Much has recently been written about concerning Expense Files.
To be honest it is a matter that in general terms hold little interest for residents.
They know they are available and that they have a right to inspect them, but most choose not to do so.
Peverel/Firstport and the not missed Carol Crowe are aware of this and use this to full effect to hide errors that nearly always benefits Peverel/Firstport at the expense of residents.
Basically, the purpose of development expense files is to match expenditure with invoices.
So for example, suppose your development purchased a garden chair? You would see the invoice for a garden chair that matched the charge levied. that is how it is supposed to work and that is how it used to work in the old days.
A competent development manager, would check invoices against expenditure and liase with Peverel/Firstport to eliminate errors. The files would be audited and only after that would they form part of the expenses files.
To a large degree this has changed.
Taking the example of the garden chair instead of seeing an invoice from the Garden Chair Company, you may well see an invoice from Firstport for the garden chair. this in effect means that instead of invoicing direct to the development, The Garden Chair Company invoices Firstport, who in turn invoice the development.
This allows for a price difference between the two invoices and allows a profit for Firstport to be made without rsidents knowing they have paid more than they need to.
Another tactic employed by Peverel/Firstport is to make headings for expenses vague and open to differing interpretations. this means a direct comparison proves difficult. This is amply evidenced by the nature of the alterations in the development management book, which is supposed to clarify what is included in the management fee and what is the responsibility of the residents. This has led to residents paying twice for services.
The introduction of technology means that invoices are no longer readfily available.
It has been suggested that development managers have been advised to only make expense files available if specifically asked for. They have been told that before they are shown, they must be looked at by senior management to remover any obviuos errors before being shown to the resident.
Despite supposed to be freely available, residents will be told that postage must be paid for producing the invoices. What the resident is not told is that in secret a charge of 25 pounds is imposed on the service charges as well.
Development expense files are a crucilal safeguard for residents.
When inspected, the majority of expense files have contained invoices that did not belong to the development concerned.
This is money cheated out of residents. Remember, if one item is invoiced to two developments, Firstport only pay the one invoice. So they can keep the value of the other invoice.
The only way to stop these scams is to insist on checking the expense files.
Scrutiny is the enemy of the Firstport scams.
