Association prior to turnover, so I know the Association tried to notify the owner of their delinquent account. A simple assumption is that owners do not always open letters mailed to them by the Association. This seems especially true for owners who have set up automatic payments for their assessment payments and assume everything is being managed as intended.


While not required, sending courtesy letters and/or delinquency notices via mail and email can help.


While the Association cannot help that an owner doesn’t open their mail, the reality is that most people’s preferred method of communication is email. While not required, sending courtesy letters and/or delinquency notices via mail and email can help your collection attorney support the account being turned over. They can attest that the Association did try to notify the owner via mail and email and only turned the account over for collections after not receiving a response.


Most people’s preferred method of communication is email.


larger and older the balance, the more involved  Additionally, the statute of limitations may prevent the ability to recover the amounts owed.


3


The statute of limitations may prevent recovery of amounts owed.


ent rec


The statute of limitations is the amount o


of time the Association has to recover an unpaid charge. For condominiums, th


and WUCIOA communities the


the statute of limitations is three years, while for homeowners associations an


wscai.org 29


Don't Wait Forever to Collect Don’t wait too long to decide whether to turn an account over for collections. The


statute of limitations is six years. After this time period expires, in most cases the collections attorney cannot demand payment of the charge unless a judgment has already been obtained.


The larger and older the balance, the more involved it can be to recover.


4


Send a Letter to the Owner Before Adding a Violation Fine 


Association’s governing documents to the account ledger, send a letter to the owner. The letter should  language about their right to request a hearing regarding the violation, (this part is not a suggestion as it is required by state statute). It is important to save a copy of the violation notice letter. If the owner  this letter to pursue collection. Without a copy of the violation notice letter, your collection attorney will not 


The letter must include language about their right to request a hearing regarding the violation.


contact your collections attorney and ask for a recommendation on how to handle an account. They can offer guidance on when the account should be turned over for collections and why. If you have any questions about collections processes or strategies, or if you want to understand the prerequisites for foreclosure, a collections attorney will be able to provide answers.


5


A Collections Attorney Can Give You Advice Lastly, don’t be afraid to


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