ComplaintsforCommunity Management Services, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  05/13/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Background: CMS is our HOA's property management company.On March 14, 2023, a large tree fell on (and severely damaged) the building I live in. It left a large hole in the roof and wall, plus interior damage. While CMS did take emergency measures at the time, in the nearly 14 months since then, there's been no structural work done or even signs of when it might begin. Despite repeated inquires by the board and affected homeowners, there has been essentially no communication about status or timelines for repair.Additional avoidable damage has occurred due to the lack of timely maintenance: around December 18, 2023, the emergency tarp leaked and led to moderate water damage in my unit. The board had previously noted the tarp looked to be in bad shape and asked CMS to have it checked out, but as far as we know, CMS didn't take action prior to the leak.I know repairs are complicated and can take time, which is why I've waited to complain to the BBB. My attempts to figure out what the holdup is have been met with silence; in fact, getting *any* information out of CMS has been a very painful process. Combined with the time that's already passed, it feels like they have no interest in fixing things, and I fear that I will still be stuck in the same situation a year (or however long it takes for the building to suffer irreparable damage) from now.On the assumption they are actually acting in good faith but are merely bad communicators, I am ideally asking for proactive updates about what's being done (e.g. "We just heard the construction company is waiting on pressure treated timber, but there's a national shortage so it should be here in a month" or "the insurance company disagrees with the construction company's estimate and their adjuster will be onsite next week"), or at least not completely ignoring our requests.

  Business response

  05/21/2024

  The ******** experienced a tree fall in 2023 and the management company has been working in conjunction with the contractor, insurance company and tree company since the incident happened. The timeline was elongated by the insurance company who required multiple extra inspections by specialists. The contract for restoration has been signed.  The trusses have been ordered.  Part of the demolition has been completed and the balance of demolition is being scheduled right now by ******** Construction.  Once this happens the work on restoration, post tree fall, will commence.  I am now receiving weekly updates from ******** Construction for updates, and I have MANDATED ******** Construction provide real time updates to myself, the board and the affected units, ***** and 40.

  The work will start soon, and the units will be brought back to original construction. 

  Customer response

  05/22/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and this resolution is satisfactory for now. I was contacted by the construction company who included a tentative timeline and promised timely updates. However, I'd like to note the problem of CMS's lack of communication still remains - even after I filed the BBB complaint, CMS made no effort to contact me; I only heard about things via the construction company. Hopefully things will proceed as planned.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************

• Initial Complaint

  01/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Unresolved

  More info

  This company still charge me a lot fees and I try contact them but didn't responded my petitions and I would like to solve this problem.

  Business response

  01/12/2024

  ************** attended the board meeting on October 26th to contest the imposition of a fine for illegal dumping and requested the Board reconsider the charge for the plumbing repairs at his unit. The Board informed him the Board had proof the dumping was done by his tenant. The Board informed the ************** they would review the plumbing charge at the next meeting. At the November 30th meeting the board voted to deny his request which I informed the owner via email. At not time did the owner request any other changes to his account. He had not requested the Board to consider the waiving of the late fees or interest which had accumulated due to the owner paying the incorrect amount in 2021 and 2022. I cant waive these amounts on behalf of the Board. 

