We have a fairly comprehensive list of vendors that we have done business with in the past. Please strive to use one of those vendors whenever possible. If you feel that you absolutely need to bring in a new vendor then check with Shari (from an Operations point of view) then get approval by Steve (from a Finance/Accounting point-of-view).
Do not use any vendor that is not already set up and approved in ResMan. We need to have all paperwork in place and verified before final approval will be granted.
All 1099 contractors (i.e. individuals and companies performing contract work who are not employed by another company with whom we have contracted the work) must complete the following forms before starting any work on the property:
- New Vendor Setup form (explains our payment processing)
- IRS Form W-9
- Form DWC85 (or Form DWC-85 without highlighting)
- A copy of their General Liability policy Acord Certificate.
If in doubt, ask the individual/company to complete one of these. Also any personal relationships with any employee must be disclosed up-front.
Note that we must have a completed W-9 on record before we can process any payment to a contractor.
Contractors charging Sales Tax
In the past we have had one or two contractors try to get a little more money for their work by adding sales tax to their invoices. In order to charge and collect sales tax they must be registered with the State and provide us with their sales tax registration ID (which is not the same as their SSN, etc.) Additionally many of the services that we use contractors for are exempt from sales tax.
Notable vendors that are not authorized to charge sales tax but try to are:
- ML Carpet Care & Services
- Genesis & Jae Cleaning Services
- Several individual contractors operating under his/her own SSN and not under a separate company EIN.
Lien Waivers
Ideally a Lien Waiver should be obtained for any work performed on any of the properties. However this can be tedious and time-consuming for small projects. So, if the total cost of the work is more than about $5,000 it is probably a good idea to request one and upload it into ResMan along with the associated invoice(s).
Also, there has been a policy change with our lenders that requires us to collect a lien waiver from all vendors that do work in excess of $10,000 regardless of how many invoices this is spread over.