Is there a Chrome extension for HOA board members?

Common Elements Brain is one, and it is free. Today it shows the association behind any property listing on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Trulia. The board-specific parts, vendor checks on a vendor's own website and your association's record on its website, are coming in Brain and are labelled that way on this page.

Can Brain see our association's private records or owner information?

No. Brain shows what Common Elements holds: public records and what organizations publish on their own Common Elements profiles. It does not read your management portal, and it never sends page contents to Common Elements.

Our association's record is wrong or out of date. How do we fix it?

Claim the association on Common Elements. Once your claim is approved, a board member or manager can update the association's profile. Registry facts such as registration status come from the state's own records, so a correction there starts with the state.

Does using Brain commit the board to anything?

No. It is a research tool. Requesting a quote or creating an RFP through Common Elements, once those actions arrive in Brain, is the same as doing it on the website, and nothing is sent to a vendor until you send it.

For board members

Check before the board votes.

Boards approve contracts, hire managers and set budgets on whatever research a volunteer had time for. Brain puts the Common Elements record beside the page you are already reading. Below is the checklist we would use either way.

Add to Chrome Create a free account

Free for Chrome and Edge. Listed in the Chrome Web Store as Common Elements Insight while Brain features roll out; it updates in place.

Before the vote

A research checklist for board members

Six checks that catch most bad hires. Each says how to do it yourself and where Brain helps, today or later.

1
Is the contractor licensed for this work, in this state?
How to check: Search the state licensing board for the company and the qualifying individual. Match the license class to the scope (a roofing job needs a roofing or general license, not a handyman registration).
Where Brain helps: Coming in Brain: on the vendor's own website, the credentials Common Elements holds for that company, with their source.
2
Is the insurance real, current and naming the association?
How to check: Ask for a certificate of insurance listing the association as certificate holder (and additional insured where your documents require it). Call the agent on the certificate to confirm it is in force.
Where Brain helps: Brain will not replace that call. It can show what Common Elements has on file so you know what to ask for.
3
Have comparable associations used them, and how did it go?
How to check: Ask for three references from associations of similar size and age, and phone them. Ask about change orders, schedule and cleanup.
Where Brain helps: Coming in Brain: reviews and endorsements from Common Elements members, and associations the vendor has served where that is public.
4
Are we comparing like with like?
How to check: Put the same written scope in front of every bidder so the numbers can be compared. Three bids on three different scopes are not three bids.
Where Brain helps: Coming in Brain: Create an RFP from the vendor's page, with that vendor invited, using the Common Elements RFP hub.
5
Who manages the association next door, and how is it doing?
How to check: Look up the neighboring association with your state's corporation registry (active status, last annual report) and, in Florida, its management firm's license with the DBPR.
Where Brain helps: Available today on listing pages: open any listing in that community and the panel shows the association's registration status and management firm of record.
6
Is the management company you are interviewing what it says?
How to check: Confirm the firm's license (in Florida, the CAM firm license with the DBPR), the licensed manager who would be assigned, and the associations it currently manages.
Where Brain helps: Planned: on a management company's website, its portfolio of associations of record and license status.

Ready to collect bids? The RFP hub works today without the extension. More for boards on the board members page.

Status

What you get, and when

Available today

What works today

Works on property listings on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Trulia.
Finds the association behind the listing, or offers likely matches to choose from.
Shows registration status, management firm of record, milestone inspection status where Florida law requires one, unit count and year built.
Links to the association's full Common Elements record.
Looks nothing up until you open the panel. Your first 10 lookups need no account; a free account continues.

Coming in Brain

On a vendor's website: reviews, credentials and service area, with Request a quote and Create an RFP.
On your association's own website: its full Common Elements record, with Follow, Ask a question and Claim.
A side panel beside the page instead of a box drawn over it.
Site-by-site permission: Brain asks before it runs anywhere automatically.

Not available yet. This page will say so when each one ships.

Privacy

What Brain reads and sends

Recognized on your device
Brain works out what a page is about inside your browser. It does not send page text, page HTML, images or form contents anywhere.
Only the minimum leaves it
For a listing, the address, ZIP, state, the property's approximate map position, and an association name if the listing shows one. That is what is needed to find the match, and we do not keep it in our database.
It runs where you say
Today the panel looks nothing up until you open it. Brain will ask no site access at install: you click the icon on a page, or allow it site by site.

Full detail on the Common Elements Brain overview and in our privacy policy.

Questions

Board members ask

Is there a Chrome extension for HOA board members?: Common Elements Brain is one, and it is free. Today it shows the association behind any property listing on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Trulia. The board-specific parts, vendor checks on a vendor's own website and your association's record on its website, are coming in Brain and are labelled that way on this page.
Can Brain see our association's private records or owner information?: No. Brain shows what Common Elements holds: public records and what organizations publish on their own Common Elements profiles. It does not read your management portal, and it never sends page contents to Common Elements.
Our association's record is wrong or out of date. How do we fix it?: Claim the association on Common Elements. Once your claim is approved, a board member or manager can update the association's profile. Registry facts such as registration status come from the state's own records, so a correction there starts with the state.
Does using Brain commit the board to anything?: No. It is a research tool. Requesting a quote or creating an RFP through Common Elements, once those actions arrive in Brain, is the same as doing it on the website, and nothing is sent to a vendor until you send it.

Other ways people use Brain

Know who you are hiring.

Install it free today for association records on listing pages. Vendor and association website checks arrive as updates.

Add to Chrome

Check before the board votes.

A research checklist for board members

Is the contractor licensed for this work, in this state?

Is the insurance real, current and naming the association?

Have comparable associations used them, and how did it go?

Are we comparing like with like?

Who manages the association next door, and how is it doing?

Is the management company you are interviewing what it says?