New to HOA - Manager requests acceptable?

Is this manager legally an "employee"? Or is she on a contract?

These are our expenses in administrative and wages, thus far for apr 2019-jan 2020 (linked)

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s184/nl/21876791/03ecfe42-b0f2-4812-b58f-6156a787120f/

We also paid her $3342 In overtime for a large document request. She listed 65 hours in overtime, along with a closed office for a month. She was given a two week extension. This is what is promoting her harassment claim.

She also has asked for a cease and desist to be filed from some residents contacting her.

I've only included my budget concerns in this excel. Feel free to assist on any things you think are concerns. Budget is also on tomorrow's agenda.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/glhx54r3f024t5v/Budget%20MT%20copy.xlsx?dl=0

Hoping you don’t have to sign in on any of the links listed. All the same excel doc

TIP: Complete waste of money. If you simply scanned and stored all your docs on a google drive or similar company like dropbox, you would never have to pay for a document request again.

That is what we do. Every doc is on google drive. Residents are self service and find the docs themselves. We do not do it for them.

Firing an employee is Texas may be easier than what has been offered.

"At will employment state" is a layperson's buzz phrase. The issue, in Texas and elsewhere, is much more complicated than this. I think it is possible things are out of control for whatever reason. Perhaps asking any manager to deal with these situations without giving the manager more resources is unreasonable.

One way or another, things have blown up at this HOA. The OP's HOA's manager appears to be litigious, maybe for good reason or maybe due to her own misdeeds. She has experienced direct violence (upon her car). If I were she, I would be furious. Maybe she is mishandling things majorly, but the correct response is never violence. Can she be lawfully terminated because supposedly she is the problem? I would bet it is so foggy that the cost to get rid of her, even in Texas, would be prohibitive.

Agreed and a point I hope to relay. Board sympathizers with employee and made all sorts of accommodations. We xcould have subcontracted to a hich school resident and saved money while normal office hours and tasks continued.

The FICA, FUTA and SUTA expenses mean the manager is an employee. I think you all are screwed. Google on FUTA and SUTA for more clues on the implications of terminating this employee without a very good reason. A new board will be meaningless in the face of repeated good evaluations in the past.

Lesson for other HOAs/COAs: At all costs avoid having "employees." Contract a management company instead.

I’ve made a request for her personal files , contract and qualifications via certified mail as in bylaws last week. A courtesy email of my intent for records sent 2 weeks ago. Resident email just went out Tuesday that she will be taking vacation after tonight’s HOA meeting. My concern is what I’ll receive as I don’t know who maintains her file, or what access she has to them. As I mentioned, she’s been in locked office many days in past. She is the only office employee, with her title as Office Manager.

I love your idea of a survey of members. I believe Texas allows firing without cause, but something I’ll need to further research to be sure.
I hate the idea of being responsible for job loss, but I’m concerned with the current hostilities and expenses. She has too much authority it seems and with few curtailing her actions.

In the past year, this has been some of the emails sent out to residents:
*Our security officers provide controlled access at the entrance and not security within Mission Trace. They are not allowed to leave their post. If you suspect criminal activity, please call 911 directly, not the guardhouse.

*I was merely trying to explain that this Board has made it very clear to me that there will be no exceptions given, especially in light of the recent lawsuits that have been filed specifically because exceptions were made in the past.

*Yes, you can meet with Board Members but I can assure you that it will make no difference. This Board is following the HOA lawyer´s advice and makes no distinctions or exceptions. I am positive that the fine won´t be dropped and that the towing policy will be enforced. Exceptions have translated into lawsuits and this Board is not going to allow this to happen again.

*I have no idea who told you that this issue has anything to do with aesthetics. I may agree that it has something to do with it but it is not the main reason. This Board gives the same treatment to each one of the 260 neighbors and makes no exceptions. Regarding the issue with your neighbor, I can assure it is being dealt with, but just like we can´t disclose with others the way your case is being handled, we can´t disclose with you the way their case is being handled.

