Complaint Review: Association Management Group Carlsbad Ca - Carlsbad CA

Having owned my condo and been a permanent resident onsite at West Bluff Hills for over 20 years, I have had the experience of working with several management companies over that time. AMG, headed up by Earl Feuer is by far the worst by a long shot. I have never had any issues with any one of the previous management companies until AMG was hired. I feel compelled to advise any homeowner/HOA Board to please be advised of the long list of issues that occurred only after AMG was assigned to “manage” West Bluff Hills (or more appropriately, lack thereof) the following issues are as such and not limited to: Nonexistent customer service, property security (garage and vehicle break ins), basic maintenance i.e., shared laundry utilities either out of order, poorly serviced or not working up to proper specifications for paying over $4 per load for washing and drying, pest control, illegal dumping, unjustified towing of homeowners/tenants vehicles from their designated parking spots after there was a “tenant/homeowner permit requirement” put in place.

 So please, read on if you are even considering hiring AMG.

Written below is a personal, very frustrating and time consuming experience which occurred over the course of almost 1 year. It is not the only nor the slightest issue but one to add to the long list of such unprofessionalism of a “business” that deals with people’s personal space and sanctuary in which they live and call home.

In July of 2017 I was notified by the neighbor directly below me that there was a leak coming from their ceiling. There was no evidence whatsoever of anything leaking in my unit, I then suggested the unit below should contact the HOA to resolve the matter. Turns out, the leak was coming from under my bathroom floor in a “common area” pipe to which I would have no way whatsoever to know there was a leak since it was not within the “air space” of my unit and there was also no sign of water damage. It is clearly stated in our CCR/bylaws that the HOA will hire a plumber for an assessment and after that; it will be determined whose responsibility it is to take care of the repair.  Earl, in his complete lack of knowledge of these CCR/bylaws, takes it upon himself to hire a commercial plumber to come out to assess the situation in the unit below mine.  He has the company send not 1, but 2 plumbers to come out and assess a simple one-man job. On top of that, he pays for 1.5 hours of labor (for both), of which 1 hour combined is overtime.  The bill is $730!!! (They repaired nothing). Any residential plumber would charge around $100 for the same job. I contact my homeowner’s insurance company, State Farm to inquire about making a possible claim. They responded requesting the CCR’s/bylaws which I sent. They replied advising me that an assessment is an HOA responsibility.  I then hired a private RESIDENTIAL PLUMBER to repair said leak which was found to be my responsibility. Approximately 1 month later with no contact since the “assessment” I receive an email from Earl with a really stern tone stating that I owe for that invoice and no HOA board member was ever copied which is acting secrecy. Acting in secrecy is a violation of any HOA.  He then sends me letters via USPS stating that I am solely responsible for the invoice for the “repairs” and even tries to scare me into going to a “hearing “ to resolve the matter. Funny thing about Earl and his complete negligence is that I had already hired and paid my own plumber to repair the leak months prior. He also denied my request to send me all board members names and email addresses when requested, yet another blatant violation. Why would he not do so? What is there to hide? I also requested all financial records of our HOA since AMG came into management and again, I was denied and berated for my request. By law, I am entitled, as a homeowner to that information. Since there seems to be no governing body or agency for these types of businesses, I contacted via certified USPS the Attorney General of CA. I included ALL documentation from the previous 6-7 months and not 30-60 days after, he abruptly resigns as property manager in the middle of the month. If all of this didn’t happen to me, I wouldn’t believe it. Truly shocking how someone like this can still be in business. So again, please think twice before even considering hiring AMG as your HOA property management company. Full documentation of my dealings with AMG is available upon request for ripoff report to review.