Our community had a horrible experience with our representative and SP Management as a whole. this Was facilitated by a board with a couple irresponsible board members creating the perfect storm. I strongly express my negativity about this mgmt company as they are the "professionals" in this situation and any volunteer HOA board would be dependent on their expertise and knowledge.
Here is my story and experience with SP mgmt. Our contact" was unreachable and did not return calls or emails. Designated as the "only contact", with no back up secretary or assistant, to assist with everyday issues was a big problem. That coupled with no defined procedure to communicate with the board, ie: a general email address. Was stifling and really blocked residents from communicating absent of knocking on doors of the HOA members. This is an example of the failure to provide solutions to the board for common everyday issues. We count on a mgmt companies experience working with multiple communities to present possible solutions for the board to choose from for any situations that arise.
I'm sure they could develop a process which would limit their legal liability/professional liability exposure to give advice or counsel. An HOA rides a fine line between a fiduciary responsibility to advise and an exposure to professional liability to give poor advice. given the numerous accounts and years of experience I would figure any mgmt company would have this worked out legally. Truthfully this is their most valuable contribution. It should have been their strength.
My community has never looked more run down. Lack of repairs, lack of maintenance, lack of mgmt and follow through on violations in the community that greatly affected our property values. He possessed a weak mgmt style that had him bowing to residents who threatened to mobilize and vote him out. No idea how to manage resident bullies. Allowed residents to lie about violations of other residents without proper documentation, proof of violations or due process. Innocent residents were fined and even faced legal action and threats under this regime. Now that the bully residents have moved, SP is out and the contributing board members that enabled the chaos are out. We have several new board members and a new mgmt company and we are back on track. A great board and a new mgmt company has made a huge difference on "all fronts".
HOA fees were not raised in 10 years at a very large cost to the community. It will take years to make up ground on the lack of maintenance with the landscaping. Can you imagine a mgmt company who recommends not watering the grass to save money and watches the grass and landscaping deteriorate. Pitting residents against each other, bullies vs reasonable residents over watering grass and washing cars, community violations and favoring certain residents over other and not enforcing all rules fairly. Periodic walk throughs are necessary by a mgmt company alleviating the troublesome situation of the residents feeling the pressure to report each other, thereby, fueling resident disagreements and fights. This mgmt company caused chaos in our community and was the root of the deterioration of the community causing lower property values. Make sure your community requires a reserve study. SP did not advise all of the board of the very serious nature of this study and a must have for any community. This study reviews the state of the property and determines the maintenance costs and necessary repairs or replacements needed and associated costs over time to ensure the HOA account is adequately funded to avoid large assessments. This should have been a major discussion and an issue brought to the residents and voted on by the board. It's easier for a resident to budget smaller monthly increases in the HOA fees than to come up with large assessment payments. When I asked a member of the board if we had one, the board member had no idea what this study was or it's importance. Check out the other reviews on other platforms for this company and you will read the same. If my HOA was going to use this company again, I would spell out specific performance requirements that would avoid these issues. My experience was that this company was experienced in cutting corners " and therefore was driven by cheaper costs in lieu of quality maintenance mgmt. if this were my mgmt company I would have walked away if the direction I received from any board was to save money in lieu of proper maintenance schedule. in all fairness having several inadequate board members provided the one two punch that ensured our community was on a bad track. our homes are our biggest investment and in a HOA community we are dependent upon our board and mgmt company's directions to maintain the community in a close to new condition as possibly. Short cutting maintenance, repairs and or replacements needed is not saving costs it only defers maintenance down the road that inevitably costs more. read more
