FCAP Community

Published April 2023

     Florida Community Association Professionals’ (FCAP) training is offered on two levels. Level one consists of courses meeting Florida’s continuing education requirements for CAMs, and level two is the Florida Advanced CAM Studies (FACS) course. For further information about the more than 38 online continuing education classes available or to pursue the Certified Florida Community Association Manager (CFCAM) designation, please visit www.fcapgroup.com/membership/education-training/.

Betsy Barbieux

Because You Asked
By Betsy Barbieux, CAM, CFCAM, CMCA

Betsy,
     The condominium association we are working with had some hurricane damage and voted to approve a special assessment to fix the beach walkway. Once they collected the assessments, the invoice for the work that was completed ended up being less than they had proposed. This means we have a surplus of funds from that special assessment. What should we do with those funds? Do we need to refund them to each unit owner, or can we move that balance to another account? 
     Additionally, with the regular and special assessments added up, we are looking at over $388,000 in the budget this year. Does this amount require us to have an audit completed? 
– Stephanie

Stephanie,
     Monies left over after the special assessment project are considered common surplus and may be used as determined by the board of directors.
     An association with revenues between $300,00 and $500,000 must prepare a review at year end unless the reporting requirement is reduced by a majority vote of the membership present at a meeting at which a quorum is attained. The review is performed by a CPA.
– Betsy

Betsy,
     Tomorrow is our annual meeting and organizational meeting for the election of officers. Because of all the discord, harassment, and malicious acts of the shareholders toward the current president (who is actually the second one, as the first resigned midway through the year), there is concern that no director will accept the president’s position. Any suggestions if that should happen?
– Julie 

Julie,
     To confirm what we discussed by telephone, the actual problem is a boundary problem. But it goes back to the basics of community associations. 
     If you don’t understand the purpose of the community association, the role of the board, and the relationship the board has to the shareholders; and the shareholders don’t understand their role; then the president is not going to understand his or her role, and everything’s going to deteriorate and go down from there. 
     So, it becomes a boundary issue of the president and knowing when to say “no” or “stop” or call the police. 
     If you think I can help the board understand these things and get back to the basics, I would suggest that you convene an organizational meeting and then make a motion to postpone it to a certain date. I will come and talk you through these things to see if you can settle on a person for the president’s position. 
– Betsy

Betsy,
     Can a condominium board of directors approve hiring a property management company/CAM, or do you have to have an owners’ vote?
– Teresa

Teresa,
     Decisions/voting on operations, maintenance, and management is for the board of directors to do and not the owners. Owners do not vote at board meetings and may only make comments to specific agenda items. There is no open discussion or question and answer.
     At a condominium or cooperative annual membership meeting (or a special membership meeting), owners really only vote on four major things: (1) amendments to the documents, (2) raising or lowering the year-end financial reporting requirements, (3) until January 2025, waiving or lowering the reserve funding, and (4) material alterations and substantial additions. They will also vote to approve the previous annual (or special) meeting minutes, and they will vote to adjourn.
– Betsy

Betsy,
I was just elected to the board of directors, and this is my first term in office. I received my board certification in October 2019. Is it still valid?

– Andrea

Andrea,
     No, you can only take the class up to a year before your election or appointment. So, you’ll need to certify again. Then if there is a break of service, you’ll need to recertify.
– Betsy

Marcy L. Kravit

Suggestions on How to Write a Request for Proposal (RFP), Part III

By Marcy Kravit, CMCA, AMS, PCAM, CFCAM, CSM
Director of Community Association Management Hotwire Communications
FCAP Program Coordinator

     Editor’s Note: This is part three in a multi-part series. Part I (February 2023 issue) explained how service providers/vendors are to submit an RFP. Part II (March 2023 issue) explored the information a community association needs to obtain from a potential security vendor, from insurance and workers’ compensation to company information and staffing. Part III continues to look at information that needs to be obtained from a potential security vendor.

Documentation  

• In selecting the best quality contractor, the proposal should describe the type and frequency of reports and documentation, i.e. daily officer activity logs, incident reports, crime reports, officer time sheets, other special reports, etc.  
• Consistent and thorough written communication is an important aspect of contract security services and is an important management control mechanism. Does the company require the security officers to patrol all areas of the property and document their patrol pattern in detail?  
• A proper activity log might state, “9:06 p.m.—completed patrol of the north parking garage, one light burned out over parking space #156” or “10:00 p.m.—checked the mail room, pool area, fitness room, restrooms and all door locks. All were secure.” This gives a detailed report and indicates that the guard is doing his/her job.  
• Does the proposal include sample post orders and/or a standard operating procedures manual that is modified to our site? 

Training and Emergency Conditions

• Proposal should describe how its guards will function under various emergency conditions to include hurricane evacuations. The proposal should exhibit an understanding and sound approach to a wide variety of nonstandard, unusual, or crisis situations.  
• Will they be trained on the community’s life-safety devices, fire alarm panel, camera system, etc.? It is important that the guard has knowledge of the location and proper training of the mechanical equipment regarding operations of pump systems, the fire alarm panel, elevators, mechanical rooms, etc. How are they trained, how are they evaluated, and how often are they evaluated? 

Equipment Issues

• Will you provide the guards with two-way radios and a wand system? 
• Will there be an additional cost for equipment?  

 Costs

• How frequently will you bill for services rendered? Weekly?  Biweekly?  
• What determines pay and how often are the employees reviewed?  
• Will it be a flat monthly rate, a uniform hourly rate for all employees, or an hourly rate for each individual employee?
• Contractor needs to disclose wages to be paid to guards assigned to your site. A good contractor should be willing to discuss openly all costs and fees or profit margins it expects to earn for the services to be provided.  
• Contractor’s periodic invoices list wages and bill rates for each guard. Invoice detail provides a good audit trail and shows contractor professionalism.  
• How will the guard pay increases be handled? Inadequate or stagnant wages are a frequent cause of staff turnover. Wage increases should be proposed in advance by the contractor, based on officer incentive and merit, reflected logically in a billing rate adjustment, and mutually agreed upon by the contractor and association before implementation.  
• Will any additional charges be made for uniforms, equipment, software, computers, supplies, two-way radios, cell phones, etc.? Again, these should be proposed, reasonable, and mutually agreed upon.  
• Is there a built-in percentage increase in the contract at renewal?  

     Editor’s Note: In the next issue, the RFP Template with a variety of questions will be provided.