We really need an army!

June 22, 2007

By Mona Lisa

There is so much going on in our condos that it is impossible to list in one place. You name it, we have it. We need an army, but, a group of us would start with an attorney.

We have safety/consumer fraud issues, construction defects, illegal board and management activities, dilapidating buildings, mold and symptoms of mold exposure, dry rot, and termites.

Racketeering? Certainly possible. We are not far from having gang wars - "pro-homeowner vs. pro-board and management company". Our expenses keep going up, but the condition of our property is going down. And some people get repairs, while others do not. We do not have clean elections for Board Members. And the result of the votes for special assessments/ are sketchy.

We only know how much money was spent by categories like "Community Repairs" from the Quick Books reports generated by the management company. We don't know even know what or how many repairs were made and who got them.

Embezzlement? We certainly leave the invitation open by our shear negligence in having our "management company in a home office who has been here for over twenty years but does not have a contract with us" in total control of "kitty" (we don't get to see the real documents like invoices and checks, and our Treasurer isn't looking at receipts or added as a second signature on our checks as she trusts them- just one signature on our checks and that is of the management company). We have NEVER done an audit of our books.

We only see the financial statements generated by our management company's bookkeeping software.
(ONLY if you are a board member or a building rep, then you can request documents but if there is any tension from the homeowner you are ignored) And, as witnessed by the effort of one owner who sent a few certified letters asking to view the books, that isn't happening. He was completely ignored. When this incidence was made known at a subsequent board meeting, the management company simply mailed him copies of their financial statements. (As if he is stupid and can't tell the difference, after all, he is over 90 years old.)

Our over twenty year old condos started with construction defects like improperly built patio/balcony structures resulting in sub-frame, frame and interior sub floor decomposition. Our patios/balconies are not the property of the owners, but rather the property of the HOA. How lucky we are to have the right to exclusive use, but the repairs are reserved for the unlicensed contractors.

We have interior and exterior mold. This is a health hazard. We don't know the true condition of our building structures, but many of us do know that they are deteriorating.

Some of us know that we also have improperly installed insulation (now banned as it is a fire hazard) in the attic space that is falling from the sheathing under the roof and onto the suspended drywall ceiling. Some of the fallen insulation is laying on top of the electrical wiring that was once fastened to the ceiling joists with staples and braces made of metal rods.

Cause of the fallen insulation? The scuppers/drains on the flat roofs are not regularly cleaned. And when they clog, the flat roof fills up like a swimming pool which eventually bursts through the ceiling. One resident did their own repairs after days of unreturned phone calls from the management company and "sheets of water" coming through the roof and into his bedroom. Even smaller roof leaks can cause this insulation to fall, as it is improperly installed and actually suspended (is not in contact with either the roof sheathing or the drywall in the attic space).

Results of the fallen insulation? Higher utility bills for the residents who live on the second floor. I live on the second floor and this photo is my attic space. I hired a "Energy Audit Company" to inspect this space. The results of the inspection were; the flexible duct installed on the supply side of the air conditioner is bent at too much of an angle, meaning the duct is closed down to about 50%. The remaining 50% of the supply air is drawn from leaky duct work in the attic which contains shredding insulation and most likely mold. I would like to know how to test this stuff that I am coughing up to see what it contains. Yet another health hazard is the internal air quality.

The condition of the synthetic stucco is pathetic. But the repairs are reserved for the unlicensed-half-blind-friend-or-family member who bills @ $35.00/hr. and does band-aid/shoddy repairs that lead to further damage and are continuously re-done. He is also the person who paints/does drywall repair on community property and the interiors of some of the "lucky/chosen" homeowners. He illegally quoted to paint the entire complex at over a hundred thousand dollars.

We have discovered that we can grow mushrooms and other fungi in the landscaping and on the tree trunks by turning up the timers on the sprinklers to saturate the ground so that the dry spots will grow grass. WE LIVE IN A DESERT. Why do we have dry spots? Because we use another family member - unlicensed contractor to over-bill us on sprinkler repair who is untrained/inexperienced and also does shoddy work which continuously has to be re-done.

The management company only does as they are directed by the Board.

If you believe this, I have a condo to sell to you.

Last year both the President and Treasurer resigned after a homeowner made a motion for them to resign. The management company sent a letter to the homeowners stating the board meetings for the summer were canceled. Who directed them to do this? The new President, by default, stated he understood summer cancellation was protocol. No, it isn't. He did not even realize he was the new President until a couple of months had passed. Then, without a board meeting a new Treasurer appeared (who happened to have been a Treasurer years ago). Gee.

Almost all questions are deferred to the management company at board meetings. Our board asked the management company to write a 5 year plan of repairs, which they approved. It is inadequate as the big purchases are paint, storage room doors and column repairs (another construction defect). What about the balcony construction defects? Why are we receiving quotes based on 1 door, rather than 100 doors? Who is doing the work?

