CARI
Community Association Risk Index

A deterministic, consent-gated risk index that scores community association health across five institutional dimensions. Published methodology. Machine-to-machine API. Real-time webhooks.

1.

What CARI Is

And what it is not

CARI is a unified 0–100 score that summarizes the financial health, governance quality, and operational integrity of a homeowners association. It is computed from live ledger data, attested governance records, and enforcement telemetry.

CARI is not a credit score. It does not evaluate individuals. It does not make lending decisions, insurance underwriting determinations, or legal recommendations. It is a pure signal — a structured, verifiable summary of association-level health for institutional consumption.

No CARI score is computed or shared without explicit consent from the HOA board.

2.

Five Components

Weighted scoring from live platform signals
Component Weight
Financial Health
Reserve ratio, delinquency rate, operating ratio, risk coefficient
30%
Governance
Board attestation, governance risk snapshot, quorum compliance, policy coverage
25%
Vendor Risk
Credential status, compliance alerts, COI coverage, BuildRated signals
15%
Enforcement Integrity
Guard block rate, SLA compliance, override frequency, decision coverage
15%
Payment Behavior
Prevented loss, dispute rate, collection efficiency, payment velocity
15%

Each component score is derived from signals already computed by the platform. No survey data. No self-reported metrics. Every input is ledger-verifiable.

3.

Grade Scale

Letter grades from composite score
A 90+
B 80–89
C 70–79
D 60–69
F <60

Grades within each tier use +/− modifiers. A score of 97 is A+. A score of 93 is A. A score of 90 is A−. The same pattern applies through B, C, and D tiers.

4.

Confidence Assessment

Data completeness determines score reliability

Every CARI response includes a confidence level and a data completeness percentage. Consumers should weight scores accordingly.

5.

Design Principles

Architectural commitments
  1. Consent-gated No score is computed or served without active HOA board consent. Consent can be revoked at any time, immediately halting all third-party access.
  2. Deterministic Same inputs produce the same score. Every computation includes a SHA-256 calculation hash. Scores are reproducible from their input signals.
  3. Immutable Score records are append-only. New scores supersede, never replace. The full time series is preserved for trend analysis and audit.
  4. Association-level only CARI evaluates the association, never individual residents. No personal data is exposed through the API.
  5. Transparent methodology Weights, thresholds, and signal sources are published. No black-box scoring.
6.

Institutional API

Machine-to-machine REST interface
// Score query
GET /api/v1/cari/score/{hoa_id}/
Authorization: Bearer cari_key_xxxxx

// Response
{
  "score": 87,
  "grade": "B+",
  "confidence": "HIGH",
  "data_completeness": 92.5,
  "content_hash": "sha256:a1b2c3...",
  "methodology_version": "1.0"
}

API access requires an active subscriber agreement and API key. Tier-based rate limits and credit-based billing apply. Real-time webhooks notify subscribers of material score changes.

7.

Institutional Reports

Purpose-built reports for each consumer

Lender Report

Financial health, delinquency analysis, reserve adequacy, and governance quality for mortgage underwriting decisions.

Insurer Report

Governance coefficient, prevented loss data, exclusion history, and enforcement integrity for D&O insurance pricing.

Title Report

Unit-level status, special assessments, litigation flags, and compliance gaps for closing and escrow.

Buyer Report

Simplified score, plain-language health summary, and peer comparison for prospective homebuyers.

Each report is generated as an immutable institutional artifact with SHA-256 content hash and version chain. Reports include unknown sections as first-class data — they emit truthful payloads, never omit.

8.

Intended Consumers

Institutional and professional use

Mortgage Lenders

Condo project review, Fannie Mae 1076 / Freddie Mac 1077 auto-fill, portfolio risk monitoring.

D&O Insurers

Premium indication, risk classification, claims prediction from governance and enforcement data.

Title & Escrow

Resale certificate automation, disclosure verification, closing acceleration.

HOA Boards

Self-assessment, peer benchmarking, governance improvement tracking, transparency to owners.

Important: CARI scores and reports are informational tools. They do not constitute lending decisions, insurance underwriting determinations, credit assessments, or legal advice. Consumers must apply their own professional judgment and due diligence.