*Additionally, effective December 30, 2018, for those homeowners who choose to pay their assessments on a monthly basis (paying 1/3 of the quarterly dues each month), a surcharge of $10 per month will be assessed on the last day of each month that carries a balance. If the monthly payment is not made by the last day of each month, a monthly $25 late fee will also be assessed.

The majority of the homeowners pay their dues on a quarterly basis. In an effort to be equitable who are paying on time, a surcharge should be imposed on those who choose to pay monthly. There is additional manual administrative work required to back out the late fees that are automatically entered through our HOA software system. Additionally, it requires extra deposits/trips to the bank to deposit these checks.

* Due increase 1 This increase is $4.90 per month per home, but is necessary due to the ever-increasing costs of services such as the 24-hour security, landscaping services and long overdue maintenance and repairs of fencing, driveways, drainage, lighting, swimming pools and much more.

* – I got your check for the HOA dues today and it didn’t include the 31 cents, so your balance right now is 31 cents.

Unfortunately our HOA software will put in the late charge of $25 for anyone who has a balance, no matter how small and I don’t have the ability to reverse the charge.

*settled in favor of resident. For the lawsuit brought against the HOA due to a parking issue, total legal costs to date paid by the HOA are $5,552.50.

*Different resident than lawsuit. I’m sorry that your neighbor uses some of the parking pads near your home, but you will need to find another parking pad to use when you have a hang tag to park outside of the driveway. Even though your driveway is not visible from the street, you cannot enjoy a privilege that the remainder of the 259 neighbors do not.

*I see that you have a valid hang tag, but the patrol officer indicated that the vehicles were not parked in a parking pad as required, but in the driveway, which is not allowed. That is the reason the parking citations were issued and I cannot dismiss them for that reason.

*An anonymous letter, addressed to the office manager, was received in the mail on Friday. While we won't go into details, the letter was personally threatening to the office manager and the contents were mean, harassing and accusatory.

The Board takes seriously its responsibility of protecting the safety of each employee and vendor and providing a workplace free from harassment.

Certain measures will be instituted soon at the office such as installation of cameras. Until the cameras can be installed, effective immediately and until further notice, the office manager will be available by appointment only. Please call the office at 210-696-7164 or email [email protected] prior to visiting the office.

The Board intends to send the letter to our HOA lawyer and to file a report with the SAPD.
As you all know, the Board of Directors, out of an abundance of caution, had directed that the office be open by appointment only for the past couple of weeks, after a threatening letter was sent to the Office Manager.

*As of today, the office is now open for business as normal. A Dutch door has been installed at the office, as well as interior and exterior cameras at the Clubhouse.

Office hours are Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

We are sorry to inconvenience so many of you due to the actions of one or a small few, and we appreciate your cooperation.

*My vehicle has been keyed twice in recent weeks while parked at the Clubhouse parking lot. Attached you will find the pictures which show a total of five long, deep scratches to my car.

Today, I drove my son's vehicle to work and stayed late for the Board Meeting.

Board Member Mike Fellows parked next to me and specifically looked at the car when he arrived for the meeting. As he left, he noticed the new scratches - picture attached.

The vehicle was vandalized between 6:20 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., while the Board Meeting was in progress.

After the first two incidents, cameras were positioned in the Clubhouse parking lot trees and those SIM cards will be turned over to the police and criminal charges will be filed.

This is clearly workplace harassment and I should not have to suffer for the despicable behavior of those who do not like me as Office Manager and who threatened in a letter sent to me to "You're next. We will get rid of you like we got rid of your friend, Mario Crosswell."

I am requesting that the HOA cover the cost of the repair for the damage done to my vehicle as well as my son's.

I am also requesting that additional professionally installed cameras be placed in the parking lot and clubhouse/office to ensure my safety and the safety of my property.

I am entitled to a safe and harassment-free workplace and it is clear that the person who has vandalized my car on three separate occasions as well as their accomplices will stop at nothing to get their way.

