Recent Feedback
I had a judgement filed against me this past December which I just found out about last month. I have a home in a community with a Homeowners Association. I rented the place out for about 5 years and then moved into it myself. I provided my change of address to the Association within a few months of moving there when I went to the office to pay my yearly dues. About 6 months later, I went to the office again to provide my mailing address because I had not been recieving any mail from them. This time I remember filling out a form with my new address. Still, I recieved no mail, so I thought maybe they just had not been sending anything. After 2 years of living there, I moved again. I went to the Association office to provide my new mailing address and asked about why I was not recieving the yearly dues notices. The lady in the office pulled up my account, which had the address from when I first bought the property, and printed out a list of fines I owed over the last couple of years. These fines were due to the Association mailing me a notice that items needed to be repaired on my home. I never recieved these notices since they were sent to the wrong address. The post office did not forward them to me even though I put in a change of address when I moved. Multiple certified letters were sent to me, but never picked up because I was never aware of them. I asked the lady in the office why my address was never updated in their computer and her response to me was that they have had problems with that in the past which is why they now require you to fill out a form with your change of address. When I filled out the form the second time I provided my new address to the office, it never crossed my mind to make a copy of it. I don't think that is something people think about. So now I have this judgement on my credit report, and I was never even notified of the court date. I spoke to the lawyer handling the case and she said the burden of proof is on me to prove that I provided my change of address to the Association. I have called her multiple times over the last month to discuss this matter and how to get it resolved. The majority of the time, no one answers the phone. The few times I did get an answer, I was told that she would return my call, but never did.....Any advice on what I can do to get this cleared up?
Hello and thank you for the opportunity to assist you. Please remember that there might be a delay between your follow ups and my replies because I am typing out my answer, or taking a quick break.I am sorry for your situation. Can you please tell me what state this is in?This not an answer, but an Information Request. I need this information to answer your question. Please reply, so I can answer your question. I look forward to helping you.
Virginia
Thank you. Can you please tell me what the fines are for? Is it for lateness of HOA dues? Or something your tenant did, etc? This is my last question - I promise.
3 violations: soffits painting, oil spots in driveway, yard violation. What happened was they sent me a notice to fix these things, and because I never recieved it, I did not know to comply. They typically give you a time frame to remedy the problem (1 week - 1 month) and if you do not, you are apparantly fined $600.00 for each infraction.
If you have any more questions, please ask. I would rather you be informed of the entire situation so I recieve the correct advice.
Thank you.The issue here is that not getting the notice in itself is not an affirmative defense. You would still be liable for the fines (you can then go after your tenant in an indemnification matter if you choose to do so to get that money back). The only difference here is if they have been sending it to an old address after you had given them a change of address notice, they should reduce the fines' interest for that period. Otherwise, you still stand liable, I am afraid.I hope you found my answer helpful, and if so please do not forget to click ACCEPT. This is the only way for me to get credit for my work – I receive no credit for my time with you unless you actually press ACCEPT, even if you already have a subscription. If you need more information, please use the REPLY button and I’d be more than happy to answer to your satisfaction. There is no fee for follow up questions before or after accepting, if we continue the conversation. If you feel that I went an extra step to help you, a bonus in the form of another accept or an “add on” (available after you accept) is truly appreciated. You can always link to my profile for another question at a later time:http://www.justanswer.com/law/expert-elyJD/
the problem I'm having with this is that if I had recieved the notices, I would have had the repairs done and NOT incurred any fines....the fines only occurred because I was not aware of the issue and therefore did not correct the problem.
Do your HOA bylaws state that they must first send a notice before fining?
I'm not sure....I can certainly find out though. Would that make a difference?
Because:If the bylaws specifically state that the HOA is to first notice you of the violation and allow you to correct it before you are fined, then you can argue that the fines and/or interest should be taken off if they sent the notice to an old address after you already had given them the new one, because the original notice was not sufficient.If the bylaws simply state that you are to be fined once the violation occurred, then it does not matter if they sent notice or not - the HOA has the right to simply fine you, regardless of how/when/if they sent notice.However, in either, you can then go after the tenant for indemnification.I hope you found my answer helpful, and if so please do not forget to click ACCEPT. This is the only way for me to get credit for my work – I receive no credit for my time with you unless you actually press ACCEPT, even if you already have a subscription. If you need more information, please use the REPLY button and I’d be more than happy to answer to your satisfaction. There is no fee for follow up questions before or after accepting, if we continue the conversation. If you feel that I went an extra step to help you, a bonus in the form of another accept or an “add on” (available after you accept) is truly appreciated. You can always link to my profile for another question at a later time:http://www.justanswer.com/law/expert-elyJD/
Experience: Qualified attorney in private practice including business, family, criminal, and real estate issues.