HOA Management Blog
As a member of a homeowners association, you’re likely familiar with the importance of paying your HOA fees on time. These fees are used to maintain and improve the common areas of your community, including things like landscaping, maintenance of community amenities, and other essential services. However, what happens when a homeowner fails to pay their HOA fees? In this blog, we’ll explore the consequences of not paying HOA fees and why it’s essential to stay current on your payments.
In a homeowner's association, members pay their assessments, and those assessments are divided between operating and reserve accounts. That money goes to pay for the upkeep of common area components in an association. Individual board members should not have access to those funds.
The idea isn't that an individual or small group would profit from the assessments being paid, but rather that all members would collectively benefit because that money's being used for the common good of the entire homeowner’s association.
Did you know you can request a copy of the CC&Rs that detail just about everything you need to know about the HOA, prior to becoming a member? You can and you should! One of the important factors is how much you will be paying in monthly HOA fees.
When living in a homeowners association residents are expected to pay assessments that are used to make the community a nice place to live. These fees contribute to utility and vendor bills, maintenance, short term and long term projects, and upkeep of amenities such as the pool.
Pop quiz! Do you understand your HOA fees? If you’re an informed member of your homeowners association, you should pass with flying colors. If you fail, well then, you need to plan a study session to brush up on your HOA knowledge.
Your association board is planning for the big project on the horizon, and is currently reviewing how to finance it. For several reasons, you don’t believe you’ll have enough funds in the association’s operating budget or reserves to cover the project’s entire bill. What should you do? Split the project up over several years, levy a special assessment, or maybe get a loan?
We all know how important it is to try and consider taking a green approach in our daily routines. What if you could go green while also helping the community in your homeowners association? Residents can help their homeowners association minimize its maintenance expenses, which can also avoid HOA fees from increasing, by observing a few simple green considerations.
Is your board constantly faced with residents who don’t pay their monthly HOA fees on time?
If just a few homeowners aren’t paying their HOA fees it can be felt very quickly in an association’s budget. It can also cause a ripple effect. If too many homeowners fail to pay their HOA fees, lenders might start to be unwilling to finance mortgages in the association. This could lead to a decrease in property values.
Every HOA's number one priority is the legal fiduciary responsibility to enhance and maintain their property. The only way to do that is by collecting HOA fees. That's why a clear collection policy is a must-have for your HOA board.
Sounds like fun, right? Maybe not. However, it's important to communicate a detailed collection plan for HOA fees. By managing homeowner expectations about fees and the need for timely payment, you can help your board (and especially your treasurer) meet their goals and reduce the need for costly fee collection.
