Introduction

The purpose of this process is to follow-up on changes of ownership for those Clients whose units are bought and sold (versus simply being leased by the owner of entire building. e.g. Condominium vs Office building).

The key element of a Customer file is the "Deed/Ownership" document. Maintaining an accurate record of property ownership can become increasingly more difficult in a "down-turned" economic environment. An Association waits passively for any of the financial institutions to notify them of changes in ownership, will immediately find the accuracy of their Customer files deteriorating.

You can start a more active program of soliciting changes in ownership documents. It should be noted, any programs developed by Advantos Systems, Inc. is thoroughly explained to the Board of Directors and each Board can vote to approve or disapprove the implementation of the program.

To effectively explain your program, if is advisable to divide the process into two (2) segments. The two segments can be referred to as "Passive" and "Active" solicitation of current ownership documents. The following is an abbreviated explanation of this program:

Passive Solicitation of Ownership Data

This method is usually adequate in good economic times. All you must do is wait for the phone call or transmittal letter from the financial institution responsible for completion of a sale on property in your Association. Then you complete the following tasks:

1. Financial institutions (banks, mortgage companies, AHFC, etc) will call your office to request updated information needed to complete the sale of property.
2. Your office will complete a "Transfer of Ownership" worksheet.
3. Within 24 hours of the above request, your office will prepare all of the documents needed for the "Transfer Package" including:
   • A Customer "Payoff" letter outlining all amounts due, and
   • All amounts due on account must be reviewed, including any amounts not kept on the computer system.
   • Their individual Customer file must be reviewed for anything relevant to the closing.
   • A currently prepared "Budget".
   • A currently prepared "Income Statement".
   • A currently prepared "Balance Sheet".
   • Minutes from last two Board of Directors meetings.
   • Letter from Board certifying owner occupancy percentages.
4. Once you've prepared this package, you contact whoever requested it.
5. Retain a copy of this package (in suspense) to insure the sale is monitored. If you don't receive the closing documents then you will contact the closing company to send the documents to us.
6. Upon receipt of the completed closing documents the following steps are taken to complete the "Transfer of Ownership" process:
   • The suspense copy of the "Transfer package" is reviewed.
   • Appropriate Customer information is written down to be posted to the computerized Customer file by one individual in your office. This limiting of input increased the liklihood of accurate data being maintained on each Customer. Make sure the MOVE-IN function is used instead of just changing the name of the unit owner.
   • Copies of all payments are attached to our suspence documents and to the closing documents received and filed in the Customer's permanent file.
   • All payments received are posted and deposited.
   • Any discrepancies noted in information or payments are promptly investigated. This investigation usually requires telephone inquiries to the financial institutions, closing companies, new owners, and/or the Board of Directors.
   • This investigation will lead to either collection of additional information and/or funds from the closing companies or financial institutions (which is like pulling teeth) or writing off the uncollected amounts.

The price for the above services, which are solely predicated on Unit sales and have nothing to do with your ongoing operations, is $100.00 - $200.00. This fee is billed back to the closing company and is included in the payoff figures supplied by you. This is a small sum to pay considering the difficulty encountered during the sale of someone's home.

Active Solicidation of Ownership Data

Instead of waiting for a request from one of the financial institutions, which may or may not be made, you can pursue a more active method of collecting and maintaining Customer information. This active solicitation can become a very important part of your information capabilities. More importantly, since its implementation, you can expect delinquencies to decrease and collections become less difficult.

Investigative research is combined with the normal review of delinquency reports, memos from homeowners, mail returned to your office, and any other information available. These items have always been reviewed periodically; however, when you combine this research under one program, the value of the information increases dramatically.

You should review any public information access systems to access statewide recording offices, state corporation files, Municipality property appraisals, civil court case files, State Game & Fish files, voter registrations, and anything available. Information from the State Department of Motor Vehicles can also be useful. There may be a centralized information access system available to you giving you access to this information.

Once you have briefly identified the basic elements of the program, here's how it can all work for you. The key elements are investigative researching and maintaining a central file system for all information collected. These basic steps are as follows:

1. Every piece of mail returned "undeliverable as addressed" is stamped, logged, and filed in the Customer's permanent file.
2. Notes/memos from customers are date stamped, reviewed and filed in their permanent file.
3. Delinquency reports are reviewed and annotated to reflect any additional information collected to help explain the delinquency. These notes include problems with mail delivery, utility shut-off notices, neighbor contacts, or owner contacts.
4. Accounts appearing three or more months delinquent will also be researched through the Public Information Access System unless there is some information on file indicating other action is required.
5. Other accounts, not three months delinquent, will also be researched through the Public Information Access System if there is information on file indicating a possible sale or foreclosure action is pending.
6. If a document has been recorded providing proof of a recent ownership change or pending change (i.e. "Notice of Default and Trustee's Sale") the document is immediately requested from a title company.
7. If no change appears, the delinquency report is annotated and the research continues until the account status changes.
8. After the documents are ordered and received from the title company, the necessary documents are prepared, processed into your information files, and posted into the computer files.

Changes effecting ownership need immediate attention to prevent problems. Active soliciation of ownership information is one way to speed up the normal process. The fees associated with this active method are as follows:

1. The time spent accessing any Public Information Access System can be invoiced at $125.00 per hour. This rate includes the cost of computer usage, computer user, and research assistant. It usually takes at least three to five minutes to sign onto the computer system, research an account, and sign off of the computer system.
2. When a unit is foreclosed upon, you can charge a $75.00 -$100.00 fee for the cost of processing the discovered information. This fee is billed back to the new owner of the unit (usually the financial institution) on your behalf.
3. Each Deed/Ownership document received from the title company can be invoiced back at $5.00 - $25.00 per copy; which is your cost.