HOA Collections With A Neighborly Approach
Once your community discovers your Board has the power to credit report delinquent assessments, not only do homeowners get current on their late dues, but you’ll find the rate of future delinquencies reduces dramatically. That’s because a derogatory mark on credit affects homeowners personally. While liens only affect their property.
Credit reporting delinquent HOA dues is now being used by hundreds of communities across America. HOA boards are thrilled with the success they’re seeing using this simple option.
Remember, credit reporting has been used for decades by every consumer industry. Now, HOA’s are utilizing it too.
The secret to keeping a collection process friendly, is having members pay their delinquent dues directly to your board or management company. No one wants to pay some third-party collection agency. When strangers from a collection agency demand you pay them, it’s abrasive and alienating.
So, we work as a ‘dunning agency’. Our job is simply to locate and motivate homeowners to get in touch with you and pay their late dues, or face the consequence of being credit reported (as a collection account) to Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. And it works!
As one treasurer puts it, “It’s amazing how easily this collects our dues!”
When we receive your accounts we run skip tracing to ensure we have even out-of-state member’s most accurate contact information. Next we send a series of 3 letters, make phone calls, and send texts and emails to let them know they’ll be credit reported if they don’t make payment directly to you (or your agent). When members pay, we send them a Thank You letter.
You can access our internal reporting system to see when letters, calls, texts and emails are sent, and can see our notes on conversations with members.
All services for a flat fee, per account: 1 is $150, 5 @ $100 each, 10 @ $75 each, 25 @ $50 each, and 50 @ $37.50 each.
Community Associations Keep 100% Of Their Collected Assessments
Our HOA Collection Service Complies With All State And Federal Laws, Statutes And Regulations
Our process is in compliance with the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), all Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regulations, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), all NCAP requirements, rules and regulations, as well as all State and Federal laws and statutes regarding community associations and debt collection servicing.
Community Collection Service is the HOA collections division of national collection agency NCSPlus Incorporated which is insured and licensed as a collection agency as required in all 50 states, and has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Even though we’re a collection agency, we operate as a ‘dunning’ agency collecting dues on behalf of community associations, homeowners associations (HOAs), condominium associations (COAs), property owners associations (POAs), property management companies, and law firms. We operate under a flat fee structure that covers all of our services, with no hidden costs. We credit report unpaid delinquent assessments and community fees to all three national credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and maintain those records for 7 years, as is required by law.
Our process timeline utilizes skip tracing, a phone and letter campaign, text messages, and an email campaign, along with the incentive of impending credit reporting, in order to motivate association members to pay their delinquent dues. Community association members pay their board (or its agent) directly – we never touch your community’s money – and community associations keep 100% of their collected dues. As a flat-fee service, each individual fee is legally allowed to be added to the balance of each debt being submitted for collections.
Avoid High Legal Costs – And The Damage Of Foreclosure
Avoid expensive legal fees that only seem to drain your reserves account, and do little else. Our service is most effective after your internal efforts stop working, and before you pursue any legal action. And while placing a lien on your property is a good idea, it only protects you from an owner moving out in the middle of the night, or if they sell their home. Frankly, most boards file liens themselves, simply by taking a prior filed lien and making a template for any future lien filings (by the way, that’s what many attorneys do). So save the legal fees, and file liens yourself.
Foreclosure, on the other hand, is equivalent to declaring financial war on your neighbor – it’s threatening their financial lives. Not to mention the destruction it can do to your community’s property values (even that of paying members’ properties). Foreclosure should be avoided at all costs – and should only be used as a last, and final resort! Getting delinquent dues paid is ticklish enough. You shouldn’t have to pour salt in the wound, or use the nuclear option – or even the threat of it – as your opening volley.
Be neighborly with those who simply need a polite (yet firm) reminder of how important their obligation is to the rest of your community. And save the fire and brimstone for only when it’s truly needed!
