Members in the News

After 24 years at the helm of Menas Realty Company, ACMC, Julie Menas, CAMEx, CCAM, the company’s former president and CEO, has sold her San Diego-based management company to Diversified Association Management in Tustin. Menas is staying on board, handling sales and business development. “It seemed like the right time,” she said. “I had eight to 10 different offers. A lot of people that own HOA management companies all over the country want to get into the San Diego market.” The company’s new name is Menas HOA Management, a Diversified Company. Menas Realty Company has been in business since 1973, and managed 110 communities throughout San Diego and Temecula. Diversified Association Management has been in business since 1984 and services communities throughout Southern California and Arizona. Diversified also recently acquired Cal West Management & Sales out of Carlsbad. Diversified Group now has 271 HOAs and approximately 25,000 doors under management, according to Ahmad Azizi, CEO.

Epsten, APC, one of the oldest and largest Southern California community association law firms, announced its new officers and leadership team effective September 1, 2021. The firm, which provides legal services to more than 1,700 residential and commercial common interest development clients, said the changes in leadership will lead it into the future and position the firm for its next decade of growth.

The new leadership team for Epsten, APC is:

• President/CEO/Managing Shareholder: Susan M. Hawks McClintic, Esq.

• Vice President/Client Relations: Jon H. Epsten, Esq.

• Vice President/CFO: Kieran J. Purcell, Esq.

• Secretary: Anne L. Rauch, Esq.

• Chief Operations Officer: Carolyn D. Decker

• Transactional Department Chairs: Susan M. Hawks McClintic, Esq., and Kieran J. Purcell, Esq.

• Litigation/Appellate Department Chairs: Anne L. Rauch, Esq., and Rian W. Jones, Esq.

• Indian Wells Office Managing Shareholder: Dea C. Franck, Esq.

• Complex Litigation Attorney Mentor: William S. Budd, Esq.

Congratulations to BrightView Landscape Services, Cagwin & Dorward Landscape Contractors, Park West Landscape Management, Gachina Landscape Management and Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc., on making Lawn & Landscape magazine’s annual Top 100 list published in its May edition. The list is based on 2020 revenue from landscape profit centers, and it included companies from 33 states and three firms in Canada, though California tops the list as home to the most Top 100 companies. Revenue data was reported by each company with supplemental data sourced from public records and magazine reporting. To see the full list and rankings, go here.

Crummack Huseby Property Management, Inc. recently appointed Jamie Gould as its Vice President of Community Management, and Christine Hulka as its Director of Large-Scale Management. These two promotions expand the executive leadership team and its commitment to grow its business service efforts across community management. “Jamie and Christine have been integral to our success. I’ve been consistently impressed with their commitment to excellence. In her new role, Jamie will continue to deliver world-class customer service, ensuring consistency of our products and services for our clients. Christine will provide ready-made solutions to our communities, leveraging her experience and expertise on upcoming rejuvenation and refurbishment projects,” said CEO Margo Crummack, CAMEx, CCAM-ND.

Tinnelly Law Group APC has hired Cang N. Le, Esq. and Josh D. Mendelsohn, Esq. to the firm. Le has practiced community association law for over 15 years representing community associations including large-scale developments, new developments, mixed-use, senior communities, golf club and lake developments, master and sub-associations, and mobile-home and RV parks. He will lead the firm’s Litigation Team, in addition to responsibilities related to the firm’s operations and management. Le is a frequent speaker and writer for numerous industry organizations. He is also a faculty member for CACM. Josh Mendelsohn has over 15 years’ experience representing clients in operational, transactional and litigation matters concerning realestate, corporate governance and employment. He has successfully represented homeowners associations in complex litigation concerning disputes over maintenance and repair, easement rights and contracts.

Prior to joining Tinnelly Law Group, Mendelsohn spent two years as an ethics attorney with the State Bar of California. During his tenure with the State Bar Mendelsohn investigated and prosecuted ethical misconduct by attorneys. “With our continued growth, we have been searching for attorneys who can hit the ground running, who can help build upon our firm’s brand and operations, and who will blend in easily with our unique culture,” said Managing Partner, Steven J. Tinnelly, Esq. “We are excited to have succeeded in that search. Cang and Josh are exceptional attorneys who are passionate about their work and the opportunities they have to be problem solvers and educators. We are thrilled to have them join our team and to expand upon the value our firm adds to our clients and our dynamic industry throughout California.”

