Name and Shame List

Hi Everyone,

Florida HOA: I am working on the community Financials and one thing I wanted to try and share with the community this year is a document that allows us view in more detail past due HOA Balances from home owners.
We usually have the same amount of people who are always late (months) we do collect late fees, interest and eventually send letters for collections/lien.

The community has never been updated on this topic, But I wanted to present to the board if we can start including this as part of our financials.
* Legally I am assuming I cannot put people's names on this report?

Just wondering what information can be share on this report without getting in trouble with residents' personal information. ( Names, Unit number ?)

If anyone has created a similar document, I would appreciate the feedback.

Thank you

NEVER, NEVER use names! As a practical matter, I have yet to see anywhere on this website where someone reported naming delinquent homeowners has resulted in them paying what they owe.

When I was board treasurer and this came up, my response was usually "if you really want to know, I'll give you a list of account numbers and the current amout owed. Pick one or several, pay those amounts and once the check clears, I'll send you and the formerly delinquent owner a letter saying what you did and now the owner is current. Now that you two know each other, what happens after that is between the two of you and the association will not get involved." No one ever took me up on that offer. Since an account number doesn't tell you who the owner is, it's a bunch of letters and numbers, which doesn't tell you anything, so there's no privacy issue.

When we had a newsletter (I was also editor), we used to publish a delinquency report and it provided numbers of delinquent owners and the total amount owed, as follows

# of owners 30 days late and total amount owed
# of owners 31-60 days late and total amount owed
# of owners 61-90 days late and total amount owed
# of owners over 90 days late and total amount owed
# of cases pending with the association attorney for collection
# of liens filed
# of cases in foreclosure
# of cases in bankruptcy

We would also remind people of the general terms of the collection policy, which states that delinquent homeowners must reimburse the association for all collection costs and attorney's fees incurred in collecting the debt. The policy with any updates is sent to homeowners every year with the upcoming year's annual budget.

That's all the information your community really needs to know - foreclosure and bankruptcy proceedings are filed in court, so if you were curious about a specific house, you could go to the bankruptcy court website and look it up, or check the legal announcements published in the newspaper (I might be the only one left who actually reads a newspaper!)

Correct. See Florida statute FS 559.72 (5) and the entirety of 559.72.

I would not use names or addresses. I believe use of either in a document going out to owners violates Florida law.

The best way to get owners to pay up is to take the one in the greatest arrears to court, using a collections attorney. Word will get around.

Note that per FS 720, any member who wants to know who is delinquent can request an inspection of records. Homeowner payment records are not exempt from this inspection. See FS 720.303 paragraph 5:

(5) INSPECTION AND COPYING OF RECORDS.—The official records shall be maintained within the state for at least 7 years and shall be made available to a parcel owner for inspection or photocopying within 45 miles of the community or within the county in which the association is located within 10 business days after receipt by the board or its designee of a written request. This subsection may be complied with by having a copy of the official records available for inspection or copying in the community or, at the option of the association, by making the records available to a parcel owner electronically via the Internet or by allowing the records to be viewed in electronic format on a computer screen and printed upon request. If the association has a photocopy machine available where the records are maintained, it must provide parcel owners with copies on request during the inspection if the entire request is limited to no more than 25 pages. An association shall allow a member or his or her authorized representative to use a portable device, including a smartphone, tablet, portable scanner, or any other technology capable of scanning or taking photographs, to make an electronic copy of the official records in lieu of the association’s providing the member or his or her authorized representative with a copy of such records. The association may not charge a fee to a member or his or her authorized representative for the use of a portable device.

I assume your late fee is at least 10% of the assessment due each month. If they are eventually becoming current and paying the late fees, why do you care?

The only suggestion I have is to turn the lien warnings over to your attorney and charge them late and attorney fees.

Very bad idea and unnecessary. Keep attorneys out of it. That's a good way to make it impossible for your neighbor to catch up and it's just plain lazy.

The individual HOA accounts are a part of the official records of the association and MUST be provided if an official records request is submitted. That includes name and address. However, that isn't the same as publishing a delinquencies list. I was on a HOA legal webinar yesterday where they specifically said you should not put the delinquencies list on your website with all the required documents that must be there.

We do list addresses on the agenda of a noticed meeting if we are suspending use of the facilities for non-payment or if we are fining. There's no way around that.

They also mentioned in the webinar that although the statute says you must keep a list of all members for the official records, when you are providing that list for a records request you only need name and address unless they have consented to electronic notification - then you need to provide the email address also.