Collins Management Co.

Hands down the most frustrating experience. I’ve spent too much time calling Collins Management and each time leave the call feeling like nothing got resolved and that I’m getting the run around. It’s taken me over a week (and still going working through it) to get the answer to ONE question. First of all, Jenny who picks up the phone at Collins Management sounds like she hates her job and is annoyingly sassy. I’m baffled at how someone in customer service just seems to be trying to do everything to turn off their customers. Jenny never knows the answer to whatever question and tells me to call back when her manager is around — and frankly, I don’t have the time to keep on calling back to see whether or not her manager is available during my own work hours. It was not a surprise Jenny was so awful once I connected with her manager, Michael Lee, who is not much better. Michael Lee will not give you a straight answer to your question, tell you that he will follow up back with you, and then you’ll never hear from him again hence continuing this vicious cycle. I have steered away from buying a unit because of this HOA.

I am a vendor for Collins Mgmt and I have to rave about their efficiency within their office staff for handling jobs and taking care of their customers! I work with many management companies and must say that the property managers that I work with Grace, Giovanna and Michael are wonderful to work with. They are speedy, effective and get approvals for cleanups fast in order to get their customers taken care of. I wouldn’t think twice about having a management company take care of your property!

I’m a new homeowner at The Shores and was dreading going into the HOA office. I’ve never dealt with an HOA before, and I guess I was expecting it to be something close to a DMV experience. I called earlier in the day and asked what time they closed as I was planning on fighting traffic 45 miles to get there. April told me she would stay and wait for me, for which I was incredibly surprised. An hour after closing, I finally arrived. There she was, holding the door open for me. The entire experience was incredibly pleasant, helpful and efficient from beginning to end. I was both shocked and delighted. That experience has made me totally rethink and relax about interactions with the HOA. This woman is a gem. Collins Management is incredibly lucky to have her.

These people are crooks! All they do is collect dues and do NOTHING to protect their neighborhoods from homeowners who are not friends of their representitives. We have a neighbor who is in real estate and besides being a complete crazy nut, is friends with the Collins rep. Her HOA violations get brushed aside when other neighbors who aren’t freinds of this rep get harrased. If you want a real property management company go look elsewher.

Terrible company very shady and rude and no help what so ever. They continue to collect dues and do nothing to improve the neighborhood. The park through the neighborhood looks terrible they habe hired a group of care takers that look to be illegals and very unprofessional that are driving all over the lawns and doing more damage then good. The sprinkler systems do not cover well there is ugly dry spots on the lawns. The tress get sick and fall onto homeowners property’s. I have seen the big pines fall into trees in home owners yards and ruin existing trees from the weight of the fallen pine and remove the HOA’s fallen tree and leave the damaged dangerous tree the HOA’s tree fell on to precariously lean toward homes.

The absolute worst property management company My son’s unit was flooded because of a sewage backup. He cleaned up over the weekend and contacted Christine Alfaro on Monday morning. She became completely defensive and said He may have caused more damage because I did not report the flood until Monday morning. She sent a restoration company and a project manager over to his unit. They ripped his brand new laminate floor up without permission and worse with no intention of relaying the floor. Christine Alfaro stated in an email the CCR’s do not cover laminate floors, only original construction – that would be construction in the 1980’s. Collins Management’s project manager Rick Larson knew this and instead of limiting the restoration work to replace damaged Sheetrock he allowed the restoration company to tear up half of the floors without permission, even though he knew Christine Alfaro, the property manager employed by Collins Management, would not cover the expense of relaying the floor. The restoration company, Steve Windsor, destroyed planks while ripping up flooring that was damaged. Christine Alfaro then sent an email stating that Rick Larson estimated the work to relay the floor would cost $ 1700.00−−500.00 for materials and 1200.00 for labor. I am not sure why materials would cost 500.00 because we have the extra baseboard and laminate floor. Even with the HOA paying half of 1700.00 why would Rick Larson be trusted to do the work when he insists that he works for Christine Alfaro at Collins Management. In other words, he would not report to me while doing the work in my unit. I smell a rat! So my son’s toilet sits in his shower and the unit has been in a state of disrepair since three days before Thanksgiving while He gets estimates from contractors for small claims court. By the way, Christine Alfaro’s last comment was, «have fun suing yourself.»

These people are horrific to deal with. In the building I own the pipes and sewage system is faulty. 35% of the units have had disasters. So much so that they are UNINSURED! I have sustained 13K damage due to faulty sewage lines and have not seen one penny after 6 weeks of fighting with them. They do not return emails or phone calls and are hostile and unresponsive at the HOA meetings. They have the highest dues in Benicia, have $ 725K in their reserves yet are unwilling to help in any way. The complex is run down, pool is digesting, landscape neglected etc. Stay away from these crooks!

