The Association of Residential Managing Agents (ARMA) is the leading trade association for residential managing agents in England and Wales.
The association’s mission statement is to constantly improve standards of leasehold management and professionalism by means of member training, guidance and support.
The changing face of ARMA
Like any organisation we have to continually develop our product offering to meet the changing needs of our members in a constantly evolving leasehold market.
These changes are driven by the need to further raise the standards of residential leasehold management in this age of the ‘consumer voice’. Part of our advisory role is to keep members informed of legislative changes, improvements in health and safety law and the latest legal rulings. Indeed, we go a step further by creating new training courses to equip our members with the skills and knowledge they need to remain on the right side of the law, such as the training we offered on GDPR when it came into force earlier this year.
We now have four categories of membership:
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ARMA member – companies that have traded successfully as managing agents for at least two years
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Associate – managing agents that are working towards membership but don’t yet meet the two-year trading rule
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ARMA Partner – open to any commercial organisation that is not directly involved in the practice of block management but whose products and services are essential for managing agents
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RMC/RTM Company Directors – a brand new category open to non-commercial companies involved in the management of leasehold blocks of flats including RMCs, RTM companies who self-manage and Residents Associations.
The RMC/RTM Company Directors Portal
We recently launched a unique offering in the form of an online RMC/RTM Company Directors Portal initially to help our members – and their RMC/RTM Director clients – understand the legal obligations and responsibilities, powers and duties that company directors have under law. It contains a vast amount of information that is simply not available anywhere else on the market.
All ARMA members are able to sign up their RMC and RTM company director clients for access to this director’s portal as a member benefit and at no cost.
We then took this one step further to make a new category of membership for RMC and RTM Company Directors who self-manage, so that they could also benefit from this portal. It also provides technical support, monthly e-newsletter updates and discounted rates for training and events.
What does the portal contain?
The Portal is arranged in nine sections:
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An overview of company law
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What is a limited company required to do within its constitution?
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What are the legal responsibilities and liabilities of company directors?
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What happens if the directors do not comply with their other duties or responsibilities?
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How do directors communicate?
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Effective record keeping
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Running your RMC on a daily basis
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Accounting and finance
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Leasehold Infosheets: a series of six mini-guides that set out who’s who in leaseholder ownership and explain the basics to buyers and owners of leasehold properties. These are practical guides for leaseholders and prospective purchasers, so they can make informed decisions when buying and living in their homes. Each guide comes with a helpful glossary to help de-mystify leasehold tenure.
There is also an appendix which gives useful publications and website addresses; examples of a directors’ meeting agenda, AGM and Notice of Resolution, model articles and much more.
The portal also contains a series of bite-size, easily digestible webinars. They cover a wide range of topics such as Section 20 Consultation and Company Law Basics and we are continually adding to them.
If you are interested in joining ARMA as an RMC/RTM Company Director, please visit https://arma.org.uk/managing-agents/join-arma for more information, email us on info@arma.org.uk or call 020 7978 2607.
