CASTLEGATE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

  • ASSESSMENT COLLECTION POLICY

Effective July 1, 2021

The following Assessment Collection Policy shall be followed for Castlegate Community Association.

Defined Terms

Late Charges means the charges applied to an account in compliance with Arizona Revised Statute §33-1803(A), as described below.

Owner means the owner of the property whose responsibility it is to bring an account current.

Payment Plan means a board-authorized written payment plan containing terms described below.

Late Charges

In compliance with Arizona Revised Statute §33-1803(A), a late charge of Fifteen Dollars ($15.00) or ten percent (10%) of the unpaid assessment, whichever is greater, will be applied to every account showing any part of an assessment ($15.00 or greater) that is over 15 days past due.

Assessment Collection Procedures

  • A written reminder will be mailed to the Owner on the sixteenth (16th) day after the assessment due date stating that the Owner has a past-due assessment and a late charge has been applied to the Owner’s account. The Owner is responsible for paying all late charges.

  • A written demand letter will be mailed to the Owner on the sixtieth (60th) day after the assessment due date and trash collection services will be suspended. The delinquent account is assessed a fee for the preparation of the demand letter and the Owner is responsible for paying this fee.

  • A notice of lien will be filed with the county recorder on every account that shows the assessment being at least ninety (90) days past due. The delinquent account is assessed a fee for the preparation and filing of the notice of lien and the Owner is responsible for paying this fee. The lien shall not be released until such time as the account is paid in full.

  • Thirty (30) days after a lien notice is recorded on the property, should the account remain delinquent, the Board will determine how to proceed with collection efforts, which may include one of the following:

    a. For accounts with an outstanding balance of less than Three Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($3,500.00), the Community may file a complaint in Small Claims Court to pursue a personal judgment against the Owner or the account may be referred to an attorney or a collection agency. If a complaint is filed in Small Claims Court and the account is not paid in full or the Owner does not enter into a Payment Plan prior to a personal judgment being obtained, the account may be referred to an attorney or a collection agency for collection upon obtaining the personal judgment. The Owner is responsible for paying all collection costs, legal fees, document preparation fees, and other costs permitted by law or contract.

    b. For accounts with an outstanding balances greater than Three Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($3,500.00), the account may be referred to an attorney or a collection agency for further collection proceedings at the discretion of the Board of Directors. The Owner is responsible for paying all collection costs, legal fees, document preparation fees, and other costs permitted by law or contract.

  • For properties that have been foreclosed upon, the Board of Directors has sole discretion as whether to take action to collect past due assessments.

Applying Payments Received on Past Due Accounts

Per Arizona Revised Statute §33-1256(K), unless an Owner directs otherwise, all payments received on an Owner’s account shall be applied in the following order:

  1. Past Due Assessments;
  2. Late Charges;
  3. Collection Fees (including demand letter, notice of lien, and other applicable document preparation and filing fees);
  4. Attorney Fees and Costs; and
  5. Other unpaid fees, charges and monetary penalties, or interest and late charges on any of those amounts.

Payment Plans

The Board of Directors authorizes Payment Plans for past due balances (including past due assessments and related fees) (the ‘Debt’) with the following terms:

  • Payment Plans shall be in writing and signed by the Owner. Payments made without benefit of a written Payment Plan signed by the Owner will not be treated as payments toward the Payment Plan and collection activity shall be initiated in accordance with the Assessment Collection Procedures outlined above.
  • The Payment Plan length and the amount of the monthly installments owed will be determined by the amount of the Debt:
    • If the Debt is less than $500.00, a payment plan of six months (six equal monthly installments) will be offered.
    • If the Debt is $500.01 to $1,000.00, a payment plan of twelve months (12 equal monthly installments) will be offered.
    • If the Debt is $1,000.01 or more, a payment plan of eighteen months (18 equal monthly installments) will be offered.
  • Late Charges as provided in this Assessment Collection Policy will not be charged on the Debt during the term of the Payment Plan so long as payments are received in accordance with the Payment Plan.
  • The Owner will be responsible to pay additional assessments as they become due while a Payment Plan remains in effect. Future assessments cannot be included in the Payment Plan amount.
  • All Payment Plans will be monitored by the managing agent.
  • Upon default of Payment Plan, the managing agent will resume collection efforts with the next step of the Assessment Collection Procedures without further notice to the Owner based on where in the process the amount was at the time the Payment Plan commenced.

Waiver of Past Due Amounts

The Board of Directors will generally not consider waiver of late fees, lien fees, attorneys’ fees, or other collection costs incurred on an account where the assessments were not paid in accordance with the Assessment Collection Policy through no fault of the Association or its Agent(s). However, the Board of Directors retains full discretion to make business decisions concerning the collectability of accounts and their compromise or settlement.

CONSENT TO ACTION

BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CASTLEGATE COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION

c/o AAM, LLC

1600 W. Broadway Rd., Ste 200

Tempe, AZ 85282

(602) 957-9191

ASSESSMENT COLLECTION POLICY

The undersigned, constituting a majority of the members of the Board of Directors of Castlegate Community Association, an Arizona nonprofit corporation, hereby take the following actions at a duly called meeting of the Board held on May 26, 2021.

RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors hereby approves the attached Assessment Collection Policy for Castlegate Community Association.

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board of Directors hereby instructs the managing agent to notify all Owners of the implementation of the Assessment

Collection Policy effective as of July 1, 2021.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have executed this consent as of this 26th day of May, 2021.

Alison Garshak President and Director, Castlegate Community Association