Rebill fee

Hi I live in Arizona and my HOA is charging a rebilling fee, but in the letter they sent they call it a late notice, this is on top of the late fee charged (15.00 maximum). The issue that I have is this fee was never disclosed and it's not listed in the CC&R's or any billing policy/procedure. I have asked our property manager for a disclosure of all fees and they keep going back to a part in the CC&R's where it says the homeowner is responsible for all fees under a part of the CC&R's that talks about collections, attorney fees, etc. I agree with that part under the assumption that all fees would be disclosed. What's to stop the HOA from creating some outrageous HOA Fee or violation? Doesn't all of this have to be disclosed?

The HOA is horribly managed. This is the first time that they have charged such a fee and under the previous 3 years, this fee was never charged. We recently received an update to the violation enforcement policy. Even under this policy, it lists the fine guidelines and the collection policy the fee is never mentioned. It lists the entire outline of when someone is late and what is done, but the fee is never mentioned.

I also requested a copy of the contract that the management company has with the HOA and financial disclosure. They have yet to respond back.

The HOA is still under builder control and will be for the next few years. I keep going in circles with the manager about how the fee isnt disclosed and she keeps saying that I'm responsible for all fees, but I feel that it's unreasonable to charge a fee that wasn't disclosed. I really feel like the HOA is hiding something and they wont be open and honest. To me this seems like a money grab.

We have a person that has not paid dues for 4 years. They owe $2,400 in dues and with late charges, interest charges, lawyer fees, etc. they now owe close to $6,500. That stuff adds up. I am all for penalties if one does not pay on time. After all, they did agree to pay on time so the problem is theirs.

The amount of the fee will probably not be in any documents. Fees go up over time. Late fees will not be the same amount 10 years from now.

Ditto what GenoS said. My favorite HOA attorney made clear that the Association had to have a clearly defined fee and penalty schedule. Else the courts would look unfavorably on the HOA in any legal challenge.

Robert, your HOA's business manager is either incompetent, or he or she has not told you that the Developer is not responding to the manager when the manager makes queries on the point.

Here's a thought: You could file a complaint with the Florida BBB about the developer. Of course, this might make you vulnerable to retaliation, so consider this carefully.