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Summary
of Assessments and Collection Procedures
as
found in FL State Law, Chapter 718 and Association Documents
Payment
Schedule
1.
Annual Assessments are due and payable in advance or
on January 1st of each year or in quarterly payments on
January 1st, March 1st, June 1st,
and September 1st of the year. After the 10th
of such dates, lack of payment will be considered delinquent.
2.
If a Unit Owner defaults in payment of an
installment (i.e., quarterly payments), the Board may accelerate
the remaining installments and the accelerated assessment
immediately becomes due upon the date stated in a notice to the
unit owner (not less than 15 days).
3.
Special assessments are due and payable on the date
determined in the notice by the Board of Directors. They are
subject to items 1 and 2 above.
4.
Assessments must be paid even if the owner is not
using or has moved out of and still owns his/her unit. §
718.116 (1)(a), FS. § 718.116 (2) FS.
Delinquency
Notification Process
5.
For all balances that are ten (10) days past due,
the following notification process applies:
Initial
Phone Contact. Phone calls will
be made within the 10 day grace period to remind unit owners of
payment due. If payment arrives in a timely manner, nothing more
need be done.
First
Notice. First Notice of Past Due Charges including detail of assessments,
late fees, NSF charges, interest and other charges that apply will
be sent by First Class Mail to an owner whose balance is ten (10)
days past due.
Second
Notice. Second
Notice of Past Due Charges including detail of assessments,
late fees, NSF charges, interest and other charges that apply will
be sent by First Class Mail Certified with Return Receipt Requested to an owner whose balance is
thirty (30) days past due.
This is a 10 Day Demand for Payment and includes Notice of Intent to Lien at sixty (60) days past due. A lien will be
filed after 60 days plus 5 days for demand payment. Notice will
include intent to turn the matter over to an attorney for
collection enforcement if balance is not paid within 10 days. Send
Certified mail with
Return Receipt Requested. §
718.116 (6)(b), FS.
Legal
Services.
6.
If a delinquent account is referred to an attorney
for collection, the owner shall be charged the Association's
reasonable attorney fees and related costs.
7.
All legal expenses related to collection including,
but not limited to, attorney fees and court costs associated with
lawsuits incident to collection of assessments or enforcement of
the Association’s lien by foreclosure will be the responsibility
of the unit owner.
§ 718.116 (5)(a) FS.
Late
Fees, Not Sufficient Funds (NSF) & Interest Charges
8.
Any balance older than 30 days will incur an
interest charge of 10% per month until paid. §
718.116 (3) FS.
9.
Failure to pay any assessment within ten (10) days
from the date due entitles the Association to levy a $25.00 late
charge. § 718.116 (3) FS
10.
Payments received shall be first applied to interest
accrued; then to late charges; then to attorney fees incurred; and
finally to the principle balance of the delinquent assessment or
assessment installment. § 718.116 (3) FS
1.
Lien for
Assessments. All
assessments levied pursuant to this Policy, together with interest
thereon and actual costs of collection, constitute a lien on such
unit and on the undivided interest in the common elements
appurtenant thereto, in favor of the Association, provided that a
statement of lien is filed within two (2) years after the date on
which the assessment becomes due.
The lien is effective against the unit at the time the
assessment becomes due regardless of when within the two (2) year
period it is filed. A
statement of condominium lien signed and verified by a director of
the Association is filed in the office of the Clerk of Circuit
Court of Broward County and shall contain the legal description of
the unit, the name of the record owner thereof, the amount of
assessment due and the period for which the assessment was due.
Upon full payment of an assessment for which the lien is
claimed, the unit owner shall be entitled to a fileable
satisfaction of the lien.
2.
Such lien
shall be superior to all other liens and encumbrances on such
unit, except only for:
(a) Liens of general and special taxes.
(b) Liens of a first mortgage recorded prior to the making of the
assessment.
(c) Construction liens
filed prior
to the
making of the
assessment.
All
other liens created after the date of the recording of this
Declaration shall be inferior in priority to liens of the
Association for any assessment, whether or not so specifically set
forth in the instruments creating such liens. §
718.116 (3) FS
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Enforcement
of Lien. A lien
may be enforced and foreclosed by the Association in the same
manner and subject to the same requirements as a foreclosure
of mortgages on real property.
The Association may recover costs and actual attorney
fees and may bring suit for any deficiency following
foreclosure in the same proceeding. § 718.116 (3) FS.
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