Dealing with Difficult People

By Julie Adamen: Julie Adamen is president of Adamen Inc., a consulting and placement firm specializing in the community management industry. Julie can be reached via email at julie@adamen-inc.com or through her website www.adamen-inc.com.

Few new community managers walking in on their first day have the slightest inkling what is in store for them unless they have extensive customer-service experience. Without scaring everyone too much let me say in no uncertain terms that some of the people with whom you will deal will be very difficult. Why is that? Largely it is because of three things:

• We deal in situations that affect people’s living arrangements, making even the smallest of issues seem very, very personal to the resident.
• People find community associations a perfect place to enact personal agendas.
  
• There are no repercussions for bad behavior.

FDIC Insurance Coverage * Permanently Increased *

On July 21, 2010, the FDIC Insurance coverage was permanently increased to $250,000 per tax ID number, per institution. We previously reported to you the insurance had been increased to $250K from $100K in late 2008. The increase was temporary as part of the financial bailout bill signed by the President. This increase has been made permanent... fantastic news given the last standard had been in effect since 1980.

Is the lifeblood of the association bleeding out?

The association lives on assessments. Many CID’s are facing major financial difficulties due to the failure of a high percentage of members to pay their monthly obligation. Late fees are assessed, interest calculated, and notices of delinquency mailed. At some point the account is sent to a collection firm or attorney to begin the process of preparing an assessment lien.

All of these actions are based on the CC&R’s, Delinquency Control Policy and California Civil Code. The management team should implement the policy of the board in the timely application of each step of collection of the assessment.

Now, under Civil Code section 1367.1 (c) (2), any lien recorded on or after January 1, 2006 requires a decision by the board of directors. “The board shall approve the decision by a majority vote of the board members in an open meeting. The board shall record the vote in the minutes of the meeting.”

After the recording of the lien, what happens? Following the recording of the lien, it may be enforced by any manner permitted by law. This may include Judicial Foreclosure or Non-Judicial Foreclosure.

Many boards are reluctant to take this next step. This reluctance is due to both misinformation and prudence. There are pros and cons to foreclosure which must be considered by the board before taking this action.