Management independence before turnover

When the developer owns the management company, they're all the same thing and they've all got a horse in the game. That board is not going to vote to go after the people who put it there. So stop waiting for it to happen. Let me tell you what happens because I've watched it more than a dozen times. A management company that's big in the developer world loses community after community at turnover and it's always the same reason.

For two years, owners' complaints went nowhere because the company's biggest client was the developer. The day the owners take control of the board, the first thing that's out of their mouth is, we don't want that company to represent us because they represent the developer and they don't want to make the developer unhappy. They've got too much business with them. So we need someone who doesn't care if the developer's unhappy.

And they're right. If you're an owner in that community or the manager who's going to inherit it, here's what you need to do before turnover. First, find the people who are going to be on the next board. They're not hard to find. They're the ones who have already been to three meetings about the siding. They're the ones who are active and regularly calling you. People running for a board for one reason, you know that. But they want to change the landscaper.

They want to change the manager. They think the developer’s wronged them. Those one issue people are your future board. Hopefully you'll find people who are not one issue people that really look out for the whole community. However. They all have their heart in the right place and they want to make the community better. So get to know them now and start figuring out who's going to be your future board member. Second, get the problems written down while the developer is still here.

The owner who asked for the documents three times and got nothing, that's not a complaint anymore. That's a violation of your duty as a manager. That's a record with dates on it. One house on 123 Main Street with a written problem is how it starts. The neighbors hear about it and go, wait, do I have that issue too? Let me start investigating. Let me call an expert to just look at my one house and get a report. 10 people in a living room because they all know their neighbors, right?

That is going to be one letter. On the table and now it's 10 letters and one of them says I want to put mine in writing too. That's snowballs and you can't sweep snow under the rug unless you live in Arizona. And how do you talk about it matters? No one wants a lawsuit. And it's not a lawsuit. Everyone just wants their house fixed. So you don't say litigation. You're in a conversation. You're in a discussion with the developer about fixing what's wrong. It's not litigation and somebody files something.

And everything before that is just trying to get the developer to do the right thing. A conversation. That's what you tell the neighbors and that's what they can tell a buyer if they need to sell. If you're a manager, make sure you have a list of the building or the house complaints and forward them to the developer. And of course, keep yourself neutral. Make sure you keep a file for everything that you sent and you have a higher chance of keeping that community on board.

If you're the new board at the community, make sure you ask for a list of all the owner complaints and bring it to the experts to review all the common elements to see if they've been built correctly. Then forward the report to the developer and ask for a meeting. Hopefully, the developer will be willing to correct all deficiencies. If not, then you'd need to get some help to force the issue.