CUSA (mis)deeds

Sat. June, 6, 2009

There are MANY things that owners have complained about re: CUSA management of their TIC properties.

here a few of my favorites:

1. when one property was replaced with new management, the new PM found that CUSA had NOT been collecting rents for months. But, CUSA was still charging their fee(s) for rent collection, taking it from the property's bank account.
   
2. this same property was found to be in arrears of cash flow to the tune of $60,000+.
3. this property had uncollected CAM, some as long as 2 years old.
   
4. Landscaping vendor charges billed by CUSA were close to $9,000. Actual invoices were $3,500. To boot, the 'landscaping' was close to nonexistent.
   
5. when new management took over there was a zero balance in the bank account. thus, there was no money for the next mortgage payment which was due in @ 10 days. the last budget presented showed a surplus of over $21,000.
6. The property was messy, unclean, vacant space had dirty windows, old signs, overflowing dumpster surrounded with trash, a large pot hole, broken air conditioner in one unit (that's leased), the property did not conform to local standards, the main sign was rigged & stayed lit 24 hrs. a day (owners paying the electricity)... among other things. no wonder tenants stopped paying rent!

note: CUSA did NOT inform owners of these situations even though they had long conference calls re: the status of the property.

You also have to wonder how SUN1031 vetted potential property managers, when it came to hiring CUSA to manage @ 30 properties for SUN1031 (that #'s a 'guess' that's been mentioned). it's been said that currently 21 out of 30 properties have replaced CUSA.

CUSA's management seems to have more experience with Hotel Management, not strip or office buildings.

As many of us have learned the hard way – and SUN1031 should have had some foresight re: this as they are (supposedly) the Pro's – a property has to have an honest manager for the property to stay viable. if management is draining much of the property's income/cash flow, how long can that property survive? Over pricing doesn't help either.

EVERYONE should partner in these types of properties to be successful – owners, property managers and tenants.