OT: HOA auto draft question

[42nate1]

Greetings, long time lurker, but rarely post.

I’ve got a question that someone here might be able to answer. I’m on the board of a small HOA with 8 houses, and it is a huge pain trying to collect the monthly HOA’s. I really want to automate this process like large HOA’s so we can just take the money out of each owner’s bank account each month.

Since the HOA is so small, our bank (BofA) will not set this up. Is there a cheap for fee solution to be able to do this? We don’t need financial statements, or bill pay services, just a way to collect the monthly HOA’s.

thanks,
Eric

[paramount]

Our HOA uses Mutual of Omaha:

http://www.mutualofomahabank.com/community-associations/make-a-payment

[Hobie]

How about billing a one time fee each January covering all the months?

[spdrun]

Assume an HOA fee of $200/mo. Most Americans don’t HAVE $2400 to pay in a lump-sum, their life is financed.

[no_such_reality]

How much is the monthly assessment? Is this a cash flow issue or a PITA documentation issue?

I’m assuming PITA. If cash flow will board agree to special assessment to close the gap?

Are you using any management software to track accounts? If so isn’t it just a matter of entering 8 data pieces on given day after entering the mail?

Levying late fees should be automated and just a matter of post stamp isn’t before required date.

[42nate1]

HOA’s at this place are $350 per month, and with the monthly collection issues, getting prepaid upfront for the year isn’t realistic.

[42nate1]

Monthly assessment is $350 (water & sewer absorb most of this), and most of the owners would (there are 8 houses in total) would prefer to have an auto debit set up so they do not have to remember to write monthly checks.

With the size, their records are excel based. It’s very simple, so no software involved. I’m an Accountant and got pulled into it and have been doing it for years.

There are 1-2 owners that are problems, and having the money come out of their account would make life simpler from a cash flow standpoint for the HOA.

Seems like this would be a simple issue to resolve, but BofA requires $100k in cash to set up the auto debit, and the companies I’ve found that provide this service say that we either don’t have enough homes to make it worth their time, or they want to provide financial services as a bundle, which the HOA does not need nor can really afford with such a small number of homes.

[bearishgurl]

[quote=42nate1]Monthly assessment is $350 (water & sewer absorb most of this), and most of the owners would (there are 8 houses in total) would prefer to have an auto debit set up so they do not have to remember to write monthly checks.

With the size, their records are excel based. It’s very simple, so no software involved. I’m an Accountant and got pulled into it and have been doing it for years.

There are 1-2 owners that are problems, and having the money come out of their account would make life simpler from a cash flow standpoint for the HOA.

Seems like this would be a simple issue to resolve, but BofA requires $100k in cash to set up the auto debit, and the companies I’ve found that provide this service say that we either don’t have enough homes to make it worth their time, or they want to provide financial services as a bundle, which the HOA does not need nor can really afford with such a small number of homes.[/quote]

I find that absolutely ridiculous, 42nate1. Is there some way that a bank (or property mgmt co) would take in your small “complex” for 10% (or less) of the HOA dues collected?

[Hobie]

I see. Yah, too much for a one time assessment.

Paypal has a recurring billing service.I would simply add the fee to the assessment. And make the late fee 2x more than the service fee 😉

Just like if I pay my property tax with a credit card there is a service fee.

[no_such_reality]

Well, each home owner should be able to set up a recurring payment with their bank. That’ll help the six that pay. The other two, , just late fee them until they get it.

Have the board figure out what the max late fee is and levy it. With an assessment of $350, I’m guessing around $35 or $50. Should be enough to get noticed after a couple.

We had problems with one of the rental condos where the assessment would show up in the mailbox and be due within like two days. It was always late so we created a scheduled auto bill pay on our account at the bank. Each homeowner can automated their own bill pay,

[sdsurfer]

I’m actually involved with a company that provides exactly what your referring to, but we have a 50 unit minimum because the numbers do not work for 8 units.

I’d recommend setting this up through another bank. I think First Republic might offer it or others in town. I still have a bank account with Wells, but First Republic is a much better bank with more services. If you bank with them it will probably be free.

[no_such_reality]

What about a web service like these guys https://legfi.com/HOA

$2/month per unit. So $192/year.

Invoicing, payment processing, budgets, tax forms. Looks like everything you’ll need.

[42nate1]

No_such_reality,

this seems to be exactly what i’m looking for. I think it will work. Thanks!

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