snow plowing contracts

DeborahR5 - A contract should be awarded to the most competitive bid for the most comprehensive services offerred, and be voted on by the entire Board. However, there are two schools of thought that come to mine. One answer is that a unit owner performing hired services for an association may result in superior service because you don't cause a mess where you eat, so to speak. The other answer is there is a conflict of interest that may result in a deriliction of duty. I don't think that any service provider should receive a contract just because he/she is a unit owner. I tend to agree with the thought that allowing a unit owner to be contracted by the association presents the possibility of a conflict of interest and should not be permitted. There are plenty of service providers out there, spread the love.

DeborahR5: You do not state what the contracted services are for, but certainly, a homeowner who is a Board member should not receive a contract for being a board member, nor should there be payment for board member services.

Now, if this homeowner provides contractor/vendor services for the community and is being paid for same, then he should indeed sign a contract--same as any other contractor you would hire. However, it may not be in the community's best interests to actually hire an onsite homeowner for services--could cause a conflict of interest down the road.

Our doc's specifically say that the HOA cannot hire a homeowner to perform any work that will be paid for with HOA funds. Check for any clauses in your doc's.

We tried to resind this last year because we have a tennis pro and exercise trainers who live in the HOA. Guess what! We did not get the 2/3 vote, we didn't even get 1/2. Most people do not vote on issues like this. It now costs the homeowners who want to train for tennis or exercise a lot more hiring outside individuals.

Roger,

Conflict of interest is the number one reason. I live in Florida, the land of fraud and deception. This clause was always the norm when we did By-Laws for a HOA or Condo.

We are renovating our clubhouse. The committee that put the bids together did not know about our By-Law. They put a lot of different projects out to bid. One was the painting and interior window decorations. One of the homeowners is a decorator. His bid, which we could not accept, was $22,000 higher than our highest bidder, all for the same specifications and material. So much for a homeowner discount. When we explained to him that we could not accept the bid because of our By-Laws and specifically asked, why the highest price? he thought we would hire him because he lived in the community, keeping it in the family so to speak. I know that not everyone feels this way but obviously some feel it is their due.

This only reinforces my belief on the subject of hiring internally. Small jobs that relate to small groups as a tennis pro or exercise trainer, I have no problem with, but this situation taught us a lesson on the reasons why a no-hiring from within is sometimes a good thing. If we hire a schlump, we deal with it the way we can legally. If we hire a homeowner, we can do the same, but we also have to look at him everyday. By not hiring him we eliminate any problems that may come into question.

If a homeowner is a professional on that subject and wants to help, he can volunteer and guide the project. This enforces that we get the job done properly. The homeowner dosen't want the community or his money going into a sloppy job. We have many professionals that help our community in this manner.

Then there is that saying "don't sh-- where you eat." So true!!

Roger,

You trust the BOD but maybe not the entire community does. By not accepting contracts for services from neighbors any misconceptions are nullified.

It's a sorry state Florida is in. Yes we do have a lot of problems with vendors. You can view this on the HOA Talk daily news. Last week alone there 9 articles quoted about Fl HOA's or condos. The biggest hurt most of us felt here in Florida was during the past few years with the hurricanes. It brought out the scum. They scammed and cajoled everyone whose property was in disarray. It effected us all. The feelings of mistrust run deep in these parts. Most of us who had severe damage and had to pay 3 times what the going rate was before the storms to have our roofs repaired or the fallen trees taken from our bedrooms the week of the hurricanes. Florida is trying to reign these people in.

My community is what most would call "upper income". We have a lot of white collar professionals. In the 6 years I have lived here, but for the exception I noted previously, not one homeowner has given us a bid or even asked to be associated with any project the HOA has taken on. We have a fairly large community with many common elements and a golf course with all the amenities that go with it. Most homeowners, my husband for one, don't want the aggravation they know will come with being on the job in their own community. People expect more when you do for your own. Whether your company gives it all or not, most times, someone in the community calls the work into question.

My husband owns a business that services most of the HOA's in the surrounding area of our HOA. He does not publicize it though. He does not want to do business with our neighbors. These are our friends and if something goes wrong he does not want a friend knocking on our door.

We have had many conversations with friends in the community about this subject and most feel the same.

Joe, the example I gave was not hypothetical. It was a real example. And the contractor is still working for the HOA after 5 years and doing an excellent job. With this info do you think it was a plausible example