HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - April 23, 2010
Published: Mon, 04/19/10
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Tips for Dealing with Contractors Gone Bad
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This week's tip offers advice for HOA boards that are
disappointed with contractors. If you're considering severing
ties, follow these rules:
1) Beware urban legends. Know the law.
If you think you can always cancel a contract within a
certain number of days, you're wrong.
"There's nothing in the law that says a contact must be
cancellable," says Bob Tankel, principal at Robert L.
Tankel PA in Dunedin, Fla., a law firm that advises
associations. "I just got a question the other day, 'Don't
all contracts with condo associations have to have a
30-day out?' I said, 'No. That's an urban legend.'"
2) Have a sit-down before a firing.
"This might sound self-serving, but we have 700 employees,
and if I ever find out someone was terminated without
process, I get upset," says James Donnelly, president and
CEO of Castle Group, a property management company in
Plantation, Fla., that manages 55,000 association units.
"You should deal with a contractor in a similar process
you would use to terminate an employee.
"Know the terms of your agreement, make sure they're
complied with, and if they're not, communicate that. You
need direct and real-time communication with your vendor,
and you should give the vendor a chance to remedy. We
always say to our board clients, 'If you have a problem
with contractors, meet with them, give them a chance to
cure, and if they don't succeed in curing, then terminate
them.'"
Robert Galvin, a partner at Davis, Malm & D'Agostine PC in
Boston who specializes in representing condos and co-ops,
agrees that it's best to consult with a contractor before
terminating--in some cases. "It depends on your
relationship," he says.
"If you feel the contractor has been very good for a long
time but has slipped recently, you might want to call and
say, 'You've been very reliable, and we've been pleased,
but you've really sloughed off. What's the problem? If you
don't improve, we're going to have to terminate you. If you
don't have that history, look at the contract."
If you're about to pink-slip a contractor, read our new article
first! You'll learn 6 tips for properly firing a contractor:
http://www.hoaleader.com/members/421.cfm.
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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