HOA doesn’t respond to questions

Started by FranC2 • 17 replies • 421 views

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FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

I’m located in Florida. My HOA only provides P.O. Box, email and Facebook contact, no phone number. Invoices for yearly dues usually go out to members in December. Because I haven’t received one, I’ve tried contacting them and asking when I could expect to receive one, but with no luck. I may be wrong, but I think they are ignoring my requests because I raised an issue with them last year that they were not happy about.

I know the laws governing requests for documents, but I’m not sure is this falls into that category. Any help would be appreciated.

SheliaH (Indiana)
Posts: 6,964

Posted:

Is your community self-managed? That may explain some of this, although it's not a good excuse. I hope these people aren't trying to set you up because of whatever issue you raised last year, but people are vindictive these days. Ask your neighbors if they've received the information - you want to be sure you pay in full. Then go to the next board meeting and express your concern. I hope you kept a copy of the email or letter you sent - show it to them and see what they have to say. A good board will apologize profusely and ensure they have your contact information so this doesn't happen again.

If that doesn't work, you may have to resort to having a private attorney sending a letter.

If it is not right do not do it; if it is not true do not say it. Marcus Aurelius

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

I agree with SheliaH: Regardless of whether you received an invoice, the covenants //require// payment of the assessment. Pay what you know you owe, and do so on time, or this HOA may very well make trouble for you.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

You know your in a HOA. Which means you have to pay dues. Whether or not they send you something to tell you. Pay the dues ASAP. Otherwise the HOA will be contacting you with not so good news and questions of their own...

Former HOA President

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Yes, self managed. I have copies of everything. I will ask my neighbors, but I was hoping they would answer.

Thanks.

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MelissaP1 on 03/06/2023 8:04 AM
You know your in a HOA. Which means you have to pay dues. Whether or not they send you something to tell you. Pay the dues ASAP. Otherwise the HOA will be contacting you with not so good news and questions of their own...

I would pay it if I knew the amount. It changes yearly.

Thanks.

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By ElleN on 03/06/2023 7:42 AM
I agree with SheliaH: Regardless of whether you received an invoice, the covenants //require// payment of the assessment. Pay what you know you owe, and do so on time, or this HOA may very well make trouble for you.

I agree, thanks.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

It's possible that nobody is looking at the emails.
It's possible that no one on the board is actually looking at facebook.

As others said, talk to your neighbors; find out what the assessment amount was and pay them.
I would include a note with the payment that you did not receive a notice/payment book and requests to the board went unanswered.

See if you get a response then.

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By TimB4 on 03/06/2023 10:11 AM
It's possible that nobody is looking at the emails.
It's possible that no one on the board is actually looking at facebook.

As others said, talk to your neighbors; find out what the assessment amount was and pay them.
I would include a note with the payment that you did not receive a notice/payment book and requests to the board went unanswered.

See if you get a response then.

It's also possible nobody reads the mail sent to their P.O. Box, but hey, nobody needs to communicate with the people who takes our money.

ElleN (Idaho)
Posts: 4,420

Posted:

FranC2, consider a formal request to inspect Board meeting minutes of the past year. FS 720 requires the board to provide the Minutes for inspection upon request. The Minutes should speak of whether there is an increase in the dues. Address the request to the registered agent of the HOA, as listed on the Florida Secretary of State site, corporations section. Send the request registered mail, return receipt requested.

FS 720 says the board has ten days to comply with the request.

You should review FS 720 and mention the relevant sections in your request. Be polite and just-the-facts.

LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009

Posted:

Also, the yearly budget is supposed to be one of the documents you can request in Florida. That would tell you what the monthly dues are. I would include that in your polite records request.

MaxB4
Posts: 3,513

Posted:

I can't believe the responses here, (well actually I can). The OP stated they CANNOT get any answer from the PM.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MaxB4 on 03/06/2023 4:06 PM
I can't believe the responses here, (well actually I can). The OP stated they CANNOT get any answer from the PM.

Actually, she posted HOA not the PM.

If the HOA uses a MC, then the PM could be the issue.
However, the OP said the HOA was self managed.

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By LoriM15 on 03/06/2023 3:25 PM
Also, the yearly budget is supposed to be one of the documents you can request in Florida. That would tell you what the monthly dues are. I would include that in your polite records request.

I agree, I would have to send the request to the registered agents home as the HOA only has a P.O. Box, but it’s something to think about.

