Recently, Attorney Naomie Kweyu Husch Blackwell LLP, scored a huge bench trial win in a southeastern Wisconsin circuit court on a foreclosure and money judgment action.

Summary

If you want the best chance of collecting outstanding assessments, late fees, interest and attorney fees, you need to be organized, have a collection policy and follow your documents. Doing so can make a big difference to your association, as one of our clients recently learned – read more below:Continue Reading Association Successfully Recovers ALL Attorney’s Fees From Unit Owners Who Refused to Pay Attorney Fees

Facts

Developer recorded a Declaration in 2001 for the 260 Jamie Lane Condominium Association (“Association”) consisting of nine units in what seemed to be one building, with an allocation of the percentage interests based on the square feet of each unit.  Like most Declarations, it provided that “[e]ach Unit Owner shall pay his proportionate share of the Common Expenses … in the same ratio as his percentage of ownership…” with corresponding lien rights if the payment was not made.  The Developer sold five of the units in 2001 upon apparently completing a building within the Association.  The Developer filed an amendment to the Declaration and Plat which stated that the building where the five sold units were, was complete and describing “the proposed units for a different building to be constructed on Lot 1.”  The Developer continued to own the four uncompleted units.  The Association at some point began assessing the Developer for the four unbuilt units, and when the Developer refused to pay, the Association placed a lien on the unbuilt units. Continue Reading Developer Liable for Assessments on Unconstructed Units

Thank you to all who attended the Husch Blackwell Condominium & HOA Law Team virtual Association Academy on March 25, 2022.  We covered what’s new with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), collections and the new mortgage underwriting requirements..  No need to worry if you missed it, we recorded it for you, and you

Please join Husch Blackwell’s Condominium & HOA Law Team on March 25, 2022, for this informative virtual seminar. We’ll cover what is new with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), collections and the new mortgage underwriting requirements.

Topics

  • FDCPA Update – How Regulation F now affects managers
  • Collections – 5 things that help your associations actually get paid
  • The New Lender Questionnaire – What do we do with this? Navigating the new mortgage underwriting requirements

Continue Reading Association Academy: What’s New in 2022! Things You Need to Know

Thank you to all who attended our virtual Association Academy on September 17 – If it Weren’t for the People, Association Living Would be Perfect.  No need to worry if you missed it, we recorded it for you, and you can access at any time.

To access the recording click HERE. We outline some

Please join Husch Blackwell’s Condominium & HOA Law Team on September 17, 2021 as we outline some frequently encountered legal challenges and issues that can prove time-consuming and costly when mishandled.

Topics

  • Condominium legal document review
  • Collections from a debtor’s perspective
  • Handling disruptive unit owners and residents
  • Arbitration
  • Hoarders and foreclosures
  • Rentals and smoking
  • Construction issues]

Continue Reading Association Academy: If it Weren’t for the People, Association Living Would be Perfect

Thank you to all who attended our virtual Association Academy on May 26 – Condo and HOA Zoning, Cyber Crimes, Fine Collection, and Emotional Support Animals.  No need to worry if you missed it, we recorded it for you, and you can access at any time.

To view the recording click HERE as we review

Facts

A unit owner stopped paying assessments.  The condominium association properly recorded and perfected a lien against the unit for those assessments.  Under the applicable Oregon statute, the condo association lien is prior to all other liens, except tax liens and a first mortgage or deed of trust.  An exception exists, such that the condominium association can gain priority over the first mortgage if (among other things) “the association gives the first lienholder formal notice of the unpaid assessments, and the lienholder ‘has not initiated judicial action to foreclose the mortgage * * * prior to the expiration of 90 days following the notice[.]’”  In this case, five days after the association recorded its lien, the bank filed a judicial foreclosure action against the unit, but did not name the association as party, and therefore the foreclosure suit would not have terminated the lien rights of the association.  To correct this issue, the bank filed an amended complaint naming the association as a party.  Five months later the trial court issued a dismissal of the claim against the association, without prejudice, for failure to prosecute.  Five months after that the association sent the bank notice of the unit owner’s default on assessments.  The bank took no action in the next 90 days to reinstate the dismissal or file a new action against the association.
Continue Reading Lien Priority Statutes and Why They Make Sense

Please join Husch Blackwell’s Condominium & HOA Law Team for this informative seminar. We’ll review fine collection, common zoning regulations and practices, the importance of cyber insurance, and recent updates from the Department of Housing and Urban Development on emotional support animals.
Continue Reading Association Academy: Condo and HOA: Zoning, Cyber Crimes, Fine Collection, and Emotional Support Animals

Does your condominium or homeowners association (HOA) have owners who don’t pay their assessments?  Owners are finding more excuses to avoid paying their assessments.  Filing multiple bankruptcies, submitting payments with conditional language, NSF payments, claiming they don’t owe since they don’t use the common elements. . .  The list goes on and on.

So how does your association handle these “Sophisticated Debtors”?  Does your Association have a strong written collection policy?  Are your governing documents updated and in compliance with current law?  If not, your association will spend more than you should be in trying to collect unpaid assessments.

To ease the pain and headache of collecting unpaid assessments, make sure your association has:
Continue Reading Dealing with Sophisticated Debtors