MackenzieM (Maryland)
Posts: 3
Posts: 3
Posted:
Sooooooo... I'm not sure my problem is the even the type that actually has a solution but... I'm all ears for any and all advice, opinions, insight, sharing of apropos personal experiences, hot takes, etc...
So here's the deal (will balance keeping it concise but also descriptive)...
I'm 1 of 5 board members for our Condo Association in Baltimore, MD. Our historic building has 51 units and is a bit (and steadily increasing) over half owner-occupied units as opposed to owners who rent their units.
Back about this time last year I organized an ultimately successful campaign to oust the former entrenched board. To make a very long story very short: The former board and the Association Management Company that worked for them just generally handled even routine and necessary owner interaction is with what I can only describe as "polite contempt." And that's if one could even successfully engage with leadership at all. If you'd like to read more about the old board please see the "footnote" at the bottom of this post
*
By the time I ran for the board I'd already spent a lot of time building community via a resident/owner fb group/messenger chat I founded as well as the old fashioned way: introducing myself to my neighbors and chatting them up. During the "campaign" I made a list of absentee owners and "cold-called" them to ask for their votes. I was surprised how many people actually took my call and actually met a lot of nice people that way. Myself and the two like-minded owners I'd recruited all ran together under the slogan "Security, Communication, Transparency: It's Time for a Change." The election was a "landslide," and essentially the first in the 15 year history to actually be competitive and not just have the existing board run unopposed. My fellow board members unanimously and enthusiastically at the time voted me to serve as President.
A bit about me: I have a masters degree in accounting and had a whole career where I worked for an international "big 4" accounting firm and then a Fortune 500 Company. I was drawn to the profession mainly due to the fact that it is in service to the integrity of financial reporting over the vagaries and desires of the paying client. I'm now a professional dog walker but I always maintain and value my "accountant's mindset" and how that informs my perspective on the world. I'm also a 40+ year old goth/punk rocker that is always wearing something ridiculous. I enjoy and am amused by the juxtaposition.
I'm also a particularly extroverted, outgoing person... which brings me to the problem. The two remaining holdovers from the old board resigned almost immediately and then my fellow most like-minded board member got an awesome job and unexpectedly resigned within a few months. However, units in our building started flying off the market and were being bought as personal residences mainly by young professional people (this was a change in the trend from the first half of the condo's 15 year history). I was happy to have recruited three of our newer owners to serve as interim board members. Each of them were enthusiastic about the "Security, Communication, Transparency: It's Time for a Change" agenda when I presented it to them. All three were clearly competent, intelligent, relatively young professionals with relevant experience and I felt good about recommending that they get interim board appointments.
It wasn't long before troublesome interactions with my fellow board members began to manifest... The main conflict first centered around our relationship with the "Legacy" Association Management Company and Association Management Companies in general. I'll spare you the details and just say "take my word for it the "legacy" Association Management Company was corrupt, unscrupulous, dishonest to a relentless and even ridiculous level, I had been keeping meticulous documentation of these claims. And many other communities I compared notes with had nearly the exact same experience bad experiences with their services.
So ... one of my fellow board members specifically (who I really hit it off with and enjoyed working with heretofore), proceeded to clearly take a position of sympathy for towards the "corrupt-dishonest-legacy Association Manager." We were actively circulating a RFP for new management all the while. Eventually there was an incident with a 5 digits $$$$$ wire transfer being "authorized" by the Assoc Mgr under dubious circumstances. We were able to stop the transaction before it went through but it was the last straw. The Assoc Mgmt Co ended terminating with 6 weeks notice (the contract minimum was 30 days notice). Though it was way more abrupt than I would have liked and definitely less than ideal. It was also a relief. At that point we'd only received one proposal for new management (though we sent our RFP to the 10 companies we had identified as active in our area). We were able to get one additional proposal before we ultimately decided on our new Association Management Co.. They came with a strong personal recommendation from one of my clients who served on the board of her condos and who had actually fired the same "legacy unscrupulous Assoc Mgmt Co" a year previously. I want to note that interference by the ousted board members was clearly an aggravating factor in the relationship.
