Unpaid ongoing deliquent dues, residents as well as board members

Comments as to how to handle this problem? How long do you wait before acting? Unpaid dues stem from top down, which means the problem starts an elected board member(s) down to residents.

Establish Rules and Regulations on Delinquent Accounts and provide them to all homeowners. Anyone delinquent is sent a delinquency notice by the 15th of each month. Following is an example:

Rules and Regulations (Policies and Procedures) on Delinquent Accounts
Assessments include the regular annual assessment which may be paid in monthly installments, special assessments, late charges, interest, lien fees, fines, legal fees, collection costs, and court costs. Assessments are due and payable by the first day of each month. A 10 day grace period is provided for receipt of assessment payments, after which the account becomes delinquent whenever there is an outstanding balance. There is a late charge of $25.00 each month that a delinquent account has an outstanding balance greater than $50.00. All charges are assessed to the property and are payable by the owner. Assessment statements may be provided to an owner via a coupon booklet, 1st class mail, email, or personal delivery. However, it is the responsibility of the owner to remember to pay by the due date even if no assessment statement is received.

The schedule for collection of delinquent accounts is:
An account delinquent over 10 days shall receive a delinquent assessment statement with a late charge of $25.00 when the balance due is greater than $50.00. If an owner feels they have an extenuating circumstance which justifies consideration they may petition the Board of Directors to defer payment and/or waive late charges. Each such owner granted deferred payment by the Board of Directors will be required to agree to a schedule of payments. Each month the balance remains over $50.00 there is a late charge of $25.00. Any partial payment on the outstanding balance shall apply first to the oldest remaining assessment. Also, if a check is returned for not sufficient funds the account is charged of $35.00.

An account delinquent over 40 days shall be provided a delinquent assessment statement with the outstanding balance due and a warning that a lien will be recorded on the property if payment is not received within 30 days.

An account delinquent over 70 days shall be provided a delinquent assessment statement. The owner will no longer be in good standing. Owners not in good standing may not vote, do not automatically qualify to pay the annual assessment in monthly installments, and may be charged interest at the rate specified in the Declaration. The statement shall provide a second notice that a lien will be recorded on the property and when it is filed it shall include a charge of $100 for filing the Notice of Lien as well as the current balance on the account.

An account delinquent over 100 days shall be provided a delinquent assessment statement and a copy of the lien. The statement shall advise the owner that the account will be referred to an attorney for collection if no arrangement for payment is made within 10 days.

The Association shall make a good faith effort to resolve disputes with the Owner. If resolution is not reached the Association stands ready to go to mediation or to binding Arbitration under the Uniform Arbitration Act. If court proceedings are necessary to collect delinquent assessments, the court shall award to the prevailing party reasonable collection costs, attorney fees, and other costs.

in addition to the above great advice

check your rules/bylaws. MFHOA stated that any board member late on their dues was automatically dismissed from the board. No questions asked, if they are late, they are off.

one of the most pleasurable moments in my HOA career was enforcing that one on a problem member...

If a board member's delinquent over 30 days, he or she loses voting rights (everyone does, according to our bylaws) and so is dismissed from the board.

Homeowners are assessed $20 every month they're late and also receive a reminder letter (fees are due on the 1st of the month and considered late if not received by close of business on the 15th). After 60 days, the account goes to the association attorney and the homeowner is charged a $95 collection fee (administrative costs related to mailing out the nastygrams).

At the time of the referral, the account is accellerated (all remaining fees for the year are immediately due). The homeowner must also reimburse the association for court costs and attorney's fees incurred to collect the debt.

Everyone gets a reminder of the collection policy when we send out the annual budget