Collecting Past Due Assessments..GA

I was recently elected Treasurer of our homeowners assocation in Georgia. The community consists of 40 homes and has only been around for two years. Upon review of the financial information provided by the Management Company and touring the community we have many issues to overcome. Our assessments are $200 per year for each home (up from $150 the previous year) and we do not have any amenities. The management company charges $400 per month plus postage and supplies. The builder/developer promised an entrance sign for the subdivision that has never been built. A privacy fence the was erected along the main road was poorly built and is now warping and must be replaced and there are two detention ponds that have a great deal of vegetation growing inside of each. To top it all off, half of the howeowners have not paid there assessments and as you can imagine we do not have the funds to fix any of these problems. Any suggestions on how to go about collecting some of these monies that will not cost the HOA the little bit of money it does have? The Management company is not concerned with collecting the past due fees other then sending monthly invoices and charging the HOA, they make sure they get their fee from our account every month. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

ToniH1

Do you really need a MC? You may want to check into either running the HOA amongst yourselves or hiring a bookkeeper. If you don't have amenities, there's really not much the homeowner's can't handle amongst themselves. A MC can often times become a "crutch" to the HOA. If your willing to act as the treasurer and do your duties, you may want to consider getting rid of the MC and saving money.

I don't recommend that to everybody. However, it does sound like the MC is a major expense at this point more than it's a helpful. Plus, it sounds like time for a Special assessment amongst the owners to fix the fence if need be. Especially if the developer is gone out of the picture.

Remember, a HOA is ONLY funded by it's owners FOR it's owners. Any money it needs has to come from ALL the owners and divided evenly amongst them all despite individual benefit. I am sure the ones NOT living by the fence will complain they shouldn't pay. Everyone pays in a HOA if they want to keep the HOA in good condition.

You can start placing liens on the non-paying properties. Give the proper warning before doing so. Offer payment plans for those who want to catch up and can't afford it. I offer a plan that the person can double their dues payment until they catch up. That way they have their monthly dues covered PLUS a month's worth of back dues. I may waiver the late fees if they agree to the terms and do it.

Liens won't guarantee the money, but it won't let it leave. No one can sell their home until they pay the lien. Holds the owner to the ground literly. They can cost nothing to a few hundred dollars to file. So make sure the person owes more than the legal costs of filing the lien. You should get some action once they get a notice of possible lien.

Read a few other posts on here covering this subject. I believe it's been covered well. You may find some other hints.

Thank you for the information. The management company is the same company that the developer used prior to turnover. We did have an entrance sign prior to the turnover but the builder/developer tore it down afterwards and the explanation given was that it was too big. Unfortunately, we later found out that this was untrue. The builder/developer promised another sign and that has been nearly two years ago.When I became the Treasurer back in March of this year, I asked for a copy of the contract(No One from the previous board seemed to have a copy)and they are not performing all the duties as specified in the contract. Unfortnately by the time I received a copy of the signed contract, the time period to notify of termination had already gone by. I do not have a copy of the turnover agreement. As it stands right now, we do not have enough money for a lawyer or a landscaper. There is only enough monies available to pay the Management Company until the end of the year. of course, if we can get the rest of the homeowners to pay there fees we would be in much better shape. However, we cannot even afford to place liens on the properties right now.

Toni - does your contract allow you to cancel with say 30 days notice? Since they are not performing what they agreed to in the contract, maybe you can cancel for non performance.
I have found keeping the developer's MC after transition is not a good idea. I'm not sure you even need an MC. A good accountant can handle the dues and will cost a fraction of what you are paying the MC and leave funds for the landscaper to maintain your two retention basins. Good luck. Harold