Skilled Legal Assistance With Assessment Collections

For any homeowner association (HOA) or condominium association (COA), collecting assessment payments is an important and difficult responsibility. Unfortunately, when a homeowner becomes delinquent in their payments, these matters often need legal intervention. If your association finds itself in this situation, you need an attorney experienced in representing HOAs and their interests.

At Hanis Irvine Prothero, PLLC, we have been working with HOAs for decades. Our HOA and COA attorneys, Gregory F. Cromwell and Erik R. Olsen, have the experience and understanding of this area of law needed to provide your association with sound advice and skilled representation.

A Strategic Collection Approach

We know that some of your homeowners may be facing difficult financial challenges. In some cases, these challenges could be temporary and you will be able to work out a plan to get them caught up on any delinquency. If that fails, however, you may need to pursue an assessment lien on their property, which could lead to foreclosure.

An assessment lien may include the following steps:

• Sending a Notice of Delinquency
• Recording the lien with the county recording office
• Serving any post-recording notice
• Serve a Notice of Intent to Foreclose, if you have decided to foreclose

You may also be able to recover late charges, fines, costs and attorney fees, depending on your governing documents.

Pursuing Foreclosure

Lien foreclosure laws are slightly different for COAs than for HOAs. Washington laws allow for COAs to foreclose either judicially or nonjudicially, depending on the association’s governing documents. HOAs are bound by their governing documents in this respect. The statute of limitations for a foreclosure action for a COA is three years.

The homeowner may also face mortgage foreclosure. If this is the case, we can assist you with protecting your lien interest. No matter what steps you need to take to collect a delinquent assessment, our attorneys understand what the law requires. They will explain your options and help you create a collection strategy.

Allow Our Attorneys To Help

You do not have to pursue these difficult legal issues on your own. Our experienced attorneys are here to help. Contact our Kent office today to schedule a free initial consultation by calling 253-520-5000 or toll-free at 877-391-5319 or send us an email.