"The Fountain Of Information" - Special Edition - Chet Hingle's Resignation Letter

"THE FOUNTAIN OF INFORMATION" - Wednesday, October 11, 2006 - Special Edition

 

Chet Hingle's Resignation Letter (reprinted as written so pardon the typos and grammatical errors)

 

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Fountain Court Condominiums

6901 Veterans Boulevard

Metairie, LA  70003

Tel # 504 456 6603   Fax # 504 456 6603

 

TO:  Unit Owners

 

FROM:  Chet Hingle, Manager

 

DATE:  October 10, 2006

 

Some of you might already know that I have given the FCC Board my resignation, effective Monday, October 16, 2006.  It was a difficult decision, as I have made many friends here at FCC, but when one is not happy with his work conditions and not in agreement with what is planned for FCC's future, it is time to move on.

 

We had some good things happen and some bad at FCC during my fours (SIC) years with you.  It has been a challenge which I enjoyed up until now and it has been a pleasure to have been a part of your community.

 

Before I leave I would like you to be aware of a few things.

 

I understand that I will not be replaced, this is, there will be no on site manager, but rather a small real estate company who will manage FCC from their office.

 

Also, the Board will no longer have Charlie as an employee of FCC, but rather he will be controlled by the management company as an independent contractor.  If this is the case Charlie will have no Workman Compensation insurance in case he gets hurt on the job, nor will he have liability insurance in case someone sues him for negligence.  He will be on duty at FCC half a day as usual.

 

The most important issue you should know about is that the FCC Association will have a surplus of over $200,000.00 of Katrina insurance money, which the Board has plans for.  According to the FCC By Laws, and the Board is aware of this, any surplus insurance money must be distributed to ALL 94 unit owners which would amount to a couple of thousand dollars per unit owner.  Any departure from this By Law requirement must be voted on by the unit owners.

 

I wish all of you well and hope the best for FCC.

 

/S/ Chet Hingle

 

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Editorial Response -

 

First Paragraph - Now he knows how many of the owners felt when he was running around here Hitler-like telling people what they have to do in their homes and cursing them out if they challenged him.  He worked for the Association, which is comprised of the 94 owners and yet he did not flinch when choosing to curse out one of the owners of the company he worked for.   Unfortunately, many of the owners could not "quit" owning their homes so easily... especially when they were in complete disrepair and Chet was making their lives miserable and refusing to give proper insurance information and money disbursements.

 

Second Paragraph - I wasn't here for the past four years but rather the past two years.  I only got to see how Chet Hingle was after Hurricane Katrina and it wasn't a pretty sight.  He was rude, crude, obnoxious, vulgar and arrogant.  He talked down to the owners and even cursed many of them out.. sometimes in front of their kids.  It was not a pleasure to those owners.

 

Third Paragraph - It's about time Chet finally makes people "aware of a few things".  Up until now, he has steadfastly refused to give out proper and complete information... and he still doesn't in his "parting shot" letter.

 

Forth Paragraph - Having a professional real estate company can be a good thing in many ways.  There will be someone to answer the phones and keep track of things for more than four hours a day.  Hopefully, they will keep better records and not lose so many documents... which is what Chet said happened to so many letters sent to him... even Certified Letters which he had to sign for.  Chet used the "I never got it" excuse to many owners and many different problems over the past year.  The only thing we should be cautious of is that the new management company is not a CAI affiliate.  CAI (Condominiums Association Institute) is trying to be the trade organization involved in lobbying politicians and making payoffs to them (contributions) to get laws changed or enacted against the homeowners they are supposed to be working for.  CAI and/or their affiliates are under investigation by Attorney Generals in a couple of States.  Further, they are the defendant or potential defendant in countless lawsuits including a class-action lawsuit and a RICO claim.  The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) was made into Federal Law to deal with the Mob and Drug Cartels... and other organizations that use force and intimidation to get their way.  Just make sure you're not jumping out of the frying pan (Chet) and into the fire (CAI).

 

Fifth Paragraph - My understanding is that Charlie is over 65 and probably has full health insurance through Medicare and he probably receives Social Security as well.  Charlie has worked here at FCC for 20 years or more (from what I've been told) and he isn't the type of person to get "hurt" all the time so Workman's Compensation probably is not much of an issue.  There are other avenues available if this becomes a major issue.... including keeping Charlie as an employee, if it is a deal buster.  FCC carries it's own liability insurance and in all likelihood, anything that Charlie could possibly do that would possibly make him liable would also make FCC or the new management company liable so their insurance would cover the possible legal claim.  In 20 years, when was the last time Charlie did something that resulted in a lawsuit where he was the responsible party????

 

Sixth Paragraph - It's a shame Chet Hingle did not tell you all WHY there is a surplus of over $200,000.00.  He never told you that it is because HE HID MONEY FROM THE VICTIMS.  There were dozens of people who have written me over the past year telling me Chet refused to give them their 20% Contractor Profit and Overhead, which amounts to anywhere from $4,000.00  and up to $8,000.00 per victim.  Before any of the insurance money is used for other purposes, there should be an independent audit to verify that ALL victims got their full and complete insurance settlements.  Then the Board should explain why there is still a surplus, if any.  If some insurance money was supposed to be allocated to fix something that was not fixed or fixed half-assed, then those things should be properly repaired.... for example, the half-assed roof repairs that were done on the rear courtyard, east-building (and possibly others), and the still un-repaired ceilings and moldy insulation in some units.  There are countless broken out windows that were half-assed repaired and those things need to be corrected as well.  Some of the fencing work that was done was not done fully and completely... for example, there is a 40' section of fence that connects from the west fence line, near the back, to the outside wall of the rear courtyard, rear-building, and that was never rebuilt.  This fence used to separate the rear parking lot from the yard area where kids could play behind the rear courtyard, west-building.  The owner who lives near that area has three children and now there is no fence separating that play area and their children from the parking lot.  Chet has refused to properly repair these things and it has been over a year since Katrina. 

 

Your replies are welcome and if you want them printed, please let me know.

 

Until next time... let "The Fountain Of Information" flow!!!!

 

Sincerely, your friend and neighbor,

 

Lenny Vasbinder, Unit 94, Editor 504-621-1870

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