I have a rented condo which is part of a HOA.  HOA raised it's dues
but I was not getting their letters because they were sending them to
the wrong address. On the day I found out I owed extra dues I paid
them in full.  Can the HOA collect attorneys fees spent in starting
the collection process.

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Request for Question Clarification by serenata-ga on 06 Jun 2004 17:24 PDT

You said "starting the collection process" ... does that mean the
process was not finished? If the process was finished and attorney
fees were ordered to be paid by the court, you would.

Otherwise, what does it say about collection fees in the HOA?

It would help to have that information in order to give you an answer.

Thanks,
Serenata

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Clarification of Question by condo33456-ga on 07 Jun 2004 08:12 PDT

They were not finish and no judgement had been filed.  I called
immediately after I found out and paid the fees.  The collection
attorney actually gave me a total amount over the phone and said that
was it.  The reason I'm asking this question is that he called back on
Friday and left a message saying I needed to call him to finish up the
bill which included some attorneys fees.  I don't actually have the
HOA agreement here but just wanted to get a general sense of what my
options were before I called him back.  Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by condo33456-ga on 07 Jun 2004 08:14 PDT

Just a further clarification - I own the condo and am renting it to a
tenant.  I haven't lived there for about 2 2/1 years but have a tenant
that has been there about 1 1/2 year.  That may not have been clear in
the original question.  Thanks again.

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Request for Question Clarification by serenata-ga on 07 Jun 2004 19:50 PDT

Hi again Condo33456 ~

I'm posting this here instead of as an answer, because it's best I can
do for you without knowing the contents of your Homeowners Agreement
and the existing Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions that were no
doubt recorded and in existance at the time you recorded the Deed.

As a rule, Homeowners Agreements provide that if you're found in
default and the Association has to hire counsel to collect, you're
responsible for the payment of attorney fees.

You can argue that the attorney quoted the figure you paid as "full
payment", but that issue is really more a case of "he said/she said".

In addition to the above, there is probably a provision in your HOA
that says you are responsibile for keeping the Association notified of
your address.

My advice would be to contact the lawyer and remind him that's the
figure he quoted and ask him to waive the attorney fees - as unless
you can show some clear evidence you ** don't ** have to pay them, it
might be easier in the long run.

If this addresses your question, let me know, and I shall post it as
the answer and we can close the question out.

Thanks,

Serenata

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Clarification of Question by condo33456-ga on 08 Jun 2004 07:56 PDT

Thank you for your help - this will do just fine.

Hello again, Condo33456 ~

As a rule, Homeowners Agreements provide that if you're found in
default and the Association has to hire counsel to collect, you're
responsible for the payment of attorney fees.

You can argue that the attorney quoted the figure you paid as "full
payment", but that issue is really more a case of "he said/she said".

In addition to the above, there is probably a provision in your HOA
that says you are responsibile for keeping the Association notified of
your address.

My advice would be to contact the lawyer and remind him that's the
figure he quoted and ask him to waive the attorney fees - as unless
you can show some clear evidence you ** don't ** have to pay them, it
might be easier in the long run.

By the way ... I'm in Arizona, too, and know some of those HOA can get
pretty restrictive. I hope it works out for you.

Thanks for the chance to help,

Serenata
Google Answers Researcher