What a shame that those who do not want me as the Office Manager do not run for a position on the Board, and if elected, vote to fire me. Instead they have now stooped to bullying, harassment and vandalism to drive away anyone they see as standing in their way.

*The HOA office has received an extensive document request from a homeowner. Per the Texas Property Code, the request must be completed no later than July 25th.

Unfortunately, this request will take the great majority of the Office Manager’s work hours to complete, so effective Monday, July 15th, the office will be closed and will remain closed until further notice.
The office has been flooded with concerns about the office being closed down until further notice.

Unfortunately, our office manager believes that those 10 days will not be enough, since she still has to take care of other urgent matters on behalf of the HOA. For this reason, the Board decided to close the office to try to alleviate, as much as we can, the workload of the office manager. .

*The office manager has received numerous calls and emails asking when the office will reopen.

Unfortunately, as you all know, we received a document request on July 11th and our office manager has to go through a little over 20,000 emails and other documents to gather the information requested.

As of yesterday, our office manager has spent 48 hours on this document request so far and has been able to go through only approximately 40% of the documents needed to review. At this pace, in order to complete the remaining 60%, she will require another 72 hours, which means that the earliest the office will reopen for regular business matters would be Monday, August 19th.

Furthermore, the office received a new document request on July 22nd. This new request is not as lengthy as the one currently being fulfilled, but it still will take more time from our office manager. Our office manager will start working on this latest request as soon as the current one is completed, therefore the goal of reopening the office on August 19th may not be achieved.

We understand everyone’s frustration, but keep in mind that by law we are obligated to fulfill in a timely manner any document request filed by a neighbor.

*Unfortunately, the last few months have been very difficult due to two homeowners who seem to be intent on a crusade to find something/anything that this Board or myself are doing wrong, and it's become unbearable.

As you all know, I put in many more hours than I get paid for -- and I do it willingly and happily, but the number and extensiveness of the recent document requests take up hours of my time when I could be working on things that benefit the whole neighborhood.

Snide and sarcastic comments are often made by these two residents against me or the board, implying wrongdoing on my part or on the part of the board.

We may not be perfect, and unintentional mistakes might be made occasionally, but I can say with a clear conscious that I know of no actions taken by the board or myself that have been done in a secretive, devious or underhanded way.

As a board member myself in my own community, I know how many volunteer hours you all put in. While I understand that not everyone agrees with the decisions taken by this or previous boards, I believe residents should still behave in a professional and courteous manner when voicing concerns, yet this has not been the case as evidenced during the recent Annual Meeting and much worse at the Town Hall Meeting.

Many neighbors have voiced out to me in recent months, how upset they were at the way these two neighbors behaved during the last Town Hall Meeting. Many more, and even the HOA lawyer commented to me how inappropriate the behavior of one of these two neighbors was during the Annual Meeting.

*A total of 4,148 pages (see attached photo) were printed and a total of 135 hours were spent on this request. Since the document request was filed through legal counsel, the documents must now be reviewed by the Mission Trace HOA attorney. In addition to these 135 hours, the office manager worked an additional 65 hours since July 15th to complete other urgent tasks such as processing HOA payments and paying bills. We will recover the cost of the 135 hours spent from the homeowner, but we will not be able to recoup the legal fees incurred for the document review.

The office will reopen on Monday, August 12th at 9 a.m.

We are also very happy to report that Xxxx has asked the board to allow her to rescind her resignation and of course we gladly agreed. Her email to the board is shown below.

*
To date, the neighbor who made this request has paid $1,029 and we hope to recover an additional $2,137.39 which per Texas Property Code 209, is the maximum we can recover from this request.

Ultimately, the HOA will have a deficit of $12,129.40 (to date) that will be taken from our Reserve Fund since the legal expenses and Linda´s overtime cannot be collected from the homeowner who made the request, per Texas Property Code 209.

