It is my belief that if an owner is one month behind in his/her fees, it will be difficult to collect. If the owner is two months' behind, it will be even harder (if not impossible) to collect. And if the owner becomes three or more months delinquent, you are looking at a potential bankruptcy situation.

Associations should adopt a policy that no owner will be exempt from the zero tolerance policy. Unless your Bylaws require otherwise, when the owner is one day delinquent, the matter should be referred to the attorney handling collection matters for your association. Don’t just keep sending collection letters; in many cases, they just do not work.

Such a policy must be authorized by your Association Bylaws, although most association legal documents do contain such an acceleration provision. It is also important to note that before this policy can be formally adopted, it should be circulated to all owners for comment. Although holding a public association hearing is not always required, I recommend that the Board take this extra step to make sure that owners understand not only the terms of the proposed collection policy, but the importance of keeping fees current.

Unfortunately, Boards of Directors have to take a hard-line approach in the collection of delinquencies. An association should be a friendly place to live; everyone should be neighborly. However, if owners are consistently delinquent, this will create a serious problem for all other owners. More importantly, if there are too many delinquencies within an association, mortgage lenders may decline making loans for future sales -- thereby accelerating the potential decline of your association. The buck starts and stops with the Board of Directors.

My suggestion: adopt a "zero tolerance" policy and make sure this message is sent -- by Board communication and action -- to all owners on a periodic basis.