Disrespect from Management Company

I have been dealing with our PM for a few years. I am constantly emailing or calling to ask her to have cleanup done in the common area in front of my home. My last email was two weeks ago with no response. Today I called again and she accused me of yelling at her she said write me an email, I said I already did twice in last two weeks, she then said come to the board meetings, I said I had been to the last 6 and mentioned the problems and still no action and then she hung up on me.
So I called the cleanup company my self, since I see them everyweek and I know them, and ask them if they knew this was part of their job in the common area out front. they said yes and They sent out a supervisor and all was good. Until I received a call from the PM telling me I had no right to call them it was her job and that she was going to tell them not to take my calls and then she hung up on me. by the way this subject regarding this common area is an every 5 to 6 weeks problem.

First off I am an owner, not a renter. I am not on the board. I feel very disrespected. I pay high HOA fees and I don't think I or any other owner should be treated like a dog. Her supervisor is on her side and also this PM is best friends with out HOA president, which I think is a conflict of interest.

I need to say something, not sure I can do it myself. I'm disabled and she is a bully, to everyone by the way. So what can I do? Is there a Property management agency that could help. PM's in california do not need a real estate license but this situation today has me so sick inside. I can't believe she would treat me that way.

Please give me some advice to let her know this is not the way you treat owners who are paying your salary.
Was I wrong for asking the cleanup guys to do the job myself? it wasn't my personal propery, it was common area property.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Mike

You would fine someone for speaking with a worker. I believe our constitution says people have a first amendment right, or as some call "freedom of speech"!

Where in the OP statement did he tell anyone to do anything. He asked if they knew it was they job. He is paying dues to have someone not do their job and be rude, really?

Oh, bring proof of the emails, etc. to the meeting to support your position.

"It's important that people know what you stand for. It's equally important they know what you won't stand for." A wise woman said that........

That's absolutely the worst thing you could do. That will not end well for you regardless of how bad the situation might be.

It may not be in the documents, but it really isn't appropriate for the owners to dictate to the workers what should or shouldn't be done with the association's common area. They're supposed to take direction from the property manager, who takes direction from the board. In our association when homeowners have issues with association contractors, they go to the property manager, who should address it. In some cases, the property manager may need to consult with the board on what to do next - that may be what's going on here, although I agree it shouldn't take dozens of emails to get a response.

By the way, it's not appropriate for you to have work done on association property and take it out of your HOA assessments either - that can lead to legal action against YOU.

In your case, it would appear this property manager isn't doing her job so the proper step would be to talk to the board, even if you think it's a waste of time. The property manager will likely be at the meeting, so it would be interesting to hear her response after you present copies of all your emails. Hopefully, you'll get an apology and a response, but if you don't, you can document going to the meeting and speaking your piece. In fact, if they make promises to address your issue, get them to commit to a date and then send them a letter saying something like "thanks for listening to my complaint - as you stated, I should expect to see X occur on or before Y date. If there is going to be a delay, please let me know as soon as possible." Send that certified with a return receipt requested and copy the property manager.

If you still don't get a response, you may want to speak to an attorney about your next option - if you can't afford one, check to see if there's legal aid society in your area where you can get advice for a low fee and sometimes no fee at all based on your income. If you wind up having to go to court, you may be able to use Small Claims court - you won't need an attorney, but you can ask for all your expenses incurred in taking legal action to be reimbursed, along with whatever you're asking the association to do. There may even be some sort of alternative dispute resolution program in your area where both sides can present their case and a mediator either renders a decision or helps both come to a settlement that satisfies everyone. Those can also be a lot less expensive than going to court, but if one side balks, the mediation can then be used as evidence against them.

PS - double check your documents to ensure whatever you're asking the association to do IS, in fact their responsibility. Good luck!

It is very distressing that MC's can get away with abusive and disrespectful behavior and the board does not protect the owners against the treatment that the owners are paying for. It's like Melissa is fond of saying "Suing your HOA is suing yourself"; in this instance, "Contributing fees for a Bully MC is hiring an abuser to make your life miserable."

It does not matter if there is a state licensing agency for MC's; my state (FL) has one and it is TOTALLY uninterested in pursuing any complaints against MC and CAMS. All the agency does is receive fees and hand out licenses. And, it will not post any complaints or license sanctions online for the public to view. You would have to request information through Freedom of Information Act. It is difficult to vet CAM's in Florida.

The HOA statute also has specific compliance requirements for CAMs but the state is TOTALLY uninterested in receiving complaints and makes the process so onerous that one would have to be nuts to pursue the process that will with 99% certainty be screened out. Among the various hoops, the state requires TWO owners to attest to the initial complaint.

In my HOA, this kind of MC and Board behavior (and other general incompetence and abuse behaviors) is so prevalent that owners have a new term to use to get issues resolved: Self Help. Owners who have no voice inside their own community go outside the community to be heard. This can and has involved media if there are no actual remedies available in the public sector. Usually, owners call Building Code Compliance. An owner funded a Legal Aid assistance program for owners with an HOA attorney serving on the board. It is quite upsetting to everyone, but most people understand why owners go around the roadblocks that some MC's and boards erect.

Intimidation by threatening and bullying owners who "speak out" is very common. Once this strategy is exposed and recognized for what it is, it no longer has a control function and owners are even more likely to seek "self help" outside the community. Bullying must be answered and OP did nothing extraordinary by engaging in "self help" when it became obvious that the reasonable concern was not going to be addressed by MC.

Speaking up at a public meaning and exposing the MC behavior will have a side effect of educating owners about effective responses and the benefit of making written inquiries and documenting contacts. And, it will remind owners that effective action does not include withholding assessments.

And Kerry in answer to your question why are they not listening, I just think the PM agent in charge of our HOA just doesn't do the job. Lazy, over worked, doesn't care? I have no idea. Its nothing I've done. I think after 1 year of reminding them over and over of the same thing, its just negligence on their part.
My neighbor pays for his own landscaper because he got tired of waiting, in fact he has take full control of his common area and nothing is said. Not that I care, it looks beautiful, but that's just another example of the care we get or don't get.

Please I'm positive in fact the property manager said it to me on the phone yesterday when I said no one's come to take care of my front yard and they said back to me it's not your front yard it's common area I'm positive.
The reason my neighbor can take care of his is because he did it way before my time and individual board members would give their okay because they thought they were the bosses and they let people do everything. In fact they even allowed one of the owners here to bury her mother's ashes in a Rose Garden in the back which technically is against the law. I mean this was like 20 years ago. And I guess she's still there.

No they didn't okay him to do it. it was in between board members and a different Property Management Company and nobody watched what anybody did. After such a long time it just became the norm. I too have in fact started paying the same gardener next door to do my backyard it's very small so I can have my patio clean of Ivy and bushes. And they haven't said a thing about it except for I shouldn't be having to pay anything extra are landscaper should be doing that. But I had to complain about the back constantly too and I gave up. but I'm not going to pay for the front. Many many many things have gone on in this condominium Association that homeowners have done to their properties without any permits without any okay without any knowledge of the board. I guess they just don't care.