Unfortunately, we anticipate another large bill for legal fees for September 2019. Legal fees shown above are through August 31, 2019 only.

The homeowner who made the document request has retained an attorney and is continuing to demand the HOA release the personal e-mail addresses of all homeowners. Our attorney's office will continue to deny such requests based on Texas Property Code 209, Sec. 209.0042 but of course, any time our lawyer spends time taking care of this issue, the HOA will be billed for his time.

The basis to deny such requests, as said above, is based on Texas Property Code 209, Sec. 209.0042 that states:

(k) Except as provided by Subsection (l) and to the extent the information is provided in the meeting minutes, the property owners' association is not required to release or allow inspection of any books or records that identify the dedicatory instrument violation history of an individual owner of an association, an owner's personal financial information, including records of payment or nonpayment of amounts due the association, an owner's contact information, other than the owner's address, or information related to an employee of the association, including personnel files. Information may be released in an aggregate or summary manner that would not identify an individual property owner.

It is the opinion of the Board of Directors that it is ridiculous that the remaining 259 homeowners have to bear the cost of over $12,000 on this issue, but since the homeowner who made the request retained an attorney, the Board was forced to ask the HOA attorney to intervene to protect the whole community.

Legal Expenses Incurred by the HOA Regarding Enforcement of Architectural Standards:

The HOA has spent $5,123 to date on legal expenses regarding enforcement of architectural standards for a homeowner who did not comply with the Covenants and used unauthorized building materials.

Again, it is the opinion of the Board of Directors that it is ridiculous that that the remaining 259 homeowners have to bear the cost of over $5,000 on this issue that only took place because one of neighbor decided to do something without submitting an architectural request.

The unanticipated legal and related costs for these two issues total over $17,000 -- funds which were not budgeted nor are available in the Operating Account. Funds will be transferred from the Reserve Account to cover these unexpected expenses.

*

All valid and excellent points. That’s why I came hear to hear your thoughts, and avoid any bias to direct action. 100% agree that damages and injury are never acceptable. I do feel things are inappropriately out of control, and thus thinking it’s time to change things. For her safety and general community peace/sanity.

I worry that that paying her cars, with only her word, is going to open us up for an expensive precedent. Residents, guests and vendors aren’t covered, but may insist they now are too.

I’ll have to look into the contract to see what steps/costs would be needed were we to replace her with a management company. A budget is on the agenda today, so she may be up for renewal?

I appreciate your time. If you have more time and interest, I just posted a long series of emails that may give you more insight to her approach and general community concerns I’ve been living under for the past year. Moved in aug 2018.

Keep your assessments, education and suggestions coming. I meet with Executive board at 630pm, followers by HOA meeting where I’ll be signing up to speak at general forum. Wish me luck as I’ve already become target for retaliation measures since first requesting to speak with board alone 2 weeks ago. Increase cars driving by my home, committee members for violations suddenly walking my street, supposed violations we never received. An accrual of fines in one lump sum (hence exec mtg).

LaurieG3, why is your HOA being sued multiple times, and losing multiple lawsuits (in my view, a settlement is also a loss).

Sounds like your HOA needs to fire its lawyer and its manager.

Trying to follow the thread ...

So, Laurie, you are on at least one committee, and from this position you are urging major management changes in your HOA?

While this is certainly within your rights as an owner in the community, attempting to influence Board decisions of this nature from a committee seems a bit presumptuous and perhaps likely to generate angst - especially based on a summary as in the the convoluted thread ... maybe it is me just having a hard time following.

If the Board has decided to work with the current staff/employee, then trying to change this - unless you have a large supporting membership - and, call for special meeting to remove and replace board members, seems unlikely to do much useful.

Also - I just don't follow on things like "less toxic and expensive." Saying these sorts of things means you are really disgruntled - perhaps with reason - but it does not sound like you are attempting to improve situations ....

Again, perhaps I am simply not understanding what is happening?

