What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Living in Virginia Beach, VA, I received a summons to court for being 4 months late in paying homeowners' association dues. I do not argue that I owe the money, just angry that the first reminder I got from the HOA was this summons! We have lived in the same house for 7 years now and have always had the same dues.
HOA dues are only $20/month, and we usually pay our dues 1 full year at a time. We got a little out of cycle when I went on deployment in mid-2007 (I'm Navy, and returned in January of 2008), but stayed current until (apparently) August or so of 2008. I say this because I received a notice in (July or August?) of 2008 that said I was $20 in the hole, and owed $22.50 (1 month debt plus late fees). I paid $122.50 in August of 2008, and figured I'd start back up with the payment of a full year again in January of 2009. Unfortunately, the bill fell out of my scan and we forgot about it--until last Friday. Now I'm summoned to court for the $80, plus an additional $160 (as if that wasn't the plan anyhow), plus court costs! I think this is stupid, if we would have just been reminded that the HOA was looking for the money, we would have paid immediately (as we're prepared to do now).
Calling the office, they claim to have contacted us about the dues FOUR TIMES!!! NOT SO--we were contacted by them twice--they asked us to repair our roof when 12 shingles were blown off in a storm, and they asked us A SECOND TIME to do so AFTER WE HAD OUR INSURANCE ADJUSTER INSPECT (and tell us that we didn't need a new roof) AND I HAD ALREADY REPLACED THE SHINGLES!!! But absolutely no word that they were looking for us to pay our HOA dues, until the summons.
Again, no argument that we owe the $80, and no qualms that they want a full year's payment because that was our plan in the first place. I just don't think we should have to go to court and pay the court costs and take a ding on my good credit as well (times are hard, but we pay our debts and don't have any bill collectors calling).
Any advice as to whether we send them our check for the year now, then go to court, or just wait for the court date, or what? What is the legal reasoning behind taking us to court without sending us any warning that we were in arrears? Aren't they required to contact us prior to wasting the court's time? If we have to do the court thing, what should we say to bring out the fact that this was our first reminder that we owed them? How do we keep this court appearance from hurting my credit?
HOA dues are only $20/month, and we usually pay our dues 1 full year at a time. We got a little out of cycle when I went on deployment in mid-2007 (I'm Navy, and returned in January of 2008), but stayed current until (apparently) August or so of 2008. I say this because I received a notice in (July or August?) of 2008 that said I was $20 in the hole, and owed $22.50 (1 month debt plus late fees). I paid $122.50 in August of 2008, and figured I'd start back up with the payment of a full year again in January of 2009. Unfortunately, the bill fell out of my scan and we forgot about it--until last Friday. Now I'm summoned to court for the $80, plus an additional $160 (as if that wasn't the plan anyhow), plus court costs! I think this is stupid, if we would have just been reminded that the HOA was looking for the money, we would have paid immediately (as we're prepared to do now).
Calling the office, they claim to have contacted us about the dues FOUR TIMES!!! NOT SO--we were contacted by them twice--they asked us to repair our roof when 12 shingles were blown off in a storm, and they asked us A SECOND TIME to do so AFTER WE HAD OUR INSURANCE ADJUSTER INSPECT (and tell us that we didn't need a new roof) AND I HAD ALREADY REPLACED THE SHINGLES!!! But absolutely no word that they were looking for us to pay our HOA dues, until the summons.
Again, no argument that we owe the $80, and no qualms that they want a full year's payment because that was our plan in the first place. I just don't think we should have to go to court and pay the court costs and take a ding on my good credit as well (times are hard, but we pay our debts and don't have any bill collectors calling).
Any advice as to whether we send them our check for the year now, then go to court, or just wait for the court date, or what? What is the legal reasoning behind taking us to court without sending us any warning that we were in arrears? Aren't they required to contact us prior to wasting the court's time? If we have to do the court thing, what should we say to bring out the fact that this was our first reminder that we owed them? How do we keep this court appearance from hurting my credit?
