Yikes,Mr. Collections Man:

our community association has some members who are not paying their maintenance fees and our attorney bills are already more than what is owed. Is there no other way to collect these fees without spending more money.

Signed,

Sleepless in Saratoga

Dear Sleepless in Saratoga:

Of course there is a way to recover your money but your board of directors needs to think out of the box.  Your attorney is working hard but all that he/she can do is put a lien on the unit and if you want to become landlords foreclose on the unit and recover your money from rental revenue.  Maybe, that is not such a good idea because if a bank forecloses  its possible that all you will recover is the safe harbor amount of the lesser of 12 months or 1% you will be out of a lot of legal fees.

In my many travels in condo world I have seen some pretty poor practices by boards of directors and management companies but the prize for the most egregious acts I have ever seen has to go to a nice luxury building in Aventura, Florida of which I am very familiar with.

In a decision by the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Of the State Of Florida Homeowner Associations have been handed another setback regarding HOA collections of past due maintenance fees. On May 27, 2015 the court rendered a decision in the Appeal in Pudlit 2 Joint Venture, LLP v. Westwood Gardens HOA, Inc., Case No. 4D14-1385 that declares that if a delinquent unit is purchased by a subsequent purchaser and the association has this specific language in its governing documents (“the personal obligation for delinquent assessments shall not pass to his successors in title unless expressly assumed by them”),  then the new owner is NOT jointly and severally liable to pay the accrued delinquent fees.

Community association Collections or for that matter any debt that is delinquent often deteriorates into a bitter cycle of pain.  The property owner may fall into hard times and cannot afford their payments due to unforeseen consequences and an unfortunate process begins.  First, there is the courtesy notes from the association and then when that fails to result into a payment the matter is sent to either an attorney or debt collector for action.