While this forum is open to all, and you don't have to register to post, Habitat's policy is that if you are going to criticize a company, you need to identify yourself. The forum is designed to help board directors, not to provide a platform where anonymous posters can slur companies.

It helps neither boards nor residents if only some of the information is available.

There's an old saying that buildings should change the managing agent after a few years. This is usually said of old, that is pre-war coops which are small and trying to keep costs down. Opinions?
http://www.thecriticalmom.com

I agree that managing agents should be changed now and then, especially if they become complacent and don't have the gumption to deal with issues.

Managing agents should be changed periodically especially if same board is in power for years - when you have same management firm and board there are no checks and balances

I asked earlier, but maybe the question got lost. The building that I live in is looking to change management companies. Any suggestions on who to look to? Are there any that we should keep away from?

I guess this is going to sound like a plug but when we were looking to change agents Habitat was a wealth of information. I went to their yearly issue on Managing Agents and made a list of names after determining which agents managed buildings similar to our size, in our borough, in the price range we were looking for. Then I read the archived articles on what to look for in a managing agent and shared them with the rest of the Board. We then held interviews and ended up hiring our current agent. As for checking references, the agent we had, from a well respected managing agent family who had been with our co-op for many years, would have probably received a good one from members of our Board before it was discovered he was stealing large sums of money from his buildings. No names mentioned, he is out of business now, but you can also read articles in Habitat's archives and what to watch out for and insure for.
Hope this helps some,
Chris

The Council of NY Cooperatives (CNYC) publishes an annual directory of Co-op and Condo services. There is a section on Property Managers. You can contact CNYC for a copy or go to http://directory.cooperator.com

I agree with your post. I could be that a lot of management companies support this web site (and we dare not discuss bad practices?)

Bob

Bob, That's a mouthful and true. Stand back and don't discuss bad practices, just let them continue. How awful.

I don't know what the original post was and now I am curious. Is there any chance that it can be reposted?

John, If I remember correctly, it was nothing more than one poster's screed about some contentious issues with a managing agent. There was no useful information.

Steve, I disagree, it was useful information, if there is a problem with any managing agent people should be aware. If you read Carol's email it was taken down because there was no name attached to it and I agree with Bob, never shall we speak of bad practices and Why Not?
To John, let's hope that the information gets out so everyone is aware of certain practices. Possibly that person will re-post and not make it anonymous.

Thank you Steve,

I was curious about the posting because our building is looking into new Management Companies. Any suggestions? Any to keep away from?

Lee - I understand your point and in principle I don't disagree. Carol's stated reason for taking down the post was the lack of ownership. However, I bet there were a number of other unstated reasons such as legal liability for defamation, and also the simple desire to not have this forum become a way of engaging in any vendettas. Nothing drives away good contributors faster than having to slog through threads and threads of flame-wars. I am sure sponsor support was also a consideration, as you noted.

In my opinion, if an individual feels strongly enough about perceived wrongs done to them, they should state the facts in an objective manner without naming names, and then provide a way of being contacted offline for more information, including the name of the organization. This way, the information is made available, and the author takes responsibility for her/his statements.