Action The HOA Board Can Take When Homeowners Refuse To Pay Special Assessments

Special circumstances might face your homeowners association even when management is excellent and everything is running smoothly.  Improvement projects, large-scale repairs, and other unforeseen situations may occur which put the reserves at risk.  For many HOA’s, special assessments offer the best way out.  But, what if homeowners fail to pay the special assessment?

 

A special assessment refers to the funds that homeowners are required to pay when the board decides not to use the reserves to cover emergency expenses, repairs, and maintenance costs.  Assessments are important as they prevent the reserve funds from being diminished or drained.

If homeowners are complaining on the homeowner association website and vowing not to pay the special assessment, there may be a problem with communication between them and the board.  Here are ways in which you can ease their frustration and encourage them to pay without having to resort to legal action.

 

Often, all homeowners want is for you to keep them updated with regard to the HOA’s financial matters.  One way of doing so would be to encourage them to attend HOA meetings.  Aside from that, consider keeping them informed about major projects that impact the budget of the HOA using the homeowner association website.

When a homeowner is irritated, the first option should be to try and reason the situation out.  Make an attempt to show them the importance of special assessments so they understand that using the reserves could place the association at risk of financial stress in the future.

It’s almost certain that reasonable homeowners will understand why the special assessment is necessary, but you can always take legal action if reasoning the situation out doesn’t work.  In some states, an unpaid special assessment is considered personal debt, and the HOA board is given the right to take possession of the property or hold it until the debt is settled.