Congressional Mandate for Notification of Late Fee Charges

Over three years ago, our HOA board decided to change management companies. One of the items in the contract, which was signed by the HOA Board President, was a $15.00 a month payment to the management company until the overdue assessment fees were paid. Since the contract was issued, this fee has been increased to $20.00 per month. This fee is in addition to the required fee dictated by the HOA directives of 10% per annum until they are paid. This percentage goes into the HOA kitty. When the new board took over 2 1/2 years ago, we were of the new management agent, but a copy of the contract did not flow from board to board like it should. We recently received a copy of the contract; however, we didn't go through all the various "knit picky" costs being charged by the management company. Anyway, after our recent Town Hall meeting, a homeowner approached me concerning why we were charging him $20.00 a month for being overdue. I wasn't aware of the charge until I dug a little further into the contract. One reason the board didn't know about the charges was these charges were being hidden from the monthly overdue listing we received. All we would see was the total of assessments overdue and our % of late fees. To get to the punch line -- the management company and the HOA board, at the time, never notified the homeowners of the monthly payments for overdue accounts. I am calling this a foul! I know in the past few years, that President Obama signed a bill requiring all creditors to identify to their debtors what charges they may incur if the bill is not paid on time. Now, what is the bill's name to cover this action?

Thanks very much ---

Jeanne -- you are right on target! But still need the name of the law so I can emphasize the issue to our management company. This is the same law that had all the credit companies send tons of letters out to advise everyone of their late payment fees. All we want to do is to ensure the management company identifies on all bills the penalties for late fees if the assessment is not paid within 30 days of the due date. This would include not only the HOA mandated % fee, but their $20.00 fee.

Elby,

I reread your posting. I believe the act you are talking about is:

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009

I believe that this act only applies to issuers of credit cards.

Tim