Can our management agreement be transferred if the company is sold?

Frequently yes, without your consent, and this is how most Boards end up with a management company they never chose. Consolidation in community management has been rapid — private-equity-backed platforms and national firms buying regional operators — and the agreement usually travels with the sale.

Look for the assignment clause. "Freely assignable" or assignable to a successor or affiliate without consent means exactly what it says. The manager stays, the invoice stays, and the escalation path, the staffing model, the banking relationship and the fee schedule all move over the following year without the Board voting on anything.

What to ask for: assignment requires the Board's written consent, not to be unreasonably withheld; or, at minimum, a change of control triggers a defined window in which the association may terminate without penalty. The second version is easier to get and does most of the work.

Ask the ownership question directly during the search too. Who owns the company, who ultimately controls it, and is a sale or merger currently in progress. Being owned by anyone is not a defect — plenty of associations are better served after an acquisition. Not being told is the problem.