customercare@ciaservices.com  |  Toll Free 866-219-0563  |  Houston 713-981-9000  |  San Antonio 210-490-0000
C.I.A Services, Inc.
Systems. Structure. Stewards.
Professional Community Association Management Since 1984
Home > About Us > Board Training

At its core, C.I.A. Services is a learning organization. We place a high priority on learning, analyzing, research and planning. We also love sharing our expertise with others and one of our greatest assets is the training and guidance we provide our client board members and volunteers.

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C.I.A. Services Seminar Series


Following is the current educational lineup. You can also download this information (see link to PDF file in right column). Each seminar begins at 6:00 p.m. and lasts two hours. We provide deli sandwiches so you won’t have to rush home for dinner before the seminars. The knowledge and insight you will gain will be well worth your time.

Space is limited and advance registration is required. To register, please call toll-free at 866-219-0563 or send an email to seminars@ciaservices.com.

We can also provide private seminars at your location. A private seminar allows us to customize our examples and solutions for your community. We need a minimum of five participants and you provide the location and refreshments. There is a modest fee for onsite seminars. Please call toll free at 866-219-0563 to set up a private seminar.

Course Descriptions

Click the “[ + ]” symbol next to the course name to see a description of the course.

Board Member Orientation [ + ]

This seminar is a must for all new Board members and a great refresher for seasoned veterans. It will help you get up to speed quickly by understanding your responsibilities and authorities. We’ll review each of the documents that govern the way you do business. We’ll give you an overview of the governing documents, basis of authority, conduct of meetings, elections, collections, deed restrictions, architectural control and many other important topics.

Advanced Topics for Board Members [ + ]

After you’ve been on the Board a few months or a few years, you realize that some things are pretty complicated. This seminar has a heavy legal and legislative orientation. We’ll dissect the lawsuit process, review foreclosures and bankruptcies, and discuss significant portions of the Texas Property Code and federal law. After all the legal stuff, we’ll touch on aspects of “risk management” which includes insurance, reserves and budgeting concepts.

Meetings & Records - The Legal Requirements [ + ]

This is our brand new seminar to ensure everyone understands the responsibilities of board members and their associations under the laws enacted in the 82nd legislative session.  This seminar dealing 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.

Understanding Collections & Financial Reports [ + ]

The first half of this seminar will cover all the steps involved in successful assessment collections. Since not everyone pays on time, we’ll get into late fees, liens, payment plans, bankruptcy and all the legal remedies. The second half of the seminar deals with reading and understanding your financial reports. We’ll trace the flow of money throughout the reports so you’ll never be in the dark when staring at all those numbers.

The Super-Budgeting Process [ + ]

“Super-Budgeting” is our term for preparing a comprehensive long term budget and business plan. This isn’t something you do on the back of an envelope an hour before the budget meeting. We’ll break the process down into understandable components and show you how assets and reserves fit in the picture. We’ll start with a simple question that very few people can answer correctly: “How much money should our Association have in the bank?” By the end of the seminar, you’ll know the correct answer for your Association. This is a critical seminar to take before you start looking at budgets.

Practical Deed Restriction Management [ + ]

Deed restriction management is one of the most difficult tasks handled by homeowners associations because it involves subjective decisions, homeowner’s property and emotions. This seminar covers the steps in deed restriction management and how a process can contain “intelligence” and common sense. We discuss the relation between deed restrictions and architectural guidelines and give you examples of well crafted guidelines. Practical deed restriction management requires clear communications and reasonable requirements.

Essentials of Architectural Control [ + ]

Your governing documents provide authority to regulate design and appearance of any construction, improvements or alterations within the community. This is a powerful authority with an obligation that it be used sensibly. This seminar will explain the range and limits of this authority, demonstrate the role of architectural guidelines, describe the interplay between deed restrictions issues and ACC issues, and touch on handling the tough ACC problems.

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.

Course Schedules, Descriptions and Details

View or print the complete 2012 C.I.A. Services Seminar Series schedule.

Seminar Series Click to Download