I Prefer Games
I'd rather be thinking about playing Star Wars later. Or the potential Naxxramas raid Saturday. Or comparing GW and DDO. Something. Anything.
Real life is giving me a headache.
To put it simply, I no longer trust the property manager who is handling pretty much everything for the condos.
The exterior repair project continues at a glacial pace. It's been over a year now. We've gone through one winter, and there's no real signs of things being done before the next. I have no good frame of reference for cost of such things, but I look around and can't imagine where $92,000 (plus insurance payout, minus the up to $16,000 in assessments that may not be paid yet). I accept that the project was bigger than initially assumed. I like the guy in charge of the work. But most days (or weeks even), there's no one out there doing anything. I don't know who to blame for this, or what to do about it.
Yesterday, I was left a message by another owner in the complex. She's trying to sell, and having a tough time, naturally. She was talking to our property manager and says she was told that she (the property manager) did an inspection of the work a couple weeks ago with the HOA board members. The thing is, she (the other owner) talked to the board president and found he was not even in the country at the time, and I (who still seem to hold the theoretical position of Treasurer) had not heard about, much less participated in, any such inspection. That's two of four board members confirmed as uninvolved, and the other two had yet to be contacted. That sounds like our property manager outright lied in order to, presumably, avoid being pressured on the subject.
This other owner also relates to me that the property manage lost her real estate license. A little online research on my part has confirmed this. In December of 2006, her license was revoked. That's about the same time the company she's in changed names. I thought they were merging/bought out at the time, but now it sounds suspiciously like the same company may have changed names and (officially) ownership because she lost her license. Why did she lose her license? Well... funny thing. The actual word isn't used, but the simply summation is embezzlement. Some $41,000 and change out of the company's "security trust account" split between herself and her spouse. There was also a shortage of $54,000 and change from the "operating trust account" that wasn't explained.
We, or at the very least I, heard nothing of this at the time. I don't know if any of that money belonged to us, or if it was someone else's. This doesn't instill confidence either way. All I saw was a notice saying, essentially, "we're changing names, your contact and all the contact information will remain the same."
Now, suddenly, all those slow responses to requests for information and the absence of financial reports provided go from "minor annoyance" to "possibly nefarious." I thought maybe she was busy and forgot my requests for such things. But maybe she's been avoiding that to cover things up. I don't like to assume the worst in people, especially people who are supposed to be professionals. But when I get reason, it's hard to do otherwise.
Worse still, I'm not really sure what to do about it. I can't even start to play a game very well when she holds all the cards. I don't think I've actually seen any cash flow data since I was appointed in... er... 2005? I'm not sure this is the sort of thing the police would help with, in spite of how TV may make it look. The real estate group that licensed her in the first place may or may not be able to do anything. I'm not sure I even have contact information for most or all of the other owners, though it's time to start looking. And if we did "fire" her and that company, I don't know the first thing about finding another or managing things in the meantime. Would we have to sue to get any money back?
Guh. I have no idea where this is going or how bad it will be, but I already don't like it.
Real life is giving me a headache.
To put it simply, I no longer trust the property manager who is handling pretty much everything for the condos.
The exterior repair project continues at a glacial pace. It's been over a year now. We've gone through one winter, and there's no real signs of things being done before the next. I have no good frame of reference for cost of such things, but I look around and can't imagine where $92,000 (plus insurance payout, minus the up to $16,000 in assessments that may not be paid yet). I accept that the project was bigger than initially assumed. I like the guy in charge of the work. But most days (or weeks even), there's no one out there doing anything. I don't know who to blame for this, or what to do about it.
Yesterday, I was left a message by another owner in the complex. She's trying to sell, and having a tough time, naturally. She was talking to our property manager and says she was told that she (the property manager) did an inspection of the work a couple weeks ago with the HOA board members. The thing is, she (the other owner) talked to the board president and found he was not even in the country at the time, and I (who still seem to hold the theoretical position of Treasurer) had not heard about, much less participated in, any such inspection. That's two of four board members confirmed as uninvolved, and the other two had yet to be contacted. That sounds like our property manager outright lied in order to, presumably, avoid being pressured on the subject.
