As president of the Overlook Reserve Condominium Owners' Association in Lancaster Ohio, our board members and I greatly appreciate having Kaman & Cusimano represent our association. As a relatively new association(transition from the developer in October of 2016), the board and I have faced a myriad of problems and complex issues. From the very beginning, our association has been in a financial black hole because the developer of our community did not provide for a healthy reserve fund. Like many other condo association boards, our Overlook Reserve board and I recognize how special it is to have the accessible services that the Kaman & Cusimano firm provides without the exorbitant fees charged by a traditional law firm. No one at Kaman & Cusimano has ever considered himself or herself too important or too busy to respond to my telephone calls or emails regarding a critical association issue.
What many boards do not realize is that K & C attorneys, for a very worthwhile and reasonable fee, will attend an association board meeting.
Attorney Brian Shaw, who has helped us with litigation issues, and a number of other issues, came to two Overlook Reserve board meetings.
The first meeting that Brian attended related to amendments to our By-laws and Declaration. Brian had reviewed our By-laws and Declaration and had recommended these amendments. Many residents, who sincerely wanted more information about them came, and some came ready to sabotage them.Brian had a very informative presentation and Q & A session afterward. Unit owners left the meeting well-informed, and those attempting to sabotage the amendment process, had no opportunity to negate that process. Contrary to the usual elongated time frame to pass such amendments, 43 of 44 unit owners submitted ballots in sealed envelopes, and the amendments passed in a matter of weeks rather than months.
More recently(November 15, 2018) Brian attended the board meeting that evening. It was shaping up to be a volatile meeting. For several weeks, many unsubstantiated rumors had circulated throughout our community that association fees were going up extravagantly, and a petition was presented to the board strongly opposing a raise in the reserve fund contribution.No accurate data accompanied that petition.
There was electricity in the air when Brian began what turned out to be another one of his excellent presentations. He explained what a reserve fund is, what a reserve study is, and how and why the board has the responsibility to provide for a well-funded reserve. Brian adroitly handled the following Q & A session. What could have turned out to be a very unpleasant and chaotic meeting, ended with residents having a better idea why the board has had to raise 2019 association fees and why more money had to be allotted to the reserve fund.Moreover, Brian deftly disarmed the chronic agitators. Unit owners were not overjoyed by the raise in monthly fees, but as one board member so aptly summed up the outcome, Brian's presentation and handling of the Q & A session was like icing on the cake, the cake being the board's explanation for having to raise 2019 association fees.

I really appreciate the seminars put on by K&C. I try to learn something new everyday and when I go to the seminars I learn at least 10 new things. The seminars are entertaining as well as informative. The booklets are a great help and I offer them to board members who couldn't attend. It's a nice touch providing food and snacks since the seminars are around dinner time. I highly recommend attending these seminars not only from the learning experience from K&C but to meet and listen to other communities and how they handled certain problems. All thumbs up and I can't wait for the next seminar.

I learned much at this seminar involving the need for associations to frequently review the kinds and the amounts of insurance that is being carried. It was a bit of a unnerving experience to realize I didn't know if our association was properly covered or not. I also came away with a better understanding of how important meeting minutes are, how they can be used to demonstrate if a topic was addressed, what was decided on, the voting and much more. This was my third seminar since our association became a part of the Kamen and Cusimano team and I find these seminars extremely important and helpful. I look forward to further seminars.

These trainings are very informative. If you are serving on your communities board of directors and you actually care about your community you should attend every training offered by Kaman & Cusimano. Always something to learn and especially in the area of community management, none of us are experts and these training sessions help a lot!

Informative seminar with ample town hall time for questions that were thoroughly answered and discussed by the knowledgeable attorneys of Kaman & Cusimano. A nice breakfast was included with this morning seminar! Convenient times, locations, and parking.

I attended the seminar on insurance and found it very helpful. The Q&A session was very good, also.

This was the second Kaman & Cusimano seminar that I have attended. Both seminars were a good investment of my time. The speakers kept on topic and were respective of the audience's time. The handout materials were focused and included some humorous cartoons highlighting some fine points of the topic. The presenters did a good job of taking boring topics (such as insurance) and turning it into a focused presentation that was pertinent to the concerns that I have as a condo owner and an elected HOA representative.

I have attended several of the seminars by Kaman & Cusimano and have learned from each of them. All board members should take advantage of these informative sessions.

We are very happy with the value this firm offers. We were most happy with their participation and guidance during a recent legal situation. I have attended several of their seminars and find them to be outstanding presentations of information. Our Board feels very secure knowing we have Kaman & Cusimano to guide our HOA.

