What goes on in the lien process?

Charles, each state may have different laws on filing liens. In Colorado, I file liens for HOA's for a total cost of $50.00 for each filing of Notice of Lien or Release of Lien. The process used is to notify the owner 30 days in advance and if payment, or partial payment, is not received I draft the document and file it with the Clerk and Recorder of the County involved. A photocopy of the lien is provided to the owner with the next month's delinquency notice.

I don't know why you think the homeowner would go to court to challenge a lien. The Board would not lose if the delinquent owner took them to court so long as the Declaration of CC&Rs provides the right to file liens and it is done properly. In Colorado the Board could initiate court action to foreclose on the property.

Ok Donna and Roger,

I will add to this because I am interested. If I'm wrong let me have it...

At the annual board meeting to vote on a budget several things happened.
1. Our proposed budget did not state how much each home would pay.
2. I missed the meeting, they said the proposed budget was $120 per home but AT the meeting they
changed it, it was raised up to $180. They did this for improvements which were not discussed
before this meeting.
3. We did not have quorum, there were only 21 people out of 53.

I protested for all the above reasons, there are a few more but I think these are strong enough. I made part of my dues. As time went on they were going to put a lien on my house so I went ahead and paid.
If I had went to court I could have proved they did not meet quorum. I did not have the chance to vote by proxy because there was no dollar amount to vote for.
Would I have won?

Second.
There are lots in here that have no house. Although they have the right to a vote the board was not given them a vote. For whatever reason,(I do not think it was the above) they did not pay. We might put a lien on their lots. If they go to court they can show the Judge in our own minutes from a meeting where our President said they have no vote. The covenant clearly states they do have a vote. If we put a lien on their lot, they can show where they were denied voting rights.
Who would win?

I'll watch this post but I am done with HOA business. I am so disappointed in my neighbors. I ran for an office to fix the mess we are in but my neighbors saw it another way.

Charlie,

Regardless of whether or not the meeting was held legally or even if the assessments were raised legally, you still have an obligation to pay those assessments. If you were to go to court and state these reasons for not paying the assessments, I don't know that you would win your case. The board may get into some trouble for not following the bylaws; however, I don't know that you would be let off the hook entirely for not paying your assessments. When you have a complaint with the board, withholding your assessments (or not paying the amount assessed) is the wrong way to protest!

In looking back through this thread several things come to mind:

1. In many states HOAs can make use of non-judicial foreclosure. I suspect you could fight it, but you would need to initiate the proceedings. And if you lost, you would be held liable for the HOA's increased legal fees.


2. In most communities 21 of 52 homes is plenty to make quorum. Typical requirements are 20%.


3. It is not uncommon for lots owned by the developer to be excepted from dues. Sometimes this extends to the builders the developer may have sold to. Thus the empty lots may not have to pay dues.


4. It is possible that the lots don't get a vote. Or it could be that the owner of those lots chose not to participate in the vote. Since you weren't there it could be that the statement was really that the empty lots were not participating.


5. If you don't believe the meeting (or vote) were legal and binding then you must challenge them in a court of law. Short of a challenge, they will be presumed to be legal.


6. Unless you have a recording of the meeting anything outside the minutes is hearsay since you were not in attendance. While you could drag the people into court, keep in mind that many will simply choose to not remember exact statements.

In short, I think you have some weak arguments.

As for the budget not stating the dues, it does not have to do so directly. You take the budget and divide by the number of paying lots. That gives your rate.

Also, is $60 a year really worth the amount of heartburn you seem to be experiencing? If so, then you really need to figure out a way to be at the next annual meeting.