Pearland Mayor Tom Reid holds a proclamation for "AMI-Pearland Day" at the recent grand opening of a local office for the Association Management Inc. homeowners association management company. Also at the event were former Pearland City Council Member Helen Beckman, left, AMI Pearland Office director Alex Taylor and AMI co-founders Glenda and David Regenbaum.: Courtesy AMI
By CARISSA D. LAMKAHOUAN
With a new base in Pearland, Association Management Inc can better fill the needs of the local homeowners associations and residents it serves, company officials say.
AMI-Pearland manages 26 homeowners associations for communities including Shadow Creek Ranch, Country Place and Tuscan Lake. It also manages Silverlake Townhome Community Association Inc. In total, the communities are home to more than 13,000 homeowners.
“We manage the operational, day-to-day functions of HOAs,” AMI CEO David Regenbaum said. “We do business management, deed restriction enforcement and financial management.”
Regenbaum recently celebrated the grand opening of AMI-Pearland at 12234 Shadow Creek Parkway, Suite 3112, with colleagues and city dignitaries.
“We have to be in the neighborhood to be really effective,” Regenbaum said. “Now everything is a lot more convenient. We can check on contractors easily, and our being here adds tremendously to maintenance standards.”
Regenbaum said the new office also enables better access to homeowners who need to do business with AMI.
Regenbaum said 12 AMI employees are dedicated solely to Pearland, including Alex Taylor, the office’s director.
“He’s been with us 13 years,” said Regenbaum. “Hopefully from here we’ll grow and grow.”
To contact the Pearland office, call 713-332-4675 or message ami@amitx.com.
After Christmas, the company, in conjunction with Keep Pearland Beautiful and the Brazoria County Parks Department, held the AMI Christmas tree recycling drive to benefit the "Dunes Day" effort to rebuild sand dunes on county beaches that were destroyed during Hurricane Ike. More than 600 trees were collected.
The company’s corporate office is in Houston, with regional branches in Kingwood, The Woodlands and Austin.
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Comments
References?
It's pretty well known to those of us who live in the exurbs that not all management companies are created equal. I'd like to hear from residents who live in some of these communities that AMI manages. Are they happy with the level of service AMI has provided?
Not At All
They are horrible. They never have meetings. They don't do what the majority vote on at meetings. I hate this Association. They charge $250 to REVIEW any plans for changes to the homes in Shadow Creek Ranch. That is outrageous. $50 would be reasonable.
That IS outrageous... and completely untrue...
The fee is $25, not $250.
AMI
If what you say is true then the residents of your community are letting it happen. AMI works for you and the Board of Directors. If your Board and your residency are letting this happen then blame them not AMI. I am on the Board of Directors of an HOA in Pearland and AMI works for us. Architectual changes are free in my community. They are that way because we the Board and residents said so. The leaders of the community receive the applications, evaluate them and deceide approveal or disapproval. You've got to get the residency active and take control and eliminate those in power.
HOA
At least you know who they are. My HOA in Pearland is anonymous. They send a newsletter twice a year, stating all the things the home owners do that are wrong. They sell add space in the newsletter. They want you to sent the HOA money to a P O Box. I wrote them asking about meetinge, who the board members are and an accounting of the money they collected. They wrote me back saying sorry, they stopped doing those things a long time ago.
HOA
If your HOA has so much power then you gave it to them. The HOA is goverened by a Declaration and in that document are all the rules and regulations of what can be done and can't be done. get your residency together and read those documents. The Board of Directors are a elected body. Elected by you. take it in hand
HOA
I scanned though one of the bylaws for SCR I found online and the developer get 5,000 votes for every piece of property they own. You the homeowner get 1. There is nothing the resident can or will be able to do as long as there are a few unsold lots or acreage as there the votes are not there to change the board.
AMI is worthless
In my experience with AMI, they have done nearly none of things they cite in this article. Perhaps day-to-day operations, but I never see deed restrictions enforced, and finances are enough to make sure AMI, and the companies they work with, get paid. They have had representatives on-site at Shadow Creek since they took over the HOA with no signs of improvement. They are rude, lie, and the conditions of the neighborhoods and the development as a whole have never been worse. On the plus side, they do exactly what they're meant to do, represent the interests of the developer while taking their cut of our Association fees.
AMI
You say that AMI is doing what the developer wants. If your developer is still in charge they have no choice. The developer does not care about what it is like in your community, all they want is to sell houses and make money. AMI has to do what the developer wants because that is who the work for. Until you get to take over your own community and elect your own Board of Directors nothing much is going to change.
I think the article should point out the former City Council
I think the article should point out the former City Council Member Helen Beckman was or still is a Developer Appointed Member of the HOA for Shadow Creek Ranch. This is another exampe of relationships between our elected officials(former) and Entities that do business with the City that to the outside observer does not look proper.
