Dealing with Sophisticated Debtors

Does your condominium or homeowners association (HOA) have owners who don’t pay their assessments?  Owners are finding more excuses to avoid paying their assessments.  Filing multiple bankruptcies, submitting payments with conditional language, NSF payments, claiming they don’t owe since they don’t use the common elements. . .  The list goes on and on.

So how does your association handle these “Sophisticated Debtors”?  Does your Association have a strong written collection policy?  Are your governing documents updated and in compliance with current law?  If not, your association will spend more than you should be in trying to collect unpaid assessments.

To ease the pain and headache of collecting unpaid assessments, make sure your association has:

  1. Up-to-date and enforceable governing documents, ensuring all documents are compatible (to learn more click HERE);
  2. An enforceable collection policy, that includes:
    1. Language on how payments are applied (i.e. interest first, late fees, then assessments);
    2. Recoverable attorney fees for collection;
    3. Strong language on NSF and conditional payments.
  3. A fining policy/schedule.
    1. The policy should be progressive in nature (warning, $50 for first violation, $100 for second and subsequent violations; and
    2. If a tenant is in the unit, make sure your association knows how to fine correctly (click HERE to learn more on tenant fines).
  4. A grievance procedure.

A collection attorney who specializes in condominium law can assist your association in developing an enforceable collection policy, including a fining schedule, to ensure your association can pursue all remedies allowed the association under the governing documents and Wisconsin law.  The Condominium & HOA Law Team has a proven collection strategy. Since 2012, our team has collected over $14 million in dollars and property.

Categories

Three bars icon gold

Recent blog Posts

Three bars icon gold

Valerie Brown and Lucas England admitted to practice in Kentucky

We are excited to announce that Valerie Brown has been admitted to practice law in ...
Read More →

Jay Cusimano, Managing Partner, has successfully completed the EOS Integrator Masterclass

Jay Cusimano, Managing Partner, has successfully completed the EOS Integrator Masterclass by completing 10+ hours ...
Read More →

Partner, Kate Bushey, reelected to her 2nd 3-year term as commissioner of CAMICB

Kate recently attended the Community Association Managers International Certification Board (CAMICB) meeting in Tuscan last ...
Read More →

Partners of K&C, Lydia Chartre and Scott Weiss present an exclusive HOAleader.com webinar

Our Milwaukee Partner, Lydia Chartre, and our Nashville Partner, Scott Weiss, alongside HOAleader.com, a nationwide ...
Read More →