Bids & Kickbacks

I think the key word you used in your question was BIDS. If the service was bid (that implies competition) there must be a record of the bids. According to Chapter 720 (Florida Law): "Bids received by the association for work to be performed must also be considered official records and must be kept for a period of 1 year."

You could certainly ask who bid the jobs.You have the right to ask to see the bids. I think if you start to ask questions, the situation may become more clear.

John, I doubt that any homeowner would know. It is the responsibility of the Board to select contractors and vendors; request sealed bids when the expense is over a preset amount; to monitor expenses; and to monitor the Property Manager. Sometimes Board members are not experienced in what is a reasonable cost for a specific service and thus select services with excessive charges. So there does need to be monitoring due mainly to inexperience, poor judgement, and/or potential kickbacks.

Following a few examples:
1. An HOA Board I manage selected a company to put up holiday decorations and lights and paid 300% more than I advised the job should cost. This was done because an influential owner recommended this company. Since then other owners complained so the Board asked me to get competative bids which brought the cost down to a reasonable amount. There was no kickback involved, just poor judgement by the Board.

2. An HOA Board I manage chose to get their own bid for trimming trees in their common areas. I suggested another company which was used and saved them over 400%. There was no kickback involved; just an inexperienced Board.

3. We took over management of an HOA and upon review of their insurance recommended changing to a better insurance company, increasing coverage, and reducing their insurance cost 440%. I question whether there may have been a kickback on this example but this could not be determined.