Complaint Review: Community Management Group - Charleston South Carolina

Steve Peck took a large amount of time talking to me on the phone and drafting a response to the Chelsea Park Board. He provided all of my issues to the board. Additionally, he educated them on all points explaining what the industry standard is in other neighborhoods. He has certainly been open to the conversation and willing to help Chelsea Park make the right decision.

With 17,000 homes managed over more than 10 years, we are bound to have attracted some misplaced ire. A few people incorrectly perceive that CMG is “in charge” of Association matters or that it benefits from your Association's application of fines.  Patrick, I hear you and understand your frustration and how one can arrive at a misinterpretation and with utmost respect, I hope to offer clarity here.

 

As a former elected Homeowners Association Board Member yourself, you already know, and for clarity to others who may read this, a management company is a vendor not unlike the pool maintenance company and the landscaper in that it cannot tell a Board what is reasonable, or what they must do. Certainly not with respect to violations. To the contrary, they (the Board of Directors for the Association) tells the contractor exactly what it will do, with guidance and advice of their attorney.

Also for clarity, no employee of the management company is on the Association's Board. Association Managers would be more accurately termed administrators and bookkeepers.

The resident elected Board sets the community standards; They interpret the rules and Covenants. They create the language in the letters. They determine what a reasonable timeline for compliance will be and the nature and frequency of warning letters… and the Board determines and imposes fines.

 

Management staff by contract keeps the accounting and sends mailings at the Board's very specific direction. I can understand how management's role CAN be mistaken as to facilitate the process. It is easy to agree that the letters can be received unpleasantly.

 

Ultimately, the makeup of the Board is what drives enforcement, and the options to change the makeup and mindset of the Board are at the annual meetings and through communication and direct owner feedback, which management can forward to the Board.

 

The Chelsea Park Board believes that they are doing their part in committing extra effort to correct perceived under-enforcement and under-maintenance of years prior to retaining CMG. They perceive that Chelsea Park saw degradation of appearances and property values.

Please note that not seeking to argue but to state facts as they are. 

As the owner of CMG I regret anyperson's perception that my company is the source or is unsupportive of owners’ positions in such matters. Nothing could be farther from the truth; We advocate reasonableness at every opportunity. We teach it in our classes to Boards. We live in HOAs ourselves and have friends in the neighborhoods we live in and manage.

 

Yard maintenance and parking are among a few issues that the Chelsea Park community as a whole has rallied around strongly. Perhaps predictably, observations are more frequent on rental properties. Without citing specifics here, you are aware that the Board has recorded multiple observations of issues at certain rental properties and let several pass without a letter or escalation. It serves no valued purpose to publish online the specifics of what was observed by your Board at yours or any particular rental property.

The Chelsea Park Board’s reaction to repeated observations is to apply large fines. We've discussed that some landlords have received more than ten letters over as many months and a $200 fine has been the Board's very specific instruction in at least one instance.

 

While $200 is severe, it is wholly outside the manager's reach to demand a reduction or waiver.

In every case, our managers encourage owners to make appeal to the Board, both for fines and the manner in which they handle the process or determine thresholds for citations. And of course it would be prudent to include whatever an owner wishes the Board to hear that needs improvement or leniency.

Respectfully, there are appeal provisions in your Governing Documents and we encourage that avenue.

Patrick, it is important to me that my (arguably unfortunate) position in Association management doesn’t drive a wedge but instead adds something to property values and livability in the communities we manage. We see both sides and wish to be part of solutions, not problems. We hope to have a message from you that we can relay to the Board and you can expect that we’ll advocate for you.