Vantaca has made the annual Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America and is recognized as the second fastest-growing software company in North Carolina. Vantaca, a cloud-based solutions provider for association management companies, earned the 679 spot on the list with record-breaking growth in 2020. “We are excited and honored to be named to this list of such remarkable and innovative companies. Our growth is the result of closely listening to our customers and delivering a next generation solution allowing them to fully embrace digital transformation to fuel their own growth,” said Ben Currin, CEO of Vantaca. “This award is a reflection of our client’s trust in Vantaca’s Community Operating System to run their day to-day operations.”Complete results of the Inc. 5000 can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

Securitas announced that it earned Intel’s exclusive Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement (SCQI) Award for 2020. The award recognizes the top performers in the Intel supply chain for their dedication to continuous improvement and performance over the past year. Securitas is one of only seven SCQI Award recipients in all of Intel’s global supply chain. This is the second consecutive year that Securitas was awarded this honor. “Congratulations to Securitas on receiving Intel’s highest supplier recognition, the SCQI Award. As one of only seven in this elite group in 2020, they truly define world-class performance,” said Dr. Randhir Thakur, Chief Supply Chain Officer at Intel. “During a uniquely challenging year, they have earned the Intel SCQI program’s top award through their unwavering commitment to quality, operational excellence,and their close partnership with Intel to accelerate our innovation roadmap.” The Intel SCQI Award recognizes the highest level of achievement in the Intel SCQI Program, a multiyear road map for continuous improvement for high performing Intel suppliers. Of the thousands of Intel suppliers around the world, only a few hundred qualify to participate in the SCQI Program. To qualify for an Intel SCQI Award, suppliers must exceed the highest expectations, meet aggressive performance goals and score 95% or higher on performance assessments throughout the year. Suppliers must also meet 90% or more of their improvement plan and demonstrate outstanding quality and business systems.

Congratulations to several managers at Powerstone Property Management, ACMC on their recent promotions, including: Kylie Decker, CCAM, to Director of Community Management; Brittani Peyton to Senior Associate Manager; and Victoria Hall, CCAM, Megan Daniel, CCAM, Kelly Adair and Saeed Khan to Senior Community Managers. Way to go!

Tinelly Law Group has promoted Matthew T. Plaxton, Esq. to Partner with the firm. He will continue to lead the firm’s transaction team and will be taking on additional responsibilities in connection with the firm’s operations and management. “Matt’s dedication to the firm, its clients and his colleagues has been tremendous since day one,” said Steven J. Tinnelly, Managing Partner. “He has been a major contributor to the firm’s growth, bringing over 100 communities into the TLG client family over the past seven years. He has welcomed every opportunity for more responsibility within the firm and constantly strives to refine our processes and product. Matt’s commitment to his work, his cordiality within the office, and his desire to build upon client and colleague relationships serves as an example of what drives our firm’s culture and continued success.”

Seabreeze Management Company recently named Nicole Mass as new Vice President of Community Management. Mass will oversee all Northern California associate managers, offering mentorship and expertise to each team member. “I had the pleasure of working with Nicole in a prior role and I am elated that she has chosen Seabreeze as her new professional home,” said Isaiah Henry, CEO at Seabreeze. “Not only is she incredibly proficient in the property management industry, she combines her extensive knowledge with robust leadership skills to enable our communities and team members to thrive. Her communicative and hard-working nature make her the perfect fit for the Vice President of Community Management position.”

Two management companies recently topped the lists of best places to work. Associa Northern California was recently recognized by the National Association for Business Resources (NABR) as one of San Francisco Bay Area’s Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in 2021 and Powerstone Property Management, ACMC was recently named a winner for the Orange County Business Journal’s Best Places to Work. This is the fifth year in a row that the company has made the OCBJ’s list. Congrats to both companies!

Yardi has been named for the sixth time to the Forbes Cloud 100, a list of top 100 private cloud companies in the world. This year, the company landed at No. 50. “We’re honored that Forbes has recognized Yardi once more for our industry-leading cloud solutions,” said Jay Shobe, Senior Vice President of Cloud Services at Yardi. The evaluation process involved four factors: market leadership (35%), estimated valuation (30%), operating metrics (20%), people and culture (15%). The Forbes Cloud 100 judge panel, which includes 34 major public cloud company CEOs, was responsible for selecting and ranking the top 100 companies globally. “The companies of the Cloud 100list represent the best and brightest emerging companies in the cloud sector,” said Alex Konrad, Senior Editor at Forbes. “Every year, it gets more difficult to make this list — meaning even more elite company for those who do.” The Forbes 2021 Cloud 100 is published online at forbes.com/cloud100 and will appear in the September 2021 issue of Forbes magazine.

