LATIMES.com: Q&A HOA rejects late payments, opts to foreclose; is that legal?
No third-party management company should ever have the ability to control titleholder payment history statements, and no board should have authority to contract those rights away.
By Donie Vanitzian
November 9, 2014
Question: I owe $1,600 in past due homeowner association assessments, but I made payments that haven’t been applied to my account. Through the management company and association attorney, the board placed a lien on my home to foreclose. The attorney says I owe $10,500 and returns my checks, saying he “will not accept a partial payment.” Despite repeated requests, management won’t provide my payment history and an accurate line-by-line accounting of what I owe. When the board ordered management to provide each owner’s payment history with monthly statements, the company owner threatened to sue. Their signed contract says management “owns” the right to provide titleholder “payment history statements and accountings for a fee.” The board signed that contract making owners hostage to management fees for crucial things like owner payment history. Meanwhile I’m facing foreclosure, and no one will talk to me or accept my payments. Do I have any rights?Answer: Your rights are tied up in a maze of crossover laws subject to interpretation by California courts, coupled with your board’s ability to unilaterally contract them away by signing a management contract — costly enforcement measures for owners to overcome. Read more: