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Articles for Condominiums & Community Associations
August 2009
Assessments as Important as Mortgages and Taxes
When you sit down to pay your bills each month, do you consider your association assessment a low priority? If so, think again ....
According to the National Consumer Law Center’s (NCLC) Guide to Surviving Debt, “Condo fees…should be considered a high priority.” In fact, NCLC considers community association assessments in the same category as mortgage payments and real estate taxes—a category ranked second only to feeding your family—according to the Guide’s “Sixteen Rules about Which Debts to Pay First.” Assessments pay for services like building maintenance, show removal, and cleaning that you would pay no matter where you lived—either as direct out-of-pocket expenses or indirectly in a higher rent payment. But the association has collective buying power, so when all services and utilities for everyone in the community are passed along to you as a monthly assessment, you’re actually getting a bargain. So, next time you get out your checkbook, remember to put your assessment near the top of that stack of bills. You’ll be glad you did.
Ways to Keep Fees Down
Residents can help their association minimize its maintenance expenses by observing a few simple considerations. These suggestions will help keep your assessment levels—your fees—down.
1. Recycle. Do NOT throw away paper, plastic and cans. If the association is fined by the city, or if our trash service raises rates, it could be passed on to you as an assessment increase.
2. Clean up after yourself. Debris left on the common areas require special maintenance, that means additional costs.
3. Be kind to the landscaping. Every bush destroyed or flower trampled has a price tag attached and so does the labor to replace it.
4. Observe the rules. Association rules are not arbitrary or frivolous. They are in place for a reason and have been carefully developed to keep property values up and insurance rates and other expenses down.