Wow, I was surprised at all the low star reviews a...

Wow, I was surprised at all the low star reviews and decided to leave a review based on my very close experience with CWD. Unlike the vague negative reviews, probably posted by competitor management, I'll provide specifics based on 3 years of being a treasurer of a 229 unit condo association managed by CWD.

First off, CWD is not perfect. We have issues with them but they are incredibly responsive when we speak up. Paul in particular gets things fixed but most issues are resolved simply by communicating with our manager. They come onsite and meet us in our buildig to hear us out, explain what they're working with, develop a resolution, and provide status emails on resolution.

What issues we have with CWD pale in comparison to what we hear from peer associations managed by other companies and being on the email group for the Downtown Presidents' group, I know that many associations are switching to CWD, not the other way around.

CWD is also very economical from a fee standpoint, which makes all the comments about fees very suspicious. We pay a very reasonable management fee compared to peer associations managed by other companies and we rarely get charged extra as an association. Homeowner charges are always the fault of the homeowner- late dues, parking violations, smoking violations, etc. and they always get a warning letter first with the option of meeting with the board to discuss fines so no excuses. Large fines are typically the result of the homeowner ignoring the warning letter(s) and letting the late fees accumulate until CWD, with the support of the board, gets aggressive in collection.

The key with CWD, and this would be true with any management company, is the association needs to be involved in projects and signing contracts. CWD will sign whatever vendors put in front of them and swing from paying vendors late to paying vendors before the work is done. The owners need to be involved to make sure projects and services are delivered as expected and contracts are written to protect the association and hold vendors accountable. I wouldn't expect this to be any different with any other management company.

I always recommend CWD to peer associations who inquire about our association's management.