2013 by the Numbers

Would you be surprised to learn that 1 million people gather in Times Square to watch the famous ball drop in New York City?  Another 1 billion people watch it on television.  At the stroke of midnight, 2,000 pounds of confetti falls upon the crowd. 

Those are some impressive numbers.  We’ve got some pretty astounding numbers of our own with 2013 being another busy year at C.I.A. Services. Here are a few statistics from 2013.

• Our maintenance coordinators issued and tracked 3,895 work orders and projects for our communities. That is an average of 16 per workday. A work order can be anything from having a sign fabricated & installed to developing specifications & soliciting bids for a contract to having a new roof installed on a clubhouse.  Each work order includes a large amount of communication with contractors in advance and as follow-up.  That is an impressive amount of work.
• Home improvement coordinators processed 4,867 home improvement and new construction requests for our communities. That is an average of 19 per workday.  Many requests entail multiple communications with the homeowner to ensure that the request is complete before passing on to the committee for a decision.  Each request finishes with a letter to the homeowner documenting the decision.
• Our accounting department prepared 10,892 checks and coordinated 24,732 bank drafts for our communities.  That is an average of 143 per workday.  Even more impressive is that those disbursements covered 30,669 separate vendor invoices.  That is an average of 123 per workday.  It takes great organization skills to coordinate that many bills, obtaining reviews and approvals while meeting the due dates.  All that while keeping impeccable records that CPA auditors love to see.
• Our customer service staff helped 1,817 owners set up payment plans for their delinquent assessments. Throughout the year, our accounting staff monitored each payment plan and issued 1,126 follow-up letters to owners.
• Our community managers, administrative assistants and inspectors tracked and resolved 70,865 deed restriction violations by issuing 79,116 letters. Our deed restriction management efforts continued to be successful with 92% of all violations getting resolved before a certified letter was needed. This is the 6th straight year that our resolution percentage has increased!
• And not to be outdone, in December alone, our accounting and administrative staff received and deposited $10,767,780 in assessments in 19,100 individual payments. January is projected to be another big receivables month with 6,943 payments processed during the three business days on either side of December 31^st.

Great management flows from a foundation of doing all of the small things well.  We pride ourselves in providing excellent service at every level.  We look forward to another successful year in 2014.

6th Annual San Antonio Hockey Night

Our 6th Annual Hockey Night will be on Saturday, January 25^th at 7:00 pm when the Rampage will take on the Iowa Wild.  You may know that our 15 year tradition of Hockey Night with the Houston Aeros ended this year when the Aeros relocated to Iowa.  Since Iowa has many former Aeros players, it will be bitter-sweet to watch them in their return to Texas.  I’m sure there will be lots of Aeros jerseys in the stands and a mixture of jeers and cheers from the crowd.  But our loudest cheers and ringing cowbells will be saved for the Rampage

 Click below to see photos of the fun from the last five years.

2013     2012     2011     2010     2009 

Noble November
by Amanda Jensen

2013 was a great year for C.I.A. Services, Inc.!  We are so proud of our employees and all they do for this company and our communities.  Employees in our North and Southwest offices once again teamed up for our Annual Noble November, a company project to give back to those in need throughout the Houston area.  Each office collected clothing and toiletry items as well as pet supplies for 3 local charity organizations.  

Coats, blankets, clothing, food and toiletry items were donated to the Star of Hope Mission and the food, collars, leashes and pet toys were donated to Special Pals Shelter and South Houston Animal Shelter, selected for being “no-kill” shelters.

We delivered over 1,300 items to the Star of Hope and 225 items for our four-legged friends.  Many employees also volunteered their personal time at various charities, a practice encouraged by C.I.A. Services, Inc.

A special thanks to the employees who helped coordinate the collection of items; in the Southwest office – Amanda Jensen and Deniece Reyes, in the North Office Koryssa Gatlin and Brittany Tate.  Special thanks to Dawna Woods and Patrick Sheffield for making the special deliveries.  Thank you to all the employees who helped countless families and pets this season!

The giving continued in our Bandera office.  Those employees provided monetary donations to the Bandera Middle School and the Arthur Nagle Community Clinic.  

