Association v. Management Company - Who Controls the Complex?

Cyber Citizens for Justice at http://www.ccfj.net/ bills itself as 'Florida's Largest State-Wide Property Owners' Advocacy Organization' and has been mentioned on the blog before (12/23/11). It deals with condos and related articles and it worth book marking for future reference.

It is particularly relevant with multiple articles that are cited below from the Orlando Sentinel which deal with CAM's and management firms.

As I pointed out in literature distributed at the 1/14/12 AGM, Concord Management is part of a larger group of companies that build and manage developments such as ours. The developer builds them and drops Concord in to manage them.

Take a look at: http://www.atlantichousing.com/ourteam.html  whose introduction says:

"Atlantic Housing is the commonly used brand name for our family of companies working in a cooperative effort to develop quality multi-family communities and maintain them in a sustainable environment that enhances the quality of life for the privileged residents. The members of our team include Atlantic Housing Partners, Global Realty, CPG Construction, and Concord Management."

When our Association was under the control of the Developer, and even after turnover that control lasted until 1/14/12, Concord was working for the Developer and the Developers interests and NOT the interests of the Owners at Nautilus Cove.

Now that we have a true Owner controlled BOD we have the opportunity to move away from Developer control by virtue of having 2 of the 3 Board votes held by Owners that are not in the hip pocket of the Developer.

It is no longer necessary or desirable to have Concord Management as our management firm for our Association. Their contract can be terminated for cause or allowed to expire 20 months from now, either way, we need to bring in another management firm and get rid of Concord.

One thing that can be done immediately is to make sure that here at NCC the 'tail doesn't wag the dog'. The various articles cited below point out how many management firms and I include Concord in this category, think that they actually run the condo and here at Nautilus Cove that has actually been the case due to the relationship of the Developer and Concord.

Now that we have effective control of the Condo we will be moving away from doing what the management company wants and into areas where we will now be telling the management company what we want to accomplish and if they are not effective in moving in these directions then they will provide us with 'cause' to terminate their contract.

Here are 3 Orlando Sentinel articles bearing on the condo association/management firm relationships:
Community Association Manager - Right-Hand of the Board - Or Dictator?
http://tinyurl.com/77ry5xt
Just Who is Managing Who? http://tinyurl.com/6ua3b4k
Board Members Beware! http://tinyurl.com/85elbqf  

Click on for larger image or go to:  http://www.atlantichousing.com/ourteam.html