Condo Association Management Blog

I had to pay the dues plus costs! I was two months ONLY behind... I sent in a check for 275 instead of 278.50 they refused my payment and took me to court by the time everything was said and done I paid 1400... RIDICULOUS!They violated the bylaws and Declaration also which states you have to be so many days behind before they can take legal notice the JUDGE did not care... We live in IL I had to hire my own attorney... My advice to you is pay it in full before it goes to court so your not stuck with the other charges.

Check your by-laws. Also in Illinois, if a homeowner is late with payment, they receive a fine. They must be notified when they are fined, so they generally know within 30 days if their payment has not been received; this is well before any legal action would be taken.

This is bad collections at its worst... 
 
They should have sent you a letter after you missed the first payment. Do they have your correct address? 
 
$500 for a collection letter from an attorney is waaaay too much. $150 is what I am most used to see.

Good Morning: 
 
Let me nominate myself for the insensitivity award of the day: Yes, they can, and you should, pay the legal fees associated with collecting the assessments. 
 
You claimed to not know the routing number was incorrect on the ACH payment. When you looked at your bank account and noticed the association dues hadn't come out, what did you think, "oh, I must not have had to pay them this month because the association forgot?" Or did you think they forgave the assessment because they like you? 
 
The bottome line is that if you owe a debt, it is your responsibility to pay it whether the creditor sends a notice or not. The law is crystal clear, not receiving a statement or notice is no excuse for not paying your creditors. You signed the dotted line when you purchased the condo and knew about the condo assessments. You also knew, or should have known, that the money wasn't coming out of your account every month. That would have triggered a normal person to call the manager and say, "hey, my assessments weren't paid! Why not?" then they would have said, "Oh, Mr/Mrs/Ms X, your payment didn't clear because the ACH information is invalid." You would have said, "Oh, let me give you the correct routing number..." That would have been about $499.95 cheaper than the love letter you received. But, some folks stick their head in the sand and say, "Oh, I guess I don't have to pay this month..." 
 
I've won several cases in court against condo owners who offered the defense of, "I didn't know." Everytime the judge asked them, "then why didn't you call? It's your bill to pay" 
 
Now, I'll gladly accept my Mr. Insensitive award for the day. 
 
Very Respectfully, 
 
Darron

Even though you acted incorrectly because you have to pay your assessments even if you not receive the invoice, the association should sent you a demand letter informing you that you were late for "X" amount, the $500 fee is high but that's the service that the attorney charge, F.S. 718 says you should be charge with a reasonable amount, get legal advise if you feel mistreated

Darron, Thanks for the reality check. You are right!

Thank you JR. 
 
Jose, don't come to Seattle. We just retained a staff attorney yesterday because he's the cheapest one we could find. His rate, before our agreement, was $550 for two letters and one phone consultation with the board/manager on how to procede after the debtor does not respond to the 2nd letter. Then, he starts billing hourly at $350/hr. The law in WA is clear, the debtor pays ALL costs of collection. Man, those fees rack up quickly. That's why autopayment is a much, much, much cheaper option. All of the other attorneys we found were more expensive than that because debt collection is a specialized area of practice for attorneys. 
 
Darron

Iyar agree with Darron. The bottom line is that it is the owners responsibility to pay dues on time. If not additional costs will be incurred. Exercise common sense-if your payment is not withdrawn or check not cashed call and check. By not paying, you are creating a burden on the other owners and you should pay the fees that are associated with the collection process.

Only you are responsible for your payments to the HOA. We went to court with one unit owner for 9 months due to us. We sued in Small Claims Court in SC.They paid $750 attorney fees for us to consult with him, his $715 for back dues. You would think they would have learned their lessons. April and May payments were not paid. So we did letter #1 after 10th in April, called their office-no phone call back, left message at home, sent 2nd letter(we put on doors) because this person won't go get their mail for one month at a time. May we did the same think. We put a FINAL letter on their door, I took the photo showing it and they did not take the first letter off their door for May.Finally they took the letter across the street and put in our HOA mailbox at the Treasurer's home 
They put a note with their two months payment, don't call me or write me for until we are THREE months behind. They are attorney's too. Guess they don't read their by laws very well. We are a small townhome community (15 units) and can not afford for one person to be late, as the previous board never held any money in reserves. I have set up reserves very limited for such attorney fees, court court, trees on common area, etc. Some people never learn they need to pay their bills - they purchased a home that has a small HOA fee. If someone has a problem one month call your Treasurer and I am sure most will let you pay up the next month. But avoiding letters, calls and think we are being mean and not so neighborly as a board. The board is there to help take care of the community properly. We can not treat one unit owner any different than any other one. They are using their legal bar license and has for 10 yrs over the board's head. Guess what, this board will go after them. They also, are the ones who have yards that have junk in them and the building cedar siding is falling off the building and every window the seal is broken and white. They can not see out the windows. The previous board felt sorry for them and would not do a thing to get them to clean up yard, house and pay on time. New board took over and is trying to get this community ship shape.

