Disclaimer: Before I begin on the rant below, I understand that it is my option to relocate my business if I desire. Because of the nature of my business(es), title insurance and real estate, I have made the decision to "hang tight" until a new owner takes over the management functions of the building I operate from.
Now to the rant ...
Background:
Somewhere around 6 months ago, the building in which my businesses are located was sold to the bank via a foreclosure sale. The building is set up as an executive suite situation with individual offices from 140 square feet to office bays of 1000 feet "on up". I am located in a bay with approximately 1100 square feet. In reflecting upon the past 6 months, I feel the uncontrollable need to communicate my personal frustrations in operating from within a bank owned building controlled by a receiver.
First, let's write about "the good":
- The office is within minutes from my home
- I have been a tenant of the building for 4 years.
- The building is in a good location
- The building is "visually appealing" when maintained properly
- The building has plenty of parking (especially now)
The bad:
1. The building is infested with bats on its rooftop. According to other tenants, and unconfirmed by me, a bat has a season in which it is a "protected species". The bats only come out at night, however, the squeaking of the bats during the day is an erie feeling. The bat "debris" left by the animal each morning is disgusting. In assuming the bank and/or court appointed receiver knew about the problem prior to the protected season, then they have acted in a terribly irresponsible fashion. It is my opinion that they should have fixed the problem IMMEDIATELY upon taking ownership.
Bat "Debris" - Small Sampling
The picture above does not do the situation "any justice" as 2 entrance ways to the building are usually covered in "bat debris". The black spots in the picture are the excrement that I am referring too. The receiver apparently had their maintenance staff clean the entrance way this morning. Perhaps next time I should take a picture of the bottom of my shoe to illustrate the grossness of the matter.
2. The phone system failed. Around 2 weeks ago the phone system suddenly "crashed". Yep, dead lines. Yep, no calls coming in or going out. Yep, no fax machine either. Yep, business stops! Really? Sure, every once in a while the phone system would have to be reset over the past 4 years. Who hasn't had to reset a major phone system every once in a while? But the fact remains that whenever there were issues during the previous owner's regime, the phones were operable over 99% of the time. In the event of any downtime, the situation would be fixed in a matter of minutes NOT WEEKS! In fact, I was a tenant of the previous owner in another building for 6 years and my phones were never out for 2 hours (as far as I can remember) let alone 2 weeks. In giving the receiver some credit, they were able to install a temporary phone system in the interim. With this system however, we no longer have the luxury of caller id, the system does not have voice mail, the people answering the phones must answer incoming calls as "Corporate Offices" (remember, I am in executive suites), and there are only a limited number of extensions available within the system. In fact, I am personally still working off of my cell phone! There are other companies with multiple employees who are working from their mobile devices too. While I am somewhat grateful that the receiver was able to coordinate for a temporary phone system, it seems like the "band aid" applied could harm the reputation of some of the businesses. Without voice mail and without the ability to answer the phone with a corporate identity leaves the individual placing the call with a question about the company they are calling. Oh yeah, it would be crazy for me not to mention the lost revenues incurred by this crummy situation.
3. The building is not being maintained as well as it should be. The outside of the building is dirty. It should be cleaned immediately. There are water marks receding from various windows. There is a water mark on our office ceiling tile which is about three weeks old. The receiver is aware of the problem. They sent someone in to identify the issue. Still, no fixed ceiling tile. Really? I was in another tenants office earlier in the week, same problem! Really? The maintenance of the building (along with items 1, 2 and 4) have created questions in my mind as to whether the court appointed receiver is qualified to handle this type of real estate management project. After all, they are an accounting firm, not a real estate management company. Perhaps, in the future, a receiver should be required to hold a real estate license and work in conjunction with an accounting firm. This would not only protect the businesses but also the owner/bank.
4. The bathroom has issues. The men's urinal on the first floor of one reception area is leaking at the handle. This has encouraged certain tenants to discontinue flushing the urinal after its use. Really? Enough said!
Advice:
- Regarding the phones. If you are in a situation where your phones are answered in a multiple office environment, I would suggest creating your own personal number which forward to the multiple office environment. That way, in the event that the phones fail, you can forward to an alternate number or a sevice like Ring Central.
- Have a TON of patience. As I mentioned previously, I understand and acknowledge that there will soon be a new owner of the building. Hopefully they will take pride in their investment. This building, like I mentioned, is very close to my home so it is convenient. I am not sure however, whether I can continue to deal with the negatives as mentioned above.
The Bottom Line:
The bottom line is that the courts should appoint qualified entities to manage foreclosed properties. In doing so, they may need to consider joint efforts of various industries (Real Estate, Accounting and Legal). It is a tremendous burdon to ask a business to relocate while waiting on a new buyer. This situation STINKS -- literally!
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