A recent study conducted sponsored by a major credit repair firm and conducted by Harris Poll asked specific questions related to what people understand about credit scoring, how they are arrived at, and the information that is taken into consideration to determine them.

The study revealed some surprising information.  Eventhough credit scores affect Americans in many important ways including the price they pay for credit and insurance many people are mis-informed about the entire process.  This is shocking as your credit score can not only affect your ability to get credit but also impact on your ability to obtain employment.

Dear Collections Guy:

After four years a bank has foreclosed on a unit in our association that has not paid maintenance fees all that time.  We thought that when the bank took title the situation would improve, but now we see that the bank is not paying the dues, what can be done?

Signed,

Frustrated in Florida

Although our expertise is in community association collections our Senior Management Team are experts in money management, and after all when we recover association funds there are things you should know.  So here are some commonly asked questions and answers that we get from boards of directors regarding reserves:

1) What types of bank accounts are operating funds and reserve funds held in, respectively?

Answer:  Association funds should be held in financially stable, federally or state chartered banks and/or savings and loans that provide government guarantee on deposits.  As importantly, they should NOT be comingled and transferring money from the reserve account to the association’s operating account should not be a simply task to be accomplished by just one board member.  Therefore, the financial institution the association utilizes should have appropriate control procedures available to the association to make sure at minimum two active board members are involved with any transfers out OR between their bank accounts.