trying to collect fees from owners

We are in CA and are still having issues with 1 of the slum lord owners of our 16 units. The HOa pays for insurance, water, sewer, maintenance and common area electricity. Can we disconnect the non-paying unit from the sewer? CA has issues with cutting off the water to a unit, but has anyone attempted cutting of the sewer?

This slum lord owes more than a year of $135.00 per month in fees. He rents his unit for 1500 per month and also rents his adjoining restaurant parking lot to campers that uses our garbage cans incurring larger garbage fees.

Any Ideas?

Have you heard of the legal way of collecting unpaid dues? They are called "Liens or foreclosure". That is the legal avenue to pursue. We put in a policy of 6 months we would lien if you did not make payment arrangements. Having a clear policy in place doesn't make it seem like you are using "selective enforcement". Plus it sends a message that your HOA will take action to place a lien in 6 months.

Other than the lien/foreclosure route, there's not much in the way of legal collection of unpaid due. Liens take time to collect but have more teeth than a lawsuit. Foreclosures shouldn't be done if the home is in foreclosure already or owned by an active military person. Foreclosure is a case by case option and is a stop the bleeding step.

Remember the HOA can NOT do anything to the renter. It is ONLY to the owner who is the member. You hold the owner's feet to the ground not the tenant.

If your governing documents and CA law allow, you should collect the rent directly from the tenant until the dues are paid and continue every time the owner is behind on dues. You should also send a CMRRR letter to the owner stating his restaurant customers have been seen using HOA garbage bins and its costing extra money, and it only for HOA residents. I am a big believer in putting the offender on official notice of what they are doing wrong so they have a chance to correct it. Certified mail is good to use and provides the proof of receipt that you need and when you need to escalate to the next step, you are on solid ground.

I do not like the fact that he rents the parking lot to RV's and uses your garbage. You should fence in your garbage, I love the cactus idea, make it impossible for the RV people to get around your barrier and it would beautify this area as well. I would imagine the owner told the RV people to use that garbage but a few signs saying no trespassing, private property of the HOA and RV owners must use restaurant garbage and facilities wouldn't hurt. I also like the idea of calling the local town to report that he is running an RV lot on his property. Hopefully its not a Cracker Barrel because they encourage people to park RV's in their lots although they do not charge rent. I have an RV and its the one place we know we can find parking while we eat, on our travels.

Melissa -

I know you mean well, but once again I feel compelled to take you to task for these types of declarative statements that oversimplify and overgeneralize situations and circumstances.

To use your own method of emphasis, given the correct set of circumstances the HOA CAN do something to the renters. While it may be true that ONLY the owner is a member, it is also possible that the renter CAN be a party to a contractual agreement that obligates them to the HOA. Here's how it's done:

1). The CCRs must have provisions that restrict leasing. This is typically done with language that forbids leasing without the owner first obtaining a "Leasing Permit" from the HOA.

2). Both the CCRs and the Leasing Permit will require that certain language and provisions be included within the body of any lease the owner offers to a renter.

3). The required language/provisions of the lease (which now OBLIGATE the renter) include abidance by all HOA rules and regulations and the legal ability of the HOA to "divert" that portion of the monthly rent that represents an amount equal to the monthly HOA member's dues directly the HOA if the owner doesn't pay. The Leasing Permit also contains this language which is a binding contract between the owner and the HOA and permits the HOA to collect dues directly from the renter if the owner doesn't pay them. Futher the renter is protected in that the owner in the Leasing Permit agrees that if this should happen, it does not increase the renters financial obligation to the owner.

This sort of stuff if pretty common in GA; is legal, and has been tested.

So, please, don't make these broad generalizations that simply don't hold up to even cursory examination. You're not doing anyone any favors with that.

Sorry, for the rant - and I don't mean to attack you personally. It's just the behavior that I find unsettling.

Also a Former HOA President

Melissa or should I say Mike, as John said you need to watch painting everything with one brush, laws vary from state to state and CC&R's from association to association. In OH we can initiate eviction proceedings, it's the law (5311.19). In FL a HOA can collect past due assessments from a tenant, it's the law (720.3085(8)). There is a HOA in VA that passed a covenant requiring specific language in any lease agreement allowing them to collect past due monies from tenants, many HOA's set minimum lease terms etc.

Perhaps, I did not elaborate adequately. Our CCRs contain a provision that requires the lease document to be approved by the HOA before it can be used by the owner. In this case, the verbiage making the tenant abide by HOA rules is part of their contractual agreement with the owner. Yes, it is the responsibility of the owner to include that verbiage, but they won't receive a leasing permit which allows them to execute the lease without that wording in their lease. Further, the Leasing Permit itself is a contractual agreement between the owner and the HOA which references the lease agreement. While it IS true that the HOA is a 3rd party to the lease agreement, in the scenario I've described, the tenant has agreed in the body of the lease to submit a portion of their monthly rent to the HOA upon demand of the HOA.

Melissa, this is not the only intent of the law. In Florida since about 2004, there have been hundreds of thousands of foreclosures, many in HOA's. A good deal of these houses were rented, the homeowner's were collecting rent but not paying dues, the renters were enjoying the amenities including free cable TV and internet and the association was footing the bill. The HOA collecting rent means the renter (who usually did not know that the dues were not being paid and that the house was in foreclosure) could continue to live in the house and the HOA could collect its dues. I believe the tenant is protected from being evicted by the homeowner under these circumstances. Many HOA's are content to just file liens and never foreclose. This is another option for HOA's to obtain dues.

When a person rents a house in my association, he or she must sign a third party lease agreement with us that states, among other things, that the tenants will abide by our rules and that we have the right to collect their rent directly, should the homeowner become delinquent. The few times we have had to collect rent, the tenants were relieved to know they would not be evicted by the association or the landlord. I have heard stories from other associations about folks who refuse to pay their rent to the association (probably not paying rent at all or threatened by the homeowner) and in those cases, eviction is usually an option.