Michael Lee will delay just long enough, through slow or incomplete responses, to make any interaction a dozen times more painful than it has to be… and cost you insane amounts of money.
Want to know about any given meeting? You must ask specifically for the date, the time, the location, and anything else (how to get on the agenda). You may have to ask for each thing separately as he’s apparently only allowed one answer per interaction. Be sure you ask for every single bit of info, even the stuff you can’t possibly know about, or you will be S.O.L. … even if you show up on time with what you were told was necessary!
Want a form? You must ask specifically for it, and you will get it – days later — and then you will have to go BACK to him to ask not only where to submit it, because heaven forbid he include that information in the beginning, but also when it will be reviewed, and what else might be necessary.
Supercilious, aggrandizing, arrogant, hindering, worse than useless. If I gave this kind of service, I would be fired in a week.
Collins Management is a waste of money and now that we’re out of the danger of having to appease this officious speedbump, I’m taking the issue up with our board.

Have dealt with, or tried, Collins Management at the Seacliff Community in Point Richmond, CA. Susan Roland in particular.
Their collective focus, and priorities, are impossibly skewed. For example, regulations clearly read that one’s lot must be landscaped within a year. Six years later, three of the four yards that comprise my view remain wild with weeds. Yawn for Collins. Routinely, the owner of limousine buses would park in front of his house, turning our narrow two-​way street into one lane. Yawn for Collins.
Several dogs in the Community are apt to bark relentlessly. Narcissistic owners were either oblivious or passive-​aggressive. Several visits were necessary from Richmond Police and from Animal Services. Collins stated that they were somehow unaware, despite my repeated alerting them, and faxing police reports.
If your primary concern is that trash bins are hidden from view most promptly, even when you are traveling — Then Collins Management is top-​notch!

April at the Shores has been a pleasure to deal with. I had some issues with my HOA due autopay as well as login to my HOA account; she was able to get both issues resolved within 24 hours… I was pleasantly surprised and good to know that as a home owner, I have a responsive and competent team managing the community. Keep up the good work!

We have been in marina bay for quit a while and after all these years we have a new management Greg Novak and also a great customer service his assistant manager April she is so awesome, the best customer service at the earliest time, as I’m over seas she did the best job ever, thank you April for all you did, wish you lots of success. Good job collins management

I’m renting from a private condo owner whose property is managed by Collins. I’ve interacted with April quite a few times since we’ve moved in regarding window installation as well as renting the community room at the condo complex. She has been extremely helpful in all my interactions with her. Further, setting up the rental of the community room as well as using the community room was a simple straight forward process without any hassles.

They have no idea how to communicate with their association members. I call to report a problem, or a violation, and they are usually quite snotty. If I report something by email, I have no clue whether they even received the email, or the result of the problem being reported. Whether anything was done or not. If I submit a suggestion by email, zippo — nothing. Even when I specifically request an update or progress report. They do not call back, they do not provide any feedback whatsoever. Even after I suggested that they would be perceived as more professional if they would communicate with people who communicate with them. The person I made the suggestion to agreed, but nothing changed. My emails go into a black hole, and no one ever tells me what they did or did not do.
Today a giant dumpster was delivered and dropped directly in front of my house. From my dining room, my front porch, and my balcony, all I could see was a big square box of rusted, beat up white painted steel full of landscaping trash. At the time the box was delivered I asked the driver, «would you please move this 100 feet back down the street so it is not in front of ANYONE’s house?» He refused and starting yelling at me. Made wild claims that the president of the homeowners’ association had ordered him to put the box directly in front of my house. Ridiculous. Then he left. It took me calling Richmond Sanitary Service, then Collins, and finally the owner of the vendor company that had ordered delivery of the box to get it relocated 100 feet away where it should have been put in the first place. Collins was quite snotty about it. The owner of the vendor landscaping company was extremely nice and understanding and immediately had the box moved. Common sense and consideration for homeowners is totally lacking at Collins. Richmond Sanitary could not have cared less unless I said it was blocking my driveway.
If you deliver a dumpster, and you have 150 feet of curb to locate it within, why put it in front of someone’s house if you can put it in front ot NOBODY’s house?

In mid October, a neighbor backed into my downspout and asked that our townhouse HOA management firm, Collins, handle the repair. Collins promised in Oct, November, twice in December and again in early January, that the downspout would be repaired. Each time, I followed up, Collins had no idea of the status of the work and the people at Collins said they would check. On 1/​18, an unpainted, non– matching downspout was installed. I notified Collins that this was a problem as it should have been painted before installation. They said they understood but nothing was done. They continued to promise that the problem would be handled. The downspout was finally painted, on ²⁄₂₈. The company hired by Collins used the wrong color brown paint, the wrong finish of paint, and paint and primer were splashed on the house and driveway. Because the downspout had been painted prior to installation, the white back of the downspout, clearly showed. It was an absolute mess and the worst repair job that I have ever seen. After my dissatisfaction with the work was brought to the attention of upper management within Collins, it still took more than one repair visit to correct the situation. The shape of the downspout still does not match the others in the complex. This is not a firm I would voluntarily use. I understand that management firms are used to dealing with the HOA board, but given my experience with Collins, I felt totally disrespected as the homeowner.

