Community Associations Institute recently made important changes for its professional designation holders pertaining to ethical standards that must be followed to maintain credentials administered by CAI.
Today, there are currently more than 55,000 community association managers in the U.S. and thousands of business partners who possess a diverse skill set to provide sound advice to the homeowner leaders who serve on the boards of homeowners associations, condominiums, and housing cooperatives. They also must perform their duties while following robust ethical standards that show integrity in their work.
CAI provides educational opportunities for community association professionals to achieve credentials such as the Association Management Specialist (AMS) designation, Large-Scale Manager (LSM) specialization, the Professional Community Association Manager (PCAM) designation, the Accredited Association Management Company (AAMC) designation, the Reserve Specialist (RS) designation, and the Community Insurance and Risk Management Specialist (CIRMS) designation. All are designed to elevate the professionalism of managers and business partners with the community associations they serve.
CAI encourages all designation holders to review these revised documents:
- CAI Professional Manager Code of Ethics and Clarification Document. Impacts designees holding the AMS, PCAM, LSM, or AAMC.
- CIRMS Code of Ethics and Clarification Document.
- Designation Ethics Enforcement Procedures. Impacts designees holding an AMS, PCAM, LSM, RS, CIRMS, or an AAMC.
Community association management, in particular, has become increasingly specialized and challenging as communities have become more complex and demanding. The profession has taken an even greater importance as local governments have ceded growing responsibility to community associations—from road maintenance, trash collection, and street lighting to recreational amenities.
State legislatures occasionally have sought to license community managers the same as real estate brokers or property managers, but community association management is a profession requiring unique skills. Association managers are hired to work with volunteer boards of directors to enhance, preserve, and protect communities. While licensure of real estate brokers, agents, or property managers protects consumers in sales transactions, it does not protect homeowners in the ongoing management and operation of their communities.
CAI opposes the regulation of community association managers as real estate brokers, agents, or property managers but encourages the certification of community association managers. In states that propose mandatory regulation of these professions, CAI supports a regulatory system that incorporates adequate protections for homeowners, mandatory education and testing on fundamental management knowledge, standards of conduct, continuing education, and appropriate insurance requirements.
Community managers and business partners with CAI designations must hold themselves to the highest ethical standards in their work with community associations. If you are seeking to hire a credentialed manager, insurance and risk management expert, or reserve analyst for your association, visit our Directory of Credentialed Professionals.