Categories
BC BoD

The Board and Property Management’s Bald-Faced Lies

We recently had a sham of an annual home owner’s meeting.

The key takeaway for this author is that the Board, and its managing agent, has no problem lying to home owners, and to shut down anyone (by muting them, kicking them out of the meeting and slandering them) who points out the clear misstatements.

Let’s fact-check a few statements:

“The Berkley Court board of directors is required to facilitate an annual home owners meeting, at any time during the year, not necessarily in January.”

-Berkley Court Board of (Unelected) Directors
Section 4.4 of the original bylaws, in place since October 1981, state when the annual home owner meeting is to be held.

“We never have had proxies before at Berkley Court.”

-Berkley Court Board of (Unelected) Directors
Both the Declaration and the original bylaws (snippet seen above) state that votes can be delivered via proxy. Once again, this is IN PLACE SINCE 1981! One home owner also testified that she has received proxies in earlier meetings.

“What is a proxy? How would you define a proxy vs. an absentee ballot?”

Efer Gavidia, Property Manager
When the property management company does not know what a proxy is, although it is referenced multiple times in TX Property Code statutes, and it has been explained to him by a home owner 2 months prior, would you consider him competent in his field?

“No home owner has asked for a proxy in this election.”

-Berkley Court Board of (Unelected) Directors
Request made by one home owner in July 2021 – after educating the property manager on what a proxy is (vs. an absentee ballot) – and told that the proxy would be issued if there were multiple candidates for an election.
A separate home owner requested a proxy 2 DAYS BEFORE THE MEETING and was denied. Selective amnesia? Willful obstruction? Incompetence? Whatever the reason – the ultimate question is why this person is still in this role when he is clearly unfit or unethical.

“If any home owner is not getting what they need, please let us know. We are here for you.”

-Berkley Court Board of (Unelected) Directors
All sorts of things were escalated to the (unelected) Board officially. The initial response from the Secretary was to divert from the topic and introduce all sorts of arbitrary rules selectively, that she could not evidence as not being discriminatory.
The ultimate response is laughable – a redirection back to the property management company that was the cause of the escalation, so that it is a circular loop of no one doing anything. This is the current (unelected) board’s idea of oversight, governance, and stewardship – we can do better!

“We have had annual home owner meetings… we have minutes…”

-Berkley Court Board of (Unelected) Directors
Home owners pointed out critical gaps in fulfilling the required director and officer responsibilities, whether in holding meetings or maintaining minutes, in July 2021 – two months BEFORE this claim was made without anything being done in between. And yet another example of an escalation, this time to ALL the (unelected) directors…

“We welcome to have a conversation with any home owner to discuss their concerns.”

-Berkley Court Board of (Unelected) Directors
A mass email to all home owners stating that board members do not want to be spoken to while in Berkley Court was sent in June 2021. Emails to the (unelected) directors result in harassment or no response as they witness the property manager abusing residents in replies. Telephone numbers are unlisted or not working. Home owners who approach the clubhouse to speak with the unelected directors are turned away for arbitrary reasons or locked out. Home owner meetings have not been held in years, and the one that has been held kicks home owners out and mutes participants. Hmmm, how exactly are these board members accessible or approachable?

At the end of the meeting, the property manager shared a speech of how he thought the unelected directors were doing a fine job. What do you think – is this the first time he is telling the truth, or is this just another convenient lie to help cover up the complicity and the mismanagement to date?

Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

The Secretary’s (Newly-Renovated) Apt.

In February 2021, Texas suffered from “Snovid” – i.e., a temperatures suddenly dipping below freezing, leading to lack of power and utilities such as water and electricity. Harris County, where Berkley Court is located, was most affected, and Berkley Court residents were not spared.

Photo Source: https://www.teeshirtpalace.com/products/snovid-2021-texas-strong-tough-poster?color=black&size=11×17

During this difficult time, many residents of Berkley Court were without power and asked the association for help, as folks were without water for days, which turned into weeks. Some home owners begged for assistance, as the solution to restore services required fixing pipes in the common element areas of the property.

While this state of emergency was going on, multiple home owners independently reported that they saw the supplier utilized by Rise AMG to fix plumbing issues ignore their requests for days, and instead work during that period in the current Board Secretary’s unit on non-emergency repairs (e.g., replacing sheetrock, painting walls, etc.).

So while many home owners had to fend for themselves in getting water restored, and other owners are still living with damage caused by the unlicensed personnel and waiting for critical services to be restored over 6 months later, the Board Secretary apparently used her position to get an updated apartment at a discounted price.

Don’t know about you but this sounds like one of the classic condo association corruption schemes to me…

And frankly, condos are very vulnerable to corruption… There are three main schemes: using HOA funds to repair an owner’s unit, having the vendor pad an invoice and give a kickback to the board/manager or just plain creating fake companies that do imaginary work on the property.