Good Morning JAK: 
 
I would strongly encourage you to consult with an attorney over your methodology of collecting. My attorney has advised that posting a letter on a door is a violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Only legal notices can be posted such as Deed of Trust sales, etc. Posting a letter on their door could be construed as an attempt to embarrass them. If so, the association's committed a FDCPA violation which is subject to a $1,000 penalty plus tripple damages plus plaintiff's attorney's fees. 
 
Darron

Should an annual budget include current expenditures as well as any overage or underage when the next years budget is distributed to it's members Would you say this is a Standard Format for condo's to follow?

Bob: 
 
This is different from the question but yes. When I drafted the budgets when I was a board member, we always had a contingency factored in. We started at 5%, then went to 10% of the budget. The last two years, we ended the year under budget and we stuck the rest of it in reserves. 
 
Darron

My case is even worst. I have been paying my condo maintenance for 2 years by automatic payment. Last year the HOA set up a special assess.($70x 6 months) and I was never notify. So I just got a letter from the attorney that I have one month to pay over $1300 (attorney fees, extra fees, penalties) if not they will record a claim of lien against my property. I tried to contact everybody, not a chance to get a different answer.

Darron, 
In answer to your reply to me. We live in Townhomes so no one can see any door unless you physically walk up to their door which is set back from the drive & garage which sets out in front. We do not call anymore, but if you mail anything, these people aren't paying their bills because they don't pick up their mail for a month. So there is no embarrassment to them no one can see it. I told the attorney he did not understand we are not in a hallway nor can anyone see the door. I took a photo of it. We just can't get it thru these people's head - this HOA pays their bills on time and needs their money to do so. Can you imagine we are stuck to do a civil suit against them to fix their home as it is a disgrace to our neighborhood. Some HOA's are too strict in our area, but we have tried to work with these people for 10 yrs and they have decided they will let their property go to heck like they live in a trailer park or farm. I can not even sell due to this house. They did pay JUuly 25th for June, July & August. But you can bet we will not get Sept fee on time. They are using their bar license to hold us hostages. I think there should be something someone can do other than we have to take up a special assesment to pay to sue them if I can get the money from other homeowners....This is totally unfair.JAK

We set up an automatic electronic payment from the bank. We didn't know but last year the condo management changed and the payments stopped. Yes, we were guilty of not reviewing banks statements more closely but couldn't the HOA at least have written a letter or picked up the phone? Our court fees are about $2000. Wish they were cheap $500 like some of yours. Oh well, our fault but still, I think they share some blame. We have a court date next week.

What is the best way to contest an improper lien against your HOA property? File a lawsuit against the HOA for fraud, or what?. They totally ignore the law and the covenants and do not pay any attention to Notice to Contest Lien and go ahead racking up huge legal fees.

First and formost I have to say that this is not correct in what you are saying. A condo board (and I am on the board), states that a lien or lawyers fees does not go into affect until ater the third month, then you must receive a letter of intent to pay. Next is the hearing to get the lien started and then you re awared the decision by the judge.At least this is our rules. 
 
Next if your routing number was incorrect then you should have seen this in your own checks and balances that the checks did not cear your bank within the 3 month period, why did you not check this out or don't you look at your checking account (my son does the same thing). 
 
The answer to your guestion is "YES" so now pay up and end this with your condo assoiation and next time pay a little more attention to your checking account. 
 
We are not bad people, but we do try and keep the account balanced and we do try to keep things correct. Everyone needs to do their share or move if you don't like our rules. Join the board and help out is my only other answer for you. Sorry!