DELINQUENCY IMPACT ON CREDIT

I'M A NEW PRESIDENT OF AN HOA AND WONDERED IF, WHEN WE PLACE A LIEN AGAINST A HOMEOWNER, IF THAT INFO MAKES IT TO HIS/HER CREDIT REPORT? IF NOT, IS ANYONE AWARE OF A WAY TO MAKE SURE IT DOES ? SOUNDS MEAN, BUT WE HAVE SOME REAL DEADBEATS IN OUR SUBDIVISION.

Nope, no property mgmt company, just us chickens running the show here .....

Shelia,
You are absolutely right. The HOA has bills to pay so having a negative revenue stream to budget can be a real problem. We have resorted to actually taking them to court and getting garnishments.

Sounds mean? Nah. IS mean. If things were reversed, would you want somebody screwing with your CR just to get their rocks off?

But beyond that, if I was trying to collect money from someone, last thing I'd do would try to knock down their CR, because that would narrow the potential for him to come up with funds.

If you ask me.

IMO, there is no reason NOT to report the delinquent h/o to the cr. bureau agencies. Afterall, every other creditor does the same thing!

JohnK -

The duty of the BOD is to collect the assessments. Whatever is the most effective, legal way to accomplish that is actually their fiduciary responsibility to the members of the HOA.

Apparently the OP's methodology thusfar has not included using a service that would result in adverse effects on the credit report of the owner. If using alternative methods that do involve credit agency reporting are also more effective in actually getting the assessments paid, then I believe they are duty bound to both evaluate and take such action. Simply filing liens on property has no immediate impact - it only comes into play when either there is attempted property transfer, or can serve as the basis for a lawsuit in an attempt for the HOA to collect it's debts.

While it is true the OP's original post appeared to have a certain degree of "vengance" associated with it, in fact the focus should be on results - not methods.

If those methods are more effective, they should be employed.

And yet if I saw an unlicensed dog (with my x-ray and super vision), I would, in fact, report it to the appropriate enforcement agency.

Just as I would report zoning violations that may or even may not also be violations of our covenants.

That's what they do. They enforce those types of things. That way we don't have to.

It's not my job to make sure the homeowner is "warned" or "cautioned" or whatever about his or her unlicensed pet.

But I'll be darned if I want such an animal in my neighborhood, for a variety of reasons.

Our Metro government makes it so easy to report such things we only have to dial three numbers: 3-1-1.

Drop a dime. I consider that dime an investment in maintaining the value of my home, which can use all the help in the world in these times.

Richard -

During my 9 years on BOD, we were told repeatedly by the PMC that we could not report delinquencies to a credit bureau. After becoming a PM 7 years ago, I decided to see if that was an accurate statement. So, I contacted Experian directly and asked . . . several times and in phrased as many different ways as I could think of to see if I got a different answer. The simple answer is "No". A COA or a HOA cannot report delinquencies to a credit bureau! Doesn't seem fair, does it? However, an apartment complex can report delinquencies to a credit bureau. In fact, the PMC that I work for also manages apartment complexes and are registered members of Experian. Thinking I could "sneak" some reports in that way, I was again told that Experian would "catch" COA and HOA reports and would not post them. The only way that a COA or a HOA can get their delinquencies reported to the credit bureaus is to hire a collection agency. The collection agency can then report the Association's delinquencies. Experian explained that the credit bureaus "rational" (or lack thereof) revolves around the shared ownership (or responsibility) of the Association fees.