This other owner also relates to me that the property manage lost her real estate license. A little online research on my part has confirmed this. In December of 2006, her license was revoked. That's about the same time the company she's in changed names. I thought they were merging/bought out at the time, but now it sounds suspiciously like the same company may have changed names and (officially) ownership because she lost her license. Why did she lose her license? Well... funny thing. The actual word isn't used, but the simply summation is embezzlement. Some $41,000 and change out of the company's "security trust account" split between herself and her spouse. There was also a shortage of $54,000 and change from the "operating trust account" that wasn't explained.
We, or at the very least I, heard nothing of this at the time. I don't know if any of that money belonged to us, or if it was someone else's. This doesn't instill confidence either way. All I saw was a notice saying, essentially, "we're changing names, your contact and all the contact information will remain the same."
Now, suddenly, all those slow responses to requests for information and the absence of financial reports provided go from "minor annoyance" to "possibly nefarious." I thought maybe she was busy and forgot my requests for such things. But maybe she's been avoiding that to cover things up. I don't like to assume the worst in people, especially people who are supposed to be professionals. But when I get reason, it's hard to do otherwise.
Worse still, I'm not really sure what to do about it. I can't even start to play a game very well when she holds all the cards. I don't think I've actually seen any cash flow data since I was appointed in... er... 2005? I'm not sure this is the sort of thing the police would help with, in spite of how TV may make it look. The real estate group that licensed her in the first place may or may not be able to do anything. I'm not sure I even have contact information for most or all of the other owners, though it's time to start looking. And if we did "fire" her and that company, I don't know the first thing about finding another or managing things in the meantime. Would we have to sue to get any money back?
Guh. I have no idea where this is going or how bad it will be, but I already don't like it.
I'm really sorry to hear about that! I'm betting you'd have to sue to get money back. *sigh* If she's been so unhelpful about providing information, it's not promising that she'd be helpful providing money. (I'm starting to wonder about our property managers, actually... I want to request a copy of the financials, but haven't looked into how I do that yet) I'd contact the Better Business Bureau and see if they have suggestions. I'd also see if there's anyone in the city government (or county - are you in city limits?) who has jurisdiction. I learned here that the Muni (our city govm't) has occasionally helped mediate homeowner issues with their builder (when the builder still controlled the HOA), because an HOA has management and enforcement powers in place of the Muni (such as road maintenance) - and if they aren't upholding their end, the Muni gets the authority (or some such - I wasn't really clear how that worked). I don't know if things are similar there, but it may not hurt to at least peruse the govmt website and/or make a couple of calls to see if they have suggestions. And if I were you, I'd suggest getting away from this woman as the property manager. She embezzled funds once, I wouldn't trust her to not do it again. (and did she have to serve time or at least make restitution? I'm a bit surprised that she just lost her license, and is still in the business!) Good luck, whichever way you go!
ReplyDeleteMostly, I don't know... What I've dug up so far comes from the Colorado Real Estate Commission: - In March of 2006, they sent a document stating that an audit found her responsible for missing money from accounts and that she apparently admitted to use of some of it. She was ordered to repay (or submit a payment plan), provide reconciled documents, complete a course on accounting software, and suffer a temporary license suspension. - In December of 2006, she was found to be in violation of the previous terms and her real estate license was permanently revoked. I don't know if she failed on a couple points or all of them, so I don't know if the money was paid back. As yet, I have been unable to find any other traces of legal action. My searches haven't turned up any arrest reports or any mention in the paper. It sure seems like that would have been a legal matter, and not just a violation of Commission rules. I've already sent an email to the Commission laying out the situation in general terms and asking for advice on how to proceed. We'll see if they have any reply to that. Right now, I'm thinking next week I'll be requesting another copy of the financials to see if she's consistant in avoiding those while I get in touch with the other board members to air these concerns. It sounds like the owner I talked to this morning may be gunning for her at this point, so there's a chance I won't have to spearhead this effort at least.
ReplyDeletedarling dear -- it's time to start looking for someone who can give you some legal advice. *frowns thoughtfully* I know there are state Real Estate Boards, you might want to contact them and see what laws and rules have possibly been violated. Also, time to start talking to the other condo owners, too.
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