Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  07/03/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  This company manages my townhouse, and when I say "manage" I mean they collect $175 a month from every household and put it in their bank account. They never respond to emails, phone calls or message left at the office. I have sent and resent multiple emails asking for clarification on our dues and where some missing money in an account went and they refuse to answer or email back. One account is missing roughly $20,000 dollars that just disappeared. Our properties are supposed to be painted every 7 years, I've owed mine for just shy of 8 and it's never been done. They just collect our money and pocket it. Since I can't seem to ever get a hold of them to find out the answers to any of these questions I figured this avenue was worth a shot. My next step is to withhold payment as the services I'm paying for are not being rendered, which is essentially theft. I am also having another management company work up an estimate and talking to the board about switching to a legitimate company. It shouldn't be that hard to answer an email and tell me where my money goes, why my house hasn't been painted and the other questions asked. Oh and why one of our accounts suddenly has $20,000 missing? Embezzlement?

  Business response

  07/20/2024

  Our office has record of responding regularly with this condo owner.  We are willing and able to release email correspondence to prove such.  (they emails would not attach to this response)  We have record that this owner reached out in January of this year and was promptly responded to.  He reached out to two different managers from our office on July 10th, ***** and ****. Please note this was the same day he entered his BBB complaint. ***** responded on July 11th.  Her email to him was rejected by his email provider. **** also responded July 11th and heard no response from the Owner. **** sent a second email to the owner along with a read receipt on July 15th.  This time the owner responded.  ***** responded a second time to the Owner July 16th.  **** has had a death in the family this week and any further response was delayed until July 20th. 

  Our company does not take his $175.00 and put it in our bank account. The $175.00 are his ***************.  It would be against Alaska State Law for us to deposit these funds into our account.  The dues are the owner's responsibility to his *** for things like his water and sewer service. The funds are deposited to a bank account owned by his ***.  No person at 61N is a signer on the account.  No staff is able to touch *** funds.  Notice in the form of the annual budget of what the $175.00 pays for was provided to this owner prior to closing on their property 8 years ago as well as each year there is an annual meeting.  Owner has submitted proof to BBB of his knowledge of what his $175.00 pay for in the budgets he provided in his original complaint. 

  The owner has been reminded that it is the ***** of ********* he elects that controls the finances of the *** and what maintenance projects they undertake.  All Owners are welcome to attend any annual meeting to discuss these matters with their board.  To our knowledge this owner has failed to attend these meetings. 

  The $20,000.00 this owner states is "suddenly missing" has a much different story.  In an email exchange with our office he openly admits the missing funds are from 2021.  That was prior to our company being in existence.  We opened in July 2022. Our office today has sent the owner detailed financials that reflect his ***** made approx. $22,0000.00 in asphalt repairs in 2020.  That would have directly affected how much in savings the Association would have reported in 2021. We have attached the complete GL for approx 5 years to this response.  We can send the full email exchange and all financials sent to this owner when requested. 

  In regards to any financial question this owner has previously been alerted he has the right to make an appointment with our office during business hours to review the financials of his ***.  He has failed to do so.  It is standard practice for Alaska Common Properties that this open financial review be available.  As this owner states he owns multiple condo properties this should be something he is well aware of.  Nevertheless, we have reminded him again today of this ability. 

  Please let us know if you require the email exchanges with this owner showing we were attempting to and have answered his questions. 
  

  Customer response

  07/20/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and wish to close the review.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  11/28/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  61 north realty manages the *** i am apart of (****** landing ***), without my knowledge they raised the *** fee multiple times over the course of 2 years. The payment website they use doesnt allow for full statement balance autopay. Only a fixed amount. So for 2 years I was paying the fixed amount on auto pay they I thought I owed. About a month ago I received certified mail from a law firm stating they were acting as a collection agency on behalf of 61 north realty. I explained to 61 north realty how I had no idea fees went up. They stated they contacted me multiple times but I have 0 evidence of that. I asked for proof. They sent a tracking number of certified mail they sent but the tracking info even shows I never received it because I wasnt home. I paid the back dues but said I wasnt going to pay the penalty late fees. They threatened further legal action if I didnt pay the late fees and even tacked on the lawyer fee from the lawyer they chose to hire. Failed to show me any other proof of them trying to contact me. In the past theyve contacted me via email immediately regarding other *** related matters. I truly believe they may try to sneak these increases in, hoping to get late payments so they can charge hundreds in late fees. Its extremely scamy and not in good faith.

  Business response

  11/29/2023

  Our company is contracted with the entire ****** Landings ***, not just one owner.  Actions that have been taken have been at the direction of the ********* of ********** By doing so we are fulfilling our duty to our customer.  The person making this complaint has the opportunity to elect the *****.  They also had the chance to ask the ***** to remove these fees which they did and the ***** denied the request. 

