It’s been over 48 hours, and my docs still aren’t ready, so I call Koger to get the contact information for their cronie at CondoCerts. While I’m on the phone, I ask the woman at the front desk (“How may I direct your call?”) about how long I should expect these requests to take.

“I don’t want to quote you a firm time, but usually around 10-14 days”.

Thus, my suspicions confirmed. No, they are not processed automatically, or nearly automatically. No, I just paid $30 to send an email request to Koger Management for condo docs, since they won’t take those requests over the phone anymore.

Bastards.

Update 2:
At 1:30 PM ET, no one answers at CondoCerts. I have to leave a message. There is no way to dial an extension.

Update 3:
At 1:55 PM ET, I figured out that if I dial the contact’s extension, even though the system doesn’t tell me I can do it, I can get to her anyway. Regardless, she doesn’t answer.

Update 4:
2:40: Got a call back from CondoCerts. Koger Management takes 7-10 days to process the documents. Lamers.

CondoCerts.com is a fucking ripoff — or at least, the whole process is, as instituted by the morons at Koger Management.

You see, the standard “condo resale package”, as instituted in condos and townhouses in Virginia, costs $100 to get printed, or to get a copy. Management companies charge this $100, for the 50 or so pages, simply because they can — it is the maximum allowable fee in Virginia for this service. Nevermind that it probably costs them about 10 bucks in paper and man-hours to copy everything. It’s a nice little racket they got going, but at this point, I know about it, am used to it, and pretty much deal with it.

This new issue, however, is stupid.

As it stands, Koger Management no longer does their own processing of these condo resale packages. No, you have to get everything online, via CondoCerts.com.

Only CondoCerts.com also charges an additional $29 service charge… and it sure as hell wouldn’t surprise me if the management companies get a kickback from CondoCerts.com, which I suspect is the case.

Oh, and what’s this? After I pay, I get the following message?

A Resale Disclosures has been created. You will be notified by email when the Property Manager responds.

The email you will receive after the management firm or Homeowners Association completes your Resale Disclosures request is a courtesy email only. You do not need to receive the email to retrieve your Resale Disclosures . Management firms and homeowner associations typically complete Resale Disclosures requests within 48 hours. By simply clicking the Resale Disclosures link in your control center you can identify Resale Disclosures that are completed and returned. If you have not received your Resale Disclosures within two business days from the submission date, please call CondoCerts and we will investigate the delay.

Okay, so rather than just being able to speak to the property manager for the community, I have to send this request through, which goes to the same person, who then (eventually) approves the request and makes them available. So I’m paying $30 dollars to send an email request!

That’s fucking stupid.

In actions likely to undermine the dollar’s value on currency markets, 70 per cent of central bank reserve managers said they had increased their exposure to the euro over the past two years. The majority thought eurozone money and debt markets were as attractive a destination for investment as the US.

Greaaat news. Say goodbye to purchasing power in the US like we’ve always known it.

Issue I:

* Is it, as a general axiom, wrong to refuse the assistance of others?

I neither imply nor limit this to the general assumption of “financial” matters that this kind of question usually boils down to. I am talking in any arena — financial, emotional, physical, whatever — all things being equal, the parties being family, friend or stranger, and there being no visible threat, is it ethically or metaphysically wrong to not accept the help of others? Is there something inately wrong with refusing help, for whatever reason, or is that an irrational notion?

* Does it change anything if one refuses help after another party has begun to administer assistance? Is the situation any different if help has begun, and then, part of the way through the assistance, help is no longer desired?

* Is it selfish to refuse assistance?

Issue II:
* On the flip side, if someone refuses assistance — does it matter why they refused? Does, or should, it matter to the one assisting why the help was refused? If assistance is refused, should the party providing assistance be concerned as to the reason, or should the party not be concerned in the least?

* If a particular reason is known, should that have any bearing on future opinions or attitude? In absolute terms, should any behavioural change be appropriate, or even expected, when the offer of assistance is refused for reasons known to the assisting party?

My Opinion:

* There is nothing wrong with refusing assistance. Assistance may (or may not) be an act of selflessness, an act of goodwill, or what have you, but in the end, the person most affected is the person receiving the assistance, and thus, said person’s opinion should be of highest perceived value.

* There is nothing wrong with refusing assistance once it has begun. Situations, circumstances, attitudes change, leading to an instance where thie assistance is no longer deemed neccessary and/or desired by the person receiving help.

* It is not selfish to refuse assistance, and any such notion cannot be construed as selfish. Such a statement would be an illogical impossibility! How can not accepting assistance for one’s own issues be interpreted as a selfish motive? In alegebraic terms, that’s like saying “-1 = 1“.

* If someone refuses assistance, that is the end of the cycle. Certainly, the assisting parties may continue to query the troubled party a few times to verify that assistance is truly not desired, but after that — no further analysis is necessary.

* The assisting parties should not attempt to assert reasons as to why the assistance was refused, and if reasons are known, the assisting parties should not attempt to ascertain validity of said reasons. Such assertions, concious or not, are actions which impinge on the beliefs of the person receiving assistance. Such alternate derived validations may, at increased risk, be discussed with the party receiving (or formerly receiving) assistance, but generally, unless it is a situation where the receiving party is in a life-critical scenario, it’s best to assume the person themselves has their own best intentions in mind for the time being.

In other words…
When I have said several times that I don’t want any help, don’t keep trying to help, and expect me to not get pissed off. It doesn’t matter if you know “why” I have refused further assistance. Those reasons have no bearing on, and no relevance to the fact that I don’t want any more help. That is no one’s concern but my own.

February 1976: Born in Newport News, Virginia
August 1976 (approx.): moved to an apartment in Alexandria, Virginia
1981 (approx.): moved to a house in Springfield, Virginia
1988 (approx.): moved to a different house in Springfield, Virginia
1994-1998: attended college in Bristol, Tennessee, but still lived, for official purposes, in Springfield house #2
1999: moved to an apartment in Fairfax, Virginia
June 2000: moved to a condo in Sterling, Virginia
November 2003: moved to a townhouse in Sterling, Virginia
February 2005: moving to a house in Apex, North Carolina.
…

Nervous? Yes. Unsure? Yes.

Fairly certain I made the right decision for us? Yes.