Due to the recent change in the management for the SLPPOA processing of homeowners association dues by Canyon Gate, most of you are just now receiving your notices. While we realize this is somewhat inconvenient, we also want to remind you that the due date of January 30, 2008 is actually a reiteration of the expected due date as has been from previous years. As you may recall, your annual association dues have always been due on December 31st of the previous year and considered delinquent after April 1st; this is still the case.
Justification
The agency was chosen by the board members. We obtained quotes from 2 different management companies and met with representatives of the Canyon Gate Real Estate Service (we invited them to one of our board meetings). The board discussed this at several of the monthly meetings. At the annual meeting there were several people who voiced concern over moving to a management company. Three of these people actually ran for the board and were elected. We had further discussions on this topic and decided to move forward with hiring the management company. The Texas address is a bill collection service hired by Canyon Gate. Canyon Gate is in Albuquerque. There were several reasons we chose to go with a management company, some of which are listed below:
Stability
We have had treasurers resign or move mid term (leave SLP). We have had this issue with other positions as well, but not all are as critical as the treasurers.
Turn over of books and records has occasionally been a problem.
Legal issues
We became aware, during our talks with Canyon Gate, that there are some reporting issues we are not completely familiar with.
We have had some problems tracking contracts / finding the paperwork.
A concern with our treasures having to be the one to put a lien on their neighbors property. This can cause ill feelings between neighbors. Now this is dealt with by an independent source.
Accounting issues / Consistency
Not all our treasures have been equally good at managing the books. Most have had no formal training.
There are accounting issues associated with home owners associations that we are not fully versed in (we are hoping to learn from the management company as well).
Time requirements
The time required to perform the treasurers job was more demanding than most of the other board positions.