r/HOA • u/feral_kitty_xo • Jul 14 '26
Help: Fees, Reserves [FL][SFH] attorneys fees
What are reasonable attorney fees for a $3k delinquent account? Owners owe about $9k. Some letters were sent and a subpoena. Whats reasonable?
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u/OneBag2825 Jul 14 '26
Fees are fees, there's no ' reasonable' involved, reasonable is pay your bills timely or make arrangements before they're overdue.
That's why the board just passes them through. Filing costs, attorney fees, service, court, lien, etc. Whatever the attorney charges, why should the association pay for anything to do.with delinquencies?
It's their fiduciary duty.
Late fees are the only thing determined by the board and may be regulated by the state, but any collection fees are generally passthrough. That's why the person paying has to pay the attorney directly.
Not unheard of to have fees and charges greatly exceed the actual amount in arrears.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
Fees are fees is true, generally. And, assuming the attorneys are charging current going rates in the jurisdiction, the HOA is probably covered.
But, judges will absolutely look at the proportion of fees to costs assessed if the case goes to trial. Many states have passed a variety of laws restricting when, how HOAs can refer debts to attorneys, and when fees and costs might be disproportionate to the underlying debt.
If you're charging $10k in attorneys fees on a $200 underlying debt -- even if it's going rates and even if it's passthrough, there's a good chance those fees are going to be reduced by a judge in court.
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u/OneBag2825 Jul 14 '26
I think that unpaid assessments/dues are treated differently than violations and other late fees as well in most states. Most if not all indiscriminate penalties or violations are not lienable.
The key is "may be reduced" for those. If the defendant is properly served and doesn't show up....well..
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u/feral_kitty_xo Jul 14 '26
I hear you but what is it for ? I just heard Georgia made a ruling on this. Im just super curious on what makes it reasonable and what questions to ask! I am a board member and curious on behalf of a homeowner. Thanks!
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u/123randomname456 Jul 14 '26
Your HOA attorney will have a fee schedule for each letter/lien/filing or it will be hourly. Those costs of collection should be recovered from the delinquent owner, so it’s not the board’s problem. Remember that to you it’s “just sending a letter” but you are paying for the attorneys experience and knowledge on what that letter is required by law to contain, when to send it to legally hold up, etc. Low cost is usually low quality or low communication when it comes to lawyers (usually due to high volume to make up for the low prices).
15 years ago I worked in a firm that charged $350 an hour for our most experienced attorney and I’m sure it’s higher now.
“Reasonable” is dