Porter McGuire Kiakona & Chow, LLP

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2014/07/30) */
July 30, 2014
VIA HAND-DELIVERY
Revdex.com of Hawaii, Inc.
c/o Ms. [redacted]
Honolulu, Hawaii [redacted]
Re: Revdex.com of Hawaii, Inc. Complaint
Unit at...

[redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
This law firm represents the Association of Apartment Owners of [redacted] ("Association") and this letter is in response to your letter dated July 18, 2014, regarding a complaint from an owner, called Ms. Doe hereinafter, of a unit at [redacted] ("Property"). Ms. Doe stated in her complaint that the Association should provide her with information that shows the specific months and related amounts that Ms. Doe owes the Association.
Our office became aware of this matter in 2014, when the Association referred Ms. Doe's account to our office for collection. This matter was referred to our office because Ms. Doe was significantly delinquent to the Association due to her failure to pay maintenance fees, reserve contribution fees, and other costs assessed to her Property. On May 20, 2014, our office sent Ms. Doe a demand letter regarding her delinquency. On June 25, 2014, the Association informed Ms. Doe that it had received payments in the amount of $125.28 and $805.70 on May 29, 2014, and $392.85 on June 10, 2014. Ms. Doe was further informed that although payments were received there was a remaining balance due and owing, in the amount of $1,158.84; the debt had not been paid in full.
On July 9, 2014, per Ms. Doe's request, our office sent a detailed ledger reflecting each payment received by our office and verifying her continued delinquency to the Association. As of today's date, Ms. Doe remains delinquent.
Our office has openly communicated with and will continue to communicate with Ms. Doe to resolve this matter and urges her to please work with us to understand why the delinquency remains and how we can work together to rectify the situation.
If you and/or Ms. Doe have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.
THIS COMMUNICATION IS FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED AS A RESULT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS COMMUNIA TION WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Very truly yours,
[redacted]
cc: Client
[redacted], c/o [redacted]
Final Business Response /* (4000, 10, 2014/08/14) */
August 13, 2014
VIA HAND-DELIVERY
Revdex.com of Hawaii, Inc.
c/o Ms. [redacted]
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-2813
Re: Revdex.com of Hawaii, Inc. Complaint
Unit at [redacted]
Dear Ms. [redacted]:
As you know, this law flrm represents the Association of Apartment Owners of [redacted] ("Association") and this letter is in response to your letter dated August 5, 2014. On July 30, 2014, the Association responded to your previous letter dated July 18, 2014, regarding a complaint from an owner, called Ms. Doe hereinafter, of a unit at [redacted] ("Property'). Ms. Doe stated in her complaint that the Association should provide her with information that shows the specific months and related amounts that Ms. Doe owes the Association.
Ms. Doe states that:
(1) Counsel for the Association has not called her;
(2) "[I]f there are payment issues related to 2014, then I only need a detailed explanation of
the specific total they claim is due, the month and the amount," and
(3) "The last letter stated they wanted $1,158 for legal fees, not past HOA dues .... Any contract of fees they have is an agreement between them and the HOA - it should not involve us."
First, on May 20, 2014, our office sent Ms. Doe a demand letter regarding her delinquency. On July 2, 2014, our office received a letter from Ms. Doe stating that "to date we are paid up and current" with Association fees. On July 9, 2014, our office promptly sent Ms. Doe a veritication of debt letter, with the Association's complete ledger attached, demonstrating the assessments assessed to her account and the payments received from her for the period of September 30, 2008 - July 1, 2014. The next communication received by our office from Ms. Doe was the complaint letter sent from your office on July 18, 2014.
Second, as stated above, we provided Ms. Doe with a detailed ledger demonstrating the assessments to her account and the payments received. As provided in the ledger, Ms. Doe was delinquent prior to 2014; her account was referred to our office in 2014 to collect amounts due and owing to the Association. Said ledger provides a complete accounting to Ms. Doe regarding the amounts that remain due and owing to the Association.
