In Northern California in 1972, a nucleus of five common interest development homeowners together with a small group of concerned professionals formed an organization in San Jose called ECHO – the Executive Council of Home Owners. More than four decades later the effort of these pioneers has led to a dynamic organization at the forefront of leadership for common interest housing interests in the state of California.
Today, Echo’s membership has grown to more than 1500 homeowner association members representing over 145,000 individual units and 250 business and professional members. Beyond serving its own members, Echo works to strengthen its representation by pursuing working relationships with other Common Interest Development advocacy groups. In this spirit, Echo joined resources with the Council of Condominium Homeowner Associations (COCHA) in 1999.
In the early 1970s, condominium and planned development projects were not only the “new thing” in housing, they were also spreading like a forest fire. The factors that caused this growth also caused some of the problems that became the motivating forces in the forming of ECHO. The FHA had no CID experience, so a deaf ear was turned to the problems of the common interest developments. The California Department of Real Estate and the legal profession were also of little help in those early days. This left the owners, their associations and their boards of directors no place to turn for help.
Out of simple necessity, Echo was conceived as a non-profit organization of condominium and planned development homeowner associations. The Articles of Incorporation were filed on July 11, 1973, with the primary purpose to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between homeowner associations and for the growth, education and development of boards of directors and officers of automatic membership homeowner associations, planned developments and condominiums. The original goal of Echo to protect the common interest development homeowners and their boards of directors remains unchanged today. Our commitment to reach and teach as many board members as possible remains intact. Echo was and still is an owners’ organization.
Underlying most of the discussions during Echo’s early years were hopes and prophecies of laws and standards yet to come. And, over the years the laws did come. The California Corporations Code was drastically amended by 1980. The collapse in 1984 of Condominium Association Management Specialists, Inc., known as CAMS, resulting in the loss of huge amounts of association funds, provoked a deluge of financial disclosure legislation. In 1985, an entire section of the California Civil Code, Title 6, the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, was put in place to collect the statutes that governed the operations of all types of homeowner associations. Since its adoption in 1985, the Davis-Stirling Act has been amended dozens of times. Echo has watched this legislative intervention vigilantly, and works continuously on behalf of California CID homeowners to influence and improve any changes.
Since its adoption in 1985, the Davis-Stirling Act has been amended dozens of times. Echo has watched this legislative intervention vigilantly, and works continuously on behalf of California CID homeowners to influence and improve any changes. In 1991, recognizing the growth in size and complexity of CID housing and its governance issues, Echo continued its tradition as an industry leader by retaining its own CID legislative advocate in Sacramento.
In 2006, in response to the yearly flood of new legislation, Echo augmented its efforts in Sacramento by establishing its first Political Action Committee.
From those five founding associations in 1972, Echo HOA membership grew to 175 members in 1980, 500 members in 1988, and is now 1,528 in 2020. Business and professional membership has kept right in step as CID housing has grown, reaching the current 220-member level. The organization has grown in other areas as well: the original 8-page mimeographed newsletter from 1974 has transformed into a 32-page, full-color magazine known as the Echo Journal with distribution exceeding 11,500 board members and engaged homeowners. Live and recorded educational webinars focused on HOA topics has changed the way Echo delivers education and ushered in a wave of newly engaged board members and homeowners in record numbers. Echo’s website has proven to be a pivotal communication tool and has over 35,000 visitors every month.
Echo will continue to expand our core concepts of education, advocacy and connection. The updated logo expresses our interest in the people of HOAs – the engaged homeowners and especially the HOA board. We are the “Educational Community for HOA Homeowners” and will continue to pursue strategies to achieve this vision.
Reach out to our friendly staff with any questions. We’re always ready to help you find the right resource and work through challenging issues. Echo works for HOA boards ... we are on your team!
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