We own a condo at The Shores Marina Bay and I have had nothing but great experiences with the Collins Management staff. Our tenant needed her gate code changed and April (Simao) responded to my email within 10 mins and fixed the code immediately! Great customer service, keep it up!

I have had the pleasure of dealing with April at the Cove, she is professional, kind, and extremely diligent, I cannot say enough about her services. Thank you April and Collins Management!!!

I had a good experience with Collins Mgmt. Now that I own a house, I almost wish they could help me with my house! Keep up the good work.

It should give anyone pause to know that the Collins approach to reputation management is to have employees like Christine A., or business partners like Julie P., come give 5-​star reviews. Nobody who is on the receiving end of Collins services could honestly give more than one star. That’s only because one is the minimum.
I was a resident at University Lofts, a property managed by Christine A. of Collins Management, for 3+ years. During that time, I and other residents were subject to what I can only call the most childish approach to building management that I have ever experienced. The effect of Christine’s poor (non-​existent) conflict resolution skills were further exacerbated by her complete inattentiveness to her job, as well as a total inability to return phone calls, emails or even acknowledge receiving postal mail (yes, seriously!)
Let me make this rant a little more concrete. Here are a few episodes (by no means all) of Christine’s incompetent boobery which I, and other residents, endured:
* The elevator license was not current, meaning that it did not undergo inspection, for over a year.
* The security cameras were not connected to a recorder for *at least eight years*. How did I learn this? After my bike was stolen from my patio — which means that someone entered the security gate — I asked to have the security footage turned over to the police. The response, from Christine, was that the cameras were there only to provide «deterrence». This was her sincere, serious response. That’s the kind of intellect you’ll be dealing with if you choose to go with Collins.
* Anytime you email her, expect to do it twice before you get a response. If you call her, don’t bother to leave a message: it’s never returned. Once, I sent her a payment to have my entry in the intercom updated. I emailed her a couple times asking if it had arrived, and she wrote once to tell me it hadn’t. A week goes by, I call her up to ask if it’s arrived, and she’s at lunch; I call later in the day and she’s still out (a four hour lunch break!)
The next day, she emails me and tells me it still hasn’t been received, so I call the bank and ask them the status of the check. Deposited, as of the previous week! I emailed her and told her I’m coming down there to straighten the situation out and, coincidentally I’m sure, she writes back letting me know that they’ve *just* received the payment.
* Christine allows anyone, anywhere in the building, to file a complaint about anyone else. She makes no effort to check whether it could possibly be true — e.g., complaining about a loud unit when you live on the other side of the building. Adding to the stupidity, if the complaint is about you she will not reveal who did the complaining. This creates a situation where people can (and do) complain aggressively, and use the complaint system as a way to retaliate against neighbors. It also makes it impossible to actually solve real issues.
Now, part of that is not her responsibility — neighbors should learn how to deal with each other. The part that is her responsibility — facilitating that communication — is where she phones it in all the way. There is no doubt in my mind that her anonymous complaint system exists only to facilitate her four hour lunches. It’s way easier to just assume that every complaint is legitimate, no matter how petty, than it is to actually look into things.
* At the University Lofts, if you have a service person coming who needs access to the electrical room, e.g. a Comcast technician, you will need to let that person into the room. There are two ways you can do this: first, you can call Christine, let her confirm the tech’s identity and then provide the code to unlock the box holding the key to the room.
The other way is to take a flathead screwdriver and force it into the door jamb until the door opens. As I’ve established by now, Christine is completely unreliable — therefore, *everyone* at the UL uses a screwdriver to let the techs in.
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I could go on and on, and these aren’t even the best Christine stories! (I wish I had time to tell you about the construction!) I think you get the idea by now. If you are a Collins client, you will have no trouble believing anything I’ve written. If not, just stay away. Far away.
Another thing I’d like to add: Christine is a high school grad, with maybe some community college. I don’t say this to denigrate HS or CC, I’ve attended and graduated from both — but I went on to graduate from a real university (Go Bears!)
I mention this because, if you are a homeowner in the (inner) Bay Area then, with prices the way they are, you are almost definitely a college grad. Maybe you even hold multiple degrees. You are used to a certain level of professionalism, reliability, intellect, work ethic — whatever it is, you expect it. That’s what’s demanded of you, and you demand it of your peers, subordinates and vendors.
And you won’t get it from Collins.

This company sucks, omit manage from the title. Oh, they do manage to keep getting paid while not insuring the rights of owners are protected. A mass exodus of Laguna condo owners in Concord has left it overwrought with renters whose actions are in contempt of any by-​laws. Dogs w/​o leashes run amuck, urine in the halls, unsafe envirionment created by the lack of security and… management. I am neither owner nor renter, just happy enough to know that I was only visiting. It wasn’t a nice place to visit and no I wouldn’t want to live there.

Extremely poor service. I would avoid this management company at all costs.
As someone who has worked in real estate property management in the past, I can honestly say I have never encountered such a level of incompetence before.