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MORE THAN JUST A “CONFLICT OF INTEREST”!
By
Jan Bergemann
Published May 24, 2019
In my opinion a management firm should manage – as the name says
– and not turn into a “We-Do-It-All” contracting firm. I think
it’s even more than just a conflict of interest, especially if
the management firm is pushing a specific contracting firm
without disclosing that the firm is actually part of the
corporation the management firm belongs to.
One big company – they changed their name recently for a purpose
– had made it a science to push their own vendors onto
unsuspecting association boards. They had more than 120
companies under their umbrella at one time.
Another one of the big management companies “blackmails” vendors
into paying fees if they want to be considered for bids. That
company even has its own bank – located in a different state –
where the association funds are tucked away, out of reach of the
board members.
Let’s make it short: Association boards should only hire
management companies that only do one thing: MANAGING!
If boards want a fair bidding process they should not hire a
firm that has specific connections to other vendors and
contractors.
If they do they may even pay the management firm for
“supervising” the work of a company they are related with. Do
you honestly believe that you will get an honest “supervision”
in a case like that?
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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