Affirmative Management

Definitely stay clear of this property management company! I have owned my condo unit for more than 20 years at Cedar Terrace in Campbell and believe that Affirmative Management has become, quite simply, a LAZY and INEFFICIENT company. Unfortunately, I have a very extensive list of normal maintenance and repair requests that go unresolved which truly affect the ENJOYMENT and VALUE of my home.

In addition to causing his associations to be sued because of his election violations, Mr. Freeman also attempts to chair/​administrate HOA meetings, send out political communications to the membership, and make personal attacks against directors and members – if left unchecked.
It wasn’t until I filed a lawsuit against my HOA on 4÷30÷2013 that Mr. Freeman stopped doing things like acting as an election inspector himself or advising the board to accept emails as ballots when convenient (to name just a few simple violations). And only after I sent a stern email to my board on 12/​30/​2013, did Mr. Freeman desist in officially chairing our board meetings, which is also not allowed.
After I finally became a director myself and came in first in our board election on 2÷10÷2014, not only did Mr. Freeman send out the results late (they are due to the membership by law 15 days after the election), but also when he did finally send them out at my insistence, he neglected to send out the tabulated results, showing the number of points per candidate, which is required by law and I would expect him to be aware of. He then sent the results to the membership a second time, but this time, while he did include the tallies, he also added that the results were only the way they were (i.e. I only won) because our association uses cumulative voting.
Finally, I have seen Mr. Freeman make insulting/​untrue remarks to/​about a number of members. For example, to me, he stated during a 1÷15÷2013 board meeting that my wife was «stuck with» me. And during a 4÷14÷2014 board meeting, the day the other directors voted to ban audio recordings of our meetings, he stated that I was a «complete joke» and that I suffered from a «short [expletive] complex». Of course, I responded that I would be fine with comparing any day, which he for some reason refused.
Granted I have been campaigning for his termination from our HOA for some time because of his bad attitude, but his most recent comments in particular represent truly unprofessional and biased conduct from a paid «professional». I am sad to say that I have seen no improvement at all from Mr. Freeman during the 2 years I have had to know him. I only hope that others that have to deal with him are able to read and understand both their bylaws and
(where you can catch pretty much all attempted violations).
— — — — — — — — — — — — — -
Here is another lawsuit against Mr. Freeman and his 2 companies from this year:
(search for case #: 1−14-CV-269 747)

Yes, I was curious, and don’t like being called bogus. Here is one lawsuit that Affirmative was named in, 4−04-SC-9 231. In 2004. So much for Blake’s bold statement that he has never been sued
Also, while A.M. might have some insurance, they do NOT have errors & omissions insurance. The Association (with insurance) gets sued. A.M.‘s name may not show up on records because they were not named as an initial defendant. So I stand by my statement: Affirmative Management’s attitude/​service is the cause for Associationst being sued.
I think A.M.‘s overly defensive and deceitful responses confirm my report, too. Also take the time to look at the filtered reviews and check their Better Business Bureau rating, which is usually D or F, until they finally respond to the complaint I guess.
All those «bogus» people, too?
Check other review sites, and ask for a list of ALL Associations they manage. Note that the references on their web site are mostly undated. One is signed by one of his employees.
Look for a management company that has its OWN errors and omissions insurance. That is a true sign that they are confident in their level of service

I live in an association in Cupertino that is managed by Blake Freeman for the past 6 – 7 years. IMO, we have received great service from Blake and his company.
He has delivered on what he is contracted for.
In fact, this year we are expanding on the services to be provided by his company.
During those years, I was a Board Member for 2 years, and while we were at odds on some policy issues, I did not let that cloud my views on his overall service to the association.
Some of the Board members were «unhappy» with his performance on certain issues, but they failed to look at what he was contracted to do.
With his network of contractors, he has saved our association several thousand dollars in maintainence costs.
One cannot expect a Property Manager to be on beck and call 24/​7, and Blake has responded to homeowners requests in a timely fashion, based on the urgency of the requests.

