Property managers who dislike owners

I suppose that it is "pretty common" for property managers (and, for that matter, HOA boards) to be a bit salty when dealing with people who have a track record of being a pain in the a$$.

I would find it unusual for any HOA to accept a credit card for payment of dues or fees.

It’s impossible to say. Part of being a property manager is providing good customer service, so I would be concerned about someone who would snap at homeowners for no reason or do something contrary to what the association’s contract requires him or her to do, and that should be reported.

On the other hand, people are not piñatas and just because you are in customer service, that doesn’t mean you have to put up with people’s BS. There are people who don’t know (or care) how to behave and then wonder why they aren’t getting anywhere.

Since we didn’t hear the conversation between you and the property manager, I don’t know the tone of what you or the manager said, whether one (or both) of you were in a pissed off mood to begin with. You didn’t say whether the association’s policy is to charge for extra copies of the governing documents – I agree $300 is excessive, especially if they’re in a PDF that can be emailed to you, which is what happened. So, I will assume you're venting, which is ok.

I deal with the public all the time in my job and I find that you can only control how YOU react when people behave like buttholes, even when you’ve done your best to be professional) because the only way to put toxic people in their place is not to play their game. Where’s the fun in acting a fool when the other person simply says “I’ll talk to you after you calm down and walks away?”

Your previous conversations on this board indicate there’s lots of bad blood between you, the board and the property manager, so from now on, try to minimize your contacts and be as cordial as you can. If you have a spouse, perhaps she can do the talking if you don’t think the other side is interested in speaking to you for whatever reason.

(By the way, did you look in your old purchasing documents to see if the documents were already there? Now that you have them, please keep them in a safe place.)
As for the HOA you’re buying into, I agree it would be easier to pay one check to cover everything, and I don’t know whether you asked whether this would be possible. Until you close on the home and become a member, you’ll just have to follow their process for now. After you become a member and get to know the board, you could ask about this – I would think it would be simple to come up with some sort of invoice listing all the fees and what they’re for, along with a space to total the amount.

Then again…didn’t you put another conversation on this board where you mentioned you didn’t want to get involved with any part of HOA governance? Little things like this are part of that, so if you want to push for efficiency (thus leading to lower costs), I guess you’ll have to rethink that stance. In that conversation, I recall saying if you’ve had it with HOAs, you were better off buying a home that’s not in a HOA community and live as you wish. What happened?

We pretty much sit back and laugh our a$$e$ off.

Do you assume you will be missed?

Please explain in detail exactly how this manager "illegally" tips off people?

The phrase I used is "rip off." Else PaulJ6 answered your question.

Show me where it says it is illegal. No can't.

Are you talking to me or someone else?

Say that state law says that a HOA's bylaws must be provided to an owner upon request.

So an owner requests the bylaws.

The property manager requires payment of $300 in order to provide the bylaws.

That is legal to you?

Some states allow for copying and other reasonable charges to be charged, but even if they were permitted, $300 is reasonable to charge for simply emailing a PDF copy of the bylaws to an owner?

See above- I already explained why: state law requires that the document be given to an owner who asks, sometimes with a "reasonable" charge to cover copying, mailing, etc.

State law doesn't require that the document be given only if the owner pays $300.

Yes, it is illegal. Period.

There is always the court system to take up your grievents.

Again, if a owner asked for a document then it was provided. If an escrow request came in, there was always a fee associated for that transaction. In ten years I probably provided over 1000 escrow requests with one complaint. I

Is there a statute that says addressing escrow matters should be done for free or at a reasonable cost? If not, then I think whatever it is you are trying to argue is not relevant to PaulJ6's point.

Here's my favorite part:

"Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman also ordered the association to pay a total of $95,000 in attorney fees to the two firms that represented the plaintiffs, Zebersky Payne Shaw Lewenz LLP and the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A..

The Kobaskys, who acted as the representatives for the class action, were also awarded $5,000 as compensation for their time and effort."

For a judge to award attorneys' fees is a big deal.

The article indicates that (rather than appeal?) the condo association agreed to a settlement.

The article also calls out the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), which oversees the Division of Florida Condominiums, as a force in getting condo associations to follow the law on fees.

You are in Texas Barbara

As to California statutes, repeatedly broken in our HOA. We, as homeowners, voted for limits on BOD spending and attempts are repeatedly made to override the vote. The chairman of the board can and does hire an attorney at our expense.

As to our general manager, she was qualified enough for the position but is constantly pulled between the board and homeowners. The board is not unified and has an us vs them mentality, (most but not all).
This behavior has been prevalent for years and I don't believe it will change.

Our GM has given notice after one year in her position. Good woman, I wish her well.

Pleased to read Paul is moving on to a place with a better HOA. So are we.

In mine, there is a lot of dissatisfaction, but the property manager controls the board, and board elections (i.e., the property manager picks the candidates and picks who is elected), and installed recording devices in front of front doors of people who are suspected of disliking the property manager. So there's no hope. I'm moving.