HERITAGE GLEN HOMEROWNERS ASSOCIATION RESOLUTION _ COLLECTIONS

Transcription

1 HERITAGE GLEN HOMEROWNERS ASSOCIATION RESOLUTION _ COLLECTIONS WHEREAS, Article 4, Section 4.1 of the Second Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions allows for the establishment of assessments for common expenses as may be from time to time specifically authorized by the Board of Directors; and WHEREAS, Article 4, Section 4.1 of the Second Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions further allowsfor the collection of interest, costs, late fees, and reasonable attorney's fees and such charge shall bea continuing lien on the property of the delinquent owners; and WHEREAS, Article 4, Second 4.9 of the Second Amended and Restated Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions allows that if an owner is delinquent for more than ten (10) days, the account can be assessed with a reasonable late fee and the entire balance of the annual unpaid assessments may be accelerated atthe option of the Board and declared to be due and payable atonce; and WHEREAS, Article 13 of the Bylaws also allows for the collection of interest, costs, late charges, and reasonable attorney's fees, in addition to the assessments and other charges due, and provides that all such chargeshall be a continuing lien on the property of the delinquent owners and states that legal action, as permitted by law, may be taken against the owner personally; and WHEREAS, the collection of assessments in a timely fashion is an integral part of the operation of the Association; NOW, THEREFORE, BE lt RESOLVED THAT the procedure for collection of delinquent assessments is as follows: t. Each owner's assessment is due on the first day of each month. There may also be additional fees due, including, but not limited to, special assessments, charges or fines, which are subjecto the collection policy. Notices, documents and all correspondence relating to assessments shall be mailed to each owner at the address which appears on the books of the Association or on the records for the Maryland State Department of Assessments and Taxation. lt is each owner's responsibility to inform the Association's managing agent, in writing, of any address change. Payment coupons are provided to all owners once a year. 2. A reminder notice is mailed on or about the 3Oth day of each payment period to all accounts with a balance less than one month's assessment and the owner's account will be billed a fee of five dollars (55.00). This letter will only be sent once per cycle or as directed by the Board. 3. lf at the close of business on the 3Oth day of each payment period there is an assessment balance due, a late fee of Fifteen dollars (515.00) will be added to each delinquent owner's account. This charge can only be added once for the same delinquent period.

2 4. lf an owner's balance exceeds S100, inclusive of assessments, late fees, collection costs, attorney's fees and fines, a late letter shall be mailed to that owner advising the owner(s) of their delinquency and a collection cost of S25.00 will be added to the account. The late letter is to include copies of all previously sent letters. The Management Company shall provide the Association with an accounting of the total monthly costs for sending the reminder and late letters to owners. The Board should receive this accounting of costs on a monthly basis in connect with any monthly management report so that the Board can review the costs and results of such letters lf thirty (30) days after the late letter is sent an owne/s account is not paid or if an owner's balance exceeds 5150 inclusive of assessments, late fees, collection costs, attorney's fees and fines, their account will be turned over to the attorney for collection immediately and the account will be coded as "attorney action". Once the account is turned over to legal counsel, the attorney will take all appropriate action to have a lien recorded and/or collect all amounts due, including late fees, collection costs, fines, other charges and legal fees. All charges incurred in the collection and the late payments will be added to the homeowner's account. The notice of intent to file a lien will include language that unless the account is paid n full, including all late fees and charges, the assessments can be accelerated through the remainder of the fiscal year and a lien can be filed in accordance with Maryland law. lf the delinquent owner does not sign the copy of the notice of intent to file a lien, which was forwarded to the owner by legal counsel by means of certified mail, return receipt requested, and/or the notice is returned as refused or unclaimed, or signed by someone other than the addressee, legal counsel will mail the notice by regular mail and post the notice on the owner's door pursuanto Maryland law to serve the delinquent owner with the notice of intent to file a lien. The additional costs incurred by the Association to serve the delinquent owner with the notice of intent to file a lien will be assessed to the delinquent owner's account. 7. Liens can be filed 30 days after service is completed in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland unless payment in made in full including all costs and legal fees. A Notice of Lien filing will be sent to the owners and additional costs will be added to the owner's account Accounts which remain delinquent after receiving notice of the lien filing will result in legal counsel filing a lawsuit, commencing foreclosure, taking other appropriate legal action. All legal fees and costs will be charged to the owner's account. Legal counsel may also enter into written payment plans as allowed by the Board. All charges for collection action will be charged to the owner's account, including, but not limited to, management collection costs, postage, private process server costs, filing fees, late fees, fines, interest, lien filing and releasing costs, and other related expenses. 10. All checks returned unpaid must be replaced with a cashier's check, money order, or cash. All return check fees will be charged to the owner's account.

