waiving late fees

Started by Joseph • 7 replies • 4855 views

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Joseph (Colorado)
Posts: 3

Posted:

Does anyone have a good policy when a homeowner ask to have late fees waved?
Thanks

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Joseph, for the HOAs we manage, an established collection policy is adopted and published to all owners. Thus, there is very limit basis for waving late fees and it is done on a case by case basis. For delayed payment of assessment, such as loss of job for an extended period, it is also done on a case by case basis.

RogerB

LouraS (<Not Specified>)
Posts: 9

Posted:

It is important to remember that the board's goal should be to keep the association fiscally viable. Late fees shouldn't be an expected source of income and thus never "expected." If an owner comes to the board early on and addresses their problem, brings their account current as promised and is taking responsibility for the issue, waiving late fees can go a long was to promoting harmony in the community and encouraging future payments. Having said that, any owner who doesn't address the problem with the board in a timely manner should be told no.

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JaimeW (North Carolina)
Posts: 24

Posted:

With the Associations we manage since we do not keep any of the late fee it is strictly up to the Board of Directors if a late fee is waived. We ask the homeowner to put something in writing regarding why they want the late fee waived. We then discuss what we have received from the homeowner with the Board of Directors and have them make a decision on whether or not to waive the late fee. They do consider the previous payment history in their decision.

LisaS (Illinois)
Posts: 341

Posted:

We manage our own association. On a very limited basis we will waive late fees in extraordinary circumstances. We receive annual assessments, so for us it has to be something way out of the norm that occurs for us to grant an exception and waive the late fee. We keep a tight budget, and do not include anticipated late fees. But we collect them as a matter of principal to make sure we receive finds in a timely manner the next time.

Lisa

HankL
Posts: 47

Posted:

Make sure you know what your documents and local jurisdictions say about late fees. Be wary of unpaid late fees becoming uncollectable. A hearing with the owner should be required before forgiving anything like late fees. Give the owner a chance with a planned catch-up scheme. If this results in a second failure, put all applicable late fees into the accounting record, as long as the owner was notify. Many times an owner cannot afford to live by the rules. Your are doing no one a favor by coddling such cases. They will assuredly required attention all out of proportion to other neighbors. Being a bad guy is sometimes part of the job.

VincentR (New Jersey)
Posts: 7

Posted:

Our policy is one time and one time only. We give them only one waiver of a late fee with good reason. The late fees are in place so that the board can count on the income to control the budget. Some residents will be asking every month to waive the fees and if you do you just placed yourself in for a lot of problems.

BeckyW (Georgia)
Posts: 34

Posted:

Our board has established a policy of not waiving late fees for the following reasons:

Our quarterly statement reminds that late fees will be imposed if the payment is not received by the due date.

our Covenants give a VERY generous 30-day grace period (and our BOD doesn't know of a mortgage company or credit card company who will do the same).

Consistency for all homeowners - "so-and-so got their late fees waived - why won't you waive ours?"

Lastly, our Board WILL proactively work with and waive future fees for any individual homeowner who comes forward FIRST with a hardship case - loss of job, for example. We have also set up payment plans for those in arrears and would waive future late fees and interest IF the homeowner kept to the plan.

Hope this point of view helps....

b.

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