Source.

We have also heard rumors of kickbacks to board members for work steered toward certain vendors – please send any evidence that can substantiate this information to berkleycourtneighbor@gmail.com or let us know anything else we may have missed in the comments below.

Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

The VP’s Child

Berkley Court’s current porter is the current, unelected board member and HOA Vice President’s, Ceceilia Carrizales (nee Thompson), adult child, Valencia Thompson.

There is no contract posted to cover what is in the details of this engagement, because, despite repeated request – the managing agent, Rise AMG, has only made its own, expired agreement available to home owners.

Rise AMG does not comply with TX condominium laws which provides members access to association records, including contracts with a term of one year or more that must be retained for four years after the expiration of the contract term

Based on a former occupant of the job, the primary responsibilities for the role are to:

  • Pick up the trash
  • Change out lightbulbs around the property that are burnt out
  • Dismantle heavy trash to put it in dumpster for removal

Essentially, the current, unelected board Vice President’s child is being paid $725+ a month to pick up trash.

If this looks familiar, it is because this is very similar to the invoice the current VP (i.e., this vendor’s mother) submitted for an additional waste removal service during the same period.

Some observations related to this “service” that is being provided to the Berkley Court community with this vendor:

  • Most residents and visitors remark on how dirty this community is, and how things never used to be this when the prior porter, Mr. Lee, was employed.
Google provides a snapshot of what people are saying about Berkley Court, and its trash issues.
  • This porter is hardly ever seen on the grounds of Berkley Court Condominiums. How a person can do this role without being on the ground on a regular basis is beyond us. Especially as all evidence points to the job not being done.
Trash on the ground at Berkley Court on any given day, and a representation of how the Board is throwing home owner money away, to line each member’s pockets in various ways.

As a home owner, some immediate question and concerns come to mind:

  1. Why wasn’t this vendor selected as part of an open bid? How come the board has never held discussions to evaluate whether to renew this service, what other choices are available, etc.?
  2. How competent is a property management company or board if these entities don’t specify a schedule, required amount of hours, or a definition of done for this job? Do we trust these folks to negotiate any contract if they do not require these basics in a service provider?
  3. Can the Board provide adequate oversight of this vendor? Even if the one board member recuses herself from decisions, there are only 2 other directors and any divisions in decision-making cannot be made without third member weighing in. And what other horse trades have occurred for each director to turn a blind eye to clear misconduct, so that they can each personally profit from their time on the board?
  4. Shouldn’t a managing agent, such as Rise AMG, advise against hiring a board member’s relative as a vendor, due to the conflicts of interest? Can it oversee the vendor/relative without bias, knowing that it can put its own contract and paychecks in jeopardy, if it doesn’t go along with the scheme put forward by the members of the board?
  5. Could Berkley Court have a better porter (or retained the previous one) at lower cost and superior service, saving home owners money and providing residents a safer environment?

What do you think? Is this is a clear case of:

a) Nepotism

b) Conflict of interest

c) Willful misconduct

d) All of the above

e) None of the above

Let us know your response in the comments!

Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

Show [Us] the Money!

In our last post, we discussed home owners confusion as to where all the money collected from our community is being spent and some of the charges made by the (unelected) Board Secretary/Treasurer during one randomly-selected month.

While the (unelected) Secretary/Treasurer is spending money at Cajun Kitchen, the managing agent (Rise AMG) has approved the following invoice that apparently pays another unelected Board member – the Vice President, Ceceilia Carrizales.

This invoice has none of the usual details that a supplier usually provides and an auditor usually requests to confirm appropriate use.

This description of providing a dumpster pick-up is surprising, as the association already paid an established company over $1500 for the same services during the same period:

This invoice raises another question – why is RISE AMG paying vendors after the due date, costing Berkley Court home owners additional money in late fees?

The disbursement report shows a different description than the invoice – one that implies that the VP is being paid to remove trash from the dumpster.

In what world do we pay an unelected board member to remove trash from the dumpster without recognizing it as a clear conflict of interest?

There is also no mention in any of the meeting minutes made available to home owners that this is a decision that was approved by the board or home owners, that there was any sort of open bid for this work, or any controls in place to check potential abuse.

When asked by home owners as to how it validates invoices/charges to ensure it is appropriate, Rise AMG does not respond and the unelected Board does not reply, though both have a fiduciary duty to home owners.

How would you want your managing agent to act if an unelected Board member asks you to approve and pay questionable invoices where there is no contract, no strict controls, and no communication to home owners that this is happening? Would you risk your reputation as a property manager or as a legal entity by acquiescing to these requests and supporting them by not providing any further information to questions home owners raise about these charges?

