Of all the service providers affecting the health and running of your complex, your appointed managing agent has the most effect. Their role is crucial! Trustees have to rely on the Managing Agent to collect levies effectively, guide Trustees on and manage any issues affected by the Sectional Title Act and CSOS, financial management and reporting, conduct rules enforcement, managing the other service providers of the complex. The list is expansive. Trustees volunteer their time and the length of time spent on their duties is directly related to the effectiveness of the Managing Agent. This service provided comes at a significant cost to the complex, however, currently, it is the only practical way to manage the running of a large complex. Trustees just don’t have the time or wherewithal to do a Managing Agent’s work. Trustees are entirely dependent on the effectiveness of their managing agent.
Herein lies the rub. On the one hand, the values, culture, and involvement of the trustees dictate how your complex is run, on the other hand, the managing agent is the voice and instrument of the Trustees in the execution of its duties. A body corporate faces 2 challenges here:
- How the trustees manage the managing agent and
- The professionalism and effectiveness of the managing agent
Trustees
Why do trustees volunteer for the position? One would like to think that in most cases, it is because it is necessary and that it is understood by the person volunteering that their time sacrificed is to ensure that their investment and those who voted them in are taken care of in good faith. But one just has to look at the prevalent culture in this country. It would be extremely naive to bury your head in the sand as to what the prevalence is. When large amounts of money are ‘accessible’, it attracts a certain crowd. I wholehearted agree with this utterance:
“I ascribe to Mark Twain’s theory that the last person who should be President is the one who wants it the most. The one who should be picked is the one who should be dragged kicking and screaming into the White House.”― Bill Hicks
This is also Socrates’s idea from the republic. If a leader wants to be a leader, then he is more likely to use his situation for personal gain. The true leader resists because he feels how heavy the responsibility is.
I have an addendum to this. Sometimes you get so sick and tired of the shit that you put your hand up so that you can do something about it despite a voice screaming in your head that it’s going to be a world of pain to you.
This is a pet peeve of mine which I am also guilty of perpetuating. Our system of running things is to elect people to represent us and make decisions on our behalf in good faith. As a ‘normal’ person, you don’t have any interest in power and the mantle of responsibility as you know what this would take and you have better/other things of importance to do with your time. As someone who sees the opportunity to seize power and the spoils that come with it, you will do what it takes to secure the position. The crazy thing is we know in our hearts that this is how it works. Yet this system has perpetuated itself for time immemorial.
Managing Agent:
I remember this narrative from an owner who was looking to resolve an issue. She attended a trustee meeting on request as she had some concerns that she wanted to be addressed. When the managing agent was challenged, this agent threw a tantrum and walked out of the meeting. Not a peep from the Trustees at the meeting. This managing agent had secured themselves in their role since the inception of the complex and ‘managed’ to retain their position uninterrupted for 14 years thereafter. The tail wagged the dog. When I came on board as a trustee, and actively campaigned for this agent to be replaced, this agent was actually recorded as saying that they ‘could not “afford” losing the complex’. Colluded with “sympathetic” trustees and the estate manager to ‘manage’ our objections and keep important information away from us.
Managing Agents can hold a body corporate to ransom and by the short and curly’s! From my research into other complex experiences, too many do! It becomes virtually impossible to dismiss a managing agent from their position due to interests held, contracts worded to their favor, bullying and dirty tricks used, trustees ‘in their pocket’ so to speak. Believe me, I have witnessed and experienced this firsthand.
The managing agent holds all the cards – information held, communication methods, direct access to owners, service provider payment, and communication – methods of persuasion and subtle intimidation. Trustees who want to correct this cannot do so easily and therefore don’t.
How can this be addressed? Here is the next article following on this.