Of course I think you're right to seek the contract. Let's hope there is a contract. Not that a contract assures anything in the case of an "employee."

Some employees do not have a contract per se.

I hear you about how one way or another, she is likely a large part of the problem. I do not think the solution will be easy but think all there will get an education. I may check Texas case law on the subject of "employment at will." Maybe I am wrong and it is easy to terminate someone in Texas without major (and legally expensive) conflict. Right now, I remain unpersuaded that this will be the case in these circumstances.

This forum has no editing feature. Like many here, I am not shy about posting to correct my own errors.

For what it is worthy, here are the statements from your manager that I would find troubling:
===================================================================================
*Yes, you can meet with Board Members but I can assure you that it will make no difference. This Board is following the HOA lawyer´s advice and makes no distinctions or exceptions. I am positive that the fine won´t be dropped and that the towing policy will be enforced. [Augie comment: The manager should not be saying that the Board disregards what is said at a hearing.]

*The majority of the homeowners pay their dues on a quarterly basis. In an effort to be equitable who are paying on time, a surcharge should be imposed on those who choose to pay monthly. There is additional manual administrative work required to back out the late fees that are automatically entered through our HOA software system. Additionally, it requires extra deposits/trips to the bank to deposit these checks.[Augie comment: "should be imposed"? If the governing documents back up her contention, okay. Otherwise, the manager is way out of line.]

*The Board intends to send the letter to our HOA lawyer and to file a report with the SAPD. [Augie comment: In my experience, the person actually threatened needs to file the police report. I do not appreciate this manager being so ignorant that she thinks the HOA attorney has to file a police report that she should be filing. This costs members money. Would the HOA attorney file a police report on behalf of a member who was threatened by the manager?]

*This is clearly workplace harassment [Augie comment: I believe a certain self-proclaimed HOA organization has promoted HOA managers claiming "workplace harassment" anytime the manager feels the least bit uncomfortable, including if the manager is being corrected on some action. The typical uneducated HOA manager has confounded principles of, and laws regarding, unlawful hostile environment on the basis of race, religion, sex, familial status (and a number of other very specific protected classes) with general harassment. The notion of which this Texas HOA manager speaks has not gained traction in the courts. However a HOA manager who is an employee can hire an attorney; use the fact that a HOA has insurance; easily force the HOA to make a "claim" to the insurer; have claims adjusters become involved; and rain hell on the HOA.]

* and I should not have to suffer for the despicable behavior of those who do not like me as Office Manager and who threatened in a letter sent to me to "You're next. We will get rid of you like we got rid of your friend, Mario Crosswell." [Augie comment: If there's a real or apparent history of managers being driven out, I think this may cost the OP's HOA more.]

Augie comment on document request: Something sounds not right here. The HOA attorney maybe should have gotten involved with this? I would need to know what was requested. Though it's likely water under the bridge at this point. I would wait for the next document request where the manager claims she will need an exorbitant amount of time.

*We are also very happy to report that Xxxx has asked the board to allow her to rescind her resignation and of course we gladly agreed. Her email to the board is shown below. [Again, this is her ignorance of the law. If a board member has resigned, then she needs to be appointed formally or elected by the members. The manager should not be weighing in like this. She sounds like she has a high school diploma, tops.]

*Ultimately, the HOA will have a deficit of $12,129.40 (to date) that will be taken from our Reserve Fund since the legal expenses and Linda´s overtime cannot be collected from the homeowner who made the request, per Texas Property Code 209. [Again, more ignorance: A special assessment is likely the way to address a shortage of funds to pay legal expenses. A reserve fund is for infrastructure.]

I think HOA managers have a difficult job. The biggest problem is they are working with HOA members who are frequently, and grossly, ignorant of their covenant-based contractual obligations as members. On the other hand, I think many HOA managers lack the needed skills to be competent.

