During the builder-controlled period, the developer typically signs every service contract the community relies on — landscaping crews, security patrols, pool maintenance, trash removal. If those contracts aren't clearly documented and formally reassigned at turnover, a new board can be left guessing which vendors are even under contract, on what terms, and through when.
A poorly handled handoff often shows up first as a service gap — the landscaping crew stops showing up, or the security company cancels coverage — because nobody confirmed the contract actually transferred to the new association as the responsible party.
A complete vendor handoff should give the new board, at minimum:
This information is typically included as part of the broader HOA turnover documents package, rather than handled as a separate process.
Without a documented handoff, a new board may unknowingly let a contract lapse, miss a renewal deadline that triggers a rate increase, or end up disputing charges it has no record of authorizing. In the worst cases, a vendor simply stops working because no one told them who to invoice going forward.
Builders that treat vendor handoff as its own checklist item — not an afterthought folded into a bigger document dump — give the incoming board a much better chance of keeping services running without interruption on day one.
