In
his 10 years at The Meadows, Community Manager Len Smally says he's
never seen so many homeowners fail to pay their dues on time.
"It's increased over the last couple of years from basically none,
to a few to quite a few this year." And despite plenty of
warnings, between 40 and 50 residents there still need to write checks,
or they could face legal action. "We try to give them plenty
of notice. We mail out letters in advance of the assessment,
we mail out the assessment notice, we then mail out late notices, then
we eventually turn it over the lawyers."
Attorney
David Muller and his firm represent 400 community associations on the
Suncoast, and thousands across the state. "These associations
have to pay the lawn bill, they have to pay their managers, they have to
pay for certain maintenance costs." But associations are
losing income as they lose homeowners, forcing them to raise
assessments. A recent survey by Muller's firm found that
two-thirds of the respondents are now paying higher association fees.
"We're seeing it on all different properties from the affordable
housing, all the way to the high end waterfront clientele. Across
the board we are seeing the problem, it's not just segmented to one
particular area."
In the
Meadows, Smally says the money outstanding is less than 2% of the
operating budget, so there is no danger of raising fees yet.
But dealing with such a tight budget, every disappearing dollar
affects the bottom line. "As a not for profit organization, we
budget to spend everything that we take in, and it will have an effect
if we don't get what we think we're going to get."
Muller says
many of these associations will have an open hearing a few weeks before
to discuss any possible fee changes with the owners. But he says
you should always make sure you read the by-laws before you join an
association to understand all the rules and regulations.
In
the Meadows, Smally says the money outstanding is less than 2% of
the operating budget, so there is no danger of raising fees yet.
But dealing with such a tight budget, every
disappearing
dollar affects the bottom line. "As a not for profit
organization, we budget to spend everything that we take in, and it
will have an effect if we don't get what we think we're going to
get."
Muller says
many of these associations will have an open hearing a few weeks before
to discuss any possible fee changes with the owners. But he says
you should always make sure you read the by-laws before you join an
association to understand all the rules and regulations.
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