Condo Association Management Blog

Was the lien recorded before the sale? Was it a foreclosure? Which lien foreclosed it? 
 
You can go to court and win a judgement. You'll still have to find assets to collect on your judgement. 
 
You can record another line and foreclose yourself. You need to analyze what he value of property is compared to all lines more senior to yours

It's so funny that this question came up today. Our Board meeting was this past Thursday and we have quite a few units that need liens placed on them at this point. I would blame it all on the economy but a few are repeat offenders. 
 
It came to our attention that there is a lawyer in our area who is handling such situations for a condo in a neighboring city. Our courts are so clogged that the judges don't want small amounts - they want it to be a hefty amount that is owed. Well, for us that can mean almost a year of fees for the smaller units. Anyway, he is taking their vehicles. It seems people are pretty shaken when they think they will be left without a car. Of course, this doesn't work in all cases, but I guess in this day and age we have to start thinking outside of the box to get creative. Lots of luck to you.

My advice would be to shop around for an attorney who does collections. We found a great one who does not charge the HOA attorney's fees; everything is billed to the h/o which makes him very dedicated to getting the owner to pay. I might add he has been very successful. Since we turned over the delinquent accounts to him several months ago, we've already closed a number of accounts (received payment in full) and a number have entered into payment plans.

Depending on your state laws and your county court system, consider small claims court. This has worked for us, although a lot depends on what judge or magistrate you get at any one time. Also consider offering a payment plan. Scofflaws usually won't take it or honor it but some owners will attempt to do the right thing if given a chance. You have to go on the record as trying all options to protect yourself and the board from failing to do fiduciary duty to collect. If courts, state laws, etc fail to help your association that's one thing, but not acting can come back at you. Thanks for listening.

MLD, 
 
 
 
But, even in small claims court, don't you have to go after the owner to pay the amount owed even if the judge rules in your favor. This is a problem we're having with one of our h/o's. His case is about a CCR violation including fines. He painted the trim on his house an unapproved color and also applied the paint to areas he called pop-outs which are not pop-out areas. We got a judgment against him to repaint and pay the fines but he has refused to do so. I'm waiting to see what our attorney does next. The attorney he originally hired advised him to drop his lawsuit against us, saying he could never win, instead he decided to represent himself. Some people are just too stubborn for their own good.

Mary and MLD mentioned payment plans. What length of time do you allow, for people to repay? Our HOA now allows payment plans for assessments to be repaid in three months; should we allow longer?  
 
What has been the success with payment plans, for those who have used them?

Eleanor, you should allow whatever makes sense to help the owner pay. Remember an alternative to a longer payment plan is to not get paid at all. 
 
lndagrl, in order for an attorney to get someone's car they would have first get a court judgement to collect money, after that they would have to get court's judgement to reposes a car in order to cover the judgement. It's not as simple as it might sound. Also there is a certain amount that can't be collected from a car, meaning if you reposes you must return this sum of money. So unless someone drives a newer not too cheap car and doesn't have a loan on it taking it will not do you any good.

Hi All 
 
I am on the board and we decided to go after 3 people wohom were very late in the dues. We had one that paid up when we sent our laywer after him and we recovered his. Now the other 2 is a different story. One owner who owed a very large amount so lien # 2 got served. Low and behold him and his wife were spliting up and he decided to sell out and with the lien in place we got our money back. Now # 3 we won a judgement on and that was great. Except this person just pays the condo fee and assessment of today. Nothing is going against what they owe for the back amount. We do apply the payments to the back amount, but they are still not current with and up to date with what they still owe. We have collected late fees on that amount. 
 
Now we have asked for at least $25.00 per month to be paid on the back amount and they so far have refused. Opition to sell personal property is not worth it for they really have nothing. Car like wise. So now we will sit and wait for them to either sell or di. And that's not gonna happen any time soon. 
 
So actually we have lost all avenues ecept the personel property of which would include junk. 
 
Might I add this person holds her head up very high like nothing is wrong....basically dosen't care. 
 
 
 
someday we will recover from this  
 
and we will smile when we recover!!!! Good luck everyone who is in the boards seat.

Announced today - go to CommunityCollections.com.  
 
This collection program will work separately from your legal counsel and with your legal counsel when they have a judgement to collect. Credit bureaus require that a report be submitted for 7 years on any account reported. This program is nationwide.  
 

We're thinking of sending in Mr. Smith & Mr. Wesson, they tend to get a lot of attention. We think we'll get a real bang out of it! 
 
Augh, try begging? 
 
Seriously, we use our attorney and so far have been successful.

We always file a lien first to protect the Association's interest. Now we have started doing debtor's exams which gets the owner into court with tax returns, bank account information (which we have attached), and we find out where they work. and we go for a civil judgment and then we garnish their wages. Try working out a pay arrangement. We have actually gone to homes and sat down with the owner and worked out arrangements but they have to obviously have the means and desire to pay. Foreclosuer is the last resort because in most cases, the mortgage company and property tax dept will always get their funds first because most Associations are not in first lien position.  
 
 
 
Check to see what your State condo laws are regarding providing services to owners who do not pay fees. Our property is considered private property so we are able to tow cars of delinquent owners. They all received a new Rules and Regulations book this summer which explained and cited Ohio law which backs us.  
 
We have also suggested other services available that owners may not know about such as assistance from Veterans Services, contacting thier mortgage company- we have had 3 companies pay the fees current to avoid foreclosure and tack the balance owed onto the mortgage. If the person tries to get a loan modification the mortgage company has to pay the fees current. The owner has to step up and ask for help. 
 
**Original question mentioned that the owner was a builder- is there anything your attorney can do to go after his business?

Cebo wrote: We're thinking of sending in Mr. Smith & Mr. Wesson, they tend to get a lot of attention. We think we'll get a real bang out of it!   
 
--I hear that sending Vinnie the Enforcer works even better, though it might be hard to get his services outside of New Jersey! 
 
....... 
   
 

As a board member I was told by the management company here in NJ that you cannot post names of homeowners who owe condo fees for fear of being sued. However, the township has posted their names in the local newspaper under tax deliquent propertys. Whats with that?

Vandelay wrote:  
 
 
 
As a board member I was told by the management company here in NJ that you cannot post names of homeowners who owe condo fees for fear of being sued. However, the township has posted their names in the local newspaper under tax deliquent propertys. Whats with that?  
 
 
 
--Governments are immune. If you don't think so, try issuing a complaint against them or suing them. 
 
 
 
******