The agenda is part of the management contract transition guide. It covers the conversation only. The facts you collect feed the archive context checklist, and a yes leads to the annotated introduction email.
Who sits at the table, and who does not
The meeting works best small. Each person is there to answer one block.
| Seat | Why they are there | Answers blocks |
|---|---|---|
| Owner or CEO of the controlling company | The only person who can say yes to block five | 2 and 5 |
| Systems lead or maintenance system administrator | Knows where work orders and attachments physically sit | 3 and 4 |
| Head of operations or a senior property manager | Knows how closure is verified in practice | 3 |
| You, the property systems consultant | Runs the clock, records answers at metadata level | All |
Leave out the incoming manager, the vendors and the property owner's asset team for this conversation. Each has a stake in the history, and their presence changes what people will say about control. If the property owner is the likely controller instead, run the same agenda with its asset management lead and general counsel.
Send a three-line invitation: the purpose (what happens to maintenance history at handover), the length, and a note that nobody needs to bring records.
The 15 minutes, block by block
Each block has one question, one main answerer and a clear sign of a good answer. Move on when the clock says so, even if the answer is "we don't know".
| Minutes | Question | Main answerer | A good answer sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-2 | When is the documented handover date, and when does access to the current system end? | Owner or COO | "Handover is the date in the termination notice; our license runs to month end." |
| 2-5 | Who controls the historical work orders after the transition, and which clause says so? | Owner, with whoever read the agreement | "The books-and-records clause covers property financials; our process records stay with us." |
| 5-9 | Is closure evidence linked to each work order: verifier, follow-up inspection, invoice? | Systems lead and operations | "Sign-off and photos attach to the work order; invoices link by work order ID." |
| 9-12 | What happens to the system and its closed history after handover, and for how long? | Systems lead | "We keep the instance read-only; retention is in our IT policy." |
| 12-15 | Who can authorize a licensing discussion, and do you want an introduction? | Owner or CEO | "I can. Yes, introduce us," or "Not now, ask again after handover." |
Block two carries the meeting
The opening question has a contractual answer, and most rooms have not looked it up. Listen for two things: which party the room believes holds the closed history, and whether anyone has actually read the termination or books-and-records clause. Owners often have real rights here; the IREM Code of Professional Ethics, for example, expects members to make accurate, auditable records available to the client, and those duties continue toward former clients. If the room says "it's ours" without a clause behind it, the honest outcome is revisit.
Block three tests whether the history means anything
Four minutes is enough for one practical test: ask the systems lead to describe, from memory, what a finished repair leaves behind. Property platforms keep status changes with timestamps (AppFolio's partner API documentation lists a CompletedOn field, for instance), but the useful part is whether the technician's sign-off, any re-inspection and the bill all point back to the same ticket. Ask; never ask to be shown.
Block five needs a clean exit
Ask the permission question plainly and disclose in the same breath: "If any of this history could be licensed, may I introduce you to SourceX? I am a SourceX referral partner, so I may receive a reward if a license completes; SourceX pays it separately and it never comes out of your payout." Then stop talking.
Answers that change the plan mid-meeting
Some answers end the referral conversation early, and that is a useful result.
| If you hear | Do this |
|---|---|
| "The property owner owns everything under the agreement." | Finish block two, skip to block five, and ask whether the owner side would want the same conversation. |
| "We delete the instance on handover day." | Record who decided it; do not argue with it. Ask in block five whether the owner wants to revisit before that date. |
| "Closure is just a status change; photos sit on a shared drive." | Note "closure evidence not linked" and move on; it narrows what exists, it does not end the meeting. |
| "We have about 30 staff." | Stop the referral part politely. The company is below the 50 full-time employee threshold. |
| "Let me ask legal first." | Good instinct. Set the revisit date in block five. |
The annual client advisory meeting agenda and the private equity portfolio review agenda show the same short-block approach in other settings.
What the meeting must decide, and the note you write afterward
The meeting ends with exactly one of three outcomes, written down before anyone leaves.
- Introduce. The controlling company owns the history, an authorized person agreed, and the company appears eligible. Next: the introduction email within a week.
- Revisit on a date. Control or retention is unclear. Next: one named person checks the clause or the retention policy, and you meet again before access ends.
- Stop. The history will not survive, belongs to someone else, or the owner declined. Next: nothing, and the transition project carries on unchanged.
Illustrative. After 15 minutes with a 310-person multifamily operator losing the management of a 40-community portfolio, the consultant's note read:
| Block | Recorded answer |
|---|---|
| Handover | Date fixed in the owner's notice letter; software seat licenses lapse at quarter end |
| Control | Operator keeps its maintenance playbooks and process history; owner gets community ledgers |
| Closure evidence | Technician sign-off linked for seven years; resident confirmation for four |
| After handover | Archive copy planned; nobody yet named to hold it |
| Authority and decision | Chief executive officer can authorize; outcome: revisit once the archive holder is named |
Before you act on "introduce", check fit. The company needs 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), a documented operating history, rights to license the records, and an authorized contact. Companies in the U.S., Canada and the EU qualify, as do companies in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, South Africa, Latin America, the UAE and Saudi Arabia when at least 90% of the data is in English. Sign the Channel Partner Agreement first. The first valid introduction within the 90-day window is credited when the company submits a verified application, with one partner per company. Illustrative only: a $400,000 qualifying payout to the company would mean a $100,000 default reward, which is also the per-company cap.
What stays unknown until SourceX reviews it: buyer need for maintenance histories, the rights review result, tenant or owner restrictions, and any offer. The property management licensing fit page and who owns property management records go further on both.
Next step
Refer a company. Earn up to $100,000. Default reward: 25% of Actual Supplier Payout, capped at $100,000 cumulatively per referred company. Eligibility and payment conditions apply, and a signed Schedule A or addendum can differ. A lead, meeting or signature alone does not trigger payment.
If the meeting ends with "introduce", register as a partner, confirm who qualifies, and read the program terms and the rewards page before you send anything.