Condo Association Management Blog

It depends upon the terms in your present management company contract. Such a change does impose additional work on the incumbent because they have to transfer all records,tax info etc etc to their successor, Usually the new contractor does not charge a fee for its role in starting up their services. Your statement about a $10,000 cost is juast a story. You might also check your state condominium, act for any reference to this problem.

We are presently going thru transistion with new management company and at present there is no fee. BUY, at ourlast meeting we did get our dues raised due to some extra costs. So basically, no knew fee but we still have to pay more.

There are two areas where charges may be incurred. 
 
First, the current management company: 
a) if canceling prior to expiration of contract, 
b) if not providing notice in a timely manner as spelled out in the contract, 
For both of these situations, the contract will indicate what the cancellation fee is 
c) for copying information necessary for mgmt co to retain (for audit, etc) - again per contract 
 
Second, the new mgmt company: 
a) may have a set-up fee per unit (can be equal to 1 month mgmt fee 
b) may have a "transition" fee - see new contract 
 
If a condo does not time the change of management, there may be 2 sets of coupons ordered for 1 year. 
 
Community Associations Institute has materials available on transition which help a board ensure that this is a positive experience and that both companies are cooperative. In this industry, the employee of a management company may be hired by the new company (or your next mgmt co) and positive experiences always benefit everyone.  
 
The new company should be asked about their transition procedures to ensure that the process is handled professionally. Having overseen this service for associations and management companies, there are methods to ensure success in obtaining not only the necessary records in a timely manner, but in knowing that the old company will forward mail, etc., in the future. This is an important area often not considered at the time of termination. 
 
Good luck to your association.

We are now self-managed and our Association went thru this last year. We starting preparing and got our ducks in a row before we gave them formal written notice (they had managed us for over 15 years and were not happy that we left) and it did not cost us money. You really need to check your current management contract and see what your requirements are before making changes. I would strongly suggest getting copies of all invoices for current common expenses WITH account numbers such as water, sewer, trash, electric, gas etc before you give notice. They should provide you with bank statements also as well as copies of ledgers from all owners thru the last month of management. They need to give you ALL documents they have regarding your Association. Do you currently have any owners involved in legal issues?, you need to know now where each one stands. If you go to another management company they can advise you of turnover procedures to hopefully make the transistion a smooth one. I can say this, although it is alot of hard work, it was the best decision we made!

I am pushing to drop our current management company and become self-managed by 2013 with the election of a new Board, so any comments will be helpful. The current contract is inforce until August of 2012 and this company will sue for big bucks if it is broken.  
 
 
 
Our company is the worst in the city, as reported to me by the Houston Police Department and spells the kiss of death to an association when they move in. I know first had this is true by reading the court cases and the police reports. The contract currently signed gives this company all the rights to the company and not to the association for discharging them, that my thought is to do the "dumping" very slowly.  
 
 
 
By this, I mean doing away with many of the services they charge us for because we can't afford to pay for them. Things such as mailings, surveying the grounds for violations, etc are being charged on a per item basis, but not actually being done by this company. These items can be handled inhouse with volunteers and sub-committees via fax and Internet to report problems and violations by people who walk their dogs and get the mail. By next year, if they are only providing the collection services, this will make the transition easy, I hope. 
 
 
 
Any comments on transitions to self-management will be appreciated. Thanks.

You as president should be informed and involved in any change of management. ANY contract should be reviewed by a competent lawyer. 
 
I helped force a change of management twice for our association. No up front fees were involved. Your information on collections is YOUR property and the outgoing management company cannot hold it for any reason. Shame on you if you do not have a copy of your own records actually on your property.Unfortunately this happens far more often than it should. In today's world there is no reason your financials cannot be put on a DVD and sent to you at least every quarter. 
 
Normally you have the incoming management handle the handing over of any financial records. It should be a smooth transition. Our last change turned into a very contentious one as the old company basically walked off the job. As president I personally handled the handing over of our records, with the new company making sure we received everything we were entitled to. 
 
As far as charges, that would be spelled out in the contracts. When negotiating contracts with either company any fees should have been disclosed up front. If not, I would think twice about hiring this company. 
 
Ideally the new company should be able to call the old company and set up a transition of records without impacting the functioning of your association. 
 
Changing companies is not fun, especially sitting down and interviewing them. But finding the right fit for your association is the most important contract you can do as nothing will affect the proper running of your association as the management company. It is doable and you should not be intimidated by rumors of fees like you are talking about. 
 
A properly negotiated contract should not involve any fees like what you mentioned.  
 
Good luck.