Transition Management Services
INTEGRA has served community associations through all phases of homeowner transition. We consult for prominent developers in producing supporting information for their use in preparing public offering statements and for their responsibilities in the transition process. We have been hired by developers from day one of the association to provide independent management of the community association and to produce as smooth a transition as possible in all facets of the association’s operations. This includes fulfilling all of the associations administrative needs, facilitating the requisite Trustee elections, purchasing the appropriate insurance coverages and providing financial management, leaving only construction-related issues as the sole subject of the transition process for the developer. Because of our independence and successful management process, we regularly retain the association management agreement with the new owner-controlled board. INTEGRA has a long standing record of being hired by newly formed owner-controlled associations and has been extremely effective in surrounding the new board with team of talented professionals to further guide them through the transition process. We have a demonstrated experience and credibility in the industry for orchestrating effective transitions with developers on behalf of our owner-controlled boards and the communities they serve. A reference check with several industry professionals and our client associations will bear out the style and effectiveness of the transitions in which we participate.
We have, on numerous occasions, replaced other management firms. Our senior management – the President, Controller, and Regional Directors – would directly handle the transition process. The first step would be to have a management contract in place 60 days in advance of the transition. This would allow us to formally request all immediately needed documents and information from the outgoing firm. It would also give us 45 days to prepare for our initial billing run through establishing the Association and its owners in our database and financial record keeping software. If the change is made in conjunction with the fiscal year-end, we will work with the association’s accounting firm to obtain audited trial balances as quickly as possible after the audit field work is finalized. In an off-fiscal year change, we would prefer a transition audit, so a clean cut-off can be obtained and accurate fund balances established. The 60-day time frame would also be instrumental in allowing our Controller to prepare for the preparation of the four sets of books and records and corresponding financial statements required for the Association. With the appropriate information in hand, we would prepare a letter to the Association membership communicating the change in management along with the details of our billing procedure. A new operating account would be established with the fees from our initial billing being deposited therein. Concurrently, our management staff would begin an analysis of the Association’s operations. A key proponent of this analysis would be Board-member feedback and insight. We will be available for meetings with the Board and/or its committees in advance of the initiation of our contract to help jump-start this process. When taking over a new account, we strive to maintain stability, in part by maintaining a successful contractor base. After this analysis is finalized, we will make recommendations to the Board on different policies and procedures that can help optimize the community’s operations.