Condo Association Management Blog

You can charge late fees and interest. you could try Small Claims court. 
 
However, Massachusetts condominium act states that association is entitled to recover attorneys fees paid to the delinquent unit owner so consider using an attorney. Perhaps someone will work with you so that your obligation to pay attorney is when unit owner pays. 
 
 
 
Stephen Marcus 
 
Marcus Errico Emmer & Brooks, P.c. 
 
781.843.5000

Here in Florida quite a few associations are using the Small Claim Court option although some collections attorneys say it is a waste of time unless your state allows the association to file both, judgment and lien. Here in FL you have to pick one. A judgment against a delinquent homeowner does not guarantee cash payment. And, if homeowner does not have assets other than his/her home then the effort may be futile. Then you have to go after wages. 60 days delinquency may not be enough in your state. Perhaps you have to wait until 90 days past due. You really need a clear understanding of your governing documents and state laws on this complex topic.

i wish marcus et al would let us pay him after we collect !!!!

Be aware that if an attorney says he takes cases on "contingency" it does not mean that it is free if he fails to succeed. An attorney can take a collections case and not charge a penny to the association until he collects from homeowner in full.

review any provisions in your bylaws relating to fee payments. Then download a copy of yourb state condominium act . Betwen those tweo9 documents you'll find the initial steps you sghould take. Do not sit back-do nothing and expect then problem to gon away. It won't it will just get worse.

We are a licensed collection agency which specializes in recovering condominium and homeowner assocaiton assessments. The folks who are between 60 and 180 days late are our sweet spot for collections. They are not too far delinquent and the costs are still managable. We are able to get 2/3's of them on a payment plan to catch up. We have options where we do not charge anything to the association and we charge our fees to the debtor. We also have other options that allow the associaton to make a full recovery of all their assessments, late fees, interest, etc. 
 
What we do differently than an attorney is we call the debtor. The law allows us to call three times per week in most states and we do. The debtors gets tired of seeing my number on their caller ID so they eventually pay to get me off the phone with them. We're nice and we're respectful. However, we're also firm and persistent. These qualities will get you paid two times out of three. The other third end up with our attorney as we either foreclose or garnish their wages or assets. There's no majic to it, we simply call them and make it easy for them to pay us by accepting their credit card or electronic check. 
 
Darron 
 
Assessment Recovery

Don't forget that in most cases, if they are behind in assessments, they can be prohibited from using any common perks if you have any.

The use of common areas is the least of your worries. What could be happening is: 
 
 
 
a) homeowner may be experiencing harship 
 
b) may have filed for bankrupcy or, 
 
c) could be in pre-foreclosure status by the banks. 
 
 
 
You ned to do your homework and find out what is the homeowner's true financial situation, and play your cards accordingly, including offering a payment plan.

For my Association, once a homeowner is more than 3 months past due, I file a lien on their property. Bank has to pay all back dues before the unit can be sold.

while reading the Florida comments on back condo fees, I find it hard to swollow that my condo board did not notify me until a year or two later , they say I owe $4000 in back fees but did not bring this to my attention for so long, how long do they have to let this go before they even tell you, my husband was responsible for the payments, now he is gone and its just me since I took over the payments everything is paid up to date, they just let this sit for several months, actually way longer is this right?

I suggest you review your financial transactions to determine if any monthly condo fees for the past seven years were not paid. Look at whatever vehicle was used to make these payments:credit card, check or automatic payment from checking or savings account. If payments were missed you can be forced to pay with interest. Your bylaws should cast some light on this issue. 
 
There may be a statue of limitations that applies to this issue in the state in which you live. To detrmine that issue download a copy of your state' Condominium Act amd read.

i am a owner and this year de assn increase the payment to 241.00 to 308.00 is this legal and this year dont do it nothing to better our comunity....we need help.. Armenia Village in Tampa FL

The Board Of Directors is responsible for the development of the annual budget. This document when approved forms the basis for the monthly fee. If the fee has to be incresed it is perfectly legal to do so. In fact it is a fiduciarfy responsibility of the board to insure that the association remains financially solvent Costs rarely go down and as a rsult condo fees usually go up in consort.

Here in Washington, I simply file a property lien against the property. Then it cannot be sold until the back dues are satisfied. It has worked for us.

Since the economic downturn our association's bad debt has sky-rocketed. Of 130 units the past due accounts came to over $40,000. Only 2 or 3 of these accounts were due to loss of job or financial hardship. The rest are skilled deadbeats. Put your emotions aside when deciding on someone's financial hardships. If you are on the board it is your duty to protect the association. If I can't afford to keep my SUV I am sure not going to ask my neighbor to pay for it. This is what happens with bad debt. Everyone else must pay for the shortage created by a few. In rare cases payment plans can be approved but if the homeowner can't afford the current dues how will he or she afford extra catch-up payments? Read the association declarations and state laws regarding collections. Institute fines, a lien policy and agressive collection procedures. I wouldn't suggest small claims court but garnish wages if possible and keep the membership aware of the units in arrears and how much the total bad debt is. 
 

I am secy/treasurer of a self-managed 4 unit condo. assn. in Louisiana. One owner defaulted on her condo fees for several months, then foreclosed. Bank of America has owned the unit since July. We have not received one cent from B of A. We paid our annual insurance in July ($17K payable in advance) without receiving any contribution from the foreclosed owner or B of A. I have never handled collections before. Can we collect for the insurance (which is paid out of our condo fees)?