  61 North has no control over the amount of dues or other assessments charged to owners. The dues for the *** did increase.  This was after multiple years of the ***** alerting Owners to the possibility of an increase.  Changes in dues are not at the direction of the management company (61North Realty) but rather by a vote of 
  Owners at a meeting called for such purposes. Notice of this meeting to approve a budget with the dues increases was emailed to all owners multiple times.  It was also sent via **** mail to all Owners.  After the meeting where the dues increase was approved notification of such was emailed to all owners in the meeting minutes. In addition to the dues increasing the ********* of ********* levied a special assessment related to the costs for the record snow fall in the 2022/2023 snow season.  Notice of this addition expense to owners was emailed out to all member in January and February 2023

  This Owner is correct.  We did attempt to reach them several times regarding their delinquent account. In addition to the above notices of increases in monthly dues and the special assessment our office sent 18 months of statements reflecting delinquent dues.  We also sent notices of the past due account.  Notices of such were emailed in February 2023 and April 2023.  IT was additionally sent via **** in April 2023.  When there was no response to these requests for payment the account was, at the Direction of the ***** of ********* moved into a collection status.  At that time notices of this status were sent via email in June and July 2023 as well as both certified **** and regular **** those months as well.  The owner in communication with our office has relayed since they are often out of town they do not often claim certified mail sent to them.  Our records do reflect none of the notices sent regular **** were returned to our office.  It is therefore believed the owner received them at their mailing address of record. 

  Our office does off the ability to pay online for Owner's assessments.  We have two options for this.  The first will adjust dues automatically if they increase.  The second option allows only the Owner to set the amount being paid.  This Owner has selected the second option.  We have had no control over the amount he pays each month. 

  It is unfortunate that this owner has found themselves in this position.  We attempted multiple times to try to alert them the status of their account prior to being sent to an attorney for collection.  When the owner did not respond to any of these attempts their ***** of ********* was left with no choice but to hire an attorney to collect the fees.  This decision and which attorney to use was the ***** of ********** choice, not 61 North Realty. The fees for the collection of this delinquent account were paid by the Association as a whole.  The ***** of ********* is following the Declarations of the Association and having these costs forwarded to this owner.  The ***** does not believe it is fair that these collection fees (not late fees) be waived for this owner and have the burden of the cost fall to the other owners in the Association. 

  There has been no threat of further legal action.  The legal action is already in place.  The owner was encouraged to pay the amount in full after their ***** declined to waive the fees.  Paying the account is full is the swiftest means of bring the legal actions to a close. 

  Customer response

  11/29/2023

   
  Complaint: 20929923
  
  I am rejecting this response because: 61 north realty continues to claim they are collection fees and not late fees, however when asked where and who they are coming from, they fail to provide any proof. I asked for email proof of being sent notices, and they failed to send that proof as well. The owner even acknowledged that the likelihood of it being filtered under junk e-mail because I use a hotmail account. The collection fees, I imagine are set in place by 61 north realty and are charging the *** that fee, a fee set by and put in place by them. They have full power to waive the fee if they so choose. Its a penalizing fee. They have record of my phone number. They could have just as easily called and informed me of past due amounts. Up until this response I also has no idea there was 2ed payment option that pays statement balance. The only payment option Ive ever been informed of was the one I use which is a fixed amount and not statement balance. In the past the *** has sent me emails which I did receive. One was involving a notice of a trailer in my driveway. I got that email one day after the trailer being parked in my driveway. Extremely prompt at informing me of that information but the lack of communication and effort by 61 north realty is absurd. I feel these late fees are predatory, especially to force the legal fees on to me. I did not hire them. If someone chooses to hire a lawyer, they should be the ones to pay for it. I dont hire and pay for things and then charge someone else to pay for them. 
  

  I immediately paid the back balance as soon as I found out about the owed amount. I continually acted in good faith, I was paying every month what I thought I owed. The only thing I didnt pay was the $375 of fees I dont believe I should be paying. (Its been paid at this point however due to 61 north realty threatening to add further legal action and late fees)  

  The only acceptable resolution is a credit or refund of $375. This company is predatory. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business response

  12/04/2023

  Our hands are tied a bit by this being a public forum.  The accusations ***************** has made would require us to disclose private information about the communication related to and status of his account. We are more than willing and happy to do so if ****************** provides us permission to share this private information without side sources.  We made this request of him directly on Friday 12/1/23 via email.  We have proof this was received by ******************  As of today he has not responded. We are more than happy to provide a further response with a communication record for his account should ***************** provide to us in writing permission to share private information about his account and all of our communications related to his property or HOA on public websites such as this and any others he may have posted on. 

  We look forward to ********************* timely response to this request so we may further clarify this situation for all involved. 

  Business response

  12/07/2023

  ***************** responded to our direct email today, December 7, 2023 refusing permission for information about this matter to be released publicly.  Without this permission he has left our hands tied.  We are not further able to respond to his accusations. In the future should *********************** us this permission we are happy to provide all record of written and email communication attempts with him. 

  Business response

  12/11/2023

  Good afternoon, 
  
  Thank you for reaching out.  We do wish we could bring this matter to an end.  We do not have an official form.  ***************** could state in writing that we have permission to share publicly via online and other sources the details of the history of his account to include but not be limited to all communication records.  These would include dates and times that email, ***** or certified mail communications were attempted as well as the reason for the communications.  This would also include the ability to provide publicly all correspondence between *************** and our office or communications he sent to his ***** of ************************** are more than happy to discuss openly the attempts our office made at reaching out to ***************** and his responses to such.  However without his written permission to do so our hands remain tied. 
  
  Thank you for your understanding in this matter.
  

  
  

• Initial Complaint

  11/18/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Sales and Advertising Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I pay $250 per month for *************** that includes snow removal. We recently had a significant snow fall and my driveway was not plowed. The *** appears to use ********* Grounds Maintenance for the service. I have been here for over 2 years now and getting the driveway plowed has never been an issue. If my driveway is not to be plowed this winter, I would like a reduction in my ***************.

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