HOA late fees, interest and payment order in the United States: Florida, Texas, California and Arizona
In the United States, community association law is state law, and the four states below differ on late charges, interest, the order in which a payment is applied and what must happen before collection or foreclosure. Never apply one state's numbers to another: Florida pays interest and late fees first, Texas and California pay the assessment first.
«If provided by the declaration or bylaws, the association may, in addition to such interest, charge an administrative late fee of up to the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each delinquent installment for which the payment is late. … Any payment received by an association must be applied first to any interest accrued by the association, then to any administrative late fee, then to any costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred in collection, and then to the delinquent assessment.»
Florida (condominiums). Unpaid assessments bear interest at the rate in the declaration, which may not exceed the rate allowed by law; if the declaration provides none, 18 percent per year. If the declaration or bylaws provide for it, the association may also charge an administrative late fee of up to the greater of $25 or 5 percent of each delinquent installment. A payment is applied first to interest, then the late fee, then collection costs and reasonable attorney fees, then the delinquent assessment, regardless of any restrictive endorsement on the payment (Fla. Stat. § 718.116). Attorney fees on a past-due assessment require a prior written notice of late assessment, sent by first-class mail, giving 30 days to pay (Fla. Stat. § 718.121).
Texas (property owners' associations). A payment is applied in this order: delinquent assessment, current assessment, attorney fees and third-party collection costs tied to assessments or other lien-eligible charges, other attorney fees, fines, then any other amount (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0063). An association of more than 14 lots must adopt guidelines for a payment plan of at least three months, need not allow a plan longer than 18 months, and need not offer one more than once in 12 months (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0062). An owner is not liable for a collection agent's fees unless the association first sent certified-mail notice itemizing the arrears, describing the payment-plan options and allowing at least 45 days to cure (Tex. Prop. Code § 209.0064).
California (common interest developments). An assessment is delinquent 15 days after it comes due unless the declaration allows longer. The association may recover reasonable collection costs including attorney's fees, a late charge not exceeding the greater of 10 percent of the delinquent assessment or $10 (unless the declaration specifies less), and interest at no more than 12 percent a year starting 30 days after the due date (Cal. Civ. Code § 5650). Payments go first to the assessments owed, and only after those are paid in full to collection costs, attorney's fees, late charges or interest (Cal. Civ. Code § 5655). At least 30 days before recording a lien the association must send a certified-mail notice with an itemized statement and the rights to a board meeting, to dispute resolution and to alternative dispute resolution before foreclosure (Cal. Civ. Code § 5660).
Arizona. A common expense lien arises when an assessment comes due, and recording the declaration is record notice and perfection of the lien. Foreclosure is allowed only if the owner has been delinquent for eighteen months or in the amount of $10,000 or more, whichever occurs first; for a special assessment with an initial value of $10,000 or more, only the eighteen-month delinquency applies. The board must first make reasonable efforts to communicate with the owner and offer a reasonable payment plan. Fines and other unit owner expenses are excluded from the common expense lien (A.R.S. § 33-1256 for condominiums, A.R.S. § 33-1807 for planned communities).
What Unitify does with unpaid assessments
Unitify charges and tracks payments per unit, imports payments made outside the app from Excel and matches them to units, and keeps the open balance visible. It is not a ledger and does not decide your state's payment order, the late fee your declaration allows or the notices before a lien: those stay with the board, the manager and counsel.
Charges and balances in billing
