Everrae Association Services

Review: Due to a year-long period of family crisis involving illnesses and death, and coincidentally, changes in how Everrae Association Services, the new management company of our HOA, Big Horn Master Association, collect HOA dues, I overlooked the payment of my HOA dues for 6 months. I received a letter dated 4/1/14 from ABC Assessment Services, which is the collection agency of Everrae Association Services Inc., demanding $910 in total which includes $200 Everrae Collection Fee and $210 Pre-lien Processing Fee and miscellaneous fee, in addition to the $438 HOA dues [(6 x $63 monthly due ) + (6 x $10 late fee per month) which I do not dispute. Their threat is they will foreclose my house if I dont pay the full balance.I immediately responded to the letter requesting them to waive all the collection charges, so I can pay them all the dues and monthly late fees of the past months in one lump sum to settle this oversight. I also took my April due check to Everrae but it was returned to me in mail, saying that I had to pay the $910 full balance, nothing less and that they could not accept partial payment like my April check. [redacted], Everraes Office Manager, asked me to attend the next Board of Directors meeting in May to present my case. But after I stated my case, they told me to go, so they could discuss and make their decision. I called [redacted] later that week and was told that she had two payment plans for me to choose from - their plan is to add the dues of the next 24 or 36 months to my $910 balance and add an additional charge of $25 per month to process these checks. So instead of the regular $63 due per month, it will become $126 per month (for 24 months) or $113 per month (for 36 months.) What they are doing is adding $600 more for the 24-month plan and $900 more for the 36-month plan I think this is a deceptive and abusive tactic of collecting fees, which I believe is against Californias The Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.I also want to bring up an issue of conflict of interest as the office manager of Everrae, [redacted] (her email is [redacted]@everrae.com ) is also the trustee officer of their collection agency, ABA Assessment Services, she sits on the Board of Directors meeting, together with Everraes Administrative Assistant, [redacted] (his email is [redacted]@everrae.com ) and three other residents who are elected for the Board.Please let me know if you need more information. I can be reached (preferably) by email at i[redacted]@egusd.net or work phone ###-###-#### or cell phone ###-###-####. I appreciate all your help.Irene [redacted]Desired Settlement: Drop or reduce all collection fees;Waive pre-lien processing fee (since no lien was filed);Allow me to pay past dues (Oct-June) $567 in two or one month;Bring my balance current (after past dues are paid) with no additional charges.

Business

Response:

Due to a year-long period of family crisis involving illnesses and death, and coincidentally, changes in how Everrae Association Services, the new management company of our HOA, Big Horn Master Association, collect HOA dues, I overlooked the payment of my HOA dues for 6 months There have been no “changes” in how the assessments are collected since November 2012. I received a letter dated 4/1/14 from ABC Assessment Services, which is the collection agency of Everrae Association Services Inc., demanding $910 in total which includes $200 Everrae Collection Fee and $210 Pre-lien Processing Fee and miscellaneous fee, in addition to the $438 HOA dues [(6 x $63 monthly due ) + (6 x $10 late fee per month) which I do not dispute. Their threat is they will foreclose my house if I dont pay the full balance True – after sending the owner numerous late letters, the Association’s collection policy states (she was sent copies of the policy with each late letter, with the November 2012 and November 2013 dicuslosure packages, and it’s posted on the Association’s website) accounts aged 45 days go to collections at which time partial payments are not accepted without a signed forberance agreement.I immediately responded to the letter requesting them (she properly requested the Board of Directors of the Association to waive these fees & costs) to waive all the collection charges, so I can pay them all the dues and monthly late fees of the past months in one lump sum to settle this oversight. The Board denied her request to waive these charges and offered her a payment plan – which she has refused I also took my April due check to Everrae but it was returned to me in mail, saying that I had to pay the $910 full balance, nothing less and that they could not accept partial payment like my April check Correct – see previous comments on partial payments and the published Collection Policy. [redacted], Everraes Office Manager, asked me to attend the next Board of Directors meeting in May to present my case. But after I stated my case, they told me to go, so they could discuss and make their decision. I called [redacted] later that week and was told that she had two payment plans for me to choose from - their plan is to add the dues of the next 24 or 36 months to my $910 balance and add an additional charge of $25 per month to process these checks. So instead of the regular $63 due per month, it will become $126 per month (for 24 months) or $113 per month (for 36 months.) What they are doing is adding $600 more for the 24-month plan and $900 more for the 36-month plan I think this is a deceptive and abusive tactic of collecting fees, which I believe is against Californias The Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. There is no such violation – there are extra collection fees to compensate the collection company for the extra time involved in monitoring and administering a 2 to 3 year payment plan. This owner could avoid those extra costs by agreeing to a shorter payment plan, or paying off the debt all at once which is the method preferred by the Association I also want to bring up an issue of conflict of interest as the office manager of Everrae, [redacted] (her email is[redacted]@everrae.com ) is also the trustee officer of their collection agency, ABA Assessment Services, she sits on the Board of Directors meeting, together with Everraes Administrative Assistant, [redacted] (his email is [redacted]@everrae.com ) and three other residents who are elected for the Board. The owner is mistaken – EverRae does own ABC Services, both companies the Board of Directors of the Association have signed separate contracts with for their services. The Board is completely aware of the ownership of both companies. There is no conflict of interest and in fact, the collection fees & costs charged to this owner by ABC Services are LESS than other community association assessment collection services. Neither [redacted] nor [redacted] are on the Board of Directors of the Association, although we do attend their meetings per our contracted services to assist the Board. We do not vote on matters before the Board and the Board makes the decisions, our job is only to implement those decisions. Please let me know if you need more information. I can be reached (preferably) by email at i[redacted]@egusd.net or work phone ###-###-#### or cell phone ###-###-####. I appreciate all your help.Irene [redacted] This is a frivolous complaint replete with false information. The owner was provided all the legal disclosure on the Association’s collection policy, and then some more above those requirements. The owner admits she didn’t pay her assessments. The Association then did what it said it would do in its Collection Policy. The Association’s Board has tried to work with her by agreeing to a multi-year payment plan (their typical payment plans are 6-months!) to get her monthly payments down. The only problem here is the owner does not want to be responsible for the collection fees and costs she has incurred by her failure to pay her assessments. As the Board explained to her, if they waive these fees and costs then that means all of the Association members will be paying them – which is certainly not fair as they didn’t cause them to be charged. The Board also, as part of their payment plan proposal, agreed to waive all late fees and interest.