Earlier this month an unannounced crew appeared and started chopping of the bottoms of the weight bearing columns of our patios and balconies. No surprise that this company is NOT licensed to do this kind of work and are working illegally beyond the scope of their license. It is a PAVING company! The same Paving company that charged about $19,000.00 per parking lot to repave, with the level of quality resulting in unresolved complaints by the owners.

A surprise newsletter written by a board member using a "pen name" stated "we got a good deal, and they were licensed contractors". Since the management company NEVER gives copies of the quotes to anyone, and they insist on quoting only ONE column, who knows what the real figures are? And could it be that the paving company quoted on the total number of columns they "repaired", making the unit cost better than the licensed contractors who quoted on ONE column? And why did they decide to use the paving company who is a preferred vendor of the management company?

The board members are not getting paid and they aren't doing much work. Our Board meetings are like attending a reading group. All documents are written by the management company including the; Agenda, Financials, Reports of Requested Repairs, Complaints, etc. The Board follows the Agenda at the meetings and votes (sometimes). But now, even the Minutes are written by our management company as one Owner from that same company is acting as the Recording Secretary. Talk about conflict of interest and false statements. Is this even legal? What it recorded in the Minutes is not at all what is said in the meetings. And, the Board votes to approve the false Minutes. This can be called 'conspiracy".

The Board doesn't really know the State Laws and our CCR's. But our management company does, and our Board trusts that the management company is going to cover their backs and give them the correct advice and information. If there is an issue of repair like concrete balconies or falling insulation (that is NOT on the list of future repairs even though the Association is clearly responsible), the management company calls an Executive Session meeting with the HOA Attorney for legal counsel and sends out a letter to the Homeowners stating "there will no longer be any interior repairs done that are a result of an inside leak". This is without making any amendments to the CCR's. Illegal.

No homeowners know how to reach the Board for complaints against the management company as the Board "does not want to be harassed by any homeowners". One person on the Board is getting Pigeon Control at the expense of the association, but the Board would do nothing about the pair of Coyotes who were leaping over carport walls to confront Owners who were walking their dogs.

Report Unlicensed Contractors to the Arizona Registrar of Contractors.

One person did this after months of frustration with unacknowledged complaints regarding the use of unlicensed contractors on community property like the sprinkler systems and balcony repairs.

What happened? Someone unnamed from the AZROC "investigated" the management company and left the name of the person who complained with the management company. The didn't even bother to contact the complainant before or after the investigation. That person's name ended up in the management report (which goes only to the Board members and some building reps) with the information that she had filed a complaint with the AZROC. This was just another "nail in the coffin" as she is already black-listed on the repair list. And she has mold under her carpet (Chaetomium) from the leaking patio door.

This same person sent a second complaint to the Arizona Registrar of Contractors after the Paving Company violated the law and made incomplete repairs of the balconies and patios. She received a letter the next day stating they would need the signatures of the board members on the complaint in order to proceed. The board is not going to file a complaint naming themselves as the individuals who approved this vendor for the repairs! A follow up phone call revealed that she could file a complaint for her own personal property but not on behalf of the association, and that the AZ ROC would deal with the paving company for the violation of working outside the scope of their license. A small step, but a step in the right direction. Or, so she thought.

When the inspector from the AZ ROC showed for the appointment to inspect the job site, he showed up at the door with the owner of the Paving Company. He asked her questions about the job, and she attempted to answer. But this man would not let her finish one complete sentence without interrupting her and saying to "stick to the repair of the column". He didn't want to know the condition of the rotting balcony. He further stated that the Paving Company DOES have a license to do this kind of work. Huh? This is not what Customer Service at the AZ ROC stated. That person said; "file a complaint, they are working outside of their jurisdiction".

According to the website, www.azroc.gov, this company holds the following licenses; "C" Category SPECIALTY RESIDENTIAL CONTRACTING; C-13 ASPHALT COATING AND PARKING, meaning residential asphalt coating and parking. And, under the "A" Category, ENGINEERING CONTRACTING (COMMERCIAL) A-05 EXCAVATING, GRADING AND OIL SURFACING, meaning Commercial Excavating, Grading and Oil Surfacing. AE - as restricted by Registrar - whatever that means, but still Commercial, not residential.

What happened here? Did somebody get paid in the parking lot? Or, did the inspector just not like this woman's tone? The result is a letter from the inspector stating he was closing the complaint. And, if the complainant disagreed she could request a hearing. Nice job, AZ ROC. This office is also enabling the further use of illegal contracting.

Participate in the Board Meetings.

Most of the homeowners here have given up on this idea. Any person who opposes the ideas of the Board and management company is told to "be quiet, stick to the agenda", and even verbally ridiculed by the Board President or other pro-board homeowners. We are all tired of hearing arguments with nobody in charge that is open to hearing the opposition.