That's when the trouble really began, my fellow 4 fellow board members began to coalesce around the sympathizer I mentioned previously and eventually it was essentially 4 against 1 on pretty much every matter of board business. The issues that were sticking points were all of the "uncompromisable" nature for me personally. Issues like providing oversight (particularly over quality control and financial review of the in-house service unit services and invoices). As an accountant no one, including myself, should be exempt from basic transparency and accountability. Especially, when there's a situation where our legal agent (the Assoc. Mgmt Co) is both initiating, self-supervising, and then self-authorizing payment for services rendered. In the countless hours I had spent reviewing association documents, it was clear to me that was the biggest area for cost reduction/quality enhancements. This was the very sticking point that began the escalation that eventually resulted in my fellow board members removing me as president. They also refused to read or even acknowledge our obligations to the MD Condo Act and our governing documents. They also seemed to have an expectation that if I was "outvoted" 4 to 1 that I'd be somehow obligated go along with or be silenced regarding or "toe the party line." This might be an argument for good faith disagreements over decisions like what to spend on what, whether to approve this contract or that, revising the condo rules, etc.. But all the conflict was over basic financial oversight and governance according to the MD Condo Act and our Condo Docs, etc.. All are matters I will never relent on and will work toward as long as I'm paying condo dues. This was also combined with an escalation in enmity where they would all talk over me and not even let me present my position. Additionally, they clearly applied one set of "rules" to my capacity as a board member only and didn't hold themselves to their own "rules." I've also clearly documented this.
So that's where we are now. I have chosen to at least serve our the rest of my two year term and to continue to pursue the same goals as always. I thought I'd be serving them as president of the board but I ended up serving them as the lone dissenter 4 against 1. Unfortunately all of my interactions with my fellow board members are fraught with unfounded misinformation regarding myself and my positions. My entreaties to "normalize" board conflict have clearly not been taken to heart. I do feel that I am nonetheless effective to some extent in keeping them minimally aware of and accountable to good governance, despite the constant shitshow. I can and will quit or even sell/move should I ever decide that's the best course for me. In the meantime... What do you all think?
* Additional Problematic Former Board Episodes:
There was also a history of particularly problematic special assessments to some unit owners for limited common element replacement. Half of the owners of these units were eventually foreclosed on and the other half unanimously said the work was performed shoddily and was never even actually completed. Meeting minutes from the time described owners worried about the financial solvency of the condos after the huge financial fallout from the project. More troubling, it was discovered that the former board was holding illegal closed meetings and soliciting non-competitive bids for another round of such assessments.
That and they refused to communicate or take any responsibility for a string of 30 break-ins, home invasions, assaults, and thefts by the same individual
So here's the deal (will balance keeping it concise but also descriptive)...
I'm 1 of 5 board members for our Condo Association in Baltimore, MD. Our historic building has 51 units and is a bit (and steadily increasing) over half owner-occupied units as opposed to owners who rent their units.
Back about this time last year I organized an ultimately successful campaign to oust the former entrenched board. To make a very long story very short: The former board and the Association Management Company that worked for them just generally handled even routine and necessary owner interaction is with what I can only describe as "polite contempt." And that's if one could even successfully engage with leadership at all. If you'd like to read more about the old board please see the "footnote" at the bottom of this post
* By the time I ran for the board I'd already spent a lot of time building community via a resident/owner fb group/messenger chat I founded as well as the old fashioned way: introducing myself to my neighbors and chatting them up. During the "campaign" I made a list of absentee owners and "cold-called" them to ask for their votes. I was surprised how many people actually took my call and actually met a lot of nice people that way. Myself and the two like-minded owners I'd recruited all ran together under the slogan "Security, Communication, Transparency: It's Time for a Change." The election was a "landslide," and essentially the first in the 15 year history to actually be competitive and not just have the existing board run unopposed. My fellow board members unanimously and enthusiastically at the time voted me to serve as President.
A bit about me: I have a masters degree in accounting and had a whole career where I worked for an international "big 4" accounting firm and then a Fortune 500 Company. I was drawn to the profession mainly due to the fact that it is in service to the integrity of financial reporting over the vagaries and desires of the paying client. I'm now a professional dog walker but I always maintain and value my "accountant's mindset" and how that informs my perspective on the world. I'm also a 40+ year old goth/punk rocker that is always wearing something ridiculous. I enjoy and am amused by the juxtaposition.
I'm also a particularly extroverted, outgoing person... which brings me to the problem. The two remaining holdovers from the old board resigned almost immediately and then my fellow most like-minded board member got an awesome job and unexpectedly resigned within a few months. However, units in our building started flying off the market and were being bought as personal residences mainly by young professional people (this was a change in the trend from the first half of the condo's 15 year history). I was happy to have recruited three of our newer owners to serve as interim board members. Each of them were enthusiastic about the "Security, Communication, Transparency: It's Time for a Change" agenda when I presented it to them. All three were clearly competent, intelligent, relatively young professionals with relevant experience and I felt good about recommending that they get interim board appointments.
