Marie
Anderson,#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, August 23, 2004
I worked for Alliance on the property level for 3 and a half years. It seemed to be common practice for invoices to be held well over 90 days. We were forever getting cut off by vendors because of non-payment. Heck, I walked into the office one morning to find we had NO PHONE SERVICE! The water meter for the irrigation system was yanked out by the water company due to nonpayment. It was a real headache for us on the property level to have corporate screaming at us to LEASE LEASE LEASE, but then not be able to get the apartments ready for move-in because of lack of vendors willing to come out due to non-payment. We also felt really bad because we usually knew the local vendors on a personal level and knew they had kids at home needing clothes and food, etc. And there was nothing we could do. We were told to lie and tell the vendors a check had been cut or that they would be on the next check run to hold the vendor off. We were not allowed to give accounting's phone number to vendors. And yes, we were always being told that the property was being refinanced. In 3 years, the two properties I worked on were refinanced several times. We would be told that they were going to use the money to improve this or that on the properties and all the vendors would be paid off. For about one month after each refinance, things were calm and running smoothly, but we hardly ever saw the improvements promised and the vendors would soon be hounding us for payment again. It was unwritten company police to pay no sooner than 60 days, although the vendor contracts said 30. The day I walked in to find an email saying we needed to spend the weekend pounding on doors to collect rent money or else there wouldn't be enough money for our payroll checks was the last straw.
Richard
knightdale,#3Author of original report
Thu, June 03, 2004
I HAVE RECEIVED HALF OF THE MONEY 3-15-04 BUT THEY STILL OWE $26500 AND SOME OF THAT HAS BEEN OUT SINCE 8-20-03(IT IS 6-4-04 NOW). THEY KEEP TELLING ME THEY ARE REFINANCING AND ARE VERY NICE BUT NICE AND MONEY ARE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS.
Richard
knightdale,#4Author of original report
Thu, June 03, 2004
I HAVE RECEIVED HALF OF THE MONEY 3-15-04 BUT THEY STILL OWE $26500 AND SOME OF THAT HAS BEEN OUT SINCE 8-20-03(IT IS 6-4-04 NOW). THEY KEEP TELLING ME THEY ARE REFINANCING AND ARE VERY NICE BUT NICE AND MONEY ARE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS.
Richard
knightdale,#5Author of original report
Thu, June 03, 2004
I HAVE RECEIVED HALF OF THE MONEY 3-15-04 BUT THEY STILL OWE $26500 AND SOME OF THAT HAS BEEN OUT SINCE 8-20-03(IT IS 6-4-04 NOW). THEY KEEP TELLING ME THEY ARE REFINANCING AND ARE VERY NICE BUT NICE AND MONEY ARE 2 DIFFERENT THINGS.
Mike
Radford,#6Consumer Suggestion
Thu, December 18, 2003
In most states, if a contractor isn't paid for work done according to the contract a mechanic's lien can be filed. This will force the owners of the property to pay you, if they still don't then they can be forced to sell the property and you get paid from the proceeds. The process isn't that complicated, but considering the amount of money involved it would be worthwhile to hire a lawyer who is familiar with the process. Time deadlines can be tight; get started now.