Getting rid of management agent

Hi the AGM of management company is tomorrow night, the management agents were appointed 2 years ago by the builder, their service has been very unsatisfactory i know many complaints have been made about them (the agent indirectly gave this information to me).
I would like to go about getting quotes from other management agents in the area.
I presume there will be a contract between the company and agents (they were hired before the first agm so we had no say at the time and decided to give them a go) as a member i also presume im entitled to see a copy of it?
How would i go about breaking the contract if i have the backing of other members, should i follow a complaints procedure or will it all depend on the contract itself?
Im considering putting myself forward for nomination as director, at present one director is also the owner of the management agents which i am not happy about - i feel there is a conflict of interest there.
Any advice would be great , thanks.

Hi Thrifty,

All I can say and the quickest way to advise here is to get out and buy Robert Gogans book "Essential Guide to apartment Living in Ireland" it is a bible and really does approach every subject that you may come accross as an apartment owner. This really will point you and other owners in the right direction, give you an idea of what you need to do and what questions to ask etc.

FYI - I have no affiliation to R. Gogan or the publishers

This being a management company, there are numerous silly obstacles you might face:

- Only the directors of the management company can remove an agent (such as a managing agent) or give a contract to a new one.

- Only the directors of the company can see the contracts in place between the management company and it's agent.

- If the developer is still in charge, there's a good chance you cannot be a director.

- The developer may have signed a multi-year contract with the agent. Unless there's a break-out clause in the contract, I'm not sure how you can get out of it.

- The company documents may say that you must have been nominated and seconded as a director in writing at least three days before the AGM. They may not (have to) accept your nomination on the night.

That said, if you have the opportunity to put yourself forward tomorrow night, definitely do it. If it's not on the agenda when you get in, immediately ask the company secretary or chairman why it's not and ask them to rectify it. The developer may have granted themselves (at least) 51% of the vote so it might be a waste of time but it's worth a try.

There's always a chance the developer won't bother showing up and won't give anyone their written proxy form. As far as I can tell, if that happens, they're fair game to be removed and new directors voted in. The agent (probably) won't be happy with this and will throw all sort of objections in your way.

Thrifty1 said:

at present one director is also the owner of the management agents which i am not happy about - i feel there is a conflict of interest there.

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He doesn't have any authority yet but if you send a letter to the NPSRA (www.npsra.ie) and explain the situation to him, he might get in touch with the agent and ask him about it. It's worth a try.

markpb said:

...
He doesn't have any authority yet but if you send a letter to the NPSRA ([broken link removed]) ...

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The NPSRA link is incorrect - this one works - http://www.npsra.ie/website/npsra/npsraweb.nsf/page/index-en

What is the status of the management company?

Is it solvent and are owners willing to pay fees?

OR

are there a lot of rentals, where owners aren't paying fees and the management company is in debt - and was legal action taken?

How many units are in the block and are people willing for you to take over as director? Do you have a resident's association? It should be possible to call an EGM later in the year, as far as I'm aware, if you want to look into it further first. How much time is involved - are other residents willing to help out?

We found the agent's budget for some services provided was almost 3 times higher than on the open market - e.g. grass cutting. Thus, it's well worth shopping around, but whether there are any good management agents remains to be seen. We sourced another gardener but the existing agent made it too difficult for this gardener to take on the job.

Best of luck!

Thanks for your replies. There are 3 directors at present appointed at the last AGM (the management agent send my notification to the wrong address so i missed the agm), the notifictaion i received for this one states they will be retiring. At the AGM 2 years ago they allowed anyone who wished to nominate themselves as director.

The majority of owners are paying the service charges but the accounts and proposed budget contain amounts for work i do not see being done.
An example of an issue which arose recently was this.
There had been break ins in cars in the car park, we are paying for a security guard but he is never there and also for security cameras which incidentially caught the perps in the act but was not clear enough to identify anyone. The agent said it wasnt his problem the issue was for the Gardai to deal with. We had complained on numerous occassions about young lads hanging around and that we needed the security guard to make them leave but he doesnt feel this is his problem.
I could be here all night with other problems but the crux of the issue is they just want the fees but not the hassle, he actually refused to speak to me once and unless i call in presonally he will NEVER reply to phone calls or emails.
I would like to at least see what other agents in the area charge and the level of service they provide but i dont know how or if i could go about this.
At the last AGM they was a lot of discontent with their service to the point some owners were getting very irrate with the agent so i suppose tonight ill have to see what the general feeling is.
The AGM is scheduled for 6pm so i doubt many will turn up which is just the way they want it.

MARKPB - you made an interesting point about only the directors being able to remove the agents, this will be very difficult in this case as one of the directors is also the director and owner of the managing agents.

Thanks again for the replies.

Check your memorandum and articles of association about - "... this will be very difficult in this case as one of the directors is also the director and owner of the managing agents...". If this is true then at best, this director should be challenged on a very clear conflict of interest and requested to absent himself / herself from any discussions regarding the performance of his agency. At worst, he/she may be forced to resign as a director of the management company of the complex.