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presdient of association always states no money

Started by SteveC4 • 17 replies • 1326 views

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SteveC4 (Florida)
Posts: 154
Posted:


Hello:

Im in Florida 28 units/townhomes I have join the board of the association and my position is a director! we will have a budget meeting coming up within next month...and with the association manager last month at the meeting we was reviewing the budget for 2009. Notice like for example the pest/weed/control wants to raise us $400 more ....no one mention about finding another company with a cheaper rate/price. So I have decided to speak out and stated no we will not accept that raise and I will research for new bids for that service! Well I got two bids and one is $400 cheapter then what we are paying and the other bid I got is $900 cheaper then what we are currently paying...I then also decided to get bids for the lawn service and I got a bid $1400 cheaper then what we are currently paying. So this would be a $2000 savings for the new coming year budget.

My point is here is a president of the association always stating theres no funds in the reserves...but yet why are we paying for these higher prices for these current services all this time.
RedmondH (Virginia)
Posts: 4
Posted:
Read the contracts to be sure you are not locked in for a specific term. I find most HOA's leave the bid practice up to the Management company who hires the high priced service. I also find board people are afraid or just too lazy to make the change and save money.
RedmondH (Virginia)
Posts: 4
Posted:
Read the contracts to be sure you are not locked in for a specific term. I find most HOA's leave the bid practice up to the Management company who hires the high priced service. I also find board people are afraid or just too lazy to make the change and save money.
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By SteveC4 on 10/29/2008 6:09 AM

Hello:

Im in Florida 28 units/townhomes I have join the board of the association and my position is a director! we will have a budget meeting coming up within next month...and with the association manager last month at the meeting we was reviewing the budget for 2009. Notice like for example the pest/weed/control wants to raise us $400 more ....no one mention about finding another company with a cheaper rate/price. So I have decided to speak out and stated no we will not accept that raise and I will research for new bids for that service! Well I got two bids and one is $400 cheapter then what we are paying and the other bid I got is $900 cheaper then what we are currently paying...I then also decided to get bids for the lawn service and I got a bid $1400 cheaper then what we are currently paying. So this would be a $2000 savings for the new coming year budget.

My point is here is a president of the association always stating theres no funds in the reserves...but yet why are we paying for these higher prices for these current services all this time.

Steve,

Cheaper is not always better! In these tough economic times I'm sure some company's are bidding lower hoping to get a contract. I would suggest thoroughly checking out the references and doing as much homework as you can on the company's who are bidding. Also make certain to compare apples to apples -- is everyone bidding on the exact same work? Perhaps your current contractors are way too high; however, if they are doing exactly what you want them to do and doing a wonderful job. . . . When you change contractors you always run the risk of getting poorer service all in the name of saving money. This is a really tough decision. Good luck!
MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491
Posted:
Steve:

I would be very leery of those bids.

On what spec sheet did you base them? Did you bid them out with the same specs of the current contracts, and did the bidders have any knowledge whatsoever of the current payment level?

AND, most importantly, did you give the CURRENT contractors the opportunity to bid on the contracts as well?

You know, apples to apples, oranges to oranges, and fairness.

Just checking.
DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671
Posted:

Steve,

Also, just a bit of information on your "reserves" statement. Reserves are a fund, set aside for a specific repair or replacement of a major structural or infrastructural item --such as roads, roofs, irrigation systems and those type of items. They cannot be used for operational items and the only way that they are allowed to be used for any item other than what they are designated for is by a majority vote from your membership. Sometimes a new member or even older board members do not understand what different budget items mean.

Now as for the bids, make sure that any contract spells out very specifically what they will do in service and what exactly the Board expects of them. Do check with BBB on any service companies and make sure that they are Florida licensed.
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
Donna cautioned to make certain any contractor is FL licensed, which reminded me of an article I read just the other day written by an HOA attorney here in AZ. He stated that there are two types of contractor licenses -- residential and commercial. In order to perform work on common areas in an HOA, the contractor must have a commercial license. I don't know if this only applies to AZ, or if other states have the same requirements, but it's certainly worth checking out.
SteveC4 (Florida)
Posts: 154
Posted:
These bids I got are for commercial services and I do have copy of there business license and insurance information as well! Thanks for your input!
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By SteveC4 on 10/29/2008 6:49 AM
These bids I got are for commercial services and I do have copy of there business license and insurance information as well! Thanks for your input!

Steve,

What I was saying is to make certain the contractor is licensed to perform commercial work. Some contractors have both type licenses; however there are some contractors who do not have a license at all and these are the ones you want to stay away from.
KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665
Posted:
The truth is that most people just go with the flow of things. After making a decision they simply remain on auto-pilot until something disrupts their nap.