I used to know FS 720 like the back of my hand, it’s been quite awhile since I had to refer back to them. I’ll review them again for updates.

Thanks.

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By FranC2 on 03/06/2023 10:51 PM

Oops, this should have been directed at ElleN, sorry.

JimC24 (Connecticut)
Posts: 60

Posted:

If the HOA files as a business, you may find some information on the Secretary of State website. If they don't file as a business - then they are taking a lot of risk as individuals not having the protection of a corporate entity. This may help. I don't want to alarm you but I've seen first hand what can happen in a self managed condo. Managing a condo - at least my condo is a pretty thankless job and some people become apathetic. When there is not good transparency on the finances, some people will start to take advantage of situation. We had a treasurer was supporting his lifestyle and taking money from an ATM from the condo account at a casino. When I became Condo president - I asked for access to the account and he did everything he could to evade me. Eventually I got into the account - but it wasn't easy - everyone knew him and he came off as a likeable person where no one knew me. It took years to recover the funds. The good thing was he was letting people get away without paying dues. I don't know why - maybe he figured if he doesn't call them out for not paying maybe they won't check up on him. I say it's a good thing because we were able to recover the money before he squandered it. The Treasurer may be a bit of an outlier - most people won't directly steal the money from the account. But I was surprised on how many people would try to take advantage of the situation and just not pay dues if they weren't monitored closely. I found myself in the position where I was sometimes chasing my neighbors around asking them to pay back condo dues. That did not make me the most popular person at the condo. The moral of the story is that it is often less expensive to have a disinterested third party managing the condo instead of a self managed condo. Also - it doesn't sound like there is much transparency at your condo and that is never a good thing. I wouldn't give up - it may take a while to get the documents you are seeking. Our treasurer actually forged documents to get me off the trail - but the account items on the financial statements did not add to the totals. The people at the bank we astonished when they compared the documents he gave me (that were photoshopped) with the originals.

FranC2 (Florida)
Posts: 19

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By JimC24 on 03/07/2023 3:38 PM
If the HOA files as a business, you may find some information on the Secretary of State website. If they don't file as a business - then they are taking a lot of risk as individuals not having the protection of a corporate entity. This may help. I don't want to alarm you but I've seen first hand what can happen in a self managed condo. Managing a condo - at least my condo is a pretty thankless job and some people become apathetic. When there is not good transparency on the finances, some people will start to take advantage of situation. We had a treasurer was supporting his lifestyle and taking money from an ATM from the condo account at a casino. When I became Condo president - I asked for access to the account and he did everything he could to evade me. Eventually I got into the account - but it wasn't easy - everyone knew him and he came off as a likeable person where no one knew me. It took years to recover the funds. The good thing was he was letting people get away without paying dues. I don't know why - maybe he figured if he doesn't call them out for not paying maybe they won't check up on him. I say it's a good thing because we were able to recover the money before he squandered it. The Treasurer may be a bit of an outlier - most people won't directly steal the money from the account. But I was surprised on how many people would try to take advantage of the situation and just not pay dues if they weren't monitored closely. I found myself in the position where I was sometimes chasing my neighbors around asking them to pay back condo dues. That did not make me the most popular person at the condo. The moral of the story is that it is often less expensive to have a disinterested third party managing the condo instead of a self managed condo. Also - it doesn't sound like there is much transparency at your condo and that is never a good thing. I wouldn't give up - it may take a while to get the documents you are seeking. Our treasurer actually forged documents to get me off the trail - but the account items on the financial statements did not add to the totals. The people at the bank we astonished when they compared the documents he gave me (that were photoshopped) with the originals.

Wow, what you went through is insane! I agree with you, transparency is essential. I did obtain pertinent information on the board through the Division of Corporations, which is where I found out they lost two board members 🙄. It looks like my neighbors didn’t receive an invoice either, at this point I think I would prefer dealing with a MC, even if it would cost a little more.

Thanks for the info, and I’m glad you got your situation under control.

PeteG4 (Florida)
Posts: 2

Posted:

I happen to be Treasurer at our HOA and I love to tell our members about THERE own money. I tell our members they can ask me any financial question they can think of and I'll answer it to the best of my ability. Sometimes, they don't like the answer but it is the financial truth, period.

I will say, it seems like our community hasn't had this type of transparency before.

All I can say is I'm not going to jail for something I did with other peoples money... NO WAY!

BTW - in Florida one can check the org. by going to SUNBIZ.org

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