3 11. ln the event that an owner attempts to make a payment of less than all mcnies due and owing to the Association after collection proceedings have commenced, the Association's attorney will either send a letter to the owner or attempt to contact the owner by telephone or advising the owner that the payment was applied but that the account remains delinquent as to all remaining monies owed to the Association. The Association's retention of the partial payment does not constitute waiver of the Board's authority to foreclose on the owner's property ortake action any other legal action against the ownerto collecthe outstanding balance. RESOLUTION EFFECTIVE AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS President 'i"*.*ho *'rl(l:**:*r$ss:1,* Secretary

4 HERITAGE GLEN HOME OWNERS ASSOCIATION POLICY RESOLUTION RULES AND REGULATIONS _ ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL AND COMPLIANCE WHEREAS, ArticleT, Section 7.1 ofthe Bylaws assigns to the Board of Directors all of the powers and duties necessary for the administration of the affairs of the Association and further states that the Board may exercise for the Association all powers, duties and authority vested in or delegated to this Association and not reserved to the membership by other provision of these Bylaws, the Articles of Incorporation, or the Declaration; and WHEREAS, Anicle 1, Section 1.8 of the Declaration of Covenants establishes the Board's power to appoint a Covenant Committee to ensure that the Property shall be maintained in a manner consistent with the intent of the Declaration. In addition, Article 5, Section5.4 establishes the right of the Board of Directors or the Covenant Committee to adopt and promulgate such rules and regulation regarding the form and content of plans and specification to be submitted for approval and may publish such statements of policy, standards, guidelines and/or establish such criteria relative to architectural styles or details. or other matters. as it may consider necessary or appropriate, and WHEREAS, there is a need to establish formal procedures for the fair and equitable enforcement of rules against all Association owners and residents in the maintenance and preservation of community architectural control standards, NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Board of Directors hereby adopts the following rules, regulations and guidelines for the approval of exterior modifications and the enforcement of architectural control standards for all homes in the Association: A. Policy and Procedures for Requesting Exterio{ Modifications 1. In accordance with Article 5, Section 5.1, no exterior modification (including, but not limited to changes in color, exterior additions or modifications, changes or additions to driveways or walkway surfaces and landscaping modifications) shall be commenced until complete plans and specifications have been submitted and approved in writing by the Board or Covenants Committee or its agent. 2. a''t The request must be made on application forms provided by the Association and must include detailed plans and specs, including but not limited to plat plans, color samples of paint or stain to be applied, architectural drawings depicting addition or modifications, and manufacture picture of doors or windows. Applications lacking full details of proposed exterior modifications will not be processed until all details have been submitted. In addition to plans and specs, exterior modifications such as additions or the installation of decks and fences must include copy of approved building permits.