  Customer response

  01/16/2024

   
  Complaint: 21127211
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  

  ****************** forgot to add in his message before the meeting we had on 10/26/2023 how many times I have tried to fix these late charges that were unfairly placed on me for the plumbing and the incorrect amounts that he mentions, I had sent emails and calls with a voice message that he never returned, after a while I kept insisting so ****************** sent me the invoice in a pdf that was $366 that they paid to the company new pipes **** where he is making charges of $322 dollars above the amount of $366 dollars that was the cost of the repair, the amount of $689 is not correct, I am not responsible for paying these amounts, that is why I am paying a monthly fee that covers expenses like in this situation, as long as it is outside my property and covered by the *** and the work they did was outside my property. ****************** is forcing me to pay all these expenses that are not mine. At the meeting 10/26/2023 I told the board of directors that I want to fix the charges that I have on my bill and they said that ****************** could fix the problem, the board of directors asked ****************** if I was up to date with my payments and ***************** answered that  I have paid on time until now, then they said that they did not see any problems as to why the charges could not be resolved. But I also told the board of directors that I had made a payment covering half of the cost of the plumbing, thinking that it was fair to end these late charges that I had for a long time and for them to see that I have tried to solve this problem, Then ****************** promised to solve the problem of the late charges. I also commented in this meeting about a job I did outside my house. He asked me for evidence of the work I did to cut the weeds in the garden that corresponds to the *** and had not done during the year and my house looked bad compared to the other houses. So, I had to send him photographs of the work done in an email. Then the days went by, and I called him, but he didn't answer, and I sent him another email asking what had happened and he told me that he had to submit the charges for review again with the board of directors and I answered that the board of directors had already said that it should be fixed. So, I waited, and he told me that they did not approve it, I asked him what had happened with the other charges, and he told me what other charges they were, then I realized that he had not reviewed everything,and I asked him for a letter from the board of directors in writing saying because they refused to remove the charges and never answered me again. Now we touch on the issue of the violation of littering which corresponds to $250 dollars. ****************** is issuing this fine because someone sent him a photograph of an object that was thrown near my property that now they say that I am responsible for paying this fine, but They have no evidence of the person who left the object and they did not want to show me more evidence to confirm that it was the person they are saying, so ****************** suggested that I pay and then charge the person they think it was and with What arguments am I going to say to the person if there is no evidence that it was them? It is illegal to accuse someone without having sufficient evidence. Afterwards, I once again sent an email to ****************** to tell him that I was going to pay the fine and that they should give me a letter saying that I was not the person who committed that violation and add the person's name to the letter. so that I can charge them the fine that they say they committed, but unfortunately the *** did not answer me as always and they do it so that they continue to increase the charges more.Now speaking about the charges of the incorrect fees, I also use the same communication processes by sending email and calls without success, as they always let it pass so that I can have more charges, when I spoke with someone from the *** office who works there he sent me an email of the charges that I had to pay because there were charges that could be eliminated but they  recommended that I talk to ******************, again!and he did not answer me. These charges were because they raised my monthly fee but since I had my payments automated online I did not realize and there were only 4 payments which was an extra amount of 5 dollars that gives an amount of $20 dollars in total. I would like to settle these surcharges with *****************, who is the manager of the green ranch. Now comes the surcharges of ******* where I see that it is a number of ridiculous charges on a plumbing service that does not correspond to me and also the violation of littering,since the amount does not reach that much money, I ask ****************** to review and remove those charges and we can reach a good conclusion, thank you.

  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  01/26/2024

  As per the account ledger ************** was being charged late fees and interest until he paid the plumbing invoice which at that time the ***** had agreed was his responsibility. There was no discussion of waiving any of the late fees and interest.  As for any of our customer service waiving the late fees, they can not which is why they directed ************** to me. However I could not waive them since the ***** had voted the plumbing invoice was the owner to cover. ************** has had ample opportunity to address the ***** both in person or via video conference.However ************** did finally attend a meeting in person and as indicated below the ***** once again agreed it was ************** responsibility to pay the plumbing invoice, in addition to the accumulated late fees and interest.
  
  Note: if ************** would like to have the ***** reconsider the late fees and interest he is more than welcome to attend any future ***** of ********* meeting since at the last meeting he attended he didnt bring up this issue.
  
  As for any work to the common area, it would be up the owners to bring this up to the customer service to issue a work order to the Associations landscaper and not take it upon yourself to perform any work on the common area.
  
  Lastly, the illegal dumping was observed by a neighbor of ************** tenant.
  

  Customer response

  02/06/2024

   
  Complaint: 21127211
  
  I am rejecting this response because: I disagree with ****************** because I have tried to resolve the problem of the charges and ****************** continues to insist that the board of directors says no, but I need proof. I asked you for a letter and I sent you an email on 5/12/2023 asking that the board of directors ***** you a document explaining why they are forcing me to pay charges that are not mine and you never responded, and you continue not to help. You are the supervisor; it is for you to solve problems not to make them worse. For example, why do you suggest that I contact the *** to do the landscaping work instead of doing it myself, if they are going to charge us for the work anyway like they did for the plumbing? I did the right thing by calling the ***, but they still charged me. That's not fair, that I have to pay something that doesn't correspond to me, and the other thing is how he says that the day I attended the meeting the charges were not discussed if that's what I went to do. I had evidence that I was going to show to the board. Another example is that he says that I had not attended the meeting, but I had attended. They only give us 15 minutes for each complaint we have and that is not enough time. That's why I used emails and calls and voice messages. That doesn't count. This last meeting they held on January 26, ****, I could not attend since it was by zoom and I spoke in advance on 09/1/**** at 3:47 pm to ask for the password to enter the meeting and the secretary told me that she will speak with you and transferred the call  but as always he never answered and I left him a voice message and now you tell me that I am not attending the meetings. You don't make the effort to fix the situation and for the other matter of the garbage I already told you I will pay for it but give me a letter with proof that a neighbor saw the lady who threw out the garbage and you didn't. Because the woman told me that she did not do it. I am not going to pay for something that is not mine and the board of directors has to understand that. Give me a letter explaining why the board of directors says they cannot drop the charges. I am going to attend the next meeting with the board of directors. I hope you will send me the code on the day you are going to do it. I will see the effort of your work to be able to reach a good conclusion. I have already tried by all means to resolve this matter. You have my phone number and my email so I can send the information please. thankyou 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

