Question on Collecting Dues

Started by ChadC • 6 replies • 3955 views

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ChadC (Indiana)
Posts: 15

Posted:

Hi, I'm a new member and recently been appointed to the master board of a neighborhood of 585 homes. My question or problem for our community is we have about a 25-30% deficit in people not paying their dues. We even allow them to set up monthly payments, but this even turns into an issue with people not paying. This then leads to a budget short fall, how do you get your neighbors to pay their dues? It seems the past 3 years we have not been able to put any money in a reserve account, 2 years ago we had about 4k in vandalism that caused us to cut a lot of neighborhood projects. Has anyone else had this type of problem?

Thanks
Chad
www.kensingtonfarmshoa.org

hoatalk (California)
Posts: 599

Posted:

We have another topic that deals with this issue. Have a look here:
http://www.hoatalk.com/Forum/tabid/55/view/topic/forumid/1/postid/22/Default.aspx

The topic is "Help wanted: Brand new to HOA business ????" and it's currently on page 4 of the discussion listings.

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FrancesD
Posts: 15

Posted:

We have an 18 unit H.O.A. and we collect dues on a monthly basis.We als have issues with several homeowner's paying dues.Our rules allow us to suspend these homeowners voting rights.We have also made a rule that thoughs who are behind cannot make any architectural changes to there home until they have caught up on there dues.The ones that were really behind we have placed on a repayment program and have informed them that we can foreclose on there home if they don't adhere to the repayment program.I hope this helps.

LisaS (Illinois)
Posts: 341

Posted:

We solved this problem with property liens. Easy to file, specified in our Declaration, and once our members who did not pay received a copy in the mail they were quick to respond. This is after the 5 different letters we sent over 4 months (we collect yearly).

Out of 301 homes (and 36 original problems) we now only have 2 non-paying members.

CarolB (Arizona)
Posts: 9

Posted:

Our delinquency rate is less than 1% each month, and half our delinquency amount is from 1 owner who bought 2 homes for investment purposes. Our dues are paid monthly and owners receive a coupon book at the beginning of each year to remit their payment directly to a bank account. Owners who pay their bills electronically don't receive coupon books. If the monthly assessment is not received by the specified date, there is an automatic $15 late fee assessed. Our property management company actively monitors payment status and will send out a courtesy notice, and second notice. (We also review all delinquent accounts at our monthly executive session). If payment is not received, we file a notice of lien.

MindyD (Arizona)
Posts: 47

Posted:

This is the same problem we are having. The old board of two friends ran it to the ground and there is no money in the reserve. We have tenants that have not paid for over a year or so and we now have roof problems and no money. We have put liens on the units but have no cash to hire a lawyer to foreclose so a special assessment is probably the only way to get the repair money and again the few that do pay are again paying for their neighbors. I feel like a dog chasing its tail, where does it end? I am planning on running for the new board and I have been doing the newsletter but I would like to update our forms, does any one know where to download late payment forms etc. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank You
Arizona Hoa Stressed

LisaS (Illinois)
Posts: 341

Posted:

We created our own forms...so no help there. But perhaps there should be a special assessment to hire counsel to foreclose on your 'problems'. It seems that this may be the only way to stop the cycle. We are lucky enough to have 2 attorneys who have recently moved into our subdivision and are wiling to assist us. Maybe you have an attorney lurking in yours that can help?

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