ARC HOA · Architectural review

The patio cover shouldn't take longer to approve than to build.

ARC HOA moves architectural review online without moving the authority anywhere. Homeowners submit complete applications in minutes; your committee gets an organized packet, checked against your own guidelines, with a recommendation it's free to overrule. Decisions come back in days — consistent, documented, and defensible.

Works with your existing guidelines. If your guidelines are a mess, we fix those too — see below.

Approved · Day 4
Application No. 118Patio cover · Lot 42
Submitted online, photos attachedMon 9:04 AM
Completeness check — passedMon 9:05 AM
Guideline check — 1 note flaggedMon 9:05 AM
Committee review & voteThu 6:30 PM
Homeowner notified, decision filedThu 6:42 PM
§1Why review drags

It's not the committee. It's the paperwork.

Curious how decisions stay consistent and documented? Inside the ARC review →

Most architectural delays happen before anyone reviews anything: incomplete forms bouncing back and forth, missing photos, applications sitting in an inbox until the next meeting, and nobody sure what the guidelines actually say about black garage doors. ARC HOA removes exactly that layer — the committee's judgment stays untouched.

§2How it works

Submission to decision, start to finish.

Homeowner applies online

A guided form asks for exactly what your community requires for that project type — dimensions, materials, colors, photos, neighbor signatures if your rules call for them. Incomplete applications can't be submitted, so they can't bounce.

The application is checked against your guidelines

Within minutes, the submission is compared to your architectural guidelines. Conflicts get flagged with the specific section cited. Clean applications get noted as such. Either way, the committee opens a packet, not a pile.

Your committee decides

The committee sees the full application, the guideline check, and a recommendation — approve, deny, or approve with conditions. It can accept the recommendation in one click or overrule it entirely. The tool advises; volunteers decide.

Everything is recorded

The homeowner is notified automatically with the reasons attached. The decision, the discussion, and the guideline basis are filed — so when a similar application arrives in two years, or a homeowner claims inconsistent treatment, the record answers for itself.

§3What changes

Faster for homeowners. Safer for the board.

Homeowners get

  • A clear application — no guessing what to include
  • Status visibility — where it is, not "we'll get back to you"
  • Fast answers — days, not next month's meeting
  • Reasons in writing — approvals and denials both explained

The board gets

  • Complete packets — the back-and-forth disappears
  • Consistency — every application checked against the same guidelines
  • A paper trail — decisions documented against the rules that justified them
  • Shorter meetings — review the flagged issues, not the whole file
§4Related

Guidelines from 1994? We modernize those too.

A review process is only as good as the guidelines behind it. If yours are outdated, contradictory, or silent on everything invented since the fax machine — solar, EV chargers, turf, ADUs — we rewrite them into a document that's clear, current, and enforceable. Many communities do this and ARC HOA together.

Ask about guideline modernization →

§5Common questions

Before you ask.

Does the tool approve or deny applications on its own?

Never. It checks applications against your guidelines and makes a recommendation. Every decision is made and recorded by your committee. If the committee disagrees with the recommendation, the committee wins — that's the design, not a workaround.

What about homeowners who won't use a website?

Paper applications can still be accepted and entered by your manager, so nobody is shut out. In practice, once neighbors see decisions coming back in days instead of weeks, online adoption takes care of itself.

Our guidelines have gray areas. How does it handle those?

Gray areas get flagged as exactly that — "guidelines don't clearly address this" — and routed to the committee's judgment, with the closest relevant sections cited. Over time, those flags also show you precisely where your guidelines need updating.

Do we need to change management companies or software?

No. ARC HOA runs alongside whatever you use today. Homeowners reach it through a link on your community website.

What does it cost?

ARC HOA is free for participating communities. The homeowner pays a $49 fee when submitting an application.

Turn review week into review day.

Send us your architectural guidelines and we'll show you what your committee's next application could look like.

Get started (949) 881-7071