Advise

Started by MC4 • 11 replies • 1471 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

MC4 (Florida)
Posts: 29

Posted:

We are a newly elected board, as the President i've been asking the management company for a lot of financial documents, apparently the previous board allowed the management company to have a lot of control and they weren't happy when I got elected. Many of the questions I've been asking is due to the 40% delinquency rate that they have allowed in this community. In the last several days, I hired someone to do some landscaping in front of my house. They took out the old sod and are in the process of replacing it with new sod. Today the property manager from our management company, the one that I've been asking for all these records stopped me to tell me that she was going to issue a violation, because of my grass. It is obvious that my lawn is being worked on. After all both pallets of the new grass was in my driveway. Two of my members witness this and they are seeing it as a retaliatory method. Can someone advise. Why should I do? if anything. I am questioning them on everything. A contractor came to fix a something in the pool are and he left the work unfinished, she gave me some mombo jumbo excuse and I told her it was unacceptable. That the contract had to return to finish the job. We have 13 more months with this management company as per the previous board.

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 1,767

Posted:

FIRE THEM!!!

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820

Posted:

the board directs the management company.

period.

the tail does not wag the dog.

set clear expectations, tell the PM, in writing, what the board wants, when they want it, and that failure to produce said results will be considered grounds for firing.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

MC - you are ONE person on the board.

1) Let the grass violation be issued. It will either be accepted by the board, or not, as valid.

2) Let the actions of the MC be noted at a board meeting. The board will determine if it warrants firing the MC.

I am concerned about you getting off on the wrong foot in your new position. While you should not be micro-managing the day to day actions of the MC, you can keep a log of the items you feel need correcting. But it is the entire board that does the deciding whether or not the MC goes.

DeeS1 (Michigan)
Posts: 223

Posted:

I believe most MC contracts contain a provision for termination with cause and/or notification regardless of the specified length of the contract. I believe my home state even requires it. If your board is in agreement with you, you can explore your options there. You may want to for a committee to begin investigating/interviewing alternative management companies prior to reaching any decisions.

KW3 (California)
Posts: 146

Posted:

Hi,

Our HOA is facing the very same situation (MC-controlled/hostaged)as a newly elected board begins to open the business. Fortunately, I and other new BDs haven't hit our own foot, but we are careful to begin stepping on to the case with investigating, finding, and recording all evidence and documents we may refer to. However, so far this is just each individual concerned member's private action; they aren't organized. So as I read someone's advice here of forming a special committee organized for this task, I thought it's great idea, but then it'll be an operation and effort run open and under MC's radar. (just before the election, an earlier appointed BD has formed a security committee to solve and improve community security issues. The committee made effort and brought in a new (or renewed) neighborhood watch program cooperated with local police office and a new security service to replace the old one (one hired through MC). All is good and great accomplishment with effective outcome so far, but the BD who lead the committee was NOT elected by one vote less and the election inspector was the PM.) So I wonder how difficult it could be to fight and win this thing? Did anyone have an actual experience/real case on this and how far and how long it took to make the change? Please share. Thanks

DeeS1 (Michigan)
Posts: 223

Posted:

We are small community, so our situation was likely considerably different than if the MC was helping with the operations and we were much larger, but we've been through the process and have ended up much better in the long run.

Our original MC was hired by the site developer under declarant control. The developer went bankrupt with 2/5 BOD position, the association transitioned to home-owner controlled, but the same MC was kept in place. Even with 2/5 BOD positions, the developer never participated in any HOA business and the three appointed HO board members and the MC handled the affairs of the community as best as anyone knew how. Once all 4 BOD positions were homeowners, contracts started being reviewed etc. and it became obvious that our community was being billed for and paid for many services that were specifically included in our contract. Point after point was brought up to the MC, who did reimburse fees for multiple years back once brought to their attention. The BOD also began investigating less expensive MCs (important to note that our MC never came to regular board meetings) as our original contract term was coming up for renewal.

As it turned out, I believe our MC realized their profit margins would be considerably less moving forward now that they were not able to bill for all these extra services (which I do believe was an honest mistake) and, frankly, I'm certain we must have been completely annoying as we uncovered all the miss billings. Even though we were completely planning to not renew our contract and sign up with a new MC, our existing MC sent US notice of non-renewal by certified mail.

So, be aware, YOU may not have the choice in the end. As we expected, all worked out very well for us in the end. We switched from a more developer-centric MC to a more maintenance oriented MC and it has worked out very well.

Also, keep in mind, ANY MC works for the BOD/Community, not the other way around. I can not imagine any professional organization doctoring the ballots, but I would imagine the board is always able to review them post-election if you have concerns.

Hope that helps.

FredB4 (Ohio)
Posts: 375

Posted:

Does your association bylaws require that you get pre-approval for any "improvement projects " that you make to your property ? If so and you didn't do that, then the property manager was only doing his/her duty. Being on the board does not excempt members from obeying the same rules and regulations as everyone else.
If pre-approval is not in your CC&R's then it sounds a little like "payback".
If your management company is being overly difficult about your efforts to look at records and not producing them in a reasonable amount of time,then that is a possible indication something is wrong.
The management company works for the association and the records belong to the association and not to the management company.
We found our management company had gotten in a bad rut from previous boards.Your board as a group needs to be clear on exactly what they expect from the property manager and management company.If they don't respond to your satisfaction then start looking for a new company but we had to wait almost a year until the end of their contract or pay a large penality.
In the end, when we gave notice, they wanted to lower our fees and make changes in areas they knew we were unhappy with, but we changed anyway because they had almost a year to improve and they did very little.

SureshD
Posts: 268

Posted:

Really Fred, an improvemnt project requiring permission? Sounds ridiculous.

How about:

Watering your lawn?

Cutting your lawn?

Fertilizing your lawn?

Weeding your lawn?

FredB4 (Ohio)
Posts: 375

Posted:

Suresh,
The items you mention are "maintenance" and not improvements and wouldn't need approval. My point was that if the bylaws required approval for projects of that nature then they needed to be followed not whether the rule was ridiculous or not.
Our bylaws require approval for anything that is going to be changed or replaced. The process is quick and easy and avoids misunderstandings between the association and owner on what is acceptable.

SureshD
Posts: 268

Posted:

The OP posted:

"...In the last several days, I hired someone to do some landscaping in front of my house. They took out the old sod and are in the process of replacing it with new sod..."

Failure to do so would likely result in a [warranted] violation for NOT maintaining the property.

LawrenceC1 (Georgia)
Posts: 480

Posted:

Ridiculous or not, there may be a rule requiring new sod to be approved. In our neighborhood, we want everyone to use bermudagrass in their front yard, so that all the yards match. So the ARC must approve new sod. There's not much to the approval -- just a check to be sure that the owner will be installing the right variety of grass -- but it's an approval nonetheless. Anyone who fails to get a required ARC review is subject to a fine -- even if the decision from the ARC would have been in the affirmative.

You need to be aware of all the rules, and know when you need approval, before undertaking *any* kind of project.

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

✓ Ask follow-up questions
✓ Share your experience
✓ Get expert advice
✓ Access 350,000 discussions

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here