Restriction to use common areas

Greetings all. New to this forum and am seeking help.

I am the treasurer for our POA and trying to collect delinquent dues from a homeowner. They are two years in arrears. I have sent notices requesting payment, have notified their mortgage company of nonpayment, filed Notice of Assessment Lien, but get no response.

I am now writing a 209 Notice (Oh, I'm in Texas by the way and this is a small subdivision as opposed to a condominium association) to restrict their usage of any common areas until the dues, interest, and late fees are paid. My question is if the delinquent homeowner ignores the restriction and continues to use the facilities, what recourse is available? Our CCR's are silent on this. Seems to me it would constitute trespassing, but I'm not an attorney and don't know the answer. I would like to include the threat of some action on our part in the 209 Notice.

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Much appreciated!

-- From my experience, and writing as a non-attorney but someone who reads a lot on subjects like this, I would forget about trespassing. The Owner lawfully has an "interest" in the common area, recorded with the county clerk, meaning he or she has rights of ownership. It would take a court ruling to say the owner no longer has this interest. To get such a ruling would require a lot. I am not sure the HOA would prevail on the point.

-- Do your governing documents allow your HOA to fine? If so, consider giving the member a warning that continued use of common areas, while he/she is suspended from such use, will result in fines. Then start fining.

-- I suppose your HOA could seek an injunction in court to stop the owner from using the common area. If the court agrees with the HOA and issues an injunction, then it's possible the police may be a resource for enforcing the injunction.

-- I trust you are complying with all the requirements in Chapter 209 for suspending use of amenities.

-- At some point I hope your HOA may consider hiring a collections-specialized attorney.

I would wait for a property manager like either BarbaraT or BillH to give their two cents as they actually practice in the State of Texas.

Thank you all for the replies. @Barbara, yes, please I need a recommendation for an attorney to handle this. I don't see a way to contact you offline; I'm unfamiliar with how this forum works.

Me either! I don't want to use my work email because that would reveal the company I work for and we can't do that, I don't want to give my personal email or I will get spam.

There are two firms that cover most of Texas that I recommend, and one other that works in the DFW area. There's really only one firm I would strenuously tell you to avoid and it begins with M.