Suspension of Member Rights For Violation of Governing Documents Can Help to Achieve Compliance

Common problems experienced by homeowners associations include the non-payment of delinquent assessments owed by association members and violations of association rules or provisions contained in the association’s conditions, covenants and restrictions (“CC&Rs” ). Traditional enforcement methods that are limited to the imposition of monetary charges on the homeowner such as interest, late fees and penalties are frequently ignored and do not result in collection of the delinquent amounts or fines that are owed and/or compliance with the rules or CC&Rs that are being violated. Resulting lawsuits that are filed by the association against the offender(s) are costly, frequently take months or years to get a result, and often don’t achieve the desired result. An under – utilized and frequently over-looked course of action that is available to associations that experience such problems is the suspension of member rights within the association.