Calleise Letney Johnson - Crystal Lake
by Susan Bratton

Calleise Letney Johnson has lived in Crystal Lake since 2000. Since she has lived in the community she has volunteered in several capacities.  She has served on the Board of Directors in the capacity of President and Treasurer.  She also headed up a landscape project which allowed for the necessary irrigation to be installed at the entrances and the planting of the beautiful array of color and plants in those areas, as well as additional trees along Crystal Lake Circle.  Currently, Calleise is the chairperson for the Home Improvement Request (HIR) Review Committee and works diligently to ensure all HIR’s are reviewed and approved in a timely manner.

Calleise does not limit her volunteer efforts to the homeowners association alone.  It must also be noted that she and her husband Heath are avid animal lovers and work closely with the Houston Humane Society volunteering their time to train and exercise animals at the facility and assisting with mobile events such as fun runs and mobile adoptions. They’ve also opened their home several times to foster animals with medical needs, caring for them until their ‘Forever Home’ is found.

Calleise is a treasure to Crystal Lake and we are very thankful to work with such a wonderful, dedicated volunteer.  She truly deserves to be recognized this month.

2014 Seminar Series Schedule

Our 2014 schedule for the C.I.A. Services Seminar Series has been finalized.  We are please to again present seven seminars throughout the year - each at three locations for a total of 24 training sessions. Click here to read the seminar descriptions and see the schedule.

Our core group of seminars are all back. Even if you have attended any of these before, you will find the updated versions informative.

• Board Member Orientation
• Advanced Topics for Board Members
• Meeting & Records - The Legal Requirements
• Understanding Collections & Financial Reports
• The Super Budgeting Process
• Practical Deed Restriction Management
• Essentials of Architectural Control

Each two-hour seminar begins at 6:00 pm and we provide deli sandwiches in case you come straight from work.  You’ll leave with a wealth of practical information and a notebook for future reference.

And if that is not enough, our seminars are free!  Add a New Year’s resolution to your list to attend these seminars.  This resolution will be much easier to keep than that loosing weight thing!

Welcome Baby Boy Davenport

Megan Davenport, a community specialist out of our north office, and her husband Chris Davenport, welcomed their new bundle of joy to the world on December 27, 2013. 

James Alexander Davenport arrived at 3:01 p.m. and was 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 22 inches long. Baby and Mom are doing well and the family is busy getting to know each other! Congratulations Megan and Chris!

We are proud of every one of our communities so it is always hard to find just one to highlight. We start by having each of our Community Managers write a nomination for one of their communities. We then read them and take a vote. Here are our most recent selections:

• January- Treasure Island Homes Association - Bandera Office - Megan Lamb
• December - Eldridge Park Village Community Association - Southwest Office - Gina Victor
• November - Royal Palms Homeowners Associon - Southwest Office - Susan Bratton
• October - Bowling Green Garden Homes Association - North Office - Colline Chavera

To see the full story on these communities and to see the past winners, visit the Community of the Month page on our web site.

Communities

Every month we appreciate the communities that are celebrating their anniversaries with us. Here are the clients that started with us in January.

• Hunterwood Village II Association — 28 years
• Homeowners Association of Timber Forest — 17 years
• Kings Lake Forest Homeowners Association — 16 years
• Cumberland Community Association — 6 years
• Eastpoint Section 4 Homeowners Association — 3 years
• Subdivision of Spring Crossing Community Association — 2 years

Our goal has always been to create a positive, long term relationship with all of our client communities. We are very proud to be managing all of these communities.

Team Members

We are pleased to recognize several employees as they celebrate their anniversaries with C.I.A. Services!

Kimberly Terry has been crunching numbers as a member of our accounting department for 1 year. 

Charlotte Bulcken is celebrating 18 years with the company!  Charlotte works out of our north office handling multiple special projects and is our go to person working with governmental agencies.

Liz Holliday, the senior team member in our home improvement processing department, celebrates 17 years with us this month!  Over the years, Liz has worked hard and helped us develop the department that today processes an average of 19 applications each day.

Vina Evans, administrative assistant at the north office, is also celebrating 1 year this month.

Congratulations on your anniversaries!

Every month, we issue an electronic newsletter, eNews Monthly, to keep clients informed about Association items, spotlight clients, answer frequently asked questions, and let you know what is happening with the company. Old issues of eNews Monthly are available on our Library page.