It wasn't long before troublesome interactions with my fellow board members began to manifest... The main conflict first centered around our relationship with the "Legacy" Association Management Company and Association Management Companies in general. I'll spare you the details and just say "take my word for it the "legacy" Association Management Company was corrupt, unscrupulous, dishonest to a relentless and even ridiculous level, I had been keeping meticulous documentation of these claims. And many other communities I compared notes with had nearly the exact same experience bad experiences with their services.
So ... one of my fellow board members specifically (who I really hit it off with and enjoyed working with heretofore), proceeded to clearly take a position of sympathy for towards the "corrupt-dishonest-legacy Association Manager." We were actively circulating a RFP for new management all the while. Eventually there was an incident with a 5 digits $$$$$ wire transfer being "authorized" by the Assoc Mgr under dubious circumstances. We were able to stop the transaction before it went through but it was the last straw. The Assoc Mgmt Co ended terminating with 6 weeks notice (the contract minimum was 30 days notice). Though it was way more abrupt than I would have liked and definitely less than ideal. It was also a relief. At that point we'd only received one proposal for new management (though we sent our RFP to the 10 companies we had identified as active in our area). We were able to get one additional proposal before we ultimately decided on our new Association Management Co.. They came with a strong personal recommendation from one of my clients who served on the board of her condos and who had actually fired the same "legacy unscrupulous Assoc Mgmt Co" a year previously. I want to note that interference by the ousted board members was clearly an aggravating factor in the relationship.
That's when the trouble really began, my fellow 4 fellow board members began to coalesce around the sympathizer I mentioned previously and eventually it was essentially 4 against 1 on pretty much every matter of board business. The issues that were sticking points were all of the "uncompromisable" nature for me personally. Issues like providing oversight (particularly over quality control and financial review of the in-house service unit services and invoices). As an accountant no one, including myself, should be exempt from basic transparency and accountability. Especially, when there's a situation where our legal agent (the Assoc. Mgmt Co) is both initiating, self-supervising, and then self-authorizing payment for services rendered. In the countless hours I had spent reviewing association documents, it was clear to me that was the biggest area for cost reduction/quality enhancements. This was the very sticking point that began the escalation that eventually resulted in my fellow board members removing me as president. They also refused to read or even acknowledge our obligations to the MD Condo Act and our governing documents. They also seemed to have an expectation that if I was "outvoted" 4 to 1 that I'd be somehow obligated go along with or be silenced regarding or "toe the party line." This might be an argument for good faith disagreements over decisions like what to spend on what, whether to approve this contract or that, revising the condo rules, etc.. But all the conflict was over basic financial oversight and governance according to the MD Condo Act and our Condo Docs, etc.. All are matters I will never relent on and will work toward as long as I'm paying condo dues. This was also combined with an escalation in enmity where they would all talk over me and not even let me present my position. Additionally, they clearly applied one set of "rules" to my capacity as a board member only and didn't hold themselves to their own "rules." I've also clearly documented this.
So that's where we are now. I have chosen to at least serve our the rest of my two year term and to continue to pursue the same goals as always. I thought I'd be serving them as president of the board but I ended up serving them as the lone dissenter 4 against 1. Unfortunately all of my interactions with my fellow board members are fraught with unfounded misinformation regarding myself and my positions. My entreaties to "normalize" board conflict have clearly not been taken to heart. I do feel that I am nonetheless effective to some extent in keeping them minimally aware of and accountable to good governance, despite the constant shitshow. I can and will quit or even sell/move should I ever decide that's the best course for me. In the meantime... What do you all think?
* Additional Problematic Former Board Episodes:
There was also a history of particularly problematic special assessments to some unit owners for limited common element replacement. Half of the owners of these units were eventually foreclosed on and the other half unanimously said the work was performed shoddily and was never even actually completed. Meeting minutes from the time described owners worried about the financial solvency of the condos after the huge financial fallout from the project. More troubling, it was discovered that the former board was holding illegal closed meetings and soliciting non-competitive bids for another round of such assessments.
That and they refused to communicate or take any responsibility for a string of 30 break-ins, home invasions, assaults, and thefts by the same individual