Exactly what one would expect from a collection firm. They could improve their communication. Difficult to get people on he phone, but friendly and helpful

Our experience with Kaman and Cusimano has been very positive. Each person to whom we have spoken has provided thorough answers to our questions and in the process, often provided additional information that we had not considered. Advice is in keeping with our particular resources and expectations given are realistic based on their vast collective experience. Twice per year, free seminars for board members are provided and are useful, informative and fun! It is very helpful to hear questions and experiences of board members from other associations, as well. These seminars are well worth your time.

So very informative and "fun"! They have a nice food selection, also.

The relationship our association has with Kaman & Cusimano has been very positive. I have attended two of their workshops which I found to be very valuable. The presentations are on a variety of topical subjects and have been very informative (certainly not the typical PowerPoint presentation). Good information, humor and material handouts which are referred to again and again make K&C a valued partner of our association.

I had a new condo built and closed on in February 2016. I am retired and wanted to get involved within our community. I was elected to our Board in June 2016 and wanted to know and learn about Ohio Condo Laws in order to be of assistance to our Association. After I was added to Atlas, I was able to go out and read several articles and review material from past seminars. Any time I had a question, I always got a return call or email back from Kaman & Cusimano promptly. Those calls are free to the Board Directors/Officers to gain knowledge of many different facets tied to your Association. I was elected as Board President in June 2017, and continue to gain positive knowledge and feedback by attending the bi-annual seminars. They provide so much information in a short amount of time and if I didn’t attend, I would not get the dialogue from other Associations on problems that we may experience as well. This helps me to better serve our residents with up to date information. I find whether I have called K & C, emailed or spoke with one of the attorneys at the seminar, I feel that I receive an answer to my question or concern. I would not ever miss attending the seminar while I am a Board member as I feel it provides too much information for free attendance!

I have been working with Kamen & Cusimano on resolving a collections service for Elite Management Services, it has been a challenge to get this resolved, the root cause being the auto withdrawal stopped working. I have submitted a timeline of the events and provided evidence of the failure in the system by fax (per their request). It has taken almost four weeks, and after calling again today I was informed by Ashley it will be another two weeks. Both Elite and I (homeowner) are asking for is to define the sum that has been paid and the sum that is still owed. This has been a very poor experience overall and Kamen & Cusimano need to look at their capability and workload efficiency. One positive: they are polite and tactful. I will update this review when the issue is updated, stay tuned.

09/11/2019 update... Issue is still not resolved, multiple phone calls & faxes. They keep giving me the run around. Next step is better business bureau report.

We have paided all of our HOA payments. And we get a bill for.$500. And you can't get a true answer from anyone when you call. My husband and I took a day off work and drive up to the office
No person comes when you buzz the door . They charge you another $120 dollars to not talk to you and mail you that statement. The young girl who told us we couldn't talk to them. Was coming out of the office smiles at us. As my husband was putting my scooter in out car and laughs at us. Still not right. You get no where with them. This is not a good place. They do not give you there names. Never ever heard of a Attys office that was unable to use there name. Called the Ohio Atty Generals office.

I DEALT WITH GARRETT B. HUMES A LAWYER AT THIS LAWFIRM AND WHAT A JOKE. I KNOW ALOT OF LAWYERS SOME GOOD SOME BAD AND I WILL SAY IN MY OPINION THIS GUY IS A SCUMBAG. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS LAWFIRM TO REPRESENT MY DOG LET ALONE FRIENDS. MY OPINION- STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE AND AS A FORMER BUSINESS OWNER AND THE COMPLAINTS POSTED ABOUT THIS GUY I WOULD SURE AS HELL WANT TO GET TO THE BOTTOM OF A COMPLAINT AND OBVIOUSLY IN MY OPINION THIS FIRM STANDS BEHIND HIM AND DOESNT GIVE A DAMN.... JUST MY OPINION, BUT GOOGLE GARRETT HUMES AND SEE WHAT THIS SCUMBAG DID TO ME.

WHAT A DAMN JOKE.....

HERE IS WHAT A FORMER EMPLOYEE HAD TO SAY IN A REVIEW RECENTLY

Mar 19, 2017
Kaman & Cusimano Logo
"Average"
StarStarStarStarStar
Former Employee - Associate Attorney in Cleveland, OH
I worked at Kaman & Cusimano full-time (More than 5 years)

Pros

Great group of co-workers at firm

Cons

Long hours for not much pay

Advice to Management

Need to be upfront about the amount of hours required by attorneys

Never recomended.
Our Property Management purchased a property. A lien was transferred to us by tge Kaman and Cusimano Law firm.
4 months we couldn't hold of them, every time we called, email, nobody was available, every time we left messages nobody returned out calls.
Absolutely poor attitude to their clients.