Deliquent HOA dues

For my Association, we do the following:

30 days late: Send a letter
60 days late: Send a certified letter
90 days late: Attorney sends a Certified letter
120 days late: Start legal proceedings

We have never had to foreclose. We have only ever had to start the process twice in the past 30 years (based on association records) and once the court notified the owner of the filing of the legal paperwork, the owners paid up all back assessments, legal fees and all court costs.

I like the fact that the renters pay the HOA. We have 72 homes that are delinquent with a total of $98,000 that we know off and no one has made an attempt to collect a dime. We got rid of the previous management company and for what I see the one that has been with us for the past two years, is just as bad.

MC4,

You can't put all the blame on the mgmt co as they should only be doing what the BOD instructs them to do!

FYI, this is the collection policy of my assn:

30 days delinquent: Late fee of $15 plus admin fee of $10 for rebilling
45 days delinquent: Demand letter from assn with fee of $15
60 days delinquent: Account sent to attorney for collection with $25 fee

NameW,

I expect the assessments paid by renters would be deducted from the rent payment. If the assessments were grater then the rental charge the renters would only be responsible for the amount = to the rental price. It's just another avenue for the Association to collect what is due (similar to garnishing wages).

However, I have not read that law to be positive.

NameW4,

I think most homeowners that rent out their property figure in all of their costs, to include assessments. So, in essence, the tenant is still paying the association dues, they're just paying it as a portion of their rent payment to the homeowner who in turn, pays it to the association. So, is this still a tax on the tenant and should they still have a vote? With the new Fl. law, the tenant of the delinquent homeowner does not pay any more rent than what was agreed to in the lease. The only person that is out any money is the homeowner who isn't collecting the full rent payment, which would not have happened if they had paid their dues as agreed. Sorry, but the delinquent homeowner gets no sympathy from me!

Just to be clear.. Are there two equal payments collected on each unit, i.e., one from the renter and one from the owner, or is it just one payment per unit delivered by the owner or is it one amount for the owner and a different amount for the tenant?

If the first, then regardless of what mechanism is used to conceal the double billing from the tenant, I would, if a tenant, argue I should be entitled to just as much vote and representation as the other guy.

NameW,

The way we handle it is like BrianV1 described - example: tenant's rent is $1000.00, homeowner owes association $200.00. Tenant pays assn. $1000.00; assn. keeps $200.00, refunds $800.00 to homeowner. Hope this helps!

Here's the specific Florida Statute - 718.116(11)

(11)If the unit is occupied by a tenant and the unit owner is delinquent in paying any monetary obligation due to the association, the association may make a written demand that the tenant pay the future monetary obligations related to the condominium unit to the association, and the tenant must make such payment. The demand is continuing in nature and, upon demand, the tenant must pay the monetary obligations to the association until the association releases the tenant or the tenant discontinues tenancy in the unit. The association must mail written notice to the unit owner of the association’s demand that the tenant make payments to the association. The association shall, upon request, provide the tenant with written receipts for payments made. A tenant who acts in good faith in response to a written demand from an association is immune from any claim from the unit owner.

(a)If the tenant prepaid rent to the unit owner before receiving the demand from the association and provides written evidence of paying the rent to the association within 14 days after receiving the demand, the tenant shall receive credit for the prepaid rent for the applicable period and must make any subsequent rental payments to the association to be credited against the monetary obligations of the unit owner to the association.

(b)The tenant is not liable for increases in the amount of the monetary obligations due unless the tenant was notified in writing of the increase at least 10 days before the date the rent is due. The liability of the tenant may not exceed the amount due from the tenant to the tenant’s landlord. The tenant’s landlord shall provide the tenant a credit against rents due to the unit owner in the amount of moneys paid to the association under this section.

(c)The association may issue notices under s. 83.56 and may sue for eviction under ss. 83.59-83.625 as if the association were a landlord under part II of chapter 83 if the tenant fails to pay a required payment to the association. However, the association is not otherwise considered a landlord under chapter 83 and specifically has no duties under s. 83.51.

(d)The tenant does not, by virtue of payment of monetary obligations to the association, have any of the rights of a unit owner to vote in any election or to examine the books and records of the association.

This site might also be of interest:

http://www.floridacondohoalawblog.com/promo/about/

Owner Delinquencies & Collecting Rent from Tenants

Here is a short excerpt from the blog:

Fair Debt Collection - How much do we ask for and how can we demand that amount without revealing the debt to a third-party tenant?

The answer - you don't ask for a specific amount . . . you only ask the tenant to pay the amount of the monthly (or quarterly) assessments as they are due.

You simply demand the tenant to pay future monetary obligations to the association and if there is an overpayment you remit that sum back to the owner.

Once the account is paid in full, the association should advise the tenant to split the rent payment - paying the association the amount necessary to keep the unit current and remitting the balance to the landlord owner.

Actually that isn't a bad law.
Totally different than my earlier impression of how it was described. The tenant (who enjoys use of the property pays if the owner is past due if a collection lien is filed. Fair enough.

In VA that could actually be useful for dealing with houses that are owned by Trust LLCs (often registered in another state) whose actually identities are somewhat murky and which are usually occupied by a person who doesn't have the same name as the Trust but to who they supposedly pay rent.