LaurieG3, the problems at your HOA sound huge. I think your best bet for change is to get on the board with a like-minded majority. If those complaining are not willing to run for the board, then in my opinion, they need to knock it off. And if any member or employee perpetrated physical violence or constant, inappropriate badgering in a bullying style, I'd want the board to do all possible to stop it.

Based on what I see, this is not a HOA manager, but a office manager, or bookkeeper.

Finally Laurie has cut to the chase. She has issues with the Manager and the BOD and she is looking to get rid of them.

I wonder if this is Laurie's HOA?

https://www.missiontracehoa.org/

Looks like a well run, organized, nothing to hide HOA to me.

I could be wrong.

Good for her. If my HOA got sued multiple times--and lost multiple times--I'd be looking for some personnel changes, too. Lawsuits aren't always avoidable, but repeated losses in litigation are avoidable.

JohnC46

I looked at the website. It is attractive. I clicked on one tab which took me to a Board resolution last year regarding charging an extra fee to those who pay monthly due to alleged higher processing and handling fees. $30.00 extra per month to stamp the back of a check and take it to the bank. Each. ???????

Simply put, I do not believe the resolution i read will pass the smell test if challenged, absent other language in the documents which permits the application of such fees. Apparently the documents of the association state assessment payments are due monthly or quarterly. If that is the case, there is no justification for charging a fee to an owner who pays monthly.

Further, if this Association is large enough to pay legal bills the size of those mentioned by the OP, why in the world are they not with a bank which offers association services such as ACH and lockbox payment processing? Why should the office manager be processing and depositing checks?

That 64 hour/20,000 email message data request is another indicator. The Association attorney should have put a stop to that, if he could not, there are services available which specialize in data mining. Were they consulted?

On that basis, while the Association may be transparent, if it were me I would have questions regarding how well it is run.

My belief is there is a great deal going on here not fully understood or disclosed.

No you can't. Please also read the Posting Rules for this site.

"... we do not allow the mentioning of any community name, company name or product. Please also do not post the full name of any person."

You've done all of that.

The office manager has stated there are 260 homes. It sounds to me like this HOA needs a certified professional salaried property manager. It's clear that the current one is hourly and we don't even know how many hours a week she's supposed to work for this HOA. The contents of her contract are really important.

We don't know how many are on the board, but they do sound ineffective.

Is it true that HOA's in TX must dig through old files and compile materials?

Be interesting to hear how the meetings turned out today that Laurie's involved in.

I can't help but wonder if it's Laurie herself who's asking for so many documents and writing so many emails to this office manager.

There's a lot here that just doesn't add up so I feel I can't contribute much. I'm confused, for example, by the quoted emails referring to July. Maybe I'm not reading this all carefully enough.

Kerry

Yes, Texas HOAs must 'open the books' and all that, and certainly must comply with court ordered data requests and discovery proceedings. A data request of that magnitude must have required a court order, or at least direction from the association attorney. Section 209 of the Property Code contains details on charges which may be applied.

I agree, an association with 280 homes should be managed by a professional management company. This association seems to be running self-managed with a day-to-day contact in the office. With the trials and tribulations taking place as described, they should have top-notch professional management. On the other hand, professional management firms may have walked away.

Augustin, I agree, the monthly payments do represent additional overhead and will cut some slack on that point. We have clients on monthly assessment payment schedules, even though we do not process the checks, with an exception here and there, there is still more accounting overhead than with clients on quarterly and semi-annual regimes.

But not on the amount of the surcharge. A $30.00 fee for each month in which a monthly payment is made seems excessive. The justification is they have accounting system overhead to back out the late fees. The system we use does not apply late fees until we tell it to. Perhaps some reprogramming is in order.

I wonder if they charge $30.00 for the monthly payment submitted on the quarterly payment due date?

I agree the multiple lawsuits (with, as well, a poor record for the HOA winning) give credibility to LaurieG3's concerns.

This is a self managed association that has politics and probably a little drama.

I have seen much worse and there isn't anything more I could offer based on the information posted, information posted on their website and comments posted on the internet.