Management Company with "attitude". Do you have one?

Curious as how other HOA's experience rates with their MC if they use one

*Our manager actually has said "exactly what am I suppose to do about this?" to a resident about noise

*Our young girl manager actually has enquired as to "why" something the board has voted on be done.

* A homeowner had her car damaged from a vendor who was working in the sub terrain garage and when they brought this to the manager as a first step to resolve.. the entire board got an email from her saying "it looks like a grocery cart did this !" I don't think she had that damage done in the garage! ( the mark was actually on the door just below where the window comes out.. way too high for a cart.

None the less, you get the idea. How do you handle complaints of customer service with a Management Company who is "friends" with the Board President, and doesnt' return calls?

I actually called the MC once with a concern and when I called I gave my real name. I was told after being on hold for ever that my manager was gone for the day. I hung up and had my spouse call giving the first saying he was "jim" our president and needed to talk to our manager.. guess who came to the phone immediately? She was called on it, but had a lame excuse.

We have forgotten that we hire these people to work for US! They are not treating us like that though.. Ideas? SHort of firing them?

Tammy:

Sounds like the rest of the board needs to step up to the plate and do their job. The president does not posses the power to unilaterally decide on an MC...The board has the ability to ask the MC to improve their service and if they don't then decide to use the termination clause in their contract and fine a new MC.

Glen Kudos for you for being friend;y with your mc.

The car incidnet.. I guess I should of submitted a picture for reference. This is a BMW SUV and unless someone lifted up a cart and moved it up an down on the "TRUCK" that mark could not be made. Guess what? that mark is 48 inches above the ground.. so there goes that theory eh?

*the noise complaint specifically was due to the AC being left on in the club house after each HOA mtg. The "renters" who live next door t the club house come home usually late at night and after each meeting.. 90% of the time AC unit is left on, can be heard throughout thier unit. Complaints have been called in, but the manager is the one who said. EXACTLY WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO ABOUT? How about repair the damn thing? Have the last person out turn off the ac ect. The comment is not needed.

Befriending a hired vendor is not good business practice on any level., and .. sorry if you feel different and practice this.

This is part of a e-mail I sent requesting files

7) a copy of the minutes from the Annual meeting March 31st. I want to make sure that my statements and questions to Lisa are included and her answers....Why money was taken from the Reserve account when it is clearly against SS-720.303?....Why the Reserve funds were reduced from $902.42 to $750. w/o a member(s) vote as stated in the SS 720.303?...Why the Reserves were NOT funded since April of 2007?....

8) Should also be in the minutes- Why NO interest has been placed on delinquent accounts. The excuse that the MC didn't know what interest to use isn't good enough because this interest has been charged since Etheridge and is also stated in the SS-720...This was also discussed at the meeting prior to this last one. As I stated at the meeting, the Association could easily be sued because some HO's were charged and others were NOT. I would most certainly think a MC would know this and I thought the MC was also there to advise the BOD's in the correct way to address the CC&R's and SS-720. Just because the Board/MC feel they are covered by insurance, they very well may NOT be if things are done knowingly and willingly.

These statements came from the MC to me. Perhaps, I souldn't have used the caps for certain words but after two years, I thought myself and the HO's deserved an answer. I am called these names because I have been asking the Board for two years why they had taken the Reserve money to pay our expenses, why no funds have been placed in the Reserve account since Apr/07 and why they had not imposed interest or done any aggressive collection of the Associations overwhelming delinquent accounts (14 HO's/$14,567. total delinquent fees owed). Why HO's were not made aware of any of this, when it states in the SS that HO's must vote on activity dealing w/the Reserves. Because I want an answers to these questions, I am made out to be the bad guy and am called these names.....Why would I be accsatory and combative, when everything I have ever stated is true.....I even had a meeting w/the PM & Bookkeeper about these things(2months ago). And because I have stated that the Association could very well be sued because of some HO's being charged (and collected) interest and other HO's not.....I am acused of "bully tastics"....This new MC that is so Professional and charges almost double the other 2 MC's we had was going to fix all the wrongs as they so called the other inadequate MC's we had. The new MC have been in charge since Oct/07 and there has been no changes. other then a large increase in MC fee......May I add, that the treasurer(now resigned-because she had ask questions, she had been excluded from Board activity, the President met w/the MC and worked out the Budget. This was the Treasure's duty.) was sent almost exactly the same e-mails from the MC and Board...why! because she was asking the exact same questions. All of the remaining Board members were appointed by the President and follow her lead on everything....Unfortunately all remain on the Board because no one would run for a position.