[UPDATE: May 2014] I like to give improvement recognition when deserved. Been getting responded to much better, not 5 star yet, but acceptable. (Still waiting on the flood lights in driveway to be replaced) And I must compliment Michelle on her kind demeanor and friendliness no matter what the complaint. So, yes, things were challenging before but I’m really optimistic that this management company has been turning itself into a better-​run organization. And I’d rather work with nicer people than «perfect» mean people. LOL!
My older review:
Is there a star lower? Seriously, I’ve not encountered a more poorly run business in eons. Our complex came under their «management» a few years ago and they have not improved one iota. Firstly, they run their business in the dark ages. They do not use email, text or anything remotely technical. They use voice mail machine and even if you leave a message, good luck getting a callback unless you rally others in complex to call and then call back again and again. I figured out the only way to get a response is to write them. Yes! Write them an actual letter and put it in snail mail.
If you are an Association looking for a mgt. company, use them at your peril. If they are priced really low, it’s because you are getting «less» than you pay for.
I don’t think I’ve ever written a worse review. This one was prompted by another unreturned call in which I told them 6 lightbulbs were out in drive and garage area and that was hazardous and could not see at night + a water pressure issue. I ended up replacing key bulbs on my own path. It’s been over 3 weeks since that call. Sigh.
I give them Top Incompetence Award.

I gave one star because there is nothing lower than one star — if only they had minus stars.
After catastrophic handling of our HOA business by these anger balls… we decided to switch management companies. In transitioning to the new company, Affirmative Management was less than cooperative and failed to handle the change over in a professional manner. They either kept or disposed of most of our documentation and it has been quite costly to recreate the documentation but worth every penny to get rid of these clowns. They should wear big ol’ shoes and big red noses…
Change your name to Negative Management — more appropriate!!!

Let’s just say that having a remarkably similar experience when trying to reach Mr. Freeman about a much more serious error, the phone «customer service» experienced by Lise B. was remarkably similar.
Freeman seems to have a serious problem with admitting when he has made a mistake… going to great lengths blaming others instead of manning up.
Bottom line: it is inexusable conduct. He might be a great slum manager, but has no concept that the homeowner is actually his boss.
Warning to HOA boards: one of his tricks is to offer lower rates — BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE HIS OWN INSURANCE. He will have you name him on the HOA’s insurance policey. End result: If his «customer service» results in an individual homeowner or the HOA needing to sue him — the HOA gets stuck paying his legal bills, as well as its own.

If there were an option to put a negative rating, I would gladly do so. Affirmative Management has been managing our community (Elk Ridge Estates) for several years and all I know is that the complex has fallen apart and HOA dues are skyrocketing. $ 470/​month with no amenities, yes i mean nothing, no pool, gym, park, playarea etc. What we do have in the community is messed up landscaping, broken stairways, rotten wood and probably the worst HOA mgmt community. Customer Service 101 would be extremely beneficial for all members of the Affirmative management staff. I have never had a phone call returned in the 6 + years that I’ve lived here, the only way to get their attention is to threaten with legal action which they are becoming oblivious too as well. I can go on and on, but do yourself a favor and DON’T employ Affirmative Management for your HOA needs. There are plenty of companies who can provide better service for a reasonable cost.

All I can say is that Affirmative Management does not care about the community and can not handle all the service requests for our complex — I live at Elk Ridge Estates in San Jose.
Our complex is falling apart, I have lived there for almost 3 years and during that time all we hear about is all the work that is going to start. Yet nothing has been done since.
We have 116 units and 50 of them are fed up with Blake and his BS company, we have a petition going around and at the last meeting we told him he was on his way out when elections start and then look it gets postponed. Gee I wonder why that happened.
Blake is a low life lier and will do NOTHING to TRY to make those 50 people happy in the complex.
His staff does not have ANY customer service skills. We are now looking to see if we can take any legal action against this.
DO NOT LET THIS AFFIRMATIVE MANAGEMENT INTO YOUR COMPLEX !
Also I have noticed that almost every complex handled by Affirmative Management also has N.A. Shade as the Accounting Association.
All I know is that I pay $ 470 a month for HOA and don’t have a pool, clubhouse or any other amenity. We have nothing to show for that kind of HOA costs !
John Spalding

I just double checked Affirmative management’s current BBB rating, it is currently rated F.

