Hello everyone, It's been ages since I've been here last. I hope someone can help me. We got behind on our homeowners association fees--approx four months. About two weeks ago, we paid three months of fees. But apparently during that same week, the management company sent our file to their collection attorney. The HOA management company had already accepted our payments however, and days later we get the letter from the attorney demanding exhorbitant fees. I also paid that fourth month yesterday, another payment which was accepted. Of course, the HOA does not want to call the dogs off. They are insisting that the payments were accepted by mistake and they plan to send them to the attorney as partial payment of the debt. What are my options? I do not obviously want to deal with the attorney, especially since the debt with the HOA is now paid. CC
Contact your personal attorney. If the HOA "accepted" your payment, you have a receipt for it and the payments were deposited, you may only need the lawyer to make a few calls.
Thanks for the response. I do have receipts, the bookkeeper admits accepting the payments, but I don't have a personal attorney. The best I have is free legal consultation through my union. Never used it before. Will call first thing Monday to see what I can get.
Check your bank/checking account and see if the checks to the HOA have cleared. When you go to the free consult, be sure to let the lawyer know the status of the checks. Might want to consider asking for a letter stating that the collection has been rescinded due to your payment in full and current status. That the claim to additional fees has been relinquished. While a few telephone calls may do the trick, it never hurts to have it in writing too. Just for the record.
Thanks a bunch, JohnA. This is very helpful. Yes, I do have our bank statements, which has copies of the electronic checks online. CC
Bring a copy of the checks showing the date each one was cleared by your bank to your free consult. Include a copy of any correspondence, and the envelopes if you still have them because the date on the letter may be at odds with the actual date the letter was posted. That information should facilitate a quick resolution to the issue.
