ARS 33-1807(K) Partial Payments Received
A neighbor is dealing with our HOA through the collections attorney for past due assessment and the law firm sent back the certified check that was for the amount of the assessment. The attorney is relying on a reading of the statute that she doesn’t have to accept a check for anything less than what she says is due including her legal fees, fees that haven’t been awarded by a court.
Who is the lead legislator to work with to get this language revised so that the attorneys don’t have this fine point to rely on? My plain language reading of the statute didn’t see this possibility because the entire provision assumes that the owner can submit payment covering only the assessment and that is has to be applied to the assessment balance.
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Is it possible that she was simply making the law fit her needs? My HOA twisted the ARS 33 – 1803 and said that homeowners had to reply to all violations and anything important by certified mail when it actually says it’s an option for homeowners they’ve done so much like this it’s ridiculous but could that be with that lawyer did? She basically made it up?
You are correct. The only provision in statute that requires a certified letter from a homeowner is in the current violation enforcement process. That I’ve been trying to get changed for years. I’ve already solicited a legislator to sponsor legislation to change the entire enforcement due process statute and eliminate this requirement and many others for the 2027 legislative session.
Because a lawyer says anything does not make it true. Lawyers get to interpret the law but the first rule of interpretation is the literal language used in the statute. Any judge will come to the same conclusion but that does not stop any attorney from interpreting the law in any fashion they believe benefits their client. While you pay for their services the homeowners are not the client of the attorney, even the board is not the client the nebulous corporate entity of the the association is the attorney’s client. Most board don’t even understand this fact and believe that the advise of the attorney is what is best for the community. It is not and will never be. For the most part it is what is best for the attorney.
Dennis
Dennis
This is an absolute lie. We clarified the statutory language in 2024 to specifically include attorneys and closed a loophole they used for years. The law requires the association and any agent of the association to accept any payment from a homeowner and apply it first to past-due assessments, then to current assessments, with a detailed listing of all subsequent payments. The law also states that the association cannot transfer control of a debt to anyone, including an attorney. The attorney can provide collection services for the association, but cannot control the debt or any payments made on it.
Your neighbor needs to be really careful here; this attorney is ignoring the protections I intentionally put into the law for their own financial gain. She needs to contact me and provide me with more details on her situation so that I can guide her directly. She may need a consultation with an attorney is this has gone too far.
Dennis