BOD MIA

I live in Indiana. Our HOA has not sent an Invoice for 2008 dues. I have contacted them through the phone number (voice mail) and their website but receive no reply. I do not have the names of any board memebers. I also am concerned with the lack of communication the board has provided in the last year. Does any one have an idea of how I find out what is going on with my HOA? Is there an 'offical' office in Indiana that monitors/enforces HOAs? Thanks for any help you can provide.

Also, If the HOA is a corporation, you can go to your Secretary of State and lookup the HOA corporation there (may have a website). Once you find the corp. you will see who the registered agent is and this is where the corp. receives official communications.

Maybe the problem is that CindyS1 would like to know where her money winds up after she sends it in. Maybe her money, and that of the other members as well, provides lining for pockets.

Too many people send in their hard-earned bucks or their piddly little SS money without asking what happens to it.

If it were me, I would refuse to pay until I received a budget for 2008 that has been approved by the BOD along with a financial statement for 2007.

Just my opinion.

>>SkuddleM said: " If it were me, I would refuse to pay until I received a budget for 2008 that has been approved by the BOD along with a financial statement for 2007."<<

>In which case, in our HOA, you would then default, we would assess a late penalty, and, if payment is still not received by a specific date, we would file a lien.>

Agreed.

>In which case THEN you would have to pay the original amount due, plus late fees, penalties, and legal fees for processing and releasing lien.<

Disagree.

Let's be realistic. The average property in my subdivision is worth about $275,000. Let's say that five years ago some bozo decided he's not going to pay his assessment anymore. So the HOA penalizes him $50 each year, and adds $100 to cover filing fees and a letter or two from the attorney. That's effectively $300 a year. Here's the usual rhetoric:

"To he11 with you and your assessment. I don't like the way the Board president parts his hair, I don't like you or the horse you rode in on, and nobody is going to make me do anything I don't want to do. Go ahead and file your liens. Think I care? C'mon, get a life! In a couple of years, when I sell my house and I'll get $300K for it hands down. I'll just deduct assessments and crap from the $250K I'll net at that time. You'll get your $2,100 then. That's less than 1% of my net profit. 'Till then, pi$$ off. Get lost. Go find a hole, crawl into it and die.

"And take your assessments and covenants and BOD and all the other BS with you... blah blah blah"

So how do you deal with idiots like that???

Of course the guy's all wet, but until it becomes uneconomical to maintain such an attitude, he ain't a-gonna change. He's a 1%-er.

What I'm saying is an HOA must have an effective deterrent in place to help avoid these situations. In my case, the HOA membership voted to amend its bylaws to add a $2 per day per lien penalty of all outstanding and new liens. Maybe that'll help, maybe it won't.

It's a sad fact, but ccrs and other contracts aren't worth the paper they're written on. The only thing that has value is the $$ in the pocket of he who wishes to enforce a contract. Sure, the HOA could go to small claims court, after the mandatory mediation phase. And will probably win. Win what?? Win a judgement. So what? Having a judgement is not the same as having the money. So off you go to a bill collector. HA HA HA. No bill collecter in these parts will touch anything under $1000. They don't even return telephone calls unless they think they can net at least $500 on a deal. So given the time and effort, is it worth it? I don't think so. I'll just let it become an accrual or whateveritisyoucallit on the financial statement.

Just keep turning the crank. Assess each year. Add the $50 penalty. Tell the lawyer to write a dunning letter. Record another lien. Grab another $100. Sooner or later, the HOA will get its money.

Maybe. If the guy goes bankrupt or goes through a property tax foreclosure, the HOA is SOL.

>The CC&Rs don't say you can withhold payment until you get to see and review an approved budget and financial statement. They say you must pay by due date. Period.<

Agree. But so what? Whether you or I agree is moot. The only thing that matters is what a judge says, and whether an HOA wants to spend the money to find out.

Covenants? They are only as good as their enforcement. Everybody bitches and whines about this trash can being left out, and that RV parked in the front yard, and those antennas sticking up in the air, but that's all they want to do - complain and let somebody else take care of the problem, and then lambast him when for whatever reason, he cannot. For example, colorado has a one-year statute of limitations on CIC CCRs and the year begins when whoever is responsible for a noticing covenant violation SHOULD HAVE noticed it, not just when he actually noticed it. Those who violate the covenants scream "selective enforcement" and those who complain about it scream "selective unenforcement". Can't win for losing.

Wow! What a rant! Guess you pushed my button. This has really gone off-topic, so I'll end. I'm sure you know where I am coming from.

SkuddleM said: " >In which case THEN you would have to pay the original amount due, plus late fees, penalties, and legal fees for processing and releasing lien.<

Disagree. "

and also some rambling nothing about CC&Rs not being worth the paper they're written on.

You may disagree with me regarding the above, but you would still be wrong, in both cases.

What do I care if when he closes the amount is less than 1% of his house? The HOA will still get it's money, PLUS all the penalties and other fees. In our HOA the penalty is 50% of the annual assessment, each year it goes unpaid, plus the next year, if unpaid, and a penalty on THAT amount. In 5 years' time, that can add up and when he does sell, the original assessment for each year, plus the ensuing penalties will be paid to us.

What? We're supposed to be in this to "teach a lesson" somewhere along the line? Sorry. That's not part of the agenda. We've never had a lien that has not ultimately been paid. We don't have to file a lien every year. We just keep a running tally, when a closing lawyer calls to get the lien release payoff amount, we add it all up and that's what we get. Even in cases of bankruptcy, which we've only had one lien in a case where someone ended up in bankruptcy. Guess what? We still get our money, a trickle at a time, but we still get it.

Oh, and I will correct that, we did have ONE home with a lien go into foreclosure. Foreclosure is the ONLY thing that voids our lien. So ONE guy got away with it. Out of 300.

Too bad for you that you seem to feel collections people won't touch you. Must stink to be in your area. Where we are, I don't know of any collections people that turn any clients down.

To be honest, I do think your post is a rant and I do think a high percentage of it is blown smoke.

Hope your team won in the Super Bowl. Maybe that will improve your mood.

I'll try. Since 2000:

If an assessment is paid in full within 60 days of its due date, the Association is obliged to add a $50 penalty to the assessment.

If an assessment is not paid in full within 90 days of its due date, the Association may record a lien against the property.

At our 2008 annual membership meeting, a motion was made and carried to add a $2 penalty in addition to the lien. The penalty would begin on the 91st day after the assessment due date. The penalty would increase by $2 each day until the entire account was paid in full. Should a lot owner have an assessment lien from a previous year, a $2 penalty per day would be levied on that lien as well.

I'm not sure this will fly. Assessments are currently $200 annually. At a rate of $2 per day, after 100 days the penalties would total $200. That's 100 percent of the principle, and in just over 3 months. Multiply that times 4 and the total penalties for a year would be $600, or an annual rate of 300 percent. I don't think that is lawful in any state and the HOA attorney is in the process of determining what the maximum interest rate is in Colorado and which statute documents that rate.

What the HOA winds up with will probably be a substantially lower rate.

Hope that clears it up a bit.