HOA Past Dues - Allegedly

The saga continues:

The president of our HOA claims that one unit owes back HOA dues from 2010 - 2011. From my review of what little bookkeeping the presdent has, he does not. He has never sent him a notice about past HOA dues. He only sends emails with conflicting amounts of monies he is demanding from him. For example: It was $1,800, then he told him he would reduce the dues if he had receipts to prove he made repairs to his unit that the developer would not reimburse him for after purchase of the unit, which then he would drop the amount to $524 owed. Then another email with the monthly HOA invoice in 2011 shows a zero balance for him.

The emails from the presient I've been shown are harassing and demanding. Such language as: "If you don't pay this by the end of the day at 5:00 p.m. with a check at my door - the deal is off!" He is also demandng a release that says the unit owner won't sue him, the HOA or the developer. (He has tried the same tactic with us).

The developer even sent the unit owner an email "release" to sign that says he owes nothing as long as he signs the release saying he won't sue him, his heirs, company, affiliates, the HOA, the HOA president, and basically the world. The developer had not signed the release prior to sending to the unit owner.

There is no fine schedule that I can find in our HOA documents. Besides this probably being illegal and possibly extortion - is there some sort of statute of limitations on this? And, what protocol must be taken to give notice to someone who may be delinquent in paying their dues?

If the homeowner has cancelled checks to prove they paid, I would say it would be a no brainer and if they were stupid enough to pay cash and not get a receipt then shame on them.

AZ statute of limitations from statuteoflimitations.net

Marcia you're ignoring the basic question. Does the homeowner owe past dues or can he/she prove they paid them? If they owe, they need to pay, for they are taking money out of your pocket as well as the associations by not paying.

Marcia,

An HOA consists of several specialties:

Deed Restrictions typically fall under contract law
Procedural Issues typically fall under corporate law (expecting the Association is incorporated)
easement issues typically fall under real estate law

You should identify what the main issue is then pick an attorney who is versed in that speciality. It's a plus if they belong to a firm that handles the other issues as well with staff in those specialities.

The "HOA" attorneys typically are the firms representing the Association and therefore, tend to shy away from individuals bringing action against Associations.

Thanks to all for your help.

He has paid his dues - can prove it.