Bank not paying HOA dues

OK so i dont know how to break this into a short story so here goes:

Our HOA is a total of 211 units, 56 of which are undeveloped property that were owned by a developer. The developer HAD always paid the HOA dues on those units until a few years ago. He then stopped. At that time the HOA did everything legally to rectify the situation. After 2 years 1/2 of the units were sold off to the developers friend to protect them from us foreclosing. The developer of course neglected to let his friend know that there was a considerable amount of back dues on the property. We met with the new owner he agreed to pay the dues and never followed through. Back on the other property we continued to pursue until our only recourse was to foreclose, but it was bank owned and we would have lost the property when the bank would have foreclosed (they were getting near to do this as well).

The Board decided to play the waiting game rather then lose money having the property taken away from us and when the bank foreclosed they came to us with what they thought their calculation of dues should be and it wasnt quite the 1% of the last 12 months dues that we are entitled to. Our attorney has been going back and forth with them and then all talks stopped. They also have not paid their July 2010 dues, so now in addition to back dues from the previous owner we have the new onwer (the bank not paying either). Does anyone know if there is any recourse other than placing a lein and foreclosing on the property. The HOA doesnt want the property we want the money that the owner should be paying.

On a side note - the owner of the second half of the property decided the Friday before we were getting judgement palced against him that he wanted a deal so we settled for 75% of what he owed to be paid over 6 months and he is currently paying on schedule.

Anything anyone can suggest to be able to handle the bank more aggressively we would appreciate it. Obviousely the homeowners within our HOA are tired of dealing with this. As a result of them messing us around we had to increase dues 2 years ago taking the 56 units out of the calculation so we wouldnt be put into this position again.

Thanks

Even though the old owner sold the property, he still owes the dues. You can file a personal obligation case against him just like he owed you money for something else. The dues "travel" with the owner, not with the property.

So, you can't really make the next owner pay for a previous owner's unpaid dues. Of course, you can pursue the next owner for his own unpaid share of the dues. If the next owner is a bank and even if it was as a result of foreclosure, the bank is still responsible for dues as long as it owns the place.

Daniel,

Sorry I must disagree with you. Although I don't believe it's proper, some CCRs do state that the new owner is resp. for any delinquencies of the previous owner. I believe this may also be the law in some states.