I’m on the BOD for an association and very pleased and appreciative of the many, many positive things that Affirmative Mgmt. does for our association. Carefully reviewing all bids for business, getting competitive bids, taking the time to document and explain the differences. He doesn’t leave a stone unturned.

I am pleased that my HOA has chosen Affirmative Management and Mr. Freeman as property manager. I have been working with him directly regarding a window leak issue and he has been more than generous with his time and guidance. His knowledge and years of experience with community issues has been invaluable. He has set up appointments with vendors and made them available to me for questions and information. I am grateful for his «willing to please spirit» and sincere effort to keep me calm and realize that he honestly cares and is working towards the proper choices and completion of this project right along with me. Thank you Affirmative Management and Blake Freeman.

Ahhh… the joys of owning a house in an HOA that is «managed» by Affirmative Management! If a simple key exchange is such a hassle, I wonder how they handle actually complex issues!!! Judge for yourself…
Tuesday, 2 November 2010:
First call to Affirmative Management Services to request mailbox key exchange. Left a message, did not receive a call back.
Wednesday, 3 November 2010:
Second call to Affirmative Management Services to request mailbox key exchange. Reached the receptionist, Mary Augustin, who told me the property manager wasn’t in yet but that I would receive a call back during the course of the day. I did not receive a call back.
Thursday, 4 November 2010:
Third call to Affirmative Management Services to request mailbox key exchange. Ms. Augustin told me that a board member who lives at our HOA and is in possession of mailbox keys will contact me by phone to arrange the exchange. This never happened.
Monday, 8 November 2010:
Left message at approximately 9:20am. Did not receive a call back. Called again after 10am, reached Ms. Augustin, who put me on hold only a few seconds after picking up.
I informed her that the mailbox issue had not yet been resolved. She told me that Blake Freeman, the property manager, had personally attempted to deliver the new keys to our residence over the weekend. I told her that Mr. Freeman had not attempted to contact me by phone, that I had been home for half the weekend, and no visits to our house were made during that time. Ms. Augustin told me in an accusatory tone that Mr. Freeman had given up his whole weekend for this.
After Ms. Augustin tried to put me on hold several more times, actually hung up on me several times, and I called back every time, she finally put me on hold for Mr. Freeman at my insistence. After approximately 18 minutes of holding, the call was dropped. I called back immediately and repeatedly but was only able to reach someone after approximately 20 more minutes.
At that time I was informed that they had tried to connect my call, but that I hadn’t been on the line anymore. When I asked why they did not call me back at that time, Ms. Augustin stated that they had other calls to take. According to Ms. Augustin, Mr. Freeman had then left the building. When asked when he would be available, Ms. Augustin said that she didn’t know and that he could not be reached. I kept insisting that I needed her assurance that he would return my call, which she just plainly refused to do.
At some point, after a pause of silence, she then again suddenly hung up on me. When I called back, she again denied the fact that she had hung up on me. She stated at some point that she was getting very annoyed. When insisting that I needed her assurance that Mr. Freeman would return my call, she sarcastically stated: «What do you want me to do? Tie him up and shoot him?» Wow… really, Ms. Augustin? You really have a flair for costumer service, don’t you!
To this time I have not spoken to Mr. Freeman nor have any assurance that he will return my call.
And yes, it goes without saying that I have not been able to collect my mail either. Maybe I should just give up and get a P.O. box instead! :-)