I recently posted a question on a few social media groups that are exclusive to the community association.  In this question I asked; “How can the good paying members of a community association know who is delinquent in paying their maintenance fees?” It was a simple enough question, or so I thought, because the response was plentiful and a heated debate ensued.

Many felt that such information was not and should not be available to the members of the association.  Others pointed out that in some states financial information, regardless of its content, must be made available to every member by statute. Some felt that it was a violation of the FDCPA (which is not so because a first party creditor (the association) is not subject to the FDCPA).  So as far as the access to such information I would say that every state and almost every association needs to look at their bylaws as well as their local community association laws.  So access is still a debatable issue, and I was not surprised by the responses.  What came next, while not totally a surprise and to a large extent sad.

All associations need a UCP (Uniform Collection Policy) but they are not as easy to formulate as you would think.  Here are some suggestions on how to go about putting together a UCP, and enforcing it:

The first thing that has to be done is for the board and manager to read through the governing documents to understand what you can and cannot do, and when you can do them.  From your governing documents you need to find the following:

1. The due date of your association’s assessments (first of the month, fifteenth of the month ect.).
2. The grace period allowed (10 days after due date, end of month ect.).
3. 3.    See if your governing documents allow for a late fee
4. See if your governing documents allow for late interest

With that information you are now prepared to establish a plan of action, but you have to make a few decisions first.  These decisions really speak as to what your board of directors “expects” from collections.  We all know that everybody wants total recovery of the money that is owed, but that is just the result.  You have to actually determine what you expect from your collection solution.