Prior to the involvement of Association Collection Services (ACS), the condominium management company’s accounts receivable department would send out a series of delinquency letters to those homeowners that were past due on their assessments. If homeowners paid, then the matter was resolved. If they did not pay, then the homeowner was then sent to a collection attorney.

ACS will act as an interim step between a series of delinquency letter, sent by a management company and a collection attorney. ACS will attempt to communicate with the delinquent homeowner directly and try to work out a resolution without the abruptness and legal fees associated with getting a law firm involved.

BENEFITS FOR THE CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION

1. A more caring and personal approach to a neighbor experiencing financial hardship. The typical process is a couple of impersonal form letters followed by an aggressive attorney and stressful legal action. Instead, ACS offers human to human personal communication to understand the delinquent homeowner’s financial ability and thus create a plan to meet the goal of the Association to collect dues.

2. Lower costs and fees to accomplish the ultimate result of timely payment of dues. ACS provides results driven fees that are 50% to 75% less than typical law firm collection fees.

3. Accurate monthly updates to the association board as to the status of each delinquent homeowner. Typically as part of the monthly financial reporting to the association board there is a status of delinquencies report that simply states the amount outstanding and some will be noted as “with the collection attorney”. That is all the information the property manager typically has to offer. When asked for the progress of collections since the last board meeting, the property manager is unable to provide any more information. ACS will provide a detailed status for each homeowner in collections and the results since the last report. For example, the status may say, “contact made, payment plan agreed to, and first payment made”.

4. More consistent application of collection efforts so delinquencies are resolved sooner. Law firms rely on the efforts of lesser paid support staff to drive the advancement of the collection process. This results in inconsistencies and sometimes a complete lack of action between each monthly financial reporting period. ACS’s sole purpose is to diligently put effort into each file, each month, to advance the process and then accurately report on that month’s progress.

5. Tracking of units in foreclosure and/or receivership and providing status to the association board. Periodically a unit will be subject to foreclosure or receivership. Often times the account is not delinquent; however, the Board still wants to know the status of the unit. ACS tracks units in foreclosure and receivership and reports the status in concert with the delinquency report.