Poor Representation by Community Management Company

You absolutely should be looking for a new manager if the current one (and the company?) are not satisfactory. I think it's smart to keep an eye out even if you are satisfied - it can keep your current vendors from getting complacent.

No, you're not obligated to inform homeowners that you're looking. It's the board's job to vet and hire service providers, and owners aren't even entitled to see proposals or contracts that are under negotiation. They are entitled to see signed contracts. It's a good idea to be aware of complaints from owners. But keep in mind that this feedback is going to be heavily skewed toward the complaints. Owners rarely call up to praise someone, although we've had owners tell us that the snow removal crew was great.

We found our best management company from word of mouth. Another way to find a good manager is to look around your area for communities that look like they're being well cared for, and see if the community has a website - sometimes you can find out from there who is managing them. Social media can be full of stories, but take then with a huge grain of salt.

All that said, boards and managers should periodically sit down and discuss expectations and procedures. I recommend doing it at the beginning of the year or at least when a new manager comes on board. I think boards (and homeowners) can have unreasonable expectations of what it means to hire a manager who may be managing a dozen communities or more. That person is going to have conflicting priorities that they have to juggle, so they won't be at the beck and call of the boards in those communities. Having all of the manager's attention only happens if an association actually employs that manager - and then the board will have all of the obligations and expenses that go along with it.

(We're going to have to have a sit down in my community since our board is getting irked - unfairly I think - with a manager who's only been on the job a few months. But in our case I think it's a combination of a probably overworked manager plus an inexperienced board whose expectations were shaped by the previous, not-great management company plus a dictatorial ex-board president who didn't know as much as he thought he did.)

We had frustration with our management company and after trying to receive better service from the property managers, I and another board member went to meet with the management company the Property Management President and the Operations manager. We explained in detail what our frustrations were and that we were frustrated with having to manage the management company. We explained our next step if we did not receive better service and better financial services. The President asked a number of questions and within a week we began to receive improved services and a new veteran property manager. It makes a big difference when you receive the services at a professional level.

Bernie,
Cathy and Micheal give you some great advice above. It is important to set expectations properly though.

With a small community your size you are what they call a Portfolio account. This means you only get a small slice of a PMs time and talent. I would guess in your case less than 10 hours a month, but it could be more. My community has 1450 SFHs and we get 20 hours per week as an example. If you talk to the CEO of the current PMC and ask for a seasoned PM it may help. If they give you a new hire you will be setup to fail again and again. Many managers with portfolio accounts manage by Fire Alarms. They work with the squeakiest wheels in their total portfolio.

I think you should interview new PMCs but setting expectations is very important. Whenever a new manager takes over an account it is up to a board member to get them up to speed. This can be time consuming but must be done to get them on the right track. Without guidance they will take 6 months to figure everything out and that will make you feel like they have failed again.

If you do decide to change, I would say that you would like to talk to other portfolio accounts that the potential manager is currently managing. You must call all references and ask good questions this is very important for your success.

most of them suck and their contracts suck even more.
look for these bad contract terms and demand they are not acceptable.

cancelation terms greater then 30 days.
cancellation/termination/whatever fee of any kind.
any kind of fee that lets them profit off of late fees or violation fees.
out of state arbitration
they control your savings accounts or bank accounts. Dealing with getting $$$$$ in CD;s for 3 months now being reimbursed to us, so bad personal experience.
etc.

if you dont' have any common areas I'd seriously look into financial management only. typically $300 to $400/month.

Oh, I missed this: does your contract with the MC provide for the PM to "oversee" contracts? If so, what does that entail?

Owners don't have the right to see bids in CA HOAs. Maybe they do in Marshall's NY? But, what about the OP's Virginia?

Wendy,
Go Home.
I don't like the word suck, and I am seeking positive solutions to my post.

WOW! What a great community of HOA experts who have offered invaluable insight on how I should approach this.
To answer some of the comments that came up, relevent to whether or not I should call a special meeting, this actually came from the Association Attorney during Board training. She told us in the state of Virginia, when the Board meets for any reason, the membership must be notified. The attorney has been the Association attorney by choice of the management company. Most of the time she does provide good advice. However, that changed when we had a ton of questions about a $200,000 contract we signed with a contractor that turned into $325,000. She gave bland advice on how to handle it, then closed with, you really need a contract attorney???

I love the recommendation to put a survey of sorts out the membership asking them what they expect from their management company and the Board. Michael557 suggestion to request a meeting with the management team and define our expectations and build a better relationship is definitly in order. I also took heart MarkM19 to the comment on management companies categorizing ours as a portfolio account. You nailed it! When I recommended a change in management 25 years ago, it was for this reason. The management company was using our neighborhood as a "training" commuity to acclimate new recruits to community management. We were assigigned a a new manager every year. This was problematic, and became rather expensive to the owners. That is when I (seasoned real estate professional at the time) recommended we change companies. We ended up with the one we are with which I and my community contributed to their growth as as a trusted management company.
Trying to fast forward, over 25 years, the residents just accept what they get and don't want to rock the boat. I get it, I am also 25 years older and I have to let my wild fire attitude succomb to reason and good business principals relevant to GEN Z principals.

Having said that, business principals must protect the interest of the investor, the owners. PLEASE HELP me protect my investment and the other 153 owners! I love you all, and I appreciate all comments positive and negative!

Cathy. wrote: "This is different from being employed by a specialist law firm that only handles community association law - lawyers benefit from being around others who deal with the same areas of law and who talk about it all the time." This is so important. Bernie hasn't said what kind of attorney they have, but imo, a firm that specializes in HOAs is best. An attorney who specializes in contract law or, say, real estate, may know very little about HOA law and go governing documents.

Say, Bernie, what does your contract with your management company says about its duties--are they supposed to "oversee" contract work? In what ways? How many hours does your MC give your HOA a week? May any director make requests of the PM? Put another way, is it possible that you/the board is complaining about tasks you all somehow expect, but that are not in the contract?? I think it's crucial that the Board have a thorough understanding of the existing contract.* Then, you're in a position to better negotiate or adhere to the contract you do have OR decide what your Board wants changed wit your current or future MC.

Once you're able to answer those questions, I'm with those who advise that your Board meet with your PM and her/his supervisor(s) in executive session and discuss how to meet the terms of the contract OR, perhaps, amend it. Notice to Owners that there is an exec.session may be required in VA, and if so, the purpose could be "Personnel Matter" as would be OK in Calif. Ditto, if/when you interview other MCs.

It's also really import to remember that the job of directors of HOAs, overall, is to protect, maintain and enhance the common areas. Boards that are successful at that basic task will be providing the best service to owners in HOAs.

* * I too, was a full-time active realtor for five years many years ago. I found that careful reading of contracts was my top skill from that field that helped our HOA over my 14 years of service as a board member. The 2nd useful realtor skill had to do with things like "curb appeal," i.e, the overall attractiveness of or HOA.

With 154 homes, like someone else mentioned, you're a portfolio property and the manager's time is based on the number of doors in a HOA. As a portfolio manager, I managed 10-12 properties of varying sizes up to 1,950 doors with 10-12 BOD meetings a month, 12 budget meetings during budget season on top of regular board meetings & 12 annual meetings between December and May along with regular board meetings. You get what you pay for in portfolio management & only the cream of the crop of managers can juggle 12 properties at a time and pay attention to needs & wants. Your managers are overworked & probably underpaid working between 40-60 hours per week at least. An on-site experienced manager with over five years would cost you in the ballpark of $65K to $90K a year; how much are you paying your management company for a portfolio manager?