When it comes to your Homeowners Association (HOA), its board has a responsibility to pay a number of bills in any given month, including, repairs and maintenance, landscaping, the salaries of the employees that undertake all this work on the property, as well as heat and electricity, and many other expenses. It’s part of the HOA’s job to collect monthly dues from its residents in order to help afford these costs.
As a member of the community, you’re required to pay your fair share of these expenses. However, if you stop paying your HOA dues this makes things that much harder for the HOA to afford its maintenance costs; in many instances, dues may need to be raised on the other residents in the community in order to continue to afford these maintenance efforts. However, there are also ways an HOA board can seek to recover its missing dues from you directly.
If you miss even just one monthly HOA payment, you’re likely to be in for a swift response from your HOA board. First you’re likely to receive a letter from your HOA to inform you that you’ve missed a payment and that you’re now in arrears. This letter is usually a polite but strongly worded request for payment immediately. In some instances the letter will illustrate how long you will have until late fees and interest are to be applied.
If you still cannot pay your HOA fees, the board will take more drastic measures such as denying you the right to use community amenities like pools, workout facilities or clubhouses. You might also have a lien placed on your property. In extreme cases you might even be subject to foreclosure.
If you’ve encountered a financial emergency that has jeopardized your ability to pay all your bills, your first step should always ensure that you prioritize housing-related costs such as mortgage and utility payments first. HOA fees should be included in this prioritization process, but this may not always be possible, especially if you find yourself in quite dire financial situation.
However, there are still steps you can take if you found you can’t pay your HOA dues temporarily. One of the most important steps is to ensure your HOA board is alerted as soon as possible. Instead of waiting for your next payment to come due, you should contact your board at the earliest possibility so they know what’s going on. This can provide the opportunity for you to work out a solution between you and your board. This can often result in putting a payment plan in place. At the very least this could help you convince the board to waive any late fees or accrued interest, but this is only going to be a possibility if you can be as open and honest as possible from the very beginning.
Finally, if all else fails, you can always file for bankruptcy. This isn’t a perfect solution, especially as you can still end up being subject to foreclosure. Additionally any unpaid dues will be lumped in under the repayment agreement for your Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In such a case that you feel you have no choice but to declare bankruptcy, it’s recommended you speak to an experienced attorney.
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