Delinquent, Special, and Emergency Assessments

By Kelly G. Richardson, Esq. CCAL

Question:

Is an HOA allowed to announce the names of owners who have not paid their dues?

– K.G.

Dear K.G.:

I generally recommend against a “delinquent list” being published that announces the addresses or names of homeowners who are behind on their assessments. It comes down to balancing the privacy of the homeowners who may be having problems against the transparency interest of the assessment-paying homeowners. I think many if not most law firms and companies who pursue delinquent assessments use file numbers to identify given delinquency matters, to avoid unnecessarily shaming those who are behind. In my view, the prompt and efficient pursuit of delinquencies is better than embarrassing the delinquent.

– Best, Kelly Kelly:

My HOA has good reserves, but the board keeps proposing special assessments. We started some roof repairs, but did not finish. Then we started street repairs, but did not finish. Now the board wants to special assess all homeowners thousands of dollars to do both projects. The board doesn’t want to use the reserves set aside for these projects. They recently added an amenity the homeowners did not want. What can homeowners do? – N.K.

Dear N.K.:

The reserve funds are accumulated for specific stated common area elements and should be used for that purpose. Also, unless your HOA governing documents set a more liberal limit, the board can only specially assess up to an amount equal to 5% of the annual gross budgeted expenditures per year, or it must seek membership approval. If your board is not listening to a majority of the homeowners, they shouldn’t be on the board for long. However, is it possible that a majority of neighbors do not agree with you? Sometimes in my HOA board (yes, I sit on one), I find to my surprise that my opinions are not shared by the majority.

– Sincerely, Kelly

By Todd Shea President of the Santa Barbara Association of REALTORS®