Plumbing Problems (2) & Fox Management Group (#215)

My response to yesterday's e-mail exchange...
Regrettably, because of the (deliberate?) inaccessibility of the meeting location (over a mile distant from the condo) neither M nor I will attend.
We will eagerly await the meeting minutes, and hope we receive them, as incomplete and grammatically-incorrect as they usually are, sometime before Labor Day (two to three months being the turnaround for the 1/2 to 2/3 page document after the past few meetings).

We know you will wisely take action on the now officially pre-existing plumbing condition before any major damage, either to the condo itself or our unit, occurs.

And again, since the Better Business Bureau found my billing to be legal and valid, the BBB's opinion overrides the Board's.
(The Board members each have a copy of the BBB complaint, your...response...and the decision, so they know I speak the truth.)

Mara's response...
The meeting location is neither deliberate or inaccessible. Public transportation is easily available to and from the location. However, you and M can always host a meeting at your home if so desired.
As to the BBB, they did not claim that your invoice was valid. They did state that they are not interested in pursuing the issue and that if you are, you should go through the small claims court.
Mara Fox

My response...
All three of the Board members have large enough apartments to accomodate meetings.
Previous Board members Tara and Judy did so, regularly.
(In fact, Kroshus listed his unit, on the same line as Krengelis & Diego Arce, as a two-bedroom, so we KNOW those units are large enough!)
And of course, Eddie's $10 a month '58 basement living space, formerly the Condo's Party Room (and also on the same line as Krengelis, Kroshus, & Diego Arce), is certainly large enough! It's over 200 square feet, and, it has an adjacent kitchen area!
So that covers all three Board members!
Why the present Board members seem unable or afraid to host the meetings is open to speculation (and people DO speculate about that, and many other things...)
The fact that meetings are held off-site, over a mile away, is an indication you DON'T want unit owners attending.
Looking over the meeting minutes back to 2000, Board meetings used to be held on Sunday evenings, and turnout was quite good!
Whatever happened to THAT idea?
Or was it dropped BECAUSE the turnout was so good?

As to the bill...
The BBB's response...(and I quote)
"The Bureau does not handle matters of collection as we are not licensed in the State of Illinois to be a collection agency.
We suggest (BB) contact a private collection agency..."
NO mention of "small claims court." ;-)
And, obviously, the BBB considered it a billing situation. (ie; a legitimate attempt to collect payment for work performed.) otherwise they wouldn't RECOMMEND a course of action!
You DID read their response, didn't you?
(If you didn't, one of the Board members can forward it to you. They all have copies.)
Or did you lose it, the way you claimed in your response that you lost the initial bill?
More fun tomorrow!

Tuesday's total for Fox Management Group's still-unpaid bill from July, 2008(almost a year ago)...$683.28, from an original $75!
Note; now that the 1% per workday cumulative late fee is over $6, it's really starting to mount up, at a rate of $30+ a week!
And, it's over 200 (two hundred) late charges, and almost a full year...
I hope Mara's better with her library books and DVD rentals! ;-)