A service of:
Community123.com
Professional websites for HOAs & condos, since 2004
🎁 1st year FREE for HOATalk members! →
← Return to Topics List

HOA retroactive fees

Started by SilvanaC • 8 replies • 221 views

💬 Join us to post & get advice from 50,000 HOA & Condo leaders.

Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in

SilvanaC (Florida)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Our HOA board informed us on September of 2023 that they are raising the monthly fee and they imposed it from January 2023, making unit owners owed money from January to September. Is that legal? or what working should I look into our documents to see if that is allowed in our community. This is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Thanks in advance for your input.
CathyA3 (Ohio)
Posts: 6,299
Posted:
I think what's probably going on is that they under-budgeted for that time period and under-assessed as a result. Or a vendor submitted their bill after the calendar year and somehow everyone forgot about it, but that happens less often. Now the community is in a financial hole that needs to be filled.

Community associations can't engage in deficit spending, and obviously you can't go back in time to do things over correctly. You can only correct going forward, either in the form of higher regular assessments or a special assessment or a loan that needs to be repaid. All of these mean high assessments.

There should be financial info supporting the increase. For instance, compare budgets for 2022, 2023, and 2024. There should be big jumps in some categories. Insurance is a likely one, since we're hearing about large, unexpected increases in communities' insurance premiums. Or storm damage, since y'all get hurricanes down there. Or inadequate reserves - state laws are being changed in response to the Surfside condo collapse, so many condo communities should be seeing increased assessments resulting from stricter requirements.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059
Posted:
To know if it's legal or not you need to ask an attorney.

Prices have risen everywhere, even for Associations. From postings on this site, I'm aware that insurance costs have almost doubled in FL. Therefore, I can understand why an Association would have to raise assessments.

This occurred, per your posting, 3+ months ago. Without reading your documents or the minutes of the meeting where the issue was decided, it's difficult to determine if what was done was proper or not.

I believe a better way to have done this would have been to impose a special assessment and increase the fees for this year.
LoriM15 (Florida)
Posts: 1,009
Posted:
I would think technically this is a special assessment. Did they ask you to make a payment of the extra amount all at once in September or October?

In order to do a special assessment, they would have had to let you know in advance of the meeting where they were going to discuss the special assessment. Did you get any notice? We really need more details.

It is legal for the board to raise fees at any time in Florida, but there should be notice in advance in some situations.
TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059
Posted:
Silvana,

Realistically, and it may be difficult to read, you have the following options:

1) Pay the amount
2) Bring legal action against the board (may cost more then you have to pay & you may or may not win - check with an attorney)
3) Gather support, find volunteers to serve (perhaps you'll be one) and vote the board out at the next election.
4) Gather support, find volunteers to serve (perhaps you'll be one) and recall the board.
SilvanaC (Florida)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Thank you all for your input. It makes sense what you all said. I was told There was not an approved budget in 2022 or early 2023. We had to pay from Jan to Sept all in one payment, plus add 3 other special assessments, a total of $7K at once. From September, the monthly fee went from $200 to $700. Thank you all.
SilvanaC (Florida)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Thank you all for your input. It makes sense what you all said. I was told There was not an approved budget in 2022 or early 2023. We had to pay from Jan to Sept all in one payment, plus add 3 other special assessments, a total of $7K at once. From September, the monthly fee went from $200 to $700. Thank you all.
SilvanaC (Florida)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Thank you all for your input. It makes sense what you all said. I was told There was not an approved budget in 2022 or early 2023. We had to pay from Jan to Sept all in one payment, plus add 3 other special assessments, a total of $7K at once. From September, the monthly fee went from $200 to $700. Thank you all.
SilvanaC (Florida)
Posts: 5
Posted:
Thank you all for your input. It makes sense what you all said. I was told There was not an approved budget in 2022 or early 2023. We had to pay from Jan to Sept all in one payment, plus add 3 other special assessments, a total of $7K at once. From September, the monthly fee went from $200 to $700. Thank you all.

🎯 You've read this entire discussion

Join the conversation with 50,000 HOA & Condo Leaders:

  • ✓ Ask follow-up questions
  • ✓ Share your experience
  • ✓ Get expert advice
  • ✓ Access 350,000 discussions
Create Free Account →

⚡ Takes 30 seconds

Already a member? Log in here

Terms of Use and Privacy Statement