2019.05.21 Planning Commission - Laserfiche WebLink

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Preliminary Planned Residential Development Planning Commission Report; 5-21-19 Page 25 (cont.) 4. There’s a perception by some that the Better Business Bureau is a government program designed to protect consumers. That’s not the case. They are a private business with a very well-recognized trademark. While the City will take no position either way, people are encouraged to research articles on the modern Better Business Bureau and come to their own judgements on BBB ratings vis-a- vis accredited vs. non-accredited businesses. Neither Dominium nor Pulte pay the annual fee for BBB accreditation. 5. Giving the BBB the full benefit of the doubt that accreditation has no impact on their ratings, staff would still call out the following points with regards to Dominium’s alleged “F” rating: A. Dominium is a large company, and those voicing concerns are ignoring the fact that there are two ratings for MN Dominium on the BBB website: one for the management services arm of the company (which is listed as an “F”), and one for construction services which is rated A+. If one accepts the “F” rating as being legitimate, then you must also accept the A+ rating as being indicative of the company, and this application is specifically brought forward by the A+ rated portion of the company. B. Regarding the “F” rating for the management services side of the company, it is suggested that people look at what is being rated, the numbers behind those ratings, and at the actual complaints themselves. It is also important to note that the management services page identifies Dominium as a “multi- location business,” meaning the BBB is intending to rate the management services over the entirety of the United States, and are not giving a rating specific to Minnesota. As of 5/10/19 when staff completed our research to compile this report, there were 31 complaints filed with the BBB over the last three years from various states. Dominium manages more than 30,000 apartments in 22 states. If each unit was given only a single chance to complain in any given year, that means up to 90,000 complaints could have been received over a three-year period, so the 31 BBB complaints actually received equates to a complaint rate of 0.038%. Assuming Dominium accepts more than one complaint per unit per year (because they do), but for the sake of argument we’ll say they only do so on weekdays, that’s a chance for 261 potential complaints per unit per year. With that as the understanding, the hit rate on complaints falls to an astronomically low 0.00014% per day. Math suggests that a really good track record.