SOP – Community Care

209: Manager Assistant Calls

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by

kdub
in

The Manager Assistants are administrative assistants for our associations and portfolio Property Managers. Please note this does not mean they are a back up to the manager; they DO NOT handle what the manager handles. There are basically 4 groups of Manager Assistants at Action Property Management. Here is a brief breakdown of how Community Care contacts individuals in each of these groups and how their calls are handled:

  • Onsite: Red HOAs (high rises)
    • Community Care does not typically receive calls for Onsite (high rise) Mgr Assistants since callers usually call the on-site location directly. If for some reason someone calls for one of these individuals, transfer the call to the onsite office.
  • Cottonwood Canyon Hills
    • All calls for anyone working at Cottonwood Canyon Hills (Manager, Manager’s Assistant, etc.) are cold transferred to the Cottonwood Office (7010). Their office is open Tuesday-Friday 9-5:30.
  • Irvine
    • Calls are cold transferred to the MA assigned to the association. If they are sick or on vacation and the call needs to be escalated as they refuse to email or leave a voicemail, warm transfer to the MA Lead (Check EIO).
    • Emails for all Irvine Manager Assistants go to: ManagerAssistantHelp@actionlife.com. This will open a Manager Assistant Ticket. We should never email any Irvine MA directly.
  • Satellite Office (San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles)
    • MAs in these satellite office may share responsibilities so always check the profile to see who the correct contact is for the call you are transferring.
    • Calls are cold transferred to the appropriate extension after checking status on EIO.
    • Emails go directly to the assistant’s email, unless Portfolio Manager Assistant is listed. If so, all emails must go to ManagerAssistantHelp@actionlife.com .

The responsibilities vary by group:

  • Onsite: Red HOAs (high rise)
    • Responsibilities vary. Transfer calls to onsite office or provide caller with onsite office #.
  • Cottonwood Canyon Hills
    • Responsibilities vary and sometimes overlap with what we would typically assume would be Manager Responsibilities.
    • If Community Care cannot assist any caller for Cottonwood, all other calls go to extension 7010 and the onsite Team (Manager or Assistant) will help the caller.
    • Their on-site office is open Tuesday-Friday, 9-5:30 for homeowners.
  • Irvine and Satellite Offices (Inland Empire, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles)
    • Responsibilities explained in the remainder of this SOP:

VERY COMMON RESPONSIBLILITIES MANAGER ASSISTANTS

  1. Architectural application processing (including satellite dish questions)
    • Exception: Manager takes the call when there is a dispute over the rejection of an application
  1. Parking – permits, safe listing, guest permits, etc.
    • Exception: Check profile first under “Patrol” or “Parking” since sometimes residents must contact the patrol service directly or a board member instead of going through the Mgr Assist.
    • Exception: Towing complaints go to the Manager in writing. Must be from the H/O of the unit. The Manager Assistant cannot assist with any towing inquiry.
  2. Parking Space # to homeowner (verify homeownership).
    • Exception: Check the profile under “Parking”. If the parking space numbers are listed and there are no restrictions listed that prevent Community Care from providing it, we can provide it to them as well without referring them to the Mgr Assistant.
  3. Reservations – clubhouse / facilities – direct callers to email.
    • Exception: Check profile first before providing email or transferring call – occasionally another individual handles this responsibility (specifically in the IE).
  4. Status of deposit return for Clubhouse / Architectural
    • Exception: Check profile first before transferring call – occasionally another individual handles this responsibility (specifically in the IE).
  5. Exterior Paint Colors
    • Exception: Check the profile. Sometimes it will say the HOA does not have record of colors and they need to contact a painting vendor directly.
    • Interior Paint colors – Refer caller to builder on profile. If none, then can reach out to the manager in case they have any information and if not, they will need to just color match.
  6. Assisting Board Members with creating a Board Portal account or assistance with log in issues.
  7. Adding and removing tenants and property managers from Management App and the Resident Portal.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF IRVINE AND BRANCH OFFICE MANAGER ASSISTANT RESPONSIBILITIES

The Irvine and Branch Office Manager Assistants handle calls for the issues listed above. However, occasionally they may not be immediately available and a caller may insist on getting help immediately. If the call volume is low enough to allow it, Community Care members can assist by using the detailed information below: 

  • ARCHITECTURAL APPLICATIONS
  • PAINT COLORS
  • PARKING AND TOWING

ARCHITECTURAL APPLICATIONS

“DO I NEED ARCHITECTURAL APPROVAL TO … (paint my house, put up a satellite dish, put a pink flamingo in my front yard, etc.)” NEVER ASSUME THAT AN ARCHITECTURAL APPLICATION IS NECESSARY. RULES VARY FROM ASSOCIATION TO ASSOCIATION AND APPROVAL IS NOT ALWAYS REQUIRED. ALWAYS TRANSFER THE CALL TO THE APPROPRIATE ASSISTANT OR IRVINE MA GROUP IF THEY ARE ASKING IF APPROVAL IS NECESSARY. 

