Eclipse Community Management

Just back from the 2026 CAI National Conference in Fort Lauderdale, and what a week.
🎙️ The session. Co-presented "Who's Flying the Plane? Guiding Community Associations Through Crisis, Catastrophe, and Recovery" alongside Suzie Popielec on Friday morning. Strong audience, sharp questions, and confirmation that this material is needed across our industry.
🌟 The recognition. Standing in front of the exhibit at the front of the expo hall, seeing the Eclipse Community Management name and logo on screen as part of their partnership story, was a confirmation that years of disciplined investment in technology and partnerships are paying off. Eclipse was recognized as a partner moving this industry forward, on the largest stage our profession has.
💡 The technology. , First Citizens, and Western Alliance held the three biggest spots at the front of the expo hall, and the buzz around their booths reflected something real. Major Vantaca product announcements including HOAi Fleet, Vantaca Vendor, and an enhanced Vantaca Home are going to reshape how the industry operates.
🤝 The people. Got to meet directly with the Vantaca engineers building the improvements our team has been asking for. That kind of direct partnership is what separates the firms investing in this industry from the ones just operating in it.
Eclipse came back energized, with new ideas, and with renewed confidence that the way we operate is the right way to operate.
Full recap on the blog 👉 https://eclipsecommunities.com/cai-national-conference-2026-recap/

Annual meetings are an important aspect of governance within community associations, and they happen throughout the calendar year. Some communities meet in January. Others in April, July, or October. Whatever month yours falls in, the planning runway is always the same: 90 days.
Boards that wait end up scrambling. Boards that start 90 days out run clean, productive meetings where the runway did all the heavy lifting.
This week's post walks board members through what should happen at each stage:
📅 Days 90 to 75: Foundation, confirm the date, pull the voting roster, set the quorum target
📝 Days 75 to 60: Notice prep, draft the notice, confirm electronic delivery authorizations, identify candidates
📬 Days 60 to 45: Notice goes out
🗳️ Days 45 to 14: Candidate materials, communications cadence, logistics
🎯 Days 14 to 1: Final quorum push, materials assembly
The framework is the same whether your meeting is in March, July, or November. Slide the dates to fit.
Read it here 👉 https://eclipsecommunities.com/annual-meeting-90-day-runway-boards/

A question every Northern Kentucky board should ask their management company: which Kentucky statutes actually apply to your community?
The answer reveals a lot about whether your manager understands the Commonwealth's framework:
🏛️ Kentucky has TWO condominium statutes (the 1962 Horizontal Property Law and the 2011 Kentucky Condominium Act) that apply based on when your community was recorded
🏛️ Kentucky got its FIRST statewide HOA statute only in June 2023 (the Kentucky Planned Community Act) and it applies only to communities formed after that date
🏛️ The Nonprofit Corporation Act overlays on nearly every Kentucky association
🏛️ Older HOAs operate primarily under their declaration and common law
This week on the Eclipse blog, I walked through what Northern Kentucky boards should expect from a management company that knows the framework.
Read it here 👉 https://eclipsecommunities.com/northern-kentucky-hoa-condo-statutory-framework/

Memorial Day asks something simple of us — to pause, and to remember.

Not the cookouts, not the long weekend, not the start of pool season at the communities we manage. The day itself. The reason it exists.

It exists for the men and women who gave their lives in service to this country. It exists for the families who carry that loss long after the rest of the country has moved on to summer.

To the service members who did not come home, and to the families who keep their memory: thank you. We are here, doing this work, because of what you gave. From all of us at Eclipse Community Management — remembrance, gratitude, and respect.

Part of our team will be headed to Fort Lauderdale next month for the 2026 CAI National Conference — the largest annual gathering of community association professionals in the country. Our President, Chris Vecchi, CMCA, AMS, PCAM will be co-presenting on Friday morning, June 5, with Suzie Popielec, CMCA, AMS, PCAM of Willowsford HOA in Virginia:
✈️ Who's Flying the Plane? Guiding Community Associations Through Crisis, Catastrophe, and Recovery
When chaos strikes, the first question is always the same: who's leading the response? In aviation, that question has a clear answer. In community associations, it often doesn't. The session uses the aviation mantra of "aviate, navigate, communicate" as a framework for leading associations through emergencies:
🛬 Aviate — life safety, incident stabilization, and the five property conservation decisions
🗺️ Navigate — the first 72 hours, claim preservation, documentation, and operational rhythm
📡 Communicate — aligning residents, boards, insurers, officials, and vendors with one clear voice
We'll also walk through three real-world case studies including the 2019 Beavercreek tornados, an incident that hits close to home for our Ohio communities. This week on the Eclipse blog, I shared a preview of the session for the boards and managers across Ohio and Northern Kentucky who can't make the trip.
Read the preview 👉 https://eclipsecommunities.com/cai-national-conference-2026-crisis-leadership/
If you're headed to Fort Lauderdale, come find us Friday at 8:30 AM!

