ELS Board of Directors: June 14th, 2015
We would like to offer sincere thanks for the opportunity to discuss our concerns with Members of the Board of Directors as both homeowners and shareholders. We were pleased to take some time to speak to several board members prior to and after the meeting. Also, it was reassuring that the seated board members turned to listen as each of us shared some thoughts during the allotted time.
We feel it is vitally important to share our concerns involving reputational risks to the company and potential impact on customer loyalty. We’ve heard from thousands of homeowners who have expressed confusion and displeasure in terms of the ongoing escalation of company ground rents, lack of clarity regarding community capital improvement programs and unclear processes when raising concerns.
We also remain puzzled by Sam Zell’s continued absence at ELS’ shareholders meeting year after year. This is the one annual meeting Mr. Zell should be attending each year to hear directly from shareholders. We would hope that Mr. Zell would prioritize attending this meeting in the future.
After the shareholders meeting, we were informed that two regional Vice Presidents of Operations were asked by the Board of Directors to provide an opportunity to vet company processes related to these items. One level of agreement that was made was developing a short and simple ‘communication map’ involving proper methods and chain of command for homeowners to raise issues and concerns. Posting this information at each community will go a long way in confirming that the door is always open for communication and that an avenue for appealing the decisions made will be available without the fear of reprisal.
We also took away from the meetings that the two of the four Vice Presidents would continue to make themselves available throughout the coming year and follow up on major issues in several markets.
Regards,
Dale Muzzy
On Behalf of Community Leadership Team of MHAction
Shareholder / Resident ELS