Collecting Unpaid Assessments
While the actual collection of unpaid assessments is the responsibility of management and/or legal counsel, individual members of the board can play a role far beyond simply voting on payment plans and authorizing specific collection actions.
Since board members most often live in the communities of the associations they oversee, they are in a particularly capable and competent position to ascertain useful information to assist the associations attorneys and management in the collection process. Board members residing in the community can keep an eye on community happenings, such as units listed for sale, prevailing home values, etc. A debtor's current employment status, vehicle information or tenant status, are useful bits of information, essential to collecting outstanding debts. Board members can take note of employment information such as a homeowner who wears a uniform identifying the company name. Such information could make a wage execution possible, without having to pay a searcher to identify a current employer. A board member may also know whether an owner has a tenant residing in his unit. This information will help to make a rent execution possible, and ensure that legal notices are sent to the debtor's actual address, and not the unit.
These are several ways board members can assist counsel and management in collecting unpaid assessments.
