I have heard many people complain of services delivery in their Estate Courts, Condominiums, or Gated Community neighbourhoods. Despite the fact that they may be paying service charge, services paid for (security, garbage collection, care-taking, swimming pool and gymn maintenance where applicable, etc) are not rendered to an acceptable standard.

My take is that the collection and administration of service charges becomes challenging because:

1) The developer leaves behind no system for common area management - just sells units and takes off;

2) Thus, the Management Committee exists only on paper;

3) Apartment or house units owners are busy in their affairs, and has not time to attend to estate/court matters leave alone remember to pay service charge;

4) Some units are rented, and neither the tenant nor the owner (some in diaspora) remember or cares about common area services among others.

If you own such a property or is contemplating to buy one soon, this should concern you. As you own part of the common area, and its management affects the value of your stake in the property.

I know of a company that specializes in Common Area Management and are doing a great job in collection and administration of service charge and reports to the Estate Management Committee of the Condominiums they handle. You can reach through INFO@STALICREALESTATE.COM should you need of such services.

In many developments these days, a management company is constituted to deal with issues to do with common areas. The owners of the houses / units buy shares in this management company.

Is it true that some developers now see this arrangement (the management company) as a source of perpetual income in that they collect "management / service" fees forever without proper mechanisms for auditing how this money is spent?

Anyone who owns "shares" in this type of management company?