Are you paying legal fees for collections?

I have read on this forum that many HOA's or Condo associations are paying legal fees for collections. My experience has been that HOA's do not pay an attorney for any collections unless it is a foreclosure. I was involved with the development of transition of many communities across the country and we did not hire any firms that charge for basic collections.

In my HOA we interviewed a few well established firms in our area (FL), and all were the same. No charge to the HOA. The attorney's tack on their fees for letters, liens and any other correspondence to the Homeowner. We pay a reasonable fee for a review of a contract, interpretation of our vague state statues, and any phone calls. Have you interviewed Association attorneys and what are the results?

One of our attorney's was friends with our Bookkeeper. So the pay arrangement was a bit different. We would pay him to file liens and write the occassional letters to homeowners. Most of the costs he charged us was court filing fees. It cost about $250 - $300 for him to file a lien for us. All of which is part of the lien and would be paid back to us once the lien was paid. He didn't charge us a "Retainer" which was good. He did do one foreclosure for us but he'd never done one before and undercharged us alot. However, he forgot to give us the check for several months!!!

I had another attorney from the previous President who was involved in drafting the new By-laws/CC&R's. He did charge us for filing the paperwork and his office's "footwork". He did send out letters on our behalf tracking down absent or non-responsive owners. However, he turned out not to be very efficient in gathering the required signatures and we ended up having to do that part on our own. Unfornately, I didn't know that he was an Real Estate attorney and was the one that had done the closing on the Previous President's house. He would have NEVER gotten hired since he wasn't completely qualified to do the job. All in all we paid him over a thousand dollars just to update and file our By-laws/CC&R's.

My last attorney I hired on my behalf against the HOA. He did charge me a retainer fee to take the case. He then charged me an hourly rate and each time I emailed or phoned him. He did come with me to a HOA meeting and a group meeting in my home. He cost me about $1500 just essentially to draft a letter to force my HOA to follow the rules on a special assessment. However, the legal bill was tax-deductible since it involved "investment property".

I've had my fair share of attorneys. Each one does things a little differently. It's really up to the individual selecting the attorney to make sure they have the RIGHT type of attorney and agree with the payment terms. In my case, I did take some law courses in college. So I basically hired attorneys based on their ability to file paperwork and appear in court. There was very limited "Advice" phone calls which saved ALOT of money. Matter of fact, that's why I have such a stance on letting attorney's do their job and NOT quote laws or statutes. They are paid to practice and know the law. I am just here to make sure they work for me to get that done.