Third, Ms. Doe states that our letter dated July 30, 2014, states that we requested "$1,158 for legal fees, not past HOA dues." Ms. Doe incorrectly quotes the letter dated July 30, 2014, which states, "Ms. Doe was further informed that although payments were received there was a remaining balance due and owing, in the amount of $1,158.84; the debt has not been paid in full." As of August 1, 2014, Ms. Doe owes the amount of $2,156.26, which is as follows:
Maintenance Fees $439.87
Return Payment Adjustment $849.37
Non-Sufficient Funds Charge $30.00
Late Fees $10.00
Special Assessment Fees $73.05
Reserve Contribution $91.15
Prior Attorneys' Fees $180.10
Attorneys' Fees $482.72
Total due as of August 1, 2014: $2,156.26
Moreover, Ms. Doe states, "Any contract of fees they have is an agreement between them and the HOA it should not involve us." We assume that Ms. Doe equates attorneys' fees with "contract fees." As an owner at the project, Ms. Doe is subject to the Declaration and Bylaws of the Association. Section 9 of the Declaration gives the Association the right to assess all owners a proportionate share of the Common Expenses of the Association. Section 10 of the Declaration requires all owners to comply with the Declaration, By-laws and Decisions of the Association. Article V, Section 1 of the Bylaws provides that all unpaid assessments constitutes a lien on the property. Article V, Section 4 of the Bylaws provides the Association with the authority to foreclose on a lien for unpaid assessments and collect reasonable attorneys' fees incurred to collect unpaid assessments from a delinquent owner. The Association has retained our offlce to collect Ms. Doe's delinquency and the attorneys' fees and costs incurred to collect said delinquency have been assessed to Ms. Doe's account pursuant to the Associations authority established in the Declaration and Bylaws.
Based on the documentation provided to Ms. Doe, she remains delinquent to the Association and the Association intends to collect the amounts due and owing by using all methods provided in its Declaration and Bylaws and its rights pursuant to Hawaii statutory law. Ms. Doe may either pay the full amount due and owing to the Association or enter into a 12-month payment plan with the Association to pay off her delinquency.
As stated in our previous response, our office has openly communicated with and will continue to communicate with Ms. Doe to resolve this matter and urges her to please work with us to understand why the delinquency remains and how we can work together to rectify the situation.
If you and/or Ms. Doe have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned.
THIS COMMUNICATION IS FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED AS A RESULT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS COMMUNICATION WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Very truly yours,
[redacted]
cc: Client
[redacted], c/o [redacted]
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 12, 2014/08/19) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
1. PMK&C has never spoken to me directly-- they just send harassing letters and keep adding more fines and fees that look made up and bear no relationship to the money in dispute.
2. The fines and fees are out of proportion to the money in dispute which amounts to only 2 months (July & Aug 2014) of HOA fees. Esp. they want $2,156.26 for bills amounting to just over $800.
3. Their last letter is dated 8/13/14 but they make no mention of a money order sent to the HOA dated 8/04/14 in the amount of $810.88.
Proofs can be mailed to the Revdex.com upon request along with the money order and certified mail receipt.
Bottom line:
Again, they hide in data dumping. By writing lengthy letters and submitting ledgers unrelated to the 2 months in question (July & August 2014) they make it impossible to track the real amounts due and pad their demands with frivolous and arbitrary fines/fees (esp. late fees, special assessment fees, attorney fees, reserve fees, NSF fees, prior attorney fees).
This is just PADDING and GOUGING. The reason they cannot speak plainly and stick to specific months' dues is because they are aggressively and maliciously taking advantage of us.
There ought to be laws against such abuses. HOAs and their cohorts ought not to be able to abuse homeowners like this. They should not be able to to gouge when honest homeowners make sincere attempts to pay. This is abuse, it is malicious and greedy.