ComplaintsforCentennial Consulting Group, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  10/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  CCG is the management company for my neighborhood Maple Hill. This issue has been going on for 2-3 years in the neighborhood and at this point I feel has crossed a line to being harassment and predatory. In early September I received a notification for "weeds in rocks", there were some (a few) weeds because I had been out of town. I took care of the issue and made sure the weeds were pulled. A few weeks later, CCG sent me a fine out of the blue for $50 for weeds in my rocks. They are supposed to send a notification first, then a fine if the resident is not compliant. I maintain my yard on a weekly basis and it seems the guy they send to check yards came before I pulled weeds that particular week. There were literally 5 small/new weeds, I pulled them and sent photos to CCG to show that I responded to the initial notification and these new weeds were minor and also taken care of. They still fined me $50. This is not the first time, this has happened multiple times to me and to other residents. In my opinion, the notification and fine process should be based on transparent criteria (there is no criteria that has ever been shared other than "weeds in rocks" which could be one weed or a million weeds I suppose) and the fine amount should be reasonable. $50 is way too much money for a weeds fine when the weeds are normal weekly growth. When I contacted CCG about this they had nothing to say and they do not understand why they have to be transparent about their process. CCG also told me in the last sweep of our neighborhood, they fined over 150 homes which means they are earning tens of thousands of $$$ each time they lash out at the residents over a few weeds. Fines should only be given to residents who have been notified a few times and they do nothing. That merits a fine, not this continual punishment of people who do maintain their yards.

  Business response

  10/11/2023

  Dear Betsy,
  
  Thank you for reaching out to our office. Please allow us to provide some additional details and clarification while we work to resolve this issue.
  
  Firstly, as a homeowner in Maple Hill, you have no contract with CCG. CCG is an independent contractor contracted with the HOA. Any complaints about CCG should be resolved through the Board of Directors and we would be happy to get you in touch with them for any issues to resolve in the future.
  
  You received two courtesy letter violations for weeds in June and September 2021. Both letters did not have a fine and were closed out at our next site visit. The most recent letters were sent to you August 8, 2023 and September 26, 2023. The first notice was the First Notice of Covenant Violation. The second was the Second Notice of Covenant Violation. As a homeowner in Maple Hill, you are required to be aware of and follow the Policy for Covenant Enforcement attached here. CCG is required to follow this policy as part of our services to the HOA. The policy says that we send out the First Notice, provide a 30-day time frame to cure, and then are to issue a $50 fine with the Second Notice and another 30-day time frame to cure. These notices are sent via certified mail, return receipt requested by law and per the policy, so we can show that you were sent the first notice. In this case, the deadline for the first letter would have been September 8, 2023. Homeowners were given additional grace period time due to our software transition.
  
  The $50 fine is a charge imposed by the HOA and its policy. CCG does not collect any money from the fines and does not benefit from writing letters. We prefer to do less work, so less covenant enforcement is preferred. However, we work at the direction of the Board, and the Board has directed us to cite weeds on the property. They review CCG’s work and have access to reports to see that we are doing our job. The 150 notices we sent out don’t all include fines. These notices could be at any stage in the process, including the first letter with no fines. We only state this so that you know that you are not being singled out and that weeds are an issue throughout the community. If you believe the fine amounts on the policy should be changed, please reach out to the Board to consider. $50 is a very standard amount in the industry.
  
  Our office cannot find any other historical record of fines on your account, including fines that may have been reversed. Therefore, it is incorrect that you have been fined previously. It is also false that we said we do not have to be transparent. CCG has been responsive to all requests, including a screenshot of correspondence replying to you which you attached to this complaint.
  
  In reviewing the photos attached to the letters you received, the violations are in different areas of your property and not photographed in both letters. It is our opinion that the second notice you received in September should have only been a first notice. Therefore, our office will be waiving your fine. Since we are now in October, weed enforcement will stop for the season until winter weather is behind us. If any violations are sent out in the future, they will be first notices and restarting the process.
  
  You are always welcome to reach out to our office if you have questions. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call in the future – we would be happy to talk you through the process and the requirements that we are bound to via your HOA adopted policies. We hope that you consider this matter resolved.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  The Team at CCG

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