CMCA - Certified Manager of Community Associations Ethics and Professional Conduct Questions and Answers Flashcards

A landscaping vendor offers the manager a free weekend at a beach house shortly before the board rebids the landscaping contract. What is the most appropriate response?

Answer: Decline the offer, or disclose it to the board and follow its gift policy

A gift of real value from a vendor during a bid creates a conflict of interest, so the manager must decline it or fully disclose it under the association's policy.

A homeowner asks the manager for another owner's delinquency balance and phone number. What should the manager do?

Answer: Decline and follow the governing documents and state law on releasing records

Personal and financial information about individual owners is usually confidential, and its release is controlled by the governing documents and state law.

A board member tells the manager privately to delay processing an architectural application from an owner the board member dislikes. What is the ethical course?

Answer: Process the application under the established procedure and timeline, and raise the concern with the full board if needed

The manager takes direction from the board acting as a body and must apply procedures consistently, not follow one director's personal agenda.

The manager's spouse owns a pool maintenance company that wants to bid on the association's pool contract. What is required?

Answer: Disclose the relationship to the board in writing and do not take part in evaluating the bid

Professional conduct standards require full disclosure of relationships that create actual or apparent conflicts of interest, and the conflicted manager should step back from the decision.

While preparing the budget, the manager realizes the reserve contribution the board wants will not meet the reserve study's recommendation. What should the manager do?

Answer: Tell the board in writing about the shortfall and its consequences, then carry out the board's final decision

The manager's duty is to give the board accurate, complete professional advice, while the board keeps final authority over policy and budget decisions.

A manager who is not an attorney is asked by the board whether a proposed rule is enforceable under state law. What is the best answer?

Answer: Explain general practices and recommend the board get an opinion from association legal counsel

Managers must not practice law and should send legal questions to qualified counsel.

A manager learns that a coworker at the management company has been mixing association funds with the company's operating account. What is the appropriate step?

Answer: Report it through proper channels, because commingling association funds is a serious violation

Association funds must be kept separate and held in the association's name, and commingling should be reported because it threatens the association's assets.