• Initial Complaint

  01/10/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Recently, I received a letter notifying me of a parking violation hearing session scheduled by the board members. Unfortunately, the date and time of the hearing conflict with my other commitments, and as such, I wouldn't be able to attend.Understanding the necessity of attending this hearing, I reached out to **************** to request a reschedule. In response to my call, he instructed me to email him the request formally. I complied with his suggestion immediately.However, despite waiting for a day, I received no confirmation or response to my email. Growing concerned, I attempted to reach out to him via phone multiple times. At each instance -- be it calling directly myself or attempting to connect through a colleague of his -- he declined to answer my calls.Given that this hearing is taking place within the next five days, my inability to secure a rescheduled session poses a risk of unnecessary and unjust financial punishment.Adding to this concern is the feedback I've received from other members of my community and online reviews, which suggest that this lack of responsiveness on ******************** part is a recurring issue.My request from ****************, and Community Management Services, is to address this issue promptly by ensuring that **************** responds to my rescheduling request. I posited my concerns in good faith that they will be addressed stringently.

  Business response

  01/14/2024

  The homeowner at ************************************ was called to hearing for repeated parking violations to the CC&Rs for ************* ***.
  The homeowner was unable to come to the fine hearing, scheduled for ******* 10th,at 6 pm via Zoom call with the board to discuss the violations and subsequent levied fine.
  The homeowner contacted the community manager, ******************* via telephone to ask for a new date for his hearing, which the *** granted willingly and deferred his hearing to the February hearing, to be scheduled.
  During the phone call, ******************* instructed the homeowner, **************** to email him a formal request to be forwarded to the board of directors, for record keeping purposes.
  During the phone call, ******************* also verbally confirmed the deferment to the February hearing date and assured ************** this would not be an issue. 

• Initial Complaint

  05/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Community Management Services provides property management for my condominium complex *************************.. Near the end of January I was sent a lump sum bill for $*********. I was told it was for a mix of fees, charges, expenses, etc. I have been asking CMS as property manager of the ********* to provide a breakdown of that bill. I have sent email and hard copy letters to both the assigned property manager and the registered owner of CMS with no response to my request for breakdown Can you contact CMS and get that breakdown for me?

  Business response

  05/18/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/05/18) */ ************************************************************************************************ Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/05/21) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I need to see breakdown of the lump sum of legal fees charged by ******* per incident he was employed and reasons therefor. Thank you for your help in this matter. Business Response /* (4000, 16, 2022/06/08) */ This is a legal matter and a breakdown of legal charges cannot be provided through a 3rd party website. Consumer Response /* (2000, 18, 2022/06/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) The management company has been failing to provide details of this lump sum using every excuse available in its bad faith attempts to obscure the components of the assessment . In this current situation, there is no reason to avoid a breakdown of the components of the assessment if only for time/date/billable hours or other information essential to justifying the legal fees portion of the assessment. As Management company to the *********************, they owe a duty to each and every member of the Association, not just the Board, or the Attorney. At this point, one of CMS's tasks is to stand up to whoever is withholding the information in question and provide it to me. Had CMS done it's duty initially we would not be having this conversation. CMS owes me that breakdown and I expect a proper, positive response. Business Response /* (4000, 16, 2022/06/08) */ This is a legal matter and a breakdown of legal charges cannot be provided through a 3rd party website. Consumer Response /* (2000, 18, 2022/06/14) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) The management company has been failing to provide details of this lump sum using every excuse available in its bad faith attempts to obscure the components of the assessment . In this current situation, there is no reason to avoid a breakdown of the components of the assessment if only for time/date/billable hours or other information essential to justifying the legal fees portion of the assessment. As Management company to the *********************, they owe a duty to each and every member of the Association, not just the Board, or the Attorney. At this point, one of CMS's tasks is to stand up to whoever is withholding the information in question and provide it to me. Had CMS done it's duty initially we would not be having this conversation. CMS owes me that breakdown and I expect a proper, positive response. Consumer Response /* (3000, 25, 2022/06/22) */ ***Document Attached*** I did not accept business response. Case appears prematurely closed. Am awaiting breakdown of lump sum legal fees. Business Response /* (4000, 27, 2022/06/22) */ This is a legal matter and a breakdown of legal charges cannot be provided through a 3rd party website. Consumer Response /* (2000, 29, 2022/06/22) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) This case and its results are subject to my discretion per the Davis-Stirling Act as to whether they are public or private information. The original hearing and results are open per my demand. This is not for Community Management or other parties to decide. As a result Community Management Services must produce the breakdown of the lump sum of legal fees.

• Initial Complaint

  04/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  SEE ATTACHED DOCUMENT

  Business response

  04/05/2022

  Community Management Services does not manage this address.

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