Vantage Community Management — Attraction in Lacey

They want me to paint my shake shingle accent vinyl siding. So, I contacted a professional painter to ask how to prep & paint a swath to be approved by the HOA. Understand, people use vinyl siding so they never have to paint their siding. The painter had me use vinegar & water on a wash cloth to prep the vinyl siding. When I stepped back to look at it, it was already new-looking on that prepped area. So, I told the property management I was having it professionally cleaned - that it was oxidation (contractor came out and said that). The first time they cleaned it, it looked better, but not great. So, I paid them to come back & scrub it with their chemicals. It improved, but not enough. They used brushes. Now, since then I've had two contractors look at the front of my house & voluntarily tell me my house looks "good" & "new." Still, I plan to pay another contractor to clean it better when the weather improves. If it doesn't work the third time, I'll have it painted. Many houses in our neighborhood have oxidation way worse on their shake shingle vinyl siding, but their colors don't highlight it like my color does. I looked at a couple houses in our neighborhood which have the same color accent siding, but have been painted as the property managers demanded. Now, those homes look cheaper. Their siding looks like plastic, & if it wasn't prepped, it will flake off in the next few years. I have a nice house & have no desire to cheapen the look. While dealing with this & sanding, caulking, & painting my wood trim, the property management sent us a letter about a court hearing. I called and asked for a new date for it since I was going to be out of town at that time. I didn't hear anything else until about a month later I noticed they were garnishing my wages (this has never happened to us). Then, they also garnished my wife's! We have an adult dusabled daughter at home, my wife flies back to the Midwest every month to help care for her father, & I work two jobs just to try to make ends meet. Yet, they began garnishing $2300 a month out of our paychecks without any warning. Their lawyer said they would see about possibly removing or lowering fees & would try to work with me. They asked how much I could pay per month, I told them. They sent me legal paperwork, asking my wife and I to sign papers agreeing to more than double what I said I could try - in further garnishments. I asked for documentation of what we still owe, & after having $5000 garnished already, they claim I owe $16,000+! This is outrageous! I spoke with my own choice of HOA lawyers & both said I have a strong case, but the amount they have to charge me to fight for me is even more. Ugh! I'm sure they notice all the oxidation on everyone else's accent shake shingle vinyl siding, but I doubt they're taking this kind of money away from them to punish them into compliance. I've spoken to several, & it seems they're not being harassed like this. This is a...

Absolutely the most unprofessional HOA management I have ever encountered! I was lucky enough to move to a great neighborhood, but so unlucky to have such a terribly managed HOA! Paid a $200 “account transfer fee” when I first moved into the neighborhood. You would think that would at least constitute a welcome letter with information on how to set up payment for the monthly HOA fee. But NO! Nothing of the sort ever came!

I jokingly told my wife that if they want a monthly payment from us or any new resident, they need to tell us where to send the checks. Trying to be a good resident, we did our due diligence and between my wife and I we called six times and left four voicemails, not one of them was ever returned! We emailed three times, and no response! When four weeks went gone by and it was now a new month, the only contact information we ever got was a late fee, with a informational letter on how to pay! Seriously!?!? Unbelievable!!! What world does vantage community mgmt live in where that is an acceptable business practice!?

Do yourself a favor, when looking for a new house, consider the HOA being run by vantage community management the same as if the foundation is cracked or it has DIY electrical work that is shoddy... pass on these fools. It’s not worth the trouble!

We LOVE our house but sadly will be moving sooner than we want as we have now had 3 other incidences just like this one… Like the time I paid the HOA bill on the 1st of the month like every month, and by the 17th a delinquency notice shows up. When I called to gently remind them if they looked at their financial records they would see this check had cleared their account already, but they still claimed they required me to send a proof of payment from my bank! WHAT!?!? so I did send a proof of payment, to which they then apologized profusely for the error, and said they would waive the late fee! I almost died laughing! The bill was paid on time and this is because of their terrible financial record-keeping, not any fault of mine! I told them they better waive that fee and in fact, I would like that fee credited to my account as an inconvenience for dealing with their mistake! Especially considering I had to take a day off work to physically go into their office on a weekday during business hours so that I could actually speak to a human being face to face, as I know from experience they do not answer their phone or emails!

When my wife contacted the president of the HOA(Jim Mathis), to file a complaint and figure out what the hell was going on… He said and I quote... “That email only gets checked about once a month.” !?!?!?!?

Maybe in 1996 that was OK… But it’s 2017, absolutely unacceptable to have such piss poor communication! Vantage community mgmt, pull your heads out of you know where, go back to business school and learn how to properly run a company!

Save yourself the trouble and do not move anywhere where these idiots...

Updated: Dealing with Vantage as a resident has been a frustrating process in the past but has improved over time. Initially my review was harsh but I can see that many of the issues in resolving my problems were not a direct result of Vantage but the HOA board itself. HOA boards meet infrequently to decide on issues so to a resident it may appear as though Vantage is the road block in addressing concerns quickly. In my personal experience I would only request that if money is deducted from our balance that we be notified. In one instance money was deduced from our upfront pre-paid dues to pay a fee. Had we not checked our balance we would have not noticed we were left with insufficient funds in our account to pay the upcoming dues and certainly would have been charged a late fee as a result had we not caught it in time. There is a general dissatisfaction with Vantage which I think is unfair. The biggest issue I see is not what is done but how it happens. There are ways of handling issues that don't upset people to the point where posting a sign in the office, front and center, notifying your right to refuse service or call the police is needed. I can't recall seeing a sign posted so prominently like that at any other work place I have been to. Certainly the staff there deserves to feel safe but I find it curious people tend to become that upset in the first place on a regular enough basis to require signage. I think it may work counter actively. Seeing that sign when you walk in sets the expectation for your interaction. That "things turn combative here" and "we may need to have you removed". Rather than display this sign in this prominent way to greet visitors I suggest instead installing mirrors. Airlines use this technique because people do not like to see themselves angry and that keeps them calmer. I assume in most cases the failure to follow though in a way that would make a resident understanding or satisfied is at the root of this problem. From a board members perspective Vantage has been very helpful in assisting with meetings, agendas, budgets, and general issue resolution however the overall feeling among residents remains one of dissatisfaction and feeling out of the loop. I hope we can identify why this is the case and work toward a...