Homeowners throughout the country are struggling to make all the payments associated with the community they reside in due to the continual downturn of the economy. An Association relies on resident fees to maintain all necessary services in addition to the general condition of a neighborhood. When owners cannot pay their dues, it affects all other residents in the community. Fee determination, collection, and delinquency measures are just a few of the money related management functions a board must deal with. Companies offering managing services have become even more fundamental as boards begin to experience the after effects of the economy on local residents. Owners having trouble making their house payments tend to avoid fees in an effort to manage their own necessities. Fee collection is a must for any Association, but can get very tricky when residents refuse to pay. Association members are typically local neighbors and do not like the confrontation that arises when they must ask for delinquent fees or take more serious measures. Association management companies remove the personal aspects of this essential task by supplying a manager to do this work along with additional daily supervision duties.
Community Association Management: Handling Delinquent Accounts
One of the biggest questions being faced in Community Association Management (CAM) is how to handle delinquencies. Some boards are putting usage suspensions in place which prevent those with unpaid dues from using common areas such as the pool. This suspension is put into place after ninety days of delinquency. A written notice should be sent to the resident if this will be occurring. After ninety days of delinquency, the written notice is sent, and the resident cannot resume using common resources until fees have been caught up or a repayment schedule has been lined out. The manager supplied by the service provider should keep track of all collected fees, who is delinquent, timeframes, and can assist with notice creation or delivery. This assistance removes a lot of work in addition to stress from the board allowing them to focus on big decisions revolving around the community.
Publication of delinquencies has been another gray area in Community Association Management. Most providers advise against this because there are little to no benefits in doing so. A board will be better off by having the management service provider keep track of this information and send individual notices by mail or through some other notification process. Acquisition of the home is the biggest playing card an Association has when dealing with delinquent residents. This process can begin by removing rights to specific community amenities and continue further if refusal to pay continues. A managing service can provide better alternatives for notifying residents of late fees. They work with their on-site manager to make the collection process less hostile while gaining the money needed by the board to accomplish budget goals. Companies work with the resident to keep them current on future dues while fitting in late payments over a specific period of time. Multiple tactics may be used by association management companies, and boards should consider this additional support to counteract the adverse effects of a suffering economy.
Handling delinquent payments is one of the many duties of Community Association Management. Association management companies offer various solutions when residents do pay their dues.