5 4. The completed application package must include signatures of two neighbors whose property abuts or is impacted by the change. Along with the completed package, the requestor is required to submit a$25.00 non refundable processing fee. No application for exterior modificatio,n shall be cqnsidered if the homeow4er is not current with their assessment or on an approved pavment plan B. 9. r0. Upon receipt of the completed package and processing fee, the Committee will begin its review of the architectural change request. The Committee has 60 davs from receipt of the completed package to make its decision. The 60 day period does not begin until receipt of the completed package and processing fee. Should the Committee not approve or disapprove the request within the allotted timeframe, approval will not be required and the application will be considered approved. However, the Committee may require the improvement to conform to the plans submitted. Furthermore, the Committee's failure to act shall not be considered a waiver of this requirement for future improvements. Approved applications must be commenced within six months of approval and completed within one year of approval (unless an approved extension for completion has been granted). If the modifications are not commenced (unless extension has been granted) within the 6 month time period, the approved application will be considered null and void. Homeowner will then be required to resubmit the application. Should the application be denied, the requestor has the right to appeal the decision of the Covenant Committee before the full Board of Directors. The Appeal must be requested within 30 days of official notification that request was denied. In accordance with Article 5, Section 5.4,213 of the Board of Directors shall be required to reverse the decision of the Covenant Committee. Any modification commenced prior to submission of the required application package or prior to receipt of approval from Covenant Committee is in violation of the covenants and subjected to fines and appropriate legal action. All costs associated with bringing homeowner into compliance will be borne by homeowner. Modifications that will NOT be approved: o Chain link and wire fencing o Installation of any exterior fence that is not white vinyl o Installation of any security style storm door (those that contain bars) Any application for any modification or improvement which requires approval of the Prince George's County Zoning and/or Planning authority shall be accompanied by written evidence of the approval of the zoning authority. Failure to secure any zoning variance or other approval will result in an automatic denial of application. Approval by the zoning authority is independent and does not

6 guarantee approval by the Committee, nor can approval by the Committee be substituted for approval by the zoning authority. B. Non Compliance with Architectural Standards l. In accordance with Article 6, homeowners are expected to maintain their property in accordance with the community standards. Any violation of these standards, not corrected within a reasonable timeframe will subject homeowner to possible fines and legal action. 2. Violations include but are not limited to unkempt lawns; lack of exterior maintenance including painting, power washing, and staining; forgoing repairs to exterior including repair or replacement of siding, shingles, shutters, gutters and downspouts, storing of commercial vehicles or unlicensed cars on property. C. Abatement Process and Procedures 1. Covenant Committee or its assigned agent will perform cyclic inspections of all property; identifying homes that are not in compliance with established community architectural standards or that have commenced architectural modifications without prior written approval Upon identification of violations by Committee, homeowner will be sent official violation letter notifying him of the violation and time frame for correction. The homeowner can bring the property back into compliance within the identified timeframe, request an extension, or appeal the violation notice. Should the homeowner complete the corrective action within the identified timeframe, he or she shall notify the Committee or its assigned agent. Should the homeowner require additional time to complete the repairs, he or she shall submit a request for extension to the Committee identifying the reason for the extension. The request for extension shall be submitted at least 10 working days from receipt of the violation notification. The Committee shall have 10 work days to either approve or deny the request for extension. Should the extension request be approved, the homeowner must complete the violation within the new timeframe. Should the extension request be denied, the homeowner may appeal the denial to the full Board of Directors. The appeal must be submitted within 10 working days from the denial of the request for extension. Should the homeowner not respond to the violation notification within the identified timeframe, following schedule of fines will be imposed: a) b) Category I - exterior maintenance violations (repairs to home or unapproved exterior modifications: $10 per day per violation Category II - lawn maintenance violation or trash/recycling container stored in unapproved location - $25.00 per incident

7 c) Category III - commercial or inoperable vehicle parked in community; nuisance complaint: $50 for first incident, $150 for each additional violation or complaint per incident. These fines will be posted to the homeowner assessment accounts which will cause your account to be placed in a delinquent status. At that time, standard collection procedures will begin in order to collect the amount(s) owed. Should a homeowner fail or refuse to abate any violation, the Association may retain an attorney of its choice to enforce the covenants by way of all available legal remedies, including filing a legal action. The costs of all efforts made to enforce the covenants shall be assessed aqainsthe violatinq homeowner. AS, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT this,.rot.rtiln shall be effect,l.,o days after the J date of passage. PASSED this / S,* tl day - of ---7 "Jai r', E:0// pr"rid"#/qit,r^n- K A-d-^.4nDate 6 * s -/ I Secre tary.-,"";i Date r'-\ * \* \\ "::**.