A reserve study is one of the longest documents your community association ever produces, yetone of the least read. Most boards see it at adoption, glance at the bottom-line funding recommendation, and file it. Then they pull it out three years later when an FHA reviewer asks for it, or when a major replacement is staring them in the face. That's a missed opportunity. A reserve study is genuinely useful — but only if a board can read it.
This week's post is a field guide to the parts that actually matter:
📊 What the component schedule tells you (and what to push back on)
💰 The three funding methods — and why "well-funded" depends on which one you're using
📈 Percent funded benchmarks and what they really mean
🏠 How reserve data connects to lender approval, insurance limits, and special assessment risk
📅 When to commission a new study vs. an update

Read it here 👉 https://eclipsecommunities.com/reading-your-reserve-study-board-guide/

Pool season is right around the corner — and for HOA and condo boards, opening day comes with real liability exposure that most homeowners never think about.

We just published our pre-opening checklist on the Eclipse blog. It walks through the seven items every board should confirm before Memorial Day weekend:

✅ Annual operating permit renewed and posted
✅ Pool service contract and contractor insurance current
✅ Lifeguard vs. no-lifeguard decision documented (and your carrier notified)
✅ Statutory signage audit complete
✅ Access control list updated for current residents
✅ Insurance binder matches operating profile
✅ Pool rules reviewed and recommunicated

If your community's pool opens in the next few weeks, this is the time to run the checklist — not in July when something has already happened.

Read the full post here 👉 https://eclipsecommunities.com/pool-season-liability-board-checklist/

🎉 Wins worth sharing! After two years of working a tough delinquent assessment case, our Director of Finance, Steph Welter, in collaboration with the legal team at Wood + Lamping LLP just secured a nearly $10,000 recovery for one of our managed associations in the Dayton Region. In another case, nearly $28,000 was recovered for a community in our Cincinnati region with the assistance of the legal team from Kaman & Cusimano, LLC . That's money going right back to the community to fund the services, reserves, and upkeep that benefit every homeowner who pays on time.

It's a perfect real-world example of what we covered in our recent blog post: strong collections matter, and they don't happen by accident. They take consistent process, disciplined follow-through, and great legal partners who don't give up.

👉 Read our recent blog post here: https://eclipsecommunities.com/strong-collections-matter/

Is YOUR association having trouble collecting the assessments it's owed? That's a problem we can help solve. Send us a message or visit eclipsecommunities.com/contact to start a conversation — your board doesn't have to navigate this alone!

Most HOA and condo boards assume their insurance policies are compliant — until a claim, audit, lender review, or legal issue says otherwise.

At Eclipse Community Management, we recently completed a deep dive into the insurance requirements impacting community associations in both Ohio and Kentucky, including:
• Ohio Revised Code Chapters 5311 & 5312
• Kentucky KRS 381 condominium and planned community statutes
• Fidelity/crime coverage requirements
• D&O insurance obligations
• Common coverage gaps we are actively finding during reviews
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac insurance considerations

Insurance compliance is not just a renewal exercise — it is a critical part of protecting your board, your owners, and your association’s financial stability. If your association has not had a formal insurance compliance review recently, now is the time. Read the full article here:
https://eclipsecommunities.com/hoa-and-condo-insurance-review/

Ice dams can turn a normal winter thaw into ceiling stains, wet insulation, and expensive repairs. They form when snow melts on a warmer part of the roof, refreezes at the colder eaves, and traps water that can back up under shingles.

We put together a quick, homeowner-friendly guide on:
✅ what ice dams are
✅ why they form
✅ warning signs to watch for
✅ what to do safely (and what not to do)
✅ the best ways to prevent them long-term

Read here: https://eclipsecommunities.com/ice-dams/