Preferred vendors, no-bid contracts, lump sum invoices - rubber stamped and paid.  A lobby redecoration that cost nearly $300 PSF!  For the same price you can build a brand new mid-range home in Chicago, foundations, bathrooms kitchen, roof etc. Instead, we got the lobbies refreshed:  paint, flooring, furniture and some lighting.   It was another wink-wink nod-nod, no-bid contract with a guy from Schaumburg.

The past two special assessments are three times the value of the work. Examples: They want us to believe we paid a union painter the equivalent of three weeks salary to paint two elevators.  Inexpensive stone tiles have cost us $100 PSF.  And the board does not seem to care. If anything, the more expensive the repair, the more comfortable they seem — because oversight is nonexistent, and your money is their playground.

We need a change. We need a watchdog on the board. Someone trained to follow the money, spot the scams, and demand transparency.

What Doesn’t Add Up

In the past five years:

• Special assessments have become routine. There is a new special assessment project underway.  They will never stop because board members are getting their assessment payments refunded. It's the reason their's no resistance, no dissension over these costs. Two were imposed in just 30 months for upgrades that weren’t required  — certainly not urgent or code-required.

• Who decided no more competitive bidding? Not one major project has been competitively bid since FCM took over for Premier.  Even a $400,000 job went through with no bidding. That never happens in condominium associations.  Confront the board?  They tell you to talk to their lawyer who will not call back or engage.  Why can't the board speak for itself?

• The hard truth? Since 2020, about $500,000 of our hard earned money ended up being laundered - and we've been hung out to dry. 

• Ask questions, demand records you may find yourself being fined $5,900 for something that never occurred. (I did) If you don't pay it FCM will threaten to report you to the credit bureaus. (they have)  No association records are ever provided, no reason given even though they are required by Illinois law and our governing documents to release them.  
• After exposing the elevator special assessment scheme, the board file a lawsuit against us to distract and deflect.  It costs them nothing to do so, they are using the association's reserves.  They are out of control because no one attends the meetings.

We Require a Forensic Audit

I’ve formally requested an independent audit. The board’s response? They refuse to even discuss it.

It's unacceptable. Wayne Kubasek, open the Kimono!   Ann Berg, you've been the treasurer now for 20 years.  Hand over the financial records I requested to weeks ago.  If there’s nothing to hide why refuse to provide records, why fail to bid projects and why not allow a forensic audit of the past five years?  Their is only one answer to that   

Take Action

If you believe our community deserves answers, accountability, and protection from financial abuse, sign the petition linked at the top of the page. It’s the first step toward appointing an independent oversight committee to hire a forensic accounting firm to chase down every missing dollar.

With that report, if warranted, we can recover funds from our insurance company.