Hey everyone, I need some advice! I lost my job and now I’m being sued by my HOA law firm for $1000. But here’s the thing – I tried to pay the $1000 as stated on the lawsuit, but now they are saying it’s actually $2000! 😱 Can they do that?
Here are a few questions I have:
– Can the law firm refuse my payment of $1000 even though that’s what is stated on the lawsuit?
– Is it legal for them to suddenly demand an extra $1000?
– What should I do in this situation?
Any advice or insights would be greatly appreciated! Please help a fellow community member out. 🙏🏡
Document this and bring it to the judge at court. The judge will not be amused that you offered to settle for the full amount and they refused.
What State are you in?
It sound like what happened is: you had a debt of 1k to the HOA. You didn’t pay it. It was sold off to a law firm/collection agency or they were hired by the HOA to collect the money. When that happens, under the terms of every agreement I’ve even seen, you become liable for the legal fees too. Thus you now owe 2k. You can refuse anything you wont, but that doesn’t mean it becomes a fact or changes the facts of your case. If what I describe above is what happened (and to stress, I am speculating here), you can’t undo this. It is legal (assuming the fees aren’t in violation of the law). It it enforceable. It is the same as a late fee on your rent or mortgage. You can’t just come along 2 weeks late and assert I’m here to pay my rent but I refuse to accept that there’s a late fee. It is legal for them to do this because you now owe 2k. They can refuse to accept partial payment.
>“No the amount due is now $2000 and we can NOT accept the $1000”.
Did the law firm explain what the extra $1k was since the law suit was $1000? They could not just tell you to pay an extra $1000 without any explanation what that was for.
Was there a date that the amount had to be paid by before additional fees could accrue? Or did it mention additional fees at all?
BTW, just for future knowledge and for anyone else reading this, if you are in a bad situation where you know you cannot pay your HOA dues, please reach out to a member of your HOA board. I am on an HOA board and while we cannot reduce dues, we can choose to postpone any collections or legal referrals. If someone reaches out to us in this kind of situation, we are going to work with them. In our case this is largely because we have a good HOA board that truly cares about the neighborhood and our community. But even if we did not, it is in the best interest of the HOA to avoid situations where a homeowner may be unable to afford to take care of their property, and especially avoid foreclosure or the need to quickly sell their home, or something like that. Property selling for lower than the current market price will drive down the value of all nearby property.
Is this a lien (or a threat to apply a lien) for past due assessments or are you actually being sued for damages? There is a difference.
HOA assessments must be paid in full, and if there is now an attorney involved you must also pay the attorney fees, including any costs to lift the lien. Depending on your HOA, it is quite possible to negotiate with the board BEFORE they turn to an attorney. After an attorney is involved your choices are much more limited.
The HOA is not being “mean”. They have a legal obligation to collect dues from all members and there really is no option to reduce the amount of the assessments. All of this should be in your governing documents.
Source – formerly an HOA president.
Domesticplantliver please don’t give advice to this person. They don’t sell your info to an attorney. The legal fees were included.
HOAs are evil and people should recognize this and band against them