MC to me-
"I have no comprehension of what makes you so accusatory, combative and down right nasty at times."
"I do not understand why you are so antagonistic and hostile toward the Board and Aquatics staff to include me(PM) and Sandy(bookkeeper). This type of bully tactics may cause us to consider resigning"
___________________________________________________________________________________________

This (below) came from the Board President to me, giving me a slap on the hands....
What else would you call the things that have been done by the Board to the association and it's HO's/members. The HO's have been treated as if they don't exist and that their input or vote is not needed for anything. That the CC&R's/SS can can be ignored w/no accountibility and that if HO'd disagree, they receive all the name calling mentioned. The President is right , the association members do not own the Board but the members do have the right to expect the Board to follow the CC&R's and SS's.....This Board should realize, they don't own the Association or it's members either.

"Accusations of impropriety and illegal actions are completely uncalled for ".... "Again, this is a business. The Association members do not own the Board "

Roger, I suppose in one aspect you are right, at the end I have been very out spoken and demanding for answers (I think it's about time HO's got the truth about the condition of our community and it's finances) The Association is starting a new year on the same wrong foot....but I tried the honey & sugar approach and that didn't work. It has been over two years that I have ask for answers to these questions and more. I am a HO and I certainly deserve an answer as well as all other HO's....This Board has done nothing right but HO's don't know, because they have never been told anything and as we all know from the post, HO apathy is the norm, if they never hear anything and things seem to be going well, HO's think everything is alright.....Speaking from a HO's point of view, if you saw your community going down the tubes, I'm sure you would feel the same way as I do....Our community is in the same destress as most communities at the time. Because of so many foreclosures, delinquenties, the association cannot meet our expenses...taking from Reserves, not funding the Reserves (which will certainly hurt HO's some time down the road), and then the Board hiring a MC that charges nearly twice what we were paying (where did they think the money was coming from?) This is a time for HOA Boards to be looking for ways to to cut back, not increase expenses....Myself and the HO's just simply cannot carry the load for all the delinquents/14(believe me there will be more come July when fees are due again)and get a increase in dues to pay this new MC also. There is a limit HO's can go.

I have never called anyone a name but there comes a time when the HO's deserve an answer. 73 other HO's make up this Association, not the 4 BM's (as stated above the fifth resigned because she had chosen not to go along w/the things the Board was doing....Am, I not right about the possibility of the Association being sued for having charged some HO's interst and not others (two of the not's were the Pres. & secretary)..Don't I have the right to speak out against this? After all, I am also one of the HO's that would have to pay for this law suit. I can't see where telling the Board & MC that we may be sued, is a bully tactic...

Both the Board (President, the other 3 follow her lead) and MC don't like to be told they have done anything wrong, they are the ones who go on the defenive. When I received a copy it had been filed a week late. I We lost a very good treasurer because of this. Someone needs to look out for the community & the Board. There should always be checks and balances.

Tammy & Jane -

We HAD (past tense) one until we put in a new, active Board and a few months later dumped them in favor of self-management. See my thread HOA: Good News For A Change (down on the 4th or 5th page below) for more info.

Sidney, unfortunately there are poorly run Boards. And unfortunately there is so much apathy that the homeowners will not organize and replace the poor Board members. Plus it is difficult to find good volunteer help. Unless you can get the homeowners organized and replace those poor Board members it will remain very frustrating.

A couple of years ago asked posters to rate their problems. Here are mine:
1) Apathy of homeowners
2) Poor Board of Directors
3) Poor management company
4) Poor communications with owners

Ours isn't that large either, could you keep me posted on your progress?
I'd really appreciate hearing how it goes.
Jane

Dear Sid:
I think you are not garnering what you are being told in a nice way. People who serve on HOA BODs are just people like you and me they get agrivated when people attack them at meetings or when they are on there own times. I have been on my BOD for 21 years in Florida. I understand your frustration. You should walk in my shoes 4 member bod got it for 19 years we have had 3 empty positions available to any living human being. No takers why? Simple many people dont want the agrevation of putting up with people waving silly copies of State Statues when they are faced with HOs not paying there dues, not keeping there homes up to human standards. My def of human is putting your garbadge out in covered cans/recepticles. Not parking across others driveways. People dumb enough to buy a house with 60 ft tall trees behind there houses then coming to BOD meetings complainning about the trees. Thats just the tip of the iceberg.
Yea we have a reserve acct but explain to me why I cant use it to better my hoa? I am insured for everthing under the sun.
Whats the worst that can happen a Hurricane. I have lived thru 12 of them and learned a lot from every one.
I got 3 housewives and myself thats our BOD. We have a web site the minutes of the last 6 meetings are posted there for the whole world to read. Our budget is mailed to every ho in our hoa every month we mail out a statement to them. We get the city to do the legal work for us. We use there building codes and the city inspectors to handle code enforcement. Be carefull friend there is a fool in the state legislature who are both out to handcuff hoas even worse. he is the Lt Gov of the state and a fool named Rubio.
Beware my friend things are about to get worse.
PS: Quitting a BOD cause you dont like whats going on is child like. hang in ther and sooner or later you will wear them down and you will win then Quitters never ever win
Jack