I would double check some references and check the companies out with the BBB. But you may be able to save some money. Just don't shoot yourself with poor service in favor of saving money (unless you have to). But sometimes the guy with a lower bid does in fact give better service.
JeanneK3 (Maryland)
Posts: 562
Posted:
Steve: Why are you believing what the president says? Get the association financial statements and see for yourself.
SteveC4 (Florida)
Posts: 154
Posted:
Thanks I do understand...as for the pest/weed/control they have not been doing such a good job on spraying and to top it all they want to raise us $400 additional ...this is why I stated to not accept there raise in the service....and like I had mention the bid I got $900 cheaper and will included extra then what we have now.

Plus we just got a new manager and they been with us for about 7 months now...our old manager we had never wanted to change any services at all...think he was getting cuts under the table ( he never wanted to get new bids in for any services}......also when he had some of the untis repaired they was never inspected from the city before and after...so Im glad we dont have him anymore and would like to get rid of his services that he provided for us when he was our manager.

This new manager we have now has done alot for our community with the 7 months...the old manager always stated that theres no funds at all to do any services....we just recently had some of the outside units repaired with a new contractor and was told that whom ever repaired these units before did very poor jobs did not do correctly...thanks to our old manager that he insisted on keeping his repair guy and did not want anyone else.

This is why I joined the board of association...making sure things should be going right and what the bylaws of each association states those services should be available. Im tired of hearing from the preisdent or the manager theres no funds.
AnnaD2 (Florida)
Posts: 960
Posted:
Steve, keep doing what you're doing! I'm the treasurer for our association (here in Florida) and I'm sure no one on your past boards have done the leg work you're doing now. They've probably just kept using their current vendors to save themselves the hassle of getting new proposals and bids. A lot of us find that the management companies are great at dragging their feet so they don't have to do the bidding process either.

I'm guessing that your 2009 budget hasn't yet been approved? Am I correct about that? Your manager concerns me, because each line item may need to be reworked every year. By saying there is "no money in the budget" means they're not looking at the big picture. You are offering solutions to reduce ONE line item category...which frees up money to use on other line expenses. Which in turn may mean no increase in maintenance fees. It sounds as if your manager is planning on keeping things just as they are.

You seem to have a handle on what it means to be an effective board member for your entire association. Don't give up. Sometimes it takes a lot of "proving" (and YEARS) to get people to understand.
AnnaD2 (Florida)
Posts: 960
Posted:
P.S. I was refering to your old manager....I hope your new manager continues to be helpful.
SteveC4 (Florida)
Posts: 154
Posted:
Thanks AnnaD2! You are so right about the board not wanting to hassle to get any bids and reserching for new vendors.... the two bids I got to present at the budget meeting in Dec is a savings of $2,100 a year that is great!

The vendor for the pest/weed wants to raise us $400 more for next yesr...told the board members I dont think so its time to look for another one and I will find one and I did!

Our units need to be pressure wash and I got my unit in 2000 and they never pressure wash any of these units...they claim there not enough money in the reserves.

As for our monthly fees per the by laws we can only raise the monthly fee 5% if asking more then that would have to be voted by the homeowners and they would not approve any more then the 5%....I myself feel if we were to pay $30.00 more per unit it would help but theres no way these home owenrs would vote on it.

MaryonG (Florida)
Posts: 1
Posted:
Make sure you check the Fla. Statutes 720 regarding contracts. Some details have been added, effective July 2008 Check 720.3055.
EllenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 1,148
Posted:
I'm in Florida too and our docs say we cannot raise the assessments by more than 5% EXCEPT for lawn care..double check your docs. The board should insist that the mangement company provide three bids for services. This is one thing they are being paid for. Not to say you can't do that too. If your docs are the same as ours it does not require a member vote because the board makes that decision, except for a special assessment. If members complain about not having any input tell them to get on the board. Most won't but just like to complain. Good for you that you are taking steps. Personally I think it is a good idea to get bids from time to time to see if you are being charged fairly. You moved into an association so properties can be kept up and assessments are for that purpose. We "don't have the money" is no excuse. And regular operating expenses should never be taken from the reserve. Your new management company is well aware of this. It is too easy for a person to get a CAM license here and then start up their own company so there are some poor ones. An informed board will keep them on their toes. As a board member you are entitled to see any records, etc. Let your management know you expect to be kept informed..in a nice way, of course. Good luck!
KarenS11 (Florida)
Posts: 148
Posted:
We obtained bids on two contracts (lake and pest control) and both resulted in a change of vendors that resulted in a savings of more than 50% for the same and, in one case, enhanced, services. The association was not unhappy with the work of the previous vendors and so had not obtained bids for a number of years.

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