Crane : Community Association Consulting

The Association Assist.
Industry + Legal Expertise For Your Community. As Needed.

Each year, thousands of condos come online in Washington, DC situated in hundreds of new and redeveloped building communities. Some are as simple as two unit row house conversions, others feature hundreds of units rich with amenities and infrastructure. Every single building relies on its ownership to deliver or oversee management and long term planning. It’s a big lift with no pay and significant impact. Enter Crane Consulting supported by the long-time building experts from Roost DC. Your building’s new best friend. We offer executive level management and legal strategy that eliminates guesswork and gives your building an operational and legal advantage. Why?

Because a well-managed building is a more valuable and valued building.

When you close on a condo, you’re going into business with an entire community of people you have likely never met. And together with your fellow owners, you will play a part in the future wellness and value of the building. No matter the size, every community has a duty to establish operational, maintenance, financial, governance and legal foundations that are compliant with DC law. That’s a tall order when there are no easily available go-to resources for new or existing buildings.

Time for a Roost assist.

Lisa Wise, Roost co-owner + Flock CEO, and Pavan Khoobchandani, General Counsel, coach you and your building through the complexities of building management no matter the size or age of the community. We work with small associations unpacking their big obligations, new associations navigating the warranty and transition period and existing communities exploring self management. No matter your issues, we can accelerate progress, identify and help you resolve problems and, in most cases, save your association money and avoid legal exposure and community conflict.

Common New Building Questions
- How do we officially form an association?
- How do warranties work? And what if the developer is unresponsive?
- What is a transition study and is it necessary after the owners take on the association?
- Can we just see how it goes over time since it seems all the owners get along?
- How is a DCHA bond released if the developer didn’t perform properly?
- What are the developer’s responsibilities?
- How much should we be saving in reserves?
- How do we plan for maintenance?
- How do we engage and select the best vendors for things like landscaping/cleaning/pest control or trash?
- Do we need to pay and file taxes?
Common Existing Community Questions
- What is my responsibility as an owner?
- What is the role of the board and each member?
- Are there federal or local laws governing my association?
- If a common element doesn’t impact my unit, am I responsible for it?
- What is the association responsible for vs. the owner?
- What is a limited common element?
- What is a resale package? Are we responsible for that?
- What covenants impact my community? Stormwater management, energy benchmarking and easements (typically negotiated between developer and the city)?
- Do we have to comply with inclusionary zoning?
- Does our building need a reserve/engineering study?
- Should we consider solar for our building?
- Our bylaws aren’t working. How do we update them?
- We have too many renters in the building. Can we restrict that?
- Do I need insurance for my unit?
- Taxes
The Roost Assist - We work closely with you to deliver the following:
- Governance review (bylaws/ public offering statement and corporate structure)
- Vendor list (landscape/pest/security/finance/engineering/cleaning + more)
- Insurance review
- Legal consult re: warranty/bylaw and governance recommendations
- Warranty review and best practices for developer engagement
- Fee analysis
- Preventive maintenance recommendations
- Servicing mechanical + HVAC, green roofing, stormwater management - security
- Budget audit and recommendations
- DC Condo Act of 2014 review
- Board best practices and education tools
- Solar and green service opportunities (charging stations)

On-Going / A La Carte Support
- Board training workshops
- Building better board resources and tools for membership
- Hourly consulting as needed
- Warranty strategy (excludes representation)
- Improvement/repair management
- Finance only services
- Full-service management
*hours are allocated to deliver a comprehensive review of association affairs and strategic recommendations. Hours caps apply.

PRICING

2-5 Units : $1,500

6-10 Units : $2,000

11-15 Units : $2,500

16-25 Units : $3,500

25+ Units : $5,000

THE ENGAGEMENT

In most cases, a brief engagement can get your community to a great place. We can continue our consulting on an as-needed hourly or project basis as things with your association evolve and change over time. This may include board transitions, warranty issues, capital improvement or repair projects, community conflict or planned improvements.

We come with a unique perspective and a deep tactical, practical and legal knowledge base. First off, Roost DC is an employee-owned building management company and we work exclusively in Washington, DC. We tend to communities as varied as converted historic Capitol Hill mansions, to buildings purchased through tenant advocacy programs, to newly constructed eight-story Logan Circle developments. As our core service, we offer comprehensive management services including governance, accounting and finance, administration and a maintenance and preservation program.

Please reach out to Lisa Wise or Pavan Khoobchandani at [email protected] if you would like to work with us or schedule a 30 minute call to discuss the program!

Attorneys
Tax accountants specializing in associations
Snow, landscaping, cleaning, trash, call box
Maintenance services
Reserve, transition and engineering study resources

Review of association finances
Analysis of fees, anticipated expenses and preparation of annual budget
Setting up accounts and handling association funds
Review of insurance coverage
Overview of unit owner responsibility vs. board responsibility

Overview of legal requirements for associations and the DC Condo Act of 2014
Review of organizational governing documents
Tips on handling warranty issues
Preparation of draft house rules
Guidance on collections and fines
Educational tools and resources for board members

Building walkthrough with photos and summary report
Guidance on scheduled maintenance and services needed

We look for savings, inconsistencies and operational exposures that often go unnoticed. Examples:

Contract review and vendor recommendation can reveal savings. Example? Our work has identified the following:
- Overpriced contracts for trash, cleaning or other maintenance services that can be renegotiated
- Annual contracts that are duplicative, or unnecessary
- Overpriced or underperforming vendors
- Fees not being charged appropriately to commercial tenants leaving thousands remaining to be collected in some cases
- Parking space or storage fee collections that haven’t been initiated
- Retainer charges for professional services that are going unused
- Unused/unnecessary phone lines
- Overpaying for accounting services
- Tax preparation fees for buildings not required to file
We also help you avoid or identify operational snags that are expensive to unravel and remedy. Examples:
- Often bylaws are inconsistent with building size. We reviewed governing documents for a three unit building that called for five board members.
- Some have PAR values inconsistent with fees collected which requires a financial “true up” to ensure each owner is paying the right fees based on their unit size
- Improper or insufficient budgeting is common. A community wasn’t getting water bills and didn’t forecast the expense. Instead they allocated funds for building-wide cable at $12,000 annually which led to a substantial budget shortfall when the water billing was sorted out
- Too much or too little insurance for the association
- Building developers don’t always offer complete contract schedules. Often annual elevator or fire systems inspections will be excluded leaving associations exposed to DCRA fines, insurance eligibility and an out of balance budget.
- Maintenance for green roof, backflow preventer, generator or sump pumps also commonly go unbudgeted leading to expensive deferred maintenance or system failures
- Some bills are set up for a specific unit instead of the association. DC water billed to a single unit owner for years. Poor guy. He was paying $800+ month and had no idea he wasn’t responsible for that expense!