I couldn't agree more, and I'm sure it's happening with current
I couldn't agree more, and I'm sure it's happening with current city officials
"This is another exampe of relationships between our elected officials(former) and Entities that do business with the City that to the outside observer does not look proper."
They don't do anything in Southdown
I live in Southdown and as near as I can tell, no deed restrictions are enforced. There are plenty of things that need to be corrected and yet they do nothing.
AMI no longer manages Southdown
AMI no longer manages Southdown
That's correct...
AMI has not managed Southdown for at least 3 years now... CIA is the current management company.
AMI and HOA's
I am a resident, Board Director and retired Property Manager. and I disagree with most of the negative that is said about HOA's. I disagree because the HOA is only what the resident's allow it to be. AMI works for me and my Association. Yes they make mistakes but they always listen to us and try to make things easier. If you have a bad experiences with AMI, I recommend to look at your Board of Directors and at your residency. You will find that those envolved with the HOA are few and scarce, while the rest sit back and complain. In my opinion no one has the right to complain if they don't get out there and do what they can. As the old saying goes "If you're not part of the solution then you are part of the problem." Do something in your communities or shut-up.
HOA
In your responce to my comment(see below) where do you find the declaration? I have lived in the subdivision for over 6 years. There are no meetings, no electing board members, no financial statements. There is a Post Office Box to mail the HOA fees to and an email address(that you do not know who it belongs to)on the newsletter that comes out twice a year. I sent an email asking those questions and was told they decided a long time ago not to give out their names or addresses.
I understand not everyone pays their fees but who can blame them with an HOA like we have.
If your HOA has so much power then you gave it to them. The HOA is goverened by a Declaration and in that document are all the rules and regulations of what can be done and can't be done. get your residency together and read those documents. The Board of Directors are a elected body. Elected by you.
I agree AMI is wortless
I totally agree that AMI is worthless. Every year the HOA fee increases even though US economy is in recession and there was no inflation.
The contractors who provide the services to these communities are friends and relatives of the board members.I have seen the same contractors for the last six years. Can AMI invite a competitive bid every year so that they can keep the HOA fees under control. I have seen my HOA fee go up from $450 six year ago to $821 this year. My wages has risen 18% over the same period but the Accountant fee at AMI has increased by 90%.
A counter to your thought just to consider...
Yes, the fees have gone up, but with the high number of foreclosures, you can see how a company paid by the Homeowner's Association would struggle to stay afloat. If a home is being foreclosed on, their HOA dues are obviously not getting paid. Since the management company gets a cut, they suffer along with the HOA. More forclosures = less profit.
AMI is one of the few companies who has managed to get through this recession without a single layoff. The reason is that it is absolutely essential to keep a reasonably-sized staff in order to provide sufficient support to the many communities they manage. If they were to have kept the fees the same, it would only be possible with layoffs. Essentially, your fees would not have gone up, but you would have less staff, which leads to slower processing of requests, longer response time, and ultimately a lower level of service.
If anything, AMI has taken the high road, refusing to reduce its level of service, and has thus run the risk of losing HOAs due to the cost. They would rather lose a community because they cost too much than because they could not provide the necessary level of service. Just some food for thought.
Counter to Counter Posted on 4-19
If you're trying to tell me that HOA fees would not have increased except for foreclosures - well you have to be under the belief that a lie told often enough becomes truth.
Show the numbers that back up the 90% for the number of foreclosures in SCR. I would expect that AMI has an uncollectable % built into pricing as every year there will houses for sales and foreclosures or folks that won't pay - so whats the over and above we are talking about?
I agree with this poster on 4-17, where has the cost control and containment been in the past few months with the economy in a recession. Every business that I work with in my line of work has been squeezing costs. You want to keep current vendors - no problem with me, ask them to take a price cut. Most likely they are not going to be offended - part of business. If they don't want to take one, guess what there are probably several companies that could offer same service at lower price right now. But AMI does not even try to get figure out.
Also, has AMI added staff, given salary increases - there better not be right now. Guess what like everyone like, you will have to work longer and harder and be glad that you have a job if your staff wants to keep his/her job.
And pool service providers have turned over regularly it seems like. So I know that service levels are not important in some areas as this service has gotten worse and worse since I have been in SCR.
Usually I have to report light outages, dead plants that don't seem to get replaced in my section of SCR. Are the replacements on a timely basis - usually not.
Homeowner's Association
I have found some really great property management companies that offer home owner's association assistance. Check out this site they offer some really helpful services. Home owner management can be difficult. Let some experts handle it.
AMI
Well, my neighborhood used AMI. When we changed companies we saved thousands of dollars for the community. I found them to be very expensive and not worth the money. I also found them to be unethical when it came to HOA Board elections (which is one of the reason I voted to get rid of them when I became a board member). They will kill you with fees for the residents as well. Just a few things to watch. I highly recommend if you use them to every so often check other companies and see who else is out there. I understand Graham Mgt is an up and coming company and my neighborhood will look at them in the coming year.
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