Varsity Painting recently welcomed Diana Le-Bearby to its team as its new Marketing Director, focusing on its commercial division. She comes to the company with more than 20 years of experience in relationship building, networking, business development, marketing planning and implementation for many vertical markets including commercial real estate, higher educational and financial.

Epsten, APC Attorney Makes Super Lawyers List

Congratulations to Pejman Kharrazian of Epsten, APC for being named to the Super Lawyers - Rising Stars list for 2021 in the field of General Litigation. According to Super Lawyers, Kharrrazian is one of a small number of attorneys selected to Rising Stars through professional achievement, peer recognition, and other distinguishing criteria. More info here.

Professional Community Management (PCM), an Associa ® company, recently promoted Monique Gazard and Catherine Jonas. Gazard, a previous management trainee, continues to build her career at PCM as a community manager. In this new role, she is responsible for providing the overall supervision of a portfolio of community associations. Jonas joined Associa as an assistant community manager in early 2021 and has recently been promoted to operations coordinator, playing a critical role on the branch’s operations team. Jonas is responsible for overseeing the integration of new clients into systems, executing client off-boarding procedures, and monitoring and generating Contract Renewal Addendums to support PCM’s client retention efforts. “Despite being part of the PCM for only a short time, both Monique and Catherine have already become an asset to our branch success,” said Matthew Williams, PCM president. “We look forward to watching them grow in their new roles as we continue to provide exceptional customer service to our managed community partners.”

CACM has promoted Debbie Griffiths to Director of Education & Credentialing and Lynette Bertrand to Director of Marketing & Communications. Griffiths joined CACM in 2020 as Education and Credentialing Advisor. She came to CACM with more than 20 years of experience as a community association manager and in leadership roles, including Regional Manager and Vice President of Community Management. Bertrand joined CACM in 2019 as Communications Manager after 18 years as a journalist and editor in the trade publishing industry. They replace Judy Levinsohn and Emily Yost, respectively, who recently departed the company. CACM also has welcomed a few new faces recently: Bonnie Martinez has joined as Event Management Assistant, and Ryan Kwon is the new Communications Manager. Please join us in welcoming them to the CACM team!

Harvest Landscape Enterprises, Inc. recently welcomed Dean Perez as Division President for its Inland Empire Division. “Dean is an expert in the industry. Hiring him aligns with our longterm commitment to attract and retain the best personnel the industry has to offer,” said Steven Schinhofen, CEO. Perez has been professionally managing commercial landscapes for 30 years. His start in the industry came at a young age working alongside his father as a second-generation landscaper. Having experienced all levels of landscape management for some of the industry’s most notable landscape companies, Perez understands the skills and dedication needed to execute efficient landscape plans successfully. He holds a Qualified Applicator’s License from the Department of Pesticide Regulation and has worked some of Southern California’s notable resort-style and active adult communities.

Two of Harvest Landscape Enterprise Inc.’s leadership team were recently nominated for awards in the Orange County Business Journal. CFO Bill Tolmasoff was nominated for the 2021 CFO of the Year and Max Moreno, Director of Water Management, was nominated for the 2021 Innovator of the Year award. Congratulations!

Roseman Law, APC recently announced that Philip Wahlquist, Esq. has joined its team. Wahlquist is working out of Roseman’s Los Angeles office as an associate attorney. Prior to joining Roseman Law, Wahlquist worked for Deloitte Tax where he advised and consulted clients in California state tax matters, including tax planning and tax controversy. Wahlquist also has experience in business entity formation and real estate transactions. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley and he received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis.

Software company Vantaca and mail provider Page Per Page have formed a strategic partnership, enabling Vantaca clients to outsource all mail for the communities that they manage, with the press of a button. Coupon books, billings statements, compliance letters, annual meeting notices and election ballots can now all be sent directly to Page Per Page for processing and mailing. “Sending mail is labor intensive and requires a significant equipment investment. In most cases, it is better for management companies to leave mailing to the experts and allow their employees to focus on the company’s core business,” said Greg Rohde, EVP of Strategic Relationships for Vantaca.

Congratulations to Cyrus Koochek, Esq., of SwedelsonGottlieb and his wife Fima, who welcomed their first child, Tiam, on July 13. Best wishes to the growing family!