At our annual meeting in March, only two of the board members showed up. What happened then was they informally held the annual meeting with the homeowners, then the management company sent a letter to the homeowners stating the annual meeting had been postponed due to lack of quorum (board members) and rescheduled to a new date. The rescheduled meeting lasted less than 15 minutes, as some homeowners arrived as others were leaving the meeting. The results of the balloting for the special assessment were reported as "approved". Huh? What was the count? Did they just call the rescheduled annual meeting the second meeting so that they would only need quorum of the residents who attended? Just last year was the first time in the history of this HOA that quorum was reached on the first vote, and it was NO on the special assessment. This after the newsletter sent out by a concerned homeowner on the activities of the board and management company and the lack of proper repairs.

Get on the Board and get control of the situation.

It sounds logical. Any one with any kind of sense; business, construction, repairs, publications, real estate, etc. should be able/willing to contribute to the community by serving on the board. One person was nominated to the Board at an annual meeting and voted in by the people, only to be kicked off at a secret meeting where it was decided that person was in "conflict of interest". How can it be conflict of interest when what she was promoting was reconstruction of faulty, decomposing balconies for all homeowners who need this work? The Board does not want to replace the cracking concrete and rotten wood structures of the balconies as it will be "too expensive".

Some "pro-homeowners" have volunteered for vacant board positions (due to resignations) only to be told by the new President (by default) "they would get back to them". Instead they placed other "pro-board and management" owners on the Board, at some other secret meeting, without even voting them in at their first Board meeting. They simply appeared at the conference table.

Another "pro-homeowner" volunteered to write the newsletter. (We used to get these monthly, and at least knew basic information like; who is on the board. Now we get letters written by the management company announcing various decisions.) The Board did not take this person up on her offer to write the newsletter, and instead voted not to let her install rain gutters over her garage (some owners have them) as "the pine tree would only fill them up with black goop" (there are specially made screens to fit on the gutters to prevent this from happening). She was probably black-listed as she was friendly to the person who keeps complaining about mold and dry rot.

And the scheming continues. Our CCR's state that the term of any Board member is one year. But, somehow in our management company's letters to homeowners this has magically changed to a 2 year term. Only one Board position to elect at this year's annual meeting? And how did the additional board member, who wasn't replacing anyone get on the board outside of the meeting? They are highly talented at stacking the board with pro-management people.

Write to the Attorney General.

One person did this only to receive a letter stating the Attorney General's office "could not represent an individual in a private issue". And other homeowners do not want to take the time to write to the Attorney General and validate that too many of us have the same problems.

Most people don't want the secret to be out about the true condition of our condos as that would affect the value of their own units.

The Attorney General's office recommended hiring a private attorney. Cumulatively, we are paying about $200,000.00 per year in property taxes on 4 acres. We are receiving very few government amenities. But we can't get the interest of the government to force these people to follow the laws?

File a complaint with the Department of Fire and Building Safety.

Since you must present your case in accordance with court procedures or hire an attorney to represent you, it seems like you may be better off going through the civil courts. Especially since the fee has gone up to $2000.00. And does this department award damages?

It Gets Worse.

It is amazing how much information is available by internet. Public documents show that in the 90's one of our residents was served by our HOA and the same management company with a lien against his/her property for about $800.00. Same management company as current, 1 board member the same, different HOA attorney. The following year a this property owner had the experience of foreclosure and a sheriff's sale of their home. The highest bidder was OUR HOA, for $500.00. Huh?

We are not the only HOA this management company is "empowered" by. There are at least 8 more HOA's listed under this firms name via the wwwmaricopa.gov website. Now, it isn't just a community problem - it is a City problem.

Just move out, sell your home.

The "For Sale" signs continue to go up. They sell. Evidently nobody is really disclosing the facts. They are just passing the problem on to the next gullible buyer. What about the disclosure laws?

Get a Private Attorney.

One person made countless attorney phone calls. The results are that most (98%) of the contacted attorneys do not want this type of a case. We are out of the Statute of Limitations on litigating the builder for construction defects (BIG Attorney money). The 1% is the firm that asked for a $2500.00 retainer without hearing much about the case. How many $2500.00 retainers would be required to litigate?

It wouldn't be an easy battle, as we have Farmer's Insurance with Directors and Officer's Liability clause. But we don't stop there, we also cover our management company on a separate policy called "Employee Dishonesty" in the amount of $500,000.00, which we pay for. Dumb and Dumber.

Isn't there an attorney somewhere who is more interested in making a name for him/herself by standing up for why this country was founded, rather than what the profit level of the case is?

Can someone make a recommendation for or refer this to an attorney in Phoenix?

We really need some help.

I am choosing a "pen name" for now, as identifying this community could lead to further property reductions and "paybacks" from neighbors.