Complaintsfor1st Choice Condo Management Services, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  04/13/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  1st Choice is sending Violations associated fines and restrictions without proof any violation occurred. The ********* Condo Association files complaints with 1st Choice and provides no documentation. Board members are targeting residents, alleging violations and 1st choice is not validating prior to sending notices/fines. The board members are allowed and assisted in harassing residents by 1st Choices poor process and violation documentation requirements.

  Business response

  05/12/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/04/14) */ Ms. * is a tenant at the ******** where 1st choice is contracted as management. The Board directs 1st Choice when to send violation notices of their Rules and Regulations and when to send letters to owners. Ms. * was in the pool on February 26th, 2022 and was still using the pool at 6:50 PM, when sunset had occurred at 6:28 PM. The Rules of the Association state that dusk is defined from 15 minutes after the time of sunset, placing dusk at 6:43 PM. A Board member who lives in a surrounding unit to the pool, politely called down and reminded Mrs. * of this rule and stated that it was time for the pool to be closed. Ms. * allegedly responded in a very hostile manner with profanity and aggressive language to the Board Member, and indicated her opposition to his reminder. A verbal altercation followed this exchange. Another owner who was on their lanai at the time of the original incident, stated that the Board member conducted themselves in a polite manner and was met with hostility from Ms. *. Ms. * has a history of violating the pool rules, including two violation letters in 2020 which almost resulted in a fine. One of the incidents was at 4:00 AM and resulted in a police call. Once 1st Choice recieved the report from the Board member regarding the incident, Ms. *'s landlord was sent a violation courtesy letter letting them know that her behavior was reported as disrespectful and she should conduct herself in an appropriate manner, and that further violations of the rule could result in fines. Due to the fact that Ms. * has repeatedly violated said Rule, the Board felt it appropriate to have a reminder letter sent to the owner. Ms. * asked for the surveillance camera tapes from that evening on April 12th, 2022. She was informed that the tapes do not hold the footage for that long, and in the future she should request the footage in less than 30 days from any incident. She also was informed that if she felt threatened in any manner, she was welcome to make a police report at the time of the incident. She was informed that if she follows the Rules, there should be no further incidents in the future. Ms. * is asking for footage that does not exist any longer, a month and a half after said incident occurred. She is upset about a warning letter that was sent. There is no fine or action being issued at this time. The letter was sent to try and prevent any further violations of the rule, as this particular tenant has a documented history of pool rule violations. 1st Choice conducted itself in the manner which the Board has requested and followed up with an action requested by a Board member. Violations are reported to 1st choice and are addressed as requested by the Board. I have included attachments of our full email exchange to date, the three (3) violation letters regarding Ms. *'s pool violations, the text documentation that was sent immediately after the incident by the Board member, indicating the time of the altercation as well as the sunset time, a chart showing the sunset time on that particular day, the Rules and Regulations of which the property conducts itself which details their violation procedure, and the minutes defining dusk for rule and resident purposes from January 2021. Thank you for your time. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/04/19) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) 1st Choice does not require proper documentation of alleged violations. 1st choice does not notify tenants of alleged violations in an attempt to validate or resolve . tenant in her own words admits to a prejudice. She states previous incidents in 2020 (also not resulting in a documented violation or fine) lead her to believe the story as given by the board member, versus doing any actual investigation. She never reviewed the video surveillance, from the numerous cameras in the area. If she reviewed the evidence the misconduct of her board president would be evident. He yelled at children from his patio, he came down the elevator from his safe home to confront me in the pool area as I tried to exit with 3 children. he continued to follow me into my parking garage, in a building he does not reside in. He was followed by a woman also ranting, threatening me. I had to instruct my children to go up the elevator alone to go get me help. The Board members are regular citizens. The can not approach other residents. If in fact a violation is occurring they should take a picture and or otherwise document the event and send notice to 1st Choice who in turn should investigate. 1st choice should not allow bias to take precedent over what is right and fair by law. Since 1st Choice represented the board in sending the notice, they also shared in the attack that man made on my family. No one should be allowed to yell at other people's minor children. No one should be allowed to stalk another person as they try to into their home. Board members need On- Boarding and training to handle Incidents and report alleged violations. Supporting documents for any violation should be required and SAVED. At minimum tenants/the accused should be advised within 3 business days of reported incident, with an opportunity to disprove any false claims. Alerting the landlord is not the same as alerting the tenant. The accused should be aware of the accusations. No warning or claims of violations should be given when no supporting documents are provided. The word of one mouth is not trustworthy, even the words of many liars can be proven false. I have a letter to the DBPR in regards to required steps to allege and notify of violations within associations. 1st choice should support the rights of all residents. Business Response /* (4000, 9, 2022/04/19) */ 1st Choice follows the violation process laid out in the Rules and Regulations of the Association. The Rules and Regulations state that a 1st offense will result in written notification as a courtesy to the unit owner. 1st Choice was informed about said violation, which 1st choice has provided documentation to note took place. Since this occurrence took place two years after the violations by Ms. * of the exact same nature, another courtesy notice was issued to the unit owner, per Association Documents. Ms. * should have a conversation about notification with her unit owner, since a letter was sent to Ms. *** landlord dated March 1st, 2022 and the incident occurred on February 26th. Ms. * did not contact 1st Choice until April 12th. 1st Choice followed Association protocol. 1st Choice contacts unit owners in regards to violations, as required by their Documents and since owners are responsible for the actions of their tenants. Camera footage is maintained for approximately 30 days. If there was an objection to a violation accusation, Ms. * should have made her request in a timely manner. The incident took place February 26th. Her request was made April 12th. To date, Ms. * is the only tenant who has objected to a violation courtesy notice. 1st Choice is not responsible for actions of Board members. The accusations she had made against the Board member are denied by the Board member, and statements have been made contrary to Ms. *** claims. 1st Choice does not wish to participate in a "he said, she said" with accusations by the Board Member and Ms. * that provide conflicting descriptions of the events that took place. At this point in time, there has been no action taken against Ms. *. The protocol in the Rules and Regulations was followed by 1st Choice, representing the Association. A warning letter was sent. At the end of the day, Ms. * is a tenant upset about a warning letter that she claims was falsely sent. The Documenation that she has requested that is no longer available, is video footage that would not have sound and was not requested in a timely manner. Prejudice did not take place. Given the history of Ms. *** violation of the pool rules, a reminder letter was not inappropriate. Since there is no corrective action such as a fine in dispute, Ms. * should take heed to the courtesy notice and resist from breaking the pool rules in the future. 1st Choice has discussed rule violations with the Board members and reviewed the process of reporting violations. They have also informed Board members not to engage with tenants, to avoid unnecessary hostile interactions. 1st Choice and the **************************** and its' Board, do not engage in making false accusations and do not enjoy the enforcement of rule violations. The community likes to be a cohesive environment for all residents to reside. If all residents abide by the rules, then conflict can be avoided.

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