident’s mind, their beginning description of a proposed remodeling or modification plan defines the entire project, and prompts administrators either to approve it as is or to request additional information and even alterations. But along with the importance of that starting point, the entire ARC process also relies on HOA administrators’ ability to discuss the ticket privately and still keep their private discussion connected with the ticket itself.

To move this process along smoothly for your homeowners association, you need an ARC ticketing system that supports both public comments and private discussions, so Admins can clarify what they need to ask about a project—or why they’re simply inclined to reject—and residents can respond in context.

Ease the process of asking residents for more information

Most HOA administrators expect that ARC requests will require them to solicit additional information from homeowners. What looks like a clearly defined, easily approved project to a resident may be anything but straightforward from an administrator’s point of view.

How big is that? Exactly where do you plan to install it? What species of tree do you expect to plant? Which contractor will do the installation? All these and many more questions may linger even after you and fellow administrators review an initial ARC request. If you try to clear up these issues through e-mail messages, your questions and the resident’s answers quickly become disconnected, and the trail of information fragments.

Instead of piecing together the combination of inquiries and responses, the right homeowners association website software gives you the ability to conduct the entire process through one unified ticketing system. Individual messages, color-coded to indicate whether they represent private communication among Admins or public communication between an Admin and the resident, accumulate in a chronological thread, with a sidebar that tracks progress and attachments.

Correlate and collect samples, estimates, and quotes

Without swatches and samples, you’re stuck with the subjective nature of language to describe and define colors, materials, finishes, and more. With the proliferation of digital samples of real-world materials, however, you can solicit and receive paint chips, photos of siding materials, and just about anything else a resident can request the ability to install. Your HOA website software needs to enable residents to upload samples, contractor documents, photos, and any other important supporting details directly to the ARC ticket they open.

Receive prompt notifications of every post and comment

When you conduct requests for architectural remodeling and modifications through a combination of e-mail and phone calls, an initial submission or a subsequent clarification can tumble out of your inbox and into your spam folder, where it can languish unnoticed for days or even weeks. The next thing you know, the resident contacts you to point out that their builder quote will expire soon, and ask that you take a look at what they requested as soon as you can.

With the right homeowners association website software, however, every participant in an ARC request process receives immediate notification via e-mail of new material or discussion post submitted to the overall ticket for them to read. No one’s contributions fall by the wayside, and everyone’s viewpoint is heard.

Keep your HOA on the right track with ARC efficiency

At HOA Start, we’ve spent years working with homeowners associations of every size, in towns and cities throughout the country. We know how essential—and how confusing—the ARC process can be, both for residents and for Admins. When you clear away that confusion, you make it possible for all participants to stay focused, and you avoid the prospect of conflict. After all, everyone involved in an ARC ticket wants the same thing: A harmonious, well-run, attractive community that maintains everyone’s property values.

To experience our ticketing system for yourself—along with all our other powerful, convenient features—sign up for a completely free 14-day trial. Our ticketing system is just one aspect of what we offer you, but it’s an essential component of administrative convenience. We’re convinced that when you see our software for yourself, and find out how thoroughly we’ve anticipated your needs and exceeded your expectations, you’ll see why an HOA Start homeowners association website makes the best sense for your community.