Holiday Homes v Private Interests and the MUD Act

[peemac]

No, I am afraid that Accountants are not the solution. Their roles are defined by their codes of practice and legislation. I have seen Auditors changed when they dared to question items of expenditure and ask for vouched receipts.

I'd be suggesting something along the lines of a professional firm under the legal responsibilites of accountants / auditors be the actual managers of an OMC from the outset (lets call them OMC Management Managers) and representatives of the owners could be added and a 2/3rds majority needed to change to a different OMC Management Manager.

You'd then have firms set up specifically to operate OMC on behalf of owners but with a professional set-up

 

[jdwex]

I wouldn't agree with that at all. You'd have an even greater remove between the OMC and the owners of the individual units. And then you'd throw in a Managing Agent into the mix.
If directors aren't carrying out their duties you can report to the ODCE, or seek remdey in the Circuit Court

 

[PeeBee]

IMHO, The Managing Agents should never be allowed to become an OMC. The conflicts of interest are so obvious that it surprises me that the law currently permits this open opportunity for abuse of fiduciary trust. Members are often unaware of the dangers of allowing rogue Managing Agents to hijack the OMC for personal gain.

How many of us have asked for and inspected the 'Letter of Engagement' beteen the OMC and the Managing Agency?

 

[OMC FIX]

I think it may be time for some further clarity ...

The only OMC is the Owners' Management Company in which the Owner(s) of each unit whether apartment or stand alone property has one share.

I don't understand how the Managing Agent could be confused with the OMC.

The Management Agent is supposed to be a Professional, Licenced, "Property Services Provider" (PSP) . The relevant licences are issued by the Property Services Regulatory Authority (PSRA) and the list of Licencees is available from their website on an MS EXCEL document.

I believe what has happened, and should never have happened, was that the Directors of OMC ceded control of the OMC to Managing Agents and to make matters worse, some Managing Agents do not hold the relevant PSP licence(s).

I also have first hand experience of overbearing, dictatorial Directors in OMC who are making a dog's dinner of the job. Some, probably a lot of them, are charging the OMC as if they were Licenced Professional, un-connected, Managing Agents.

I believe that what is needed is better management, more accountable management, more Professional Management which can only come from more Shareholder involvement. There is already plenty legislation, plenty handbooks, and there are already plenty Regulators.

 

[jdwex]

IMHO, The Managing Agents should never be allowed to become an OMC.

I never said anything about a managing agent "becoming" an omc. They are separate entities.

It's quite difficult to follow exactly what has happened going back to the original post.
In summary, the Managing agents for the OMC and the letting agents for a large number of units are the same entity, and individuals from this agency have been appointed directors of the OMC and are running it for the benefit of owners who rent out the houses as holiday homes. Is that it?

 

[OMC FIX]

Well done jdwex, I think you hit the nail on the head.

I understand that aggrieved shareholders have considered applications to the Courts and complaints to Revenue and PSRA and ODCE but I believe that the media may the most effective route to a resolution.

 

[PeeBee]

Hi 'jdwex',

Thanks for your input.

In essence, the managing agents have 'hijacked' the omc! The two [only] directors of the Managing Agents are the only two directors of the OMC. And no, they do not run the OMC for the sole benefit of the holiday homes; they run the OMC for primarily for their personal gain. They ignore the legal requirements and act with impunity. They can use the cover of law when it suits their nefarious purposes while ignoring the niceties of providing the documentation specified by the Companies Act, the MUD act, the Registration of Managing Agents Property Act(?) and their contracted obligations.

I never said anything about a managing agent "becoming" an omc. They are separate entities.

De jure they are supposed to be separate entities; de facto, as explained above, they are simply the two sides of the same coin in this nightmarish case.

Obliged,
PeeBee.

 

[jdwex]

The two [only] directors of the Managing Agents are the only two directors of the OMC.

And are they directors/employees of the "letting agency" for the holiday homes, not occupied by owner-occupiers?

 

[PeeBee]

Hi 'jdwex',

there are two directors of the OMC and the same two 'gentlemen' are directors of the Managing Agents for the OMC. However, the main business .carried on by the Managing Agents is the letting of holiday homes in the development. They are trying to have the non holiday home owners pay for the upkeep of the holiday homes. Does this clarify your question?