Corman
TUG Member
Received this email from a friend of mine who is a owner, what a mess: Dear Fellow Whiski Jack Owners:
In recent years, we (the owner elected Boards) have received increasing complaints from you (fellow owners) regarding a number of issues surrounding the management of our properties located in Whistler, BC. The list of these complaints includes but is not limited to: increasing cost of maintenance fees, sub-par housekeeping, sub-par refurbishment work on the units, lack of proper maintenance to our buildings requiring the owners to pay additional Special Assessments, a significant drop in the RCI ratings system for our units, lack of providing financial and occupancy data requested…In summary, unacceptable management of our properties by Whistler Rental Accommodation Center (WRAC), our property manager.
For the first time, the Whiski Jack property presidents began meeting in January 2010. Over the past year and a half, we have had a number of joint meetings, many emails and phone calls etc. with WRAC expressing our concern and dissatisfaction with the management of our properties. While WRAC has expressed a desire to make improvements, their actions have reflected differently.
Of the 17 Whiski Jack properties, 14 have active owner-elected Boards of Directors and Officers. With the lack of improvement by WRAC, the following 13 Home Owner Association (HOA) Boards decided to work together to pursue an alternative property manager: Aspens, Cascade Lodge, Fitzsimmons, Ironwood, Lake Placid, Powders Edge, Tyndall Stone Lodge, Valhalla, Whiski Jack, Village Gate House, Whistler Town Plaza, Whistler View, and Woodrun. To confirm we were operating appropriately and legally, we retained Miller Thomson, a leading Vancouver law firm with knowledge of time share and resort properties, to represent us in our dealings with WRAC.
On April 7, Miller Thomson sent WRAC a letter requesting information from WRAC for each Time Share Corporation/Strata. The requested items included a number of items that should have been provided to us on a continuing basis by our property manager as a matter of law, but has not. WRAC did provide some of the documents, but have yet to come forth with important records and documents we requested.
While WRAC has not been forthcoming with all our financial records and property information, we have gathered enough information to confirm they are not charging us for actual services rendered but for the full amount of the approved Annual Budgets for each property to cover: housekeeping and maintenance/repair. This item alone we believe exceeds $50,000 per month of charges to the 13 properties that have not been justified to us by WRAC.
It has become very clear to the 13 property Presidents and Boards that working with WRAC as our property manager has come to an impasse; we are no longer comfortable having WRAC managing our affairs. As a result, we began pursuing alternative property mangers to replace WRAC.
After extensive meetings, discussions and negotiations on May 7, 2011, 35 Board Members representing the 13 HOA Boards met with the executive officers of Trading Places International (TPI), who made a formal proposal to become our new property management company. After much discussion, the following Motions were passed unanimously by the 13 Boards: (1) relieve WRAC as our property manager, and (2) hire TPI as our new property manager.
Trading Places has been in business for 38 years. They carry an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and claim never to have lost a customer who was dissatisfied with their business. When checking references, TPI’s existing customers told us of their great working experiences with TPI. For more information on TPI, visit their website at www.tradingplaces.com.
On May 11, 2011, Miller Thomson sent WRAC a letter notifying them of the following:
“The board of directors for each of the 13 Time Share Corporations have met and considered their relationship with WRAC, and have voted unanimously to terminate the management arrangements with WRAC effective August 31, 2011. They have secured a proposal from another manager that they intend to accept, and they wish to provide for an orderly transition from WRAC to the new manager.
“We therefore request that you agree to terminate all 13 management contracts effective August 31. You may indicate your agreement by countersigning the letter below and returning it to us no later than May 25, 2011. Once you do so, we will prepare any legal instruments necessary to document the termination and circulate them to you for execution prior to August 31.”
On May 26, 2011, WRAC responded that they would not agree to a mutual termination. The continued communications we have received from WRAC have been combative and non-cooperative.
We, the Presidents of the 13 Boards, felt it was important that we bring all owners up-to-date with the activities taking place and to assure you that we, being your elected representatives, will continue to work towards a successful transition to a new property manager as soon as possible.
