Seven property owners selected from around 1,400 households in the premium Jian Wai SOHO complex will today begin work on setting up an owners' committee that will represent all owners in complicated economic conflicts with property management companies.

A resident passes a building in Jian Wai Soho Sunday.  [China Daily]

"We are tired of researching through the many volumes of documents that lay out how to legally set up a new property owners' committee that can represent all the owners' interests," said Zhang Hongjing, head of the seven-owner team that was officially defined as Jian Wai SOHO second property owner committee preparatory working team.

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As the closest commercial and residential complex to the Central Business District, Jian Wai SOHO was once regarded as a glittering landmark but is now well known for its alleged poor property management service and for the risk of power and water being switched off in disputes over owed fees.

Zhang, a retired military officer in her 60s, said both the second-hand property price and rental price has decreased to around half of the price of similar locations.

"If we can elect the new owners' committee, we will have the right to choose a new management company and solve the problems that have been damaging our community's reputation," she said.

The mess is the result of a two-year conflict between the community's property management company, Pinnacle Realty Management International, and the company that did the job before it, Scitech International Property Management Co Ltd. The first management company was removed by the first owners' committee over allegations of financial corruption in 2008.

Some owners claimed the former owners' committee was involved in the alleged corruption within the property management company and lost faith in it. At the same time, Scitech, refused to give up its role at the Jian Wai SOHO building and ordered its guards to patrol the community.

"We do need some honest and fair people to change this disorderly situation and fight against plots from different sides," said Zhang Mingwei, a former director who bought a 289-sq-m apartment in the complex.

The election for a new owners' committee on Jan 20 seemed to be a step forward in the dispute. About 80 owners attended the election and seven were called upon to act as the preparatory working team.

Local media portrayed the election as part of the "intellectual competition" within the complex and said there were "fierce currents surging under the peaceful surface".

"The management fee in our community is about 50 million yuan a year. Such a big cake is shared by different interest groups. But we don't want any representative of these groups to intervene in the management again," said Zhang.

He added that the average age of members of the preparatory team was 45 and most belonged to an independent group called "the third party of payment platform", which was established among more than 700 owners on Nov 19.

The new committee hopes to open a segregated account to collect management fees and heating supply fees because many owners are unwilling to pay Pinnacle, said insiders.