The Daily Ramble: I Hate My Coops’ Managing Agent!
So you hate your Coops’ managing agent?
If so, you are not alone! This is an all to common problem, and a lot of it stems from a lack of understanding and appreciation of what the agent does.
There are two types of managing agents in my opinion: the warm and fuzzy types that treat you like the King or Queen that you think you deserve to be when you call, or the nasty brusque type that gives you 10 seconds on the phone before they give you the standard answer: “NO!”
Well I have a surprise for you: after working with agents for twenty years, the second type of agent is usually the better one. Typically the syrupy sweet ones have back offices that could not keep an accurate General Ledger if their lives depended on it. The nasty ones usually can. As a Board President I will take accurate monthly financial statements over sweetness and light any day. Now I admit that my perception is different from a typical shareholder. Lets face it, the agent works for the Board and by extension me. So they usually are responsive (well they better be!). I guess that I am fortunate in that I am a hands-on Board President. I work at home most of the time so I am around to deal with issues and monitor the building. The worst thing a Board can do is cede control to the Agent. I do not care how honest and competent; it is the shareholders building and the Board has to control and direct what the agent does, NOT the other way around. I see this a lot and it kills me.
Agents are busy people. What do they do all day? Well..
- Pay the bills (their primary function).
- Manage the building staff (more complex then you think!)
- Collect money and prepare the monthly statements for the Board.
- Deal with calls from shareholders who frequently yell, curse, scream and are abusive.
- Deal with an endless stream of Brokers, Lawyers and Appraisers who want resale information NOW.
- Oversee capital projects that are underway in the property.
- Inspect buildings.
You get the idea. Now multiply it by all the buildings they manage. Perhaps 50 or more?
So you get the idea. A managing agent office is a busy place.
Well, you still hate them? I am the first to admit there are a lot of lousy agents out there. Some treat people like garbage (no excuse), are lazy, incompetent, sloppy, dishonest, etc. BUT, just because YOU do not like them does not mean they are any of the above. I have to be honest: sometimes you have them simply because they do not tell you what you want to hear. Well, folks that is called LIFE!
OK, the windbag has spoken. And you STILL hate your managing agent! How to get rid of them? Well first realize that none have jobs for life. They may think they have been there forever and will stay there forever, but in reality they work with at-will contracts. So typically within 30-60 days they can be fired and are gone. I have fired them, and it felt GOOD!
So the Board can usually fire them at will; so it they really stink you have to get the Board to wake up and get rid of them. That is the harder part of the equation. If you have a stubborn unresponsive Board, you may be stuck. I will talk about Boards another time (I CAN write a book!) So bottom line if you hate the agent, lobby the Board, or better yet, get elected to the Board, and clean house! It is NOT impossible at all.