Property managers owe a fiduciary duty to the communities or buildings they represent. A fiduciary duty is the highest duty owed at law, and requires the property manager to always act in the best interests of their clients. This means avoiding conflicts of interest and opportunities for self-gain that would work to the detriment of the client. This duty is owed to the community as a whole, though, not to each individual resident within the community.

-Property Management Law, as seen on https://www.hg.org/property-management.html
Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

The Secretary’s Spending

Many Berkley Court home owners have the same question – where is our money going? Assessments have increased, residents are being fined and billed in unprecedented manner, and yet – the property isn’t being maintained and continues to deteriorate, making it increasingly unsafe to all living here.

One home owner asked the property management company (Rise AMG) to furnish the documents supporting the June 2021 financial statement. Rise AMG did not furnish a complete set, and provided no response when asked about it, as seen below:

Good news: As of September 1, 2021, new Texas HOA laws go into effect which give home owners clearer rights in pursuing non-compliance by home owner associations with information requests such as the above.

As seen in the above email, our current (unelected) Board does not lift a finger to ensure it’s agents are responding to home owner requests in compliance with current Texas law, even when concerns are escalated to its attention.

Why not?

One may suspect it is because the current, unelected Board members are spending home owner funds intended for maintenance of the property on personal or frivolous expenses.

For example, part of the June HOA expenses included reimbursements to the (unelected) Board Secretary, including an Amazon purchase and a $100+ meal from Cajun Kitchen.

What was purchased on Amazon and Cajun Kitchen, what the validation process is for reimbursement requests, and where is this home owner association property – all questions that the current (unelected) Board and its managing agent refuses to answer.

When looking at where this spend is seen in the financial statement for June 2021, it is classed by the managing agent as a “meeting expense”, as seen below:

No other receipts provided by the Board’s managing agent can be seen as this expense, except the Cajun Kitchen receipt.

This expense looks like it was incurred on 6/14/2021. Yet, it is classed as a meeting expense by RISE, although the (unannounced) Board meeting was held only on 6/23/2021, as seen below:

Is this an example of willful misconduct by the current, unelected Board? Is the managing agent complicit with fraud since they are the ones misclassifying these statements and processing questionable reimbursements? Do you have more examples of the same? Share your view in the comments!

Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

The One About the Pool

For those who don’t know, Berkley Court has a pool. It features in most real estate listing, as well as the logo and cover image on this site.

However, the sad truth is that the pool is just an illusion, representative of many of the other amenities we supposedly have, but never can access.

The pool has been closed for YEARS, (even before COVID entered the scene). Why? Can’t tell you – the Board did not make this initial decision in any documented meeting held in the last 7 years.

What they have documented is that they continue to spend significant amounts of home owner money on the pool, despite blocking access to the amenity.

Would it have made more sense to drain the pool and stop the monthly expenditures if there was no plan on reopening it?

Let’s take a closer look:

In Texas, the governor and Houston Health Department reissued guidelines for reopening shared spaces such as pools relatively early, which went into effect January 1, 2021. The pool still didn’t open.

And now, the kicker – despite all the costs and having NO ONE in the pool for years – the current, unelected Board members and property management group (Rise AMG), still couldn’t get it together to pass a Houston Health Department inspection.

Sign seen on the locked door to the pool area without any other notice from the current (unelected) Board or its managing agent as to what caused this.

Is this good stewardship of our assets?

Does this give you confidence that those responsible for maintaining the property are doing their job or know what they are doing?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

Categories
Property MISmanagement

Meet the Residents

At Berkley Court, residents who speak up are targeted for harassment via violations until the current (unelected) board members force them into foreclosure or into selling their property (before they lose their home via foreclosure).

However, a few brave souls have decided to share their experiences, despite the risk. Here are their stories:

X has been a Berkley Court resident and home owner for 15 years. Rise AMG has ignored her request to get a working lightbulb in the staircase that leads to her unit so she can ascend and descend safely – for over 6 months and counting.
Y and his family first moved into Berkley Court since the 1990s. They have been living in a unit without hot water for over 6 months, as Rise AMG selected a supplier who came into their unit, cut off the hot water, and never came back to restore what they turned off in February 2021. Months later, the home owner was billed $950 for this service he never requested, and all requests to fix the hot water in the unit has been ignored to date.
Z and his siblings own several units at Berkley Court since the 1990s and have reported serious structural issues they’ve seen in their buildings. Rise AMG and Board of directors have not adequately investigated or remediated structural issues reported by Berkley Court home owners – and instead have engaged in a literal cover-up of the situation.

More stories to come… feel free to share your own experience in the comments below.

Categories
Property MISmanagement

PSA: Do Not Use RISE AMG

Fellow Home Owner Associations –

If you are considering a new property management company, please do not hire RISE Association Management Group (aka RISE AMG). Any other company will likely serve you better. In fact, having no managing agent may be more stress-free than employing RISE.

