An umbrella association is governance structure where there is more than one residential community association grouped together. This structure is also known as what?

• A. A single, standalone homeowners association serving one community.
• B. A governance structure where a city or county oversees multiple communities.
• C. A non-profit umbrella group for all neighborhoods.
• D. Master Association.

Answer: (D)

When multiple residential communities share common spaces and rules, a single governing body oversees all of them and their shared amenities. This centralized entity is the Master Association, sometimes called an umbrella association. It coordinates maintenance, budgets, and enforcement across the entire umbrella, while each individual community maintains its own sub-association with its own board and covenants. The master board handles issues that affect all communities, like common-area maintenance, big projects, and common-restricted rules, and collects master assessments to fund those shared needs.

The other terms don’t fit as neatly. A standalone HOA serves just one community, not multiple. Government oversight by a city or county describes public governance, not a private homeowners association structure. A non-profit umbrella group is a generic description and could apply in various contexts, but in the standard HOA terminology, the proper term for a multi-community, shared-amenity structure is Master Association.