Heavy-handed Mgmt Company pt 2

Hello again. I asked a question here just a couple of days ago about dealing with a 'heavy-handed' property management company AMCo. There's a Board meeting tomorrow. Texas neighborhood of 600+ detached single-family homes.

Q1: AMCo is sending out approx 140 violations each month. Is that a lot? Most are minor and do not incur fines.

Q2: I'd like for the AMCo 'patrol schedule' to be public, ie "AMCo will be in the neighborhood on the 15th and 30th of each month". Is this a bad idea?

Q3: Can anyone point me at an *unbiased* source re Texas HOAs/ROAs and lawsuits? I can't seem to find anything but law firms (that say vague stuff and then advise me to hire them) and anti-HOA grudge sites. Is there anything that goes past "anybody can sue anyone for anything" and gets to "here are some actual lawsuits that have been filed, their outcomes, and what an HOA should take away from each case"?

(Our ROA is currently 'between lawyers').

Thanks.

Bill

-- For general reading and to start (and only start) to get a feel for how Texas appeals courts (including the Texas Supreme Court) think about certain HOA/COA topics, at https://law.justia.com/texas/ one can search the sub-sites as follows for HOA/COA lawsuits and what appeals courts said:

-- the Texas Supreme Court Decisions

-- Each of the District Courts of Appeals Decisions

Keep in mind there is a reason the good attorneys spend three years in law school and then a few years under the supervision of an experienced attorney.

Keep in mind that only the District Court of Appeals decisions for your district are binding on your area's trial court.

If you do not know the difference between a trial court and an appeals court, then I advise not wasting your time.

I guess I should have noted that I *am* on the Board. I try to boil my questions down to the bare minimum - but sometimes I miss the mark.

I know that the # of notices is subjective - I was wondering if anyone could give me actual figures from their experience, ala "When I was on the Board, we had X units and typically sent around N notices per month". I ask because I'd like to try to get an idea if our mgmt company is being reasonable or not.

Re giving the neighborhood a 'heads up': really I'm just curious if there's any downside to doing so.

I'm not arguing with anything you said (and I appreciate your taking the time to respond). I just didn't get a lot out of your answers, sorry.

Bill

How do you think becoming an Attorney works? This is pretty typical for many attorney's to apprenticeship in a law firm for a few years. If not mistaken, you may also need a 4 year degree BEFORE pursuing a law degree. Hence why it is 3 years of additional schooling. You have to work your way up to partner to get your name on that commercial. Once that happens then you are considered a "good" attorney.

Otherwise you kind of look like the "Lincoln Lawyer" or Matt Damon's character. Oh let's not forget about having to pass the Bar as well.

I worked for a HOA law firm than owned a management company. I often would scratch my head wondering what they actually taught in law school. I also prefer ethical lawyers and they few and far between.

Is the goal to see how many violations one could write and still want to live in that community?

What if cities wanted to really beef up their revenue, hire a bunch more cops and nail the average citizen left and right for every little thing we know we break on a daily basis.

BillD16

First, I must echo the thoughts of SheliaH: if the management company is perceived as being heavy handed, or actually is, it is the responsibility of the Board to direct the MC to be less so.

Talk of courts and lawsuits, and researching precedents, is very premature. I would think if your Association approached a HOA attorney with this issue, he or she would tell the Association management direction of the activities of the MC is the responsibility of the Association.

If a majority of the Board is in agreement with you, then the Board should ask to meet with the principal(s) of the MC to discuss and define the role of the MC regarding compliance matters. If the MC declines to meet, or does not implement changes as directed by the Board, then it is the responsibility of the Board to terminate the relationship with the MC.

Next, also as posted by Sheila, the actual dates of the review schedule should not be published. Every property owner in the Association should assume there will be a compliance review every day; the appearance and compliance of the property should reflect that assumption.

On the other hand, if the MC is 'gigging' a property because a trash tote is in the driveway on the review day, when owners are performing landscaping and maintenance activities, then, yes, I would agree they are being heavy handed. Out of line is the language I would use. But, what are the specific circumstances to which you are referring.

Finally, you have not told us much about yourself. You are on the Board. For how long? How long has this MC been in place? How long has the Association been under owner control.

If the MC was hired four months ago, with a mandate to address issues a previous Board, or MC, or both, did not address, then yes, the compliance issue percentage you quoted may be perfectly reasonable.

I must observe, your questions seem as though you are new to the Board and possibly to living in an HOA. What is the scope of work of the responsibilities of the MC. Is the MC following the scope or taking an approach not defined in the contract or operating agreement.

Management companies don't get paid extra for writing a lot of violations. A management company, once hired by a HOA, needs to sit down with the board to go over the perimeters of the contract. One would be how often, when and how strict re you going to be. As a PM, I can write more violations than a cop who has a quota. If a PM is going to focus on something particular this month, like maybe fence painting, they need to give the Board a heads up, as we I walk my dog in the evening I don't want to get bombarded with all these owner yelling what the hell is going on. If it is a community of 100 or more units I do monthly campaigns, focus on a different area every month.

Some of them do.

There is a nationwide company, for whom I used to work, that does bill for violations. The monthly fee includes sending out violation notices up to 10% of the number of lots. Beyond that, associations are charged $x per letter. I forget the amount but it wasn't insignificant. It was a few bucks. This same company also employs compliance drivers, so the person recording the violation isn't the manager - which I really hated, since I was the one getting the calls when people disputed a violation.

to the OP - the board calls the shots. If you want the management company to be less heavy handed, the board just has to direct them otherwise. Sometimes violations are indisputable - say a broken fence - and sometimes they are judgment calls (i.e. landscaping). Get your board members together and suggest developing some standards that your management company can use for these judgement call situations. Then communicate those to the management company.