Some tidbits to consider as to why:

  • It is not certified by the Better Business Bureau and currently has a 1 out of 5 rating. Many of the complaints listed by other HOA residents are common to all RISE-managed properties, including Berkley Court (e.g., work that is never started or completed, no follow-up or accuracy in administrative work, etc.).
  • Its employees feel that it is a terrible place to work, with a similarly poor rating. Complaints of bullying and harassment abound in the reviews, showing that RISE treats its employees similarly to the way it treats its clients.
  • It knows it has issues, and instead of fixing the root causes, it only focuses on damage control. Example seen below:
Instead of improving its service quality or staff competency, RISE focuses on removing negative reviews from major review sites so that no one sees the truth of their mismanagement.
The real RISE client philosophy is highlighted in the above former employee’s reviews – and numerous former and current clients of RISE will attest to this.

If you want your funds depleted with no corresponding services being performed, residents harassed and bullied so that they are stressed out and on edge with their neighbors, and a property value that keeps going lower every year because of the unsafe living environments proliferating on RISE’s watch – hire this company.

Otherwise, save yourself time, money, and grief and move on to a different option.

Sincerely,

An HOA In Hell

Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

Ain’t Nothing But A Headache?

According to the site Texas-Homeowners-Associations.com, these are the top pros and cons for living in an HOA.

What is striking is that it seems that Berkley Court home owners may have all the cons and none of the gains of living in an HOA.

Let’s take each boon one by one:

  1. The HOA provides amenities you can enjoy without having to worry about its upkeep. However:
    1. HOAs allow you to enjoy amenities without the burden of each home owners having to maintain it – Berkley Court’s amenities such as the pool or clubhouse has been closed for YEARS, due to the current (unelected) Board’s executive decision – and yet we still pay the same/more assessment fees though we have a significant reduction in service.
    2. HOAs offer extra services like lawn maintenance – our current (unelected) Board has contracted with a property management company that utilizes vendors that do no work or destroys our property
    3. HOA’s regulate the property’s appearance, driving property value up – Our current (unelected) Board enforces regulations selectively, only for home owners it dislikes, and these unelected Board members flout violating the rules of the community themselves openly, without penalty
    4. HOAs promote a strong sense of community – the current (unelected) Board has not held a home owner’s association meeting, including the annual required meeting, since March 2019. This is despite numerous, documented requests to hold meetings openly so that home owners can attend, and other petitions and requests to open the amenities to the home owners and residents in the community.
    5. HOAs may mediate neighbor disputes – The current (unelected) Board has clearly stated that they are too busy to fulfill required HOA duties, much less actually respond to any additional request for help within the community.

What is your view? What benefits does the current management of Berkley Court Home Owner’s Association provide you?

Categories
BC BoD Property MISmanagement

The Board Knows All

In America, our judicial systems presume someone is innocent until proven guilty. That is the prevailing system – except in Berkley Court.

Image Source: https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary/innocent-until-proven-guilty

At Berkley Court, the sad reality is that the current (unelected) Board of Directors believes it KNOWS everything and that everyone is guilty, and they do not have to prove anything.

Let’s take an example to see why this matters. In the below email, the property manager has denied a home owner’s request to fix the sheet rock damaged by the supplier that the (unelected) Board contracted.

Why?

Because the (unelected) Board president, an individual who has never met the home owner nor been in the unit with the home owner’s knowledge, said so.

When the homeowner asked, the property manager could not answer the question as to how anyone on the Board lawfully claims to know the happenings within an individual’s unit. He cannot provide any evidence to substantiate the claim.

A few possibilities as to how this knowledge has come to be then emerges:

  • The (unelected) Board is illegally trespassing, breaking and entering into people’s homes, to put surveillance equipment to get its “knowledge”
  • The (unelected) Board or property management company is lying, and does not want to get repairs fixed in this unit for their own reasons (e.g., harassment and retaliation of a home owner it does not like), and knows it can get away with its mendacity

How does this matter?

The current (unelected) Board’s belief that it knows all leads to flawed decisions and biased judgements that impact Berkley Court residents in a very real manner.

  • The unelected Board will not repair property of certain home owners, even if it is the HOA responsibility to do so
  • The unelected Board refuses to acknowledge or comply with Texas law and regulations in how it manages the property and related administrative affairs – creating unsafe environments for all residents and raising risk and costs for home owners in the long run
  • The unelected Board alleges violations and then fines homeowners selectively and incessantly, and moving to foreclose on home owners who are unable to pay the sudden sums of penalties levied

The list goes on and on…

Homeowners – we ask that you not sit by and allow this to continue to happen any longer. You may not have experienced it yet, but it may be you sooner or later.

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984), Lutheran pastor in Germany