Property Manager Success Stories: A Second Opinion

We were recently contacted by a local Property Manager who needed a second opinion.

Puzzled, we had to ask for more information on the subject and to find out why.  It turned out, their client – a 40-unit townhouse complex – had hired an engineering company to document the common area deficiencies for their 15-month warranty claim.

Naturally, we were curious as to why they had turned to us once again (this wasn’t the first time we had done work for this Property Management company), instead of using that same report author.

“Far too expensive,” they replied.

Now it made sense.

“We can certainly help!”, we let them know.

After an exchange of additional information on the subject, it became clear the developer had advised things were since “all done”, as to the warranty claim made.  The Strata Council of Owners were so advised and the question became, “how do we know it was actually done and was done right ?”

The warranty company was asked this, only to respond that it was not their job and it was up to the Strata administration to figure out.

This was immediately a BIG problem for them. They had no reason to trust the developer and they didn’t want to pay dearly for the engineering company to come back and verify all they had originally documented, so we were needed, as an independent (New Westminster) New Home Warranty-Check professional.

It was a huge and demanding project – especially as we were not part of the initial review – and it took many days to first carefully review the initial report and compare the on-site conditions with the claimed “all done” response from the developer.  The warranty company was also calling for a response and the Council of Owners was naturally curious.

However, in the end and with lots of patience on the part of all the stakeholders, we rendered our independent report. Our report clearly showed that things were certainly NOT “all done” and not in an acceptable, workmanlike manner, where it was attempted.

Ahhh…

Bottom line, even though the client wasn’t happy to find that out, they were empowered and the issue was now clear as possible.  The Property Manager was relieved, as the matter was off the meeting agenda, which was a real stress-reliever!

If you’re a Property Manager who finds yourself in a similar situation (or you know someone who works in that profession), or if you have any home warranty or other inspection/consulting needs, please contact Duxbury & Associates today and we can help put your mind at ease as well!