What you are attempting to do is against the law and can have ramifications if you have just 1 educated board member or committee member. Read your docs, cc*r and rules and regs. If there is nothing there nothing ca be done.

You can not have any time of meeting to discuss anything... that is the big law breaker. read your docs.

Tammy,

Perhaps the board unwittingly promotes this by allowing the prop. mgr. to run the show. Too many boards don't understand that the prop. mgr. works for them, not the other way around.

Tammy,

Our experience with our former MC/PM was similar. But before we went self-managed, much of that was due to the facts that the previous Board was down to 1 person, as in the only Board member remaining, who, because of lack of the participation of other HOA members, was easily steamrolled, not to mention that the MC/PM had been in place since our Assn. began, so the MC/PM spoke with the Voice of God.

Trust me. Self-management, in our case, once it gets up and running, is a walk in the park if the ongoing duties are essentially limited to writing cheques and colecting dues.

Try it. You can always go back hat-in-hand if it doesn't work out.

I recommend reporting this MC to whatever regulatory agency is in place in your state. Wouldn't hurt to copy the MC and the Board of Directors. If what you say is accurate the MC is breaching the contract with the HOA. Get a copy of their contract and mark the areas in which they are not complying. Include this with your report and copy the Board. Our HOA has had several property managers from the worst, the bad and now, hopefuly the best. Our last caused us to be charged hundreds of dollars for not paying our utilities on time even though the money was there with which to pay them. We got no advice or bad advice and I am thankful they were replaced. It wouldn't be a bad idea to check out more honest and professional management companies prior to doing this.

Mary,

Fortunately, our 3 member Board (in a community of 21 SFDs) is willing to do their jobs, although I "take on board" your comments about enforcement issues. We weren't planning last June to go self-managed, but last October when we got the projected budget for 2008, the MC wanted to up our quarterly dues from $230 to $260 to cover an increase in their fees, essentially paying a third of our annual take to the MC to basically write checks and collect dues, we (the Board and the owners) unanimously thought that was crazy. When the Board decided to try self-management, our biggest concerns, which we related to the owners in our proposal, were what to do about collections/delinquencies & how to handle disputes between the HOA and a homeowner and/or between homeowners. The answer was to do what was best for the HOA. To help insure prompt payments, we raised the late fee to $20 per month per 30 days of a delinquency and a 180 day "hand it over to a lawyer" rule if circumstances warrant, with them stuck for not only dues and late fees, but also the entire expense. So far, we're virtually current with only one household having not paid 2nd Q dues (yet). As far as check writing and communication with our three subcontractors, I handle that. If there is a delinquency, our President handles that privately with the homeowner, not sharing the communicatons with we other 2 except as to status. No complaints yet, nor have we yet had to enforce any other rules. The owners appreciate our efforts and the resulting savings that will go into reserves, and maybe even lead to drop in dues next year. Could this all blow up in our faces an hour or day or week from now? Sure. But the members know that we don't want problems, and if voluntary cooperation doesn't cut it, we'll abandon self-management - at their eventual expense. Between that eventuality, and that yes, they just want to mostly be cared for without having to particpate, no dissent. We'll see, eh?

John,

So glad to hear your self-managed assn is working out so well. Ours did too the first year! Incidentally, we had only 49 homes. I could have run the assn single-handedly, no problem, even doing the accounting. But, your last line tells it all. This is the mindset of most HOA members -- let someone else do the work. What's going to happen when those of you now on the board no longer wish to run for re-election? How many of those 21 will step up to the plate? Of course that problem doesn't go away if you hire a mgmt co -- you still have to have a BOD, but perhaps you can get by with a few less. BTW, hope there aren't any problems when you have to enforce that first CCR violation -- that's when the problems begin. I never had any problems with people being delinquent -- CCRs violations were another story!

At any rate, good luck to you. I certainly hope this works out for your community in the long run.