Do I have to send a notice of lien after filing in Missouri?

Started by KarL • 7 replies • 1588 views

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KarL (Missouri)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Trying to figure out the order of events:

1. Send invoice for annual dues.

2. Send delinquent notices, reminding home owners.

3. 30 day Pre-lien / Demand for payment letter.

4. File lien.

My question is this:

After filing a hoa lien in Missouri, do you have to notify the parties that a lien was placed on their home?
of does the 30 day notice of lien and demand letter suffice?

Thanks!

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Karl,

Your process sounds right. Not as detailed as one would want but the general structure is correct.

My suggestion, rather then filing a lien on your own, have the Associations legal firm go through the collections process. They will make sure all the t's are crossed and i's dotted.

Lien laws vary by State.
Without reading your States statutes, I could not tell you the exact process.

When your dealing with legal paperwork (and that is what a lien is), it's best to obtain legal advice (at least that's my opinion).

I will tell you what our process is:

1) 30 day letter
2) 60 day letter
3) 90 day letter sent certified and first class mail
4) 120 day letter, notice of agenda item for Board to consider sending account to collections.
5) Notice of Boards decision.

After this, all communications are handled through our attorney with the costs being tacked on to what they owe (yes we have to pay it up front but we get the money back).

PaininyourA
Posts: 215

Posted:

My xxxHOA, Inc. procedure:

December notice of next year's assessment (payable monthly or any $ in advance).

30 day late - invoice

60 day late - demand letter incl. invoice

90 day late - record the lien with the Register of Deeds, final demand with 'legalese'

120 day late - attorney for collection

360 day late - foreclose

we have ONE home delinquent due to a reverse mtge. and improper handling by estate

PaulM25 (Missouri)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Karl:

We are a homeowners association in East Central MO. We follow your steps one and two although we do not have to do such a thing.

We have found that sharing the information that a lien has been filed with the holder of the homeowners mortgage does get things moving in the right direction.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

They are also may be put into a local newspaper. It's considered "Public notice". Foreclosures this is part of the process. Can find them in the Legal section of your newspaper. Each newspaper is different when they are printed and where. Ours does it once a week.

Former HOA President

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Our HOA Attorney's business specializes in owner associations and they also have an active collections department.

We collect quarterly dues. One quarter late and our MC sends a letter basically saying get caught up. Two quarters late another letter saying the matter will be turned over to the lawyer for a lien and possible foreclosure. If still behind by the 3rd quarter, we turn it over to our lawyer.

Lawyer first sends a letter demanding dues be caught up or they will begin liens, possible foreclosure, and the letter mentions credit bureau reporting. The lawyer charges us $60.00 for the letter then they await our reply. Most pay by now.

If still unpaid, we tell the lawyer to go. Lawyer files a lien and threatens foreclosure and credit reporting also the lawyer bills for their time. We had one now that is two years late so the $1,200.00 (two years dues) overdue has became $4K with all the late fees, interest, lawyer charges. They have reached out for a payment plan. Our attorney handles that. We have one other on a payment plan via the attorney.

We have had two bankruptcies which we wrote off. We have never gone to a foreclosure and I would recommend we never do.

ChrisP5 (Missouri)
Posts: 165

Posted:

Karl,

We are in Missouri and send late notice at 15, 30 and 60 days. After that it goes to the attorney for collections, most owners quickly take care of their obligations after getting a letter from our attorney. We assess the collections cost back to the owneR, we rarely have to eat the cost of collections.

JohnC46 (South Carolina)
Posts: 14,265

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JohnC46 on 11/14/2017 6:49 PM
Our HOA Attorney's business specializes in owner associations and they also have an active collections department.

We collect quarterly dues. One quarter late and our MC sends a letter basically saying get caught up. Two quarters late another letter saying the matter will be turned over to the lawyer for a lien and possible foreclosure. If still behind by the 3rd quarter, we turn it over to our lawyer.

Lawyer first sends a letter demanding dues be caught up or they will begin liens, possible foreclosure, and the letter mentions credit bureau reporting. The lawyer charges us $60.00 for the letter then they await our reply. Most pay by now.

If still unpaid, we tell the lawyer to go. Lawyer files a lien and threatens foreclosure and credit reporting also the lawyer bills for their time. We had one now that is two years late so the $1,200.00 (two years dues) overdue has became $4K with all the late fees, interest, lawyer charges. They have reached out for a payment plan. Our attorney handles that. We have one other on a payment plan via the attorney.

We have had two bankruptcies which we wrote off. We have never gone to a foreclosure and I would recommend we never do.

UPDATE

The BOD has decided to toughen up our collection policy. We pay quarterly. Presently we do not get our lawyer/collector involved until one is 3 quarters late. We are moving that up to two quarters late.

60 days late, polite letter from MC.

120 days late, letter from MC threatening to turn the matter over to lawyer.

180 days late, letter from lawyer threatening lien, foreclosure, credit bureau reporting, etc. We are charged $100 for this letter. We add this amount to the amount due. Our MC kicks this off.

210 days late, letter from lawyer that lien has been filed and saying foreclosure in commencing. Lawyer now handles any collection including their fees. Our MC kicks this off.

We have never foreclosed and do not intend to do so.

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