We will send an update communication as things progress.
Thank you,
In recent years, we (the owner elected Boards) have received increasing complaints from you (fellow owners) regarding a number of issues surrounding the management of our properties located in Whistler, BC. The list of these complaints includes but is not limited to: increasing cost of maintenance fees, sub-par housekeeping, sub-par refurbishment work on the units, lack of proper maintenance to our buildings requiring the owners to pay additional Special Assessments, a significant drop in the RCI ratings system for our units, lack of providing financial and occupancy data requested…In summary, unacceptable management of our properties by Whistler Rental Accommodation Center (WRAC), our property manager.
For the first time, the Whiski Jack property presidents began meeting in January 2010. Over the past year and a half, we have had a number of joint meetings, many emails and phone calls etc. with WRAC expressing our concern and dissatisfaction with the management of our properties. While WRAC has expressed a desire to make improvements, their actions have reflected differently.
Of the 17 Whiski Jack properties, 14 have active owner-elected Boards of Directors and Officers. With the lack of improvement by WRAC, the following 13 Home Owner Association (HOA) Boards decided to work together to pursue an alternative property manager: Aspens, Cascade Lodge, Fitzsimmons, Ironwood, Lake Placid, Powders Edge, Tyndall Stone Lodge, Valhalla, Whiski Jack, Village Gate House, Whistler Town Plaza, Whistler View, and Woodrun. To confirm we were operating appropriately and legally, we retained Miller Thomson, a leading Vancouver law firm with knowledge of time share and resort properties, to represent us in our dealings with WRAC.
On April 7, Miller Thomson sent WRAC a letter requesting information from WRAC for each Time Share Corporation/Strata. The requested items included a number of items that should have been provided to us on a continuing basis by our property manager as a matter of law, but has not. WRAC did provide some of the documents, but have yet to come forth with important records and documents we requested.
While WRAC has not been forthcoming with all our financial records and property information, we have gathered enough information to confirm they are not charging us for actual services rendered but for the full amount of the approved Annual Budgets for each property to cover: housekeeping and maintenance/repair. This item alone we believe exceeds $50,000 per month of charges to the 13 properties that have not been justified to us by WRAC.
It has become very clear to the 13 property Presidents and Boards that working with WRAC as our property manager has come to an impasse; we are no longer comfortable having WRAC managing our affairs. As a result, we began pursuing alternative property mangers to replace WRAC.
After extensive meetings, discussions and negotiations on May 7, 2011, 35 Board Members representing the 13 HOA Boards met with the executive officers of Trading Places International (TPI), who made a formal proposal to become our new property management company. After much discussion, the following Motions were passed unanimously by the 13 Boards: (1) relieve WRAC as our property manager, and (2) hire TPI as our new property manager.
Trading Places has been in business for 38 years. They carry an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and claim never to have lost a customer who was dissatisfied with their business. When checking references, TPI’s existing customers told us of their great working experiences with TPI. For more information on TPI, visit their website at www.tradingplaces.com.
On May 11, 2011, Miller Thomson sent WRAC a letter notifying them of the following:
“The board of directors for each of the 13 Time Share Corporations have met and considered their relationship with WRAC, and have voted unanimously to terminate the management arrangements with WRAC effective August 31, 2011. They have secured a proposal from another manager that they intend to accept, and they wish to provide for an orderly transition from WRAC to the new manager.
“We therefore request that you agree to terminate all 13 management contracts effective August 31. You may indicate your agreement by countersigning the letter below and returning it to us no later than May 25, 2011. Once you do so, we will prepare any legal instruments necessary to document the termination and circulate them to you for execution prior to August 31.”
On May 26, 2011, WRAC responded that they would not agree to a mutual termination. The continued communications we have received from WRAC have been combative and non-cooperative.
We, the Presidents of the 13 Boards, felt it was important that we bring all owners up-to-date with the activities taking place and to assure you that we, being your elected representatives, will continue to work towards a successful transition to a new property manager as soon as possible.
We will send an update communication as things progress.
Thank you,