How can Collections Lawyers get away with out serving a person papers for a lien

Over the last 30 years our HOA has been involved in about 100 liens put on people's homes. typically the lawyer charges around $500 for this process and the late amount due is around $200-$400. Most people are just forgetful and are pissed about the $500 fee. We've solved this issue by simply hiring someone to post reminders on people's door.

Upon researching this issue and reading past court filing I've discovered that the property mgt collections lawyer's which are also out lawyer (yeah I know, but that's how it was) never had papers served as NC 47f-3-116 requires? Turns out it's industry wide practice because supposedly 90% pay without tryign to fight it and unless the owner is legally savy and specifically mentions the statue's requirements, many judges will not accept I never signed the certified letter tactic.

Seems illegal to me. the fact that the register of deeds doesn't even bother to require proof of attempted service is corrupt as heck.

not really true. try recording a lien with out a certificate of attempted service and they will reject the lien filiing because it does not meet statuatory requirements. it would take an exra few seconds for a lawyer to attach an attempt opf personal service to any lien and any clerk could then reject the lien if that was not included. it's a corrupt system.

the only saving grace is that a judge would probably be forced to dismiss a fore closure if an owners brought up the defective lien service at the foreclosure hearing forcing the hoa to start over and do it right.

You tend to blame your now former property manager for a lot and while I’ll take your word that they provided piss poor service, your community is now self-managed, and it’s time to stop blaming other people for the board’s lack of follow through. Especially when it comes to legal action – assume nothing and ask as many questions as you need to so you know what you’re getting into.

In this case, are you saying no one bothered to contact the recorder’s office, sheriff’s department or whoever serves liens in your area to find out what the process actually was? No one thought to ask the attorney “hey, we’re having trouble getting this homeowner(s) to pay assessments and we’d like to file a lien against their home. What’s the procedure, how much does this cost, etc.?” All of which should have been addressed before the lien was filed.

As far as people being pissed about the $500, that’s unfortunate, but that means they’ll have to find a way to remember. If assessments are paid one a year in January, what’s wrong with setting a reminder on your phone or laptop, or just writing the due date on the kitchen calendar. Nothing like a hefty late fee to remind everyone not to mess around when money’s owed to someone else. I had some late fees for various bills last year because a lot of personal stuff was going on at the time. Fortunately, it was a handful of bills, but I put everything on automatic bill pay and now I can check my account to ensure the bills are paid and I got an email receipt.

And you’re right that it wasn’t a good idea for the attorney to represent your community AND the property manager. If no one else was available, I’d want assurances that once they got the account, the property manager doesn’t do anything else. When our delinquent accounts are sent to our attorney, he always sends a letter to the homeowner first to let them know things have gotten serious and they need to contact him to get the delinquency resolved. If there was no answer, a lawsuit and lien ensue. We want to get the lien on file as soon as possible because too many other weird things can (and have) happened.

I don’t know if this has resulted in your losing money from delinquencies, but I hope you consider this a lesson learned. Tim showed you what the register of deeds is responsible for, so, you now understand what the recorder does. Here’s what I found with Google AI, but it’s best that you check this information yourself – live and learn:

“In South Carolina, Homeowners Associations (HOAs) must send written notice of delinquency and wait at least 15 days before filing a lien for unpaid assessments, fines, or fees. Recent legislative changes require these liens to be served on homeowners via certified mail. While HOAs can place liens and initiate judicial foreclosures for unpaid debt, they are prohibited from enforcing provisions that allow for automatic foreclosure. Key details include:

• Notice Requirements: Before a lien is recorded, the HOA must send a statement of the assessment amount due at least 15 days prior.
• Service Method: Senate Bill 312 (2023-2024) mandates that claims of lien must be served on the owner by certified mail.
• Content of Lien: The lien document must clearly inform the owner that a lien is being placed on their property.
• Foreclosure and Fees: While HOAs can foreclose, recent changes have aimed to curb certain foreclosure practices for fines or attorney fees.
• Dispute Process: Homeowners can challenge fees or liens, sometimes by taking monetary disputes under $7,500 to a magistrate's court.

If a lien is filed, it secures the debt and may prevent a homeowner from selling or refinancing their property until the debt is paid."

Our HOA mails a notice by 1st class mail and files the lien. The owner has previously received notices of failure to pay from the HOA, had late fees applied to their account, received a previous letter from the attorney for payment and have been billed both late fees and attorney fees
It’s not like the home owner was totally unaware they owed the HOA money for several months.

The reason our attorney doesn’t send notices registered mail is because dead beats won’t sign for them and can claim they never received the notice.

36 delinquent accounts when we started
0 delinquent accounts right now a few years latter.

I read some articles on the psychology of collections and it turns out pretty much every technique the former mgt company suggested was creating barriers where most of our current techniques align with what psychologist recommend is the correct strategy. The longer I am on the HOA board the more I see almost all issues as being grounded in psychology and not laws or fiduciary duties.

The way I see it --

-- If people are not held responsible for their debts, then they will not be responsible.

-- Bankruptcy is one example of our government being generous. Student loan forgiveness is another example.

-- Asking banks and HOAs to overlook consumer debt undermines a mostly functional capitalist system.

If the HOA does not need the money then it should lower the annual assessment that owners pay.

Completely unnecessary.
1. Record an assessment lien.
2. If no response, payment, or payment plan, file in Small Claims Court for $150. including service.
3. When HOA wins, it will have a judgment lien which replaces the assessment lien.
4. Now the HOA has a general lien not just a specific lien. It can attach bank account, or take a vehicle, or any property of member.
5. Don't hate your neighbor while making lawyers rich.

That in fact was an option on our last ballot. Owners surprisingly choose to spend a little more on improving our park. For every newsletter for the past 3 years I've asked people what we should do with all the extra funds we have and no one has any ideas. when I suggest the board should offer a refund this past ballot it was voted down by other board members.

None of this is based on logic. I can't even get other board members to submit a budget that is balanced or has reasonable numbers. it's based on Loss Aversion: The psychological pain of losing is felt twice as intensely as the pleasure of gaining, leading people to avoid cutting funding.

thank you this is exactly what I'm recommending to fellow board members.
I'm glad ecourts allows it to be mostly done online, except for service but there are ways to do service online through 3rd parties. that being said it's a pain in the butt and a lot to ask of a volunteer. Had to make appointment to get release of lien notarized and then mail that to the Deeds office recently.

LOL, you really do have a control problem. Funny how you get so upset over matters that I've resolved in ways you do not approve of. if the laws allow 3 people to unfairly have their homes taken away in random ways that means anyone can have their home taken away. I dont' care if it was only 1 person, same problem. you didn't even read the article it states there were many cases and just talkes about 3 of them.
We do have a written policy and it's not to foreclose. I proposed it and over 2/3rd of owners agreed and it our CCR's were amended. maybe you should write the entire community and tell them how the are not doing the way Dean says they must be done!

I could ask you the same thing, you said you never foreclosed, so how are you collecting? stop throwing out false arguments that dont' even hold true for your own HOA.