When do you change management companies??

I have lived in our HOA for over 12 years. We have had a few different management companies and a mess load of managers.

It always starts out like this. New management company... they are on top of things! Responsive to calls, requests, maintenance issues etc. As time goes on the quality of everything goes down the drain.

We have new management company who has been with us a year. I have watched the quality go down the drain with NO accountability on the managements end. Loads of excuses...and loads of non follow through.

Simple example. Taking a look at our past HOA Meeting minutes... you can see where we made motions to do something and the management has not acted. Getting bids, mailing letters, maintenance issues.

We have had projects approved with our manager not mailing letters to notify owners until a week before or shorter despite having approval weeks prior. We have been waiting for days on a bid on a project that was given last week. We have been in contact with the upper management and all they can say is we work very hard on your property etc etc etc. No real sense of accountability.

Upon signing up with this PM.. we were told we'd have a website to pay dues on etc. It's been a year and no such thing is exhistance. I have asked and I was told it's going to be a few weeks.. well, that was a month ago.

We asked for a new manager and was told it would be a few weeks for such to be granted! Is this looney or acceptable. Our board seems to all be on the same page thinking this is not a good situation and 2 weeks is a long time to expect us to wait for a new assigned manager.

Looking for your input.. Many thanks. Nicole

Sorry, Nicole

No problem

John

That is not my business address and I do not solicit here. I can handle in one email versus 20 posts.

Based on what you have stated, IF upper management has not been pro-active in resolving the association's concern, then yes, it might be time for another change.

The service you receive could be based on the size and type of your complex. If you happen to fall into the small association category (2-40) your manager could have upwards of 20 properties they manage, as I know from personal experience.

If and when you go looking for new management, you want one that has state of the art, HOA specific, software. That software will have a website or web portal that will handle homeowner online payments. But, if also should have a robust board portal for Board members only. This is where ALL association business flows into. The most important part is teamwork. You have to have a great working relationship with manager, management and board. You may not always agree, but are all willing to communicate openly.

Richard

Being in the business I personally think you walk a fine line out here but so far you walk it professionally. I was defending/explaining, not accusing you.

Are you on the board, Nicole?

How many directors are there? what size & type is your HOA (detached homes or?)?

Do your bylaws state, as ours do, that it's the board president's duty to see that the manager follows through with the Board's instructions?

It would depend on the severity and number of the complaints and how long it's taken to get major tasks accomplished, because you have to expect a few kinks while both sides get acquainted with each other.

That said, a year does seem excessively long, so where is your board of directors on this? The management company can’t do anything without the Board’s authorization, so if things aren’t being done, the Board needs to have a sit down with management, give it a deadline to turn things around – and if it doesn’t happen, start looking for another.

On the other hand, the Board may be the problem - when the board makes its decisions, is it being specific as to when things should happen and what it wants done? Did anyone follow up with the manager and ask why the letters weren’t sent out, why bids weren’t available to review for the next meeting, etc.?

If this has been going on for a year, it’s time to schedule that meeting. Meanwhile, get a committee together and decide what you want your management company to do. Be sure to get input from the homeowners – what do they like and don’t like about the current regime?

Send out your own request for proposals after you’ve finalized what you want – and this time, ask for references and CHECK THEM before narrowing your selection down to a few finalists (how many is up to you). You may want to consider having the finalists make a presentation before the entire board where they and interested homeowners can ask questions. Have your attorney review the contract to make sure everything’s in order. Schedule another meeting 6-12 months later to review any problems that have come up and go on from there.

As far as the website is concerned, I understand it’s easier to keep everything under one roof, but maybe you need to consider a separate company to do that. The same procedures apply – ask for references and check them, look at a few websites from other clients, and so on. Good luck!

The board change the property manager when the contract expires....or when there's a breach of contract and you follow the terms of breaking the contract without penalty. It's really simple in practice.

The HOA president needs to be more involved to "manage the manager" and represent the dues payers.

From personal experience is it possible the expectations of the board are not in line with the job descriptions of the manager? As someone stated, just because it ended up in the minutes and the PM was sitting there in the meeting does not mean they will do anything. In fact, it is most likely the other way around and they will not even inquire if they are the ones to do it.

Depending on the experience of the board members and their knowledge of the documents and state law, a PM will take advantage of the board, by not doing anything unless specifically asked to, and usually they will put it back on the board if at all possible.

If you can find someone to manage you, great, but don't think that you do not have to manage them. If the board approved a project and a mailing was necessary, it was up to the board to follow through and make sure it was done in a timely manner. You do get what you pay for and perhaps a discussion is necessary with current and or future PM"s to differentiate the tasks and who is doing it.

We paid very little for a management company, and that was just what we got, very little management. What is a full time vs a part time manager going to do for you.

This is an old post - you might want to start a new thread with your question so you can get fresh answers.