ebonyknight
New Member
I will try to keep this as brief as possible while talking about as many facts as possible. I basically want to find out if I should/could file a successful small claims court case. I have never filed one before or been involved in one.
I was trying to get a parking permit for my community. I was told that I would not get one because I was behind in my Home Owners Association (HOA) dues by over $700. I was shocked as I have been a paying member of the HOA for over 10 years and never been significantly late with my dues.
I checked my quicken (electronic bill payment software) to find out what was going on. Apparently only two of the 5 electronic payments went through (they switched management companies a year and a half ago). Those payments spanned almost a year. I was immediately angry that I got NO notice that I was behind. When I would receive a bill for the HOA dues, it wouldn't say that I was behind or had a balance. I never received any kind of correspondence that I was behind and to pay up. I spent the next two days trying to contact the management company to find out why they never notified me. I never got a call back after leaving several voice mails.
Two days later I receive a Notice of Intent to Record a Memorandum of Lien, from a law firm in relation to this issue. I got extremely mad. I called the law office and they told me to email them my grievance. My grievance is NOT the past due payments and late fees, but an additional $225 in collection and Lawyers fees. Since I have never received correspondence that I was behind or past due and it never reflected it on the dues payment bills I received, I felt it was not fair to pay them. She told me that they were meeting with the HOA board that night for a meeting and she would present my grievance letter to them. In short, I said that I would pay the balance due, including late fees, but that the collection/lawyers fees were unfair since I was never notified that I was behind.
They denied my request. I am going to request the meeting minutes and have paid the ENTIRE bill as requested. But I don't feel it's fair to send an issue to collections without having even notified me that I was behind, in any way.
Hope I haven't been too long winded.
Question, do I have a case to sue the HOA and management company for the for the recovery of $225 in collection and lawyers fees? Aren't you supposed to mitigate your damages by first asking for the past due fees before going to a collection agent?
I was trying to get a parking permit for my community. I was told that I would not get one because I was behind in my Home Owners Association (HOA) dues by over $700. I was shocked as I have been a paying member of the HOA for over 10 years and never been significantly late with my dues.
I checked my quicken (electronic bill payment software) to find out what was going on. Apparently only two of the 5 electronic payments went through (they switched management companies a year and a half ago). Those payments spanned almost a year. I was immediately angry that I got NO notice that I was behind. When I would receive a bill for the HOA dues, it wouldn't say that I was behind or had a balance. I never received any kind of correspondence that I was behind and to pay up. I spent the next two days trying to contact the management company to find out why they never notified me. I never got a call back after leaving several voice mails.
Two days later I receive a Notice of Intent to Record a Memorandum of Lien, from a law firm in relation to this issue. I got extremely mad. I called the law office and they told me to email them my grievance. My grievance is NOT the past due payments and late fees, but an additional $225 in collection and Lawyers fees. Since I have never received correspondence that I was behind or past due and it never reflected it on the dues payment bills I received, I felt it was not fair to pay them. She told me that they were meeting with the HOA board that night for a meeting and she would present my grievance letter to them. In short, I said that I would pay the balance due, including late fees, but that the collection/lawyers fees were unfair since I was never notified that I was behind.
They denied my request. I am going to request the meeting minutes and have paid the ENTIRE bill as requested. But I don't feel it's fair to send an issue to collections without having even notified me that I was behind, in any way.
Hope I haven't been too long winded.
Question, do I have a case to sue the HOA and management company for the for the recovery of $225 in collection and lawyers fees? Aren't you supposed to mitigate your damages by first asking for the past due fees before going to a collection agent?