  1. When a homeowner would like to start the process, they can go to the Resident Portal and print the application.
    1. Only the homeowner can turn in applications. If a vendor requests an application, let them know the homeowner would need to fill it out and submit it.
    2. If the Owner is not have computer/internet access, they can be mailed the application by the corporate production services team . You must email the request to the CPS team <cps@actionlife.com> , making sure to include both the documents you want sent (attached to the email) and the mailing address of the homeowner, their account number and HOA.
  2. If a homeowner’s vendor wants to discuss the status of an application.
    1. They must contact the homeowner. ARC information is not released to anyone but the owner on title (Just like when talking to them about their account information).
  1. If homeowners want status on their application.
    1. They receive a confirmation letter in the mail when the application has been processed.
      1. The decision of the Architectural Committee will be sent to the homeowner in writing. The decision cannot be discussed over the phone with anyone but the owner.
  2. The review period for architectural applications differs for every Association based on what the CC&Rs state. To find the review period for a specific Association, look up the Association in Management App under “Dashboard” in the client information section. The number of days allotted for the Architectural Committee (volunteer group of homeowners) is also known as the “Arch review period”.

*Please note: The Committee has up to this amount of time to make a decision based on what the CC&Rs state. They can certainly make a decision faster than this time frame however; we (the Management Company) cannot force them to make a decision any faster than what the governing documents state.

5. If a homeowner is not happy that they got denied they should be advised to appeal the decision in writing to the Community Manager.

 PAINT COLORS (Check the Profile)

  1. When a homeowner would like to know about paint colors.
    1. Check profile for paint colors. Community Care can provide the colors if available. Some profiles will say the HOA has the paint colors listed on the Resident Portal so homeowner’s can be referred there as well.  Other profiles will say they need to contact a paint store directly for the colors so we can provide that information to them.
      1. If no information about the paint colors is listed on the profile, the homeowner can email the Community Manager or be transferred to them (not the Manager Assistant).
    2. If the owner wants the interior colors of their home, refer to the developer listed on the profile. If there is no developer listed, they can reach out to the community manager to see if they have any information or they will just have to color match.

PARKING AND TOWING

  1. When a homeowner would like to safe list a vehicle.
    1. Community Care can check the profile under Patrol or Parking for information on how homeowners can safelist a vehicle. It will sometimes direct them to contact the patrol company directly or a board member. If there is no direction for the owner to contact someone outside of Action, they will need to speak to the MA for assistance.
  2. When a homeowner would like a parking permit/pass/sticker/hangtag.
    1. Community Care can look up the information on the profile, to make sure it doesn’t say they need to contact patrol or a board member. If not, if someone is requesting any type of item for parking, we should refer them to reach out to the Manager Assistant so they can tell them the process and assist them with giving them what they need. We do not want to get involved with providing them with any information.
  3. When a homeowner would like their parking space number.
    1. They MUST be the owner of the unit.
    2. Community Care can check the profile to see if this information is available for us to relay to the owner.
    3. If it is not on the profile, transfer to Manager’s Assistant. If there is any type of action that needs to be taken or they have additional questions that we can’t answer, they should be referred to the Manager Assistant as well.
  4. When someone calls and says they have been towed.
    1. Provide towing company information available on the profile. If there is no towing company, they can also contact the Patrol/Security vendor for assistance.
    2. If they are unsure they have been towed and there is no towing company or patrol/security company they can call, they can contact the non-emergency police number to confirm it’s been towed as they are always notified if it is.
    3. Often time, the caller will be upset their vehicle got towed and will dispute the reason and ask us to take out their vehicle as it was towed in error. We will never be able to take out their vehicle so they need to be advised they need to take out their vehicle and can then dispute anything they want to dispute with the Community Manager in writing by the owner of the home only. If they insist in speaking to someone, you can transfer them to the community manager.
    4. Any requests for reimbursement for being towed will need to be submitted by the owner to the Community Manager in writing along with their receipts for it to be presented to the board for consideration.