Sample Assessment Notices

CharlesM2: Sounds like you are going to a lot of effort 4 times a year, with a hefty postage expense. Have you thought of sending out the quarterly notices all at once in one envelope, much like coupons. Perhaps in December for the next year? It would save on postage, the resident has them in hand, and you could make them look professional with space for unit number, name, payment due by:, etc.

Charles,
We prefer sending out statements every quarter using a double window #10 envelope. We also include such items as newsletter, notice of annual meeting, proposed budget, and other information as appropriate at the time. Our statements are created in Peachtree using a format we created. In addtion to the amount and date due also list the billings and receipts since the last billing. Also, monthly delinquent statements are mailed and when applicable include lien warning (50 days statement) and notice of intent to lien (90 days statement).

There are advantages and disadvantages of mailing statements vs. coupons. Coupons mailed to a bank lockbox are preferred by management companies. This saves effort by the MC. Coupons mailed to a lockbox also can have the micorcode misread and applied to the wrong account. Coupons also have the problem of misplacing and/or forgetting them so delinquencies are greater. Also, use of a lockbox results in less interest income because someone has to pay for the bank's efforts. What some Board's don't realize is that the HOA pays for this hidden cost. So this system often costs the HOA more while providing greater profit to the MC.

Mailing quarterly statements results in less delinquencies but takes more effort. We do not return envelope is not provided when mailing statements. The cost is often less for mailing than using a lockbox. And usually additional information is included with the statement so mailing costs are minimized.

Mike - the problem with billpay remittances is that they do not appear to allow sufficient information to be entered so that the correct unit is identified. A good lockbox provider will take the time to research these items. As far as having the P.M. collect the checks locally, did they give you that assurance? Seems rather strange, since most P.M.'s would rather not have to perform data entry of each payment rec'd, and as Roger mentioned, it's not in the best "profit" interests of the P.M.
We provide no cost lockbox services, while we pay interest on your account, so the old adage applies - shop around.

Roger,

I respectfully disagree with the lock box theory. We instituted a lock box 2 years ago. We do have a payment go awry once in a while but on the whole it has worked out very well. We send out a coupon book in December for the up coming year, with 4 quarterly payment coupons and the approved budget. This costs us about $380. to every homeowner. If we had to send out one coupon for each quarter, it would cost $170. per quarter. We have less delinquency now than every before in our HOA history. We have a monthly BOD meeting and we always remind people of the next payment. We also have a monthly newsletter and the quarters are perpetually posted.

The bank we deal with is one that was referred from this website. We do not pay any extra fees, although this is something I have worked out with the bank ( no lower interest rate either). The monies we have on deposit with them give our community some pull. We pay nothing for coupon printing either. This amounted to over $1,100 last year before I changed banks. I have never dealt with a bank that specializes in HOA business but it has been a wonderful experience. To speak with someone who knows the ins and outs of HOA's is great. There is no explaining because they understand HOAs and the products they offer are fantastic.

We also utilize the on-line banking. It is paid directly to the bank and we can access to the monies within 24 hours. Re-occurring debits or ACH are also used.

The labor of posting each check to each account was not efficient. We could have cut one office personnel hours in half, because of the lock box. We utilize her elsewhere so it was not required.

What is your interest rate? The banks I know of in Colorado pay a very low interest rate.

This is all good info. I'm the Treasurer and I do all of the accounting, bookkeeping, taxes, etc. for free. And I like to have a local address where people send their checks to. Both the HOA and I use the same bank so it's easy for me to go to the bank/ATM to do deposits. Also, I never write physical checks for the HOA anymore. I use online bill-pay to pay all of the associations bills. Works wonderfully. And I also receive payments from 4 or 5 homeowners that use online bill pay without a problem.

I don't mind printing, stuffing, mailing the statements to homeowners. And I think it's pretty cool that they get envelopes with their names printed on them. I just want to up the ante with the look and feel of something more official.

I'd still like see samples of invoices/statements if anyone's willing to share. I'd be willing to provide a fax number if that would make it easier than scanning and posting.

Regards,
Charles

Roger - I have emailed them to you, along with details about our current promotion.