This particular board member mistakenly thought all these duties were handled solely by the Association Manager. Admittedly, in some companies, most or all these duties are handled by the Association Manager, and a manager's departure can result in great financial and operational disruption for an association. With those companies, on-going projects may be halted, proposed projects delayed, and bills not paid.

However, at United Property Associates we have a large, diversified staff with compartmentalized duties. All collections, bank deposits, and checkbook reconciliations are handled by the Accounts Receivable clerks; all invoice-payment reconciliation are handled by the Accounts Payable clerks; all check writing is handled by the Senior Vice-President or the Comptroller. All checks are signed by myself, as President.

Collection letters are produced and mailed by the Accounts Receivable clerks. Contracts, vendor insurance papers, and vendor licenses are handled by the Senior Vice-President and the Accounts Payable clerks. Monthly financial reports are produced by an Accounting Supervisor and the Association Manager. They are then reviewed each month by another Accounting Supervisor. All investments (CD's) are handled by the Comptroller and myself. This entire accounting operation is supervised by the Senior Vice-President.

Newsletter design and production (except writing articles) are handled by the Desktop Publishing clerk. Resale packages, numerous notices to owners, and many telephone calls are handled by one of the Association Administrative Assistants with help from the Customer Service Assistant. Much of the routine filing of records is handled by these clerks, plus part-time file clerks.

In the absence of an Association Manager, all voice mail calls are transcribed by the Association Assistants or the Executive Administrative Assistant, and given to his or her Team Leader or to the Association Management Director for review and response. In addition, the Director is positioned with time available to step in, for up to several months, to act for the Association Manager in his or her absence.

This is not to say that the sudden loss of an Association Manager will not cause some disruption of continuity for a few days, but it will certainly not be a catastrophe or even a major long-term problem.

The work of an Association Manager in our modern society is a very difficult position. The Association Manager is frequently yelled at, verbally abused, given misinformation, and generally is unappreciated by many homeowners on a daily basis. The work of an Association Manager includes a continuous and never-ending succession of problems to be resolved. Some of these problems or complaints are the immediate focus of the life of the resident, but of little consequence to the overall operation of the association. However, the Association Manager must deal with each complaint as if it is the focus of his or her day also.

In addition to all this (and each manager receives 20-30 telephone calls daily), the Association Manager must inspect the property, approve bills to be paid, negotiate bids, write many letters to individual homeowners, meet with contractors, attend night meetings after a full day of work, and otherwise provide the information and documentation needed by his/her boards to make decisions involving the association.

We at UPA are organized to provide the Association Managers with assistance and back-up with the creation of the positions of Senior Association Manager and Director of Association Management. These positions are filled by long-term Association Managers with time allocated as supervisors to give assistance to the Association Managers on a regular basis.

We have also implemented another operating improvement by forming five-person teams of Association Managers who routinely work with one another on a regular and continuing basis when one or two of them must be out due to illness, vacation, or other absences from work. This allows greater knowledge of the associations by each of the teams, and smoother handling of problems in the absence of the assigned Association Manager.

As you can see from these procedures, we are constantly working to develop a better company with the goal of providing improved, more consistent service to our clients.

Thank you for your time and patience reading through this somewhat lengthy letter.

Bernie J. Grablowsky, Ph.D., PCAM
President