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"Military family gets pool membership after HOA lockout"

Posted on Community Associations Network, this TV news story about a dispute involving a military family and an Indiana HOA.

When organizations like HOAs -- or businesses -- are in the news, having prepared statements available for responding to reporters may be helpful. Why? Because when you're dealing with complex issues, you may need to slow things down and soothe emotions. Prepared statements can sometimes do that. A prepared statement might be as general as this: We hope to be able to address this situation through discussions with residents and our association.

Prepared statements are designed to say something, without saying -- for many reasons -- more than can be said. A business firm's prepared statement about a product recall, for example, might provide some perspective without going into too much detail while the company is evaluating the product issue.

Prepared statements can buy time, particularly when organizations and businesses need to consult with someone. An HOA may need to touch base with a property manager or HOA attorney, a corporation with its legal department.

Prepared statements, even when they're somewhat innocuous, can provide at least some perspective and, equally important, the time needed to sort things out.

Here's another example of a prepared statement focusing on another HOA issue frequently in the news, homeowners displaying flags on their property: We will discuss this with the homeowner and neighbors expressing concerns with the goal of achieving a resolution of this situation.

There's more about prepared statements, HOA communication and PR in At Least Some PR.

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