How Do You Cut The High Cost Of H.O.A. Expenses? November 19, 2010 by JoAnn Smith Heckman
By JoAnn Smith Heckman, R.R.P. President and C.E.O., Collections Unlimited, Inc.
That’s a question every Board of Directors is asking. The economy has hit our industry and this put a large burden on those others that pay their annual assessments. What can you do? The first option is contracting a professional collection agency to help. There are special JoAnn Smith Heckman President & CEO, Collections Unlimited, Inc.
agencies that offer many services to cut your costs and increase your bottom line,
How many owners do you have that are lost, no current addresses available and the delinquencies for these owners just keep increasing? Collection agencies can offer a skip trace service prior to placing the accounts in collections for a nominal fee. What does it cost your H.O.A. to send the monthly or quarterly newsletter? There are companies that will prepare your newsletter and pay for the postage for the advertisement in your newsletter. Think of the cost that would save your H.O.A. not counting the time and employee hours you now pay. Does your H.O.A. have an older aged owner base that is not in a position to continue using the timeshare for either health or monetary reasons? Agencies can provide a deed back services where either the owner pays the fess for the service to the H.O.A. or the H.O.A. pays a minimal fee. There are many options and prgrams available. This helps to clean up your receivables and in most cases, provides extra income and a deed to the H.O.A. whereby that week can be resold to an assessment paying owner. How old are your delinquent accounts? That’s money sitting in a file cabinet. It’s time to set up a Billing and Collection policy. A professional collection agency will provide the information and most professional timeshare collection agencies have the ability to provide information on the applicable state laws. Don’t be confused. There is a difference between a collection agency and a professional timeshare collection agency. If you’re using an agency now or are in the market for a collection agency there are many questions you should ask. A timeshare collection agency will know the meaning of fixed time, floating time, points system and fractionals. They’ll also know the difference between an Internal Exchange Company and an Outside Exchange Company. The agents will be able to explain exchanges since this can be one of thr major areas that owners do not understand and a leading reason why owners may not pay their assessments. A timeshare agency can explain maintenance fees, what these costs are, real estate taxes, escrow accounts and special assessments. To place things in perspective…if you have a foot problem you don’t go to a cardiologist. If you have a collection problem with your H.O.A. fees, you should go to a timeshare collection specialist.
Does your H.O.A. have an internal Collection Department? What is the cost of running that department annually? A professional agency takes care of the cost of notices, telephone calls, skip tracing on collection costs, utilities, cost of employees and commissions paid. Could this save your H.O.A. considerable costs to decrease the annual fees? It’s the fiduciary responsibility of each Board of Directors to provide the best services for your owners and to keep the cost as low as possible. Think about the monies you could save. The longer you hold on to your receivables, the lower your recovery percentages will be. Also, what is the statute of limitations for debt collections in your state? This is very important. Let’s pull those receivables out of the cabinet and turn them into monies for your H.O.A. today! JoAnn Smith Heckman began in the Resort Industry in 1980 as a line salesperson. She worked her way through the ranks as a T.O., Assistant Sales Manager, Sales Manager, and finally to Assistant Project Director. JoAnn Smith Heckman has worked in all facets of the Resort Industry, and has served on the Board of Directors for a Timeshare Resort Condominium Association for a timeshare interest she owns. She is a very well respected member of the timeshare industry as well as the local community, and has proven to be a success story in a male dominated career field. Proudly celebrating 25 years of providing third party collections, Collections Unlimited, Inc. of Florida (CUI) has offered highly specialized accounts receivable management services exclusive to the timeshare industry. CUI offers mortgage and assessment collection, skip tracing, title searches, deed recovery, credit bureau reporting and individually designed programs. With offices in both Florida and Colorado and a multilingual collection staff, we excel at handling both domestic and international accounts. CUI employs 28 personnel in Crystal River, and has a multi-million dollar business portfolio servicing many timeshare resorts and campgrounds. The company also regularly participates in charitable efforts to include “adopting” families during the holidays via Citrus United Basket and donating turkeys to the homeless annually. Visit our website: www.timesharecollections.com for more information.