A home owners association is a common interest community, where all owners own a percentage of common areas. These common areas require protection, maintenance and preservation.
Your assessment pays bills incurred by the association to operate the community.
This is all made clear in the governing documents you signed and agreed to follow when you purchased your real estate.
Read your governing documents to determine your assessment payment responsibilities, including amounts and due dates.
The Secretary of State in your state usually requires an annual fee to maintain the viability of the association's standing as a valid business in your state. This is based on the Articles of Incorporation upon which your HOA is founded.
Yes. It's called a special assessment, which each unit owner is required to pay.
No. An HOA is required to provide an estoppel letter upon request. It can charge a fee.
When you purchase property in an HOA, the assessment payment amount and due date are both part of your closing document package. The HOA may not automatically send invoices for assessment payments. Because there is no standard, your board treasurer can answer your specific question.
This is a fee charge by the HOA or Property Management Co. to remove one owner from (typically a seller) and add a new owner into (typically a buyer) an HOA. In NW Florida it's around $30-$50.
You can find the answer you want in the annual budget for the association.
From what I have seen most of the time they are monthly.. there has been a couple annual but not too many. Check with your realtor and rental company that you are dealing with.
Owners pay HOA assessments, in monthly or in annual payments. These payments are the revenue source for the operation of the community. Past-due assessments in escrow may be paid to satisfy a lien.
I dont think you will be charged with any "crazy" fees. There might be a late payment penalty of something like $25. Check with your HOA paperwork to be sure. I have missed my payment date a few times, but there were no penalties. If you are regularly late, the consequences might be late fee penalty charged to your account. Check with HOA when in doubt.
Your bankruptcy attorney can help you determine whether or not the special assessment was part of your bankruptcy proceeding.
Probably not. Annual assessments are levied in order to pay the bills sufficient to operate the community. When assessments are increased year-over-year at a dramatic level, such as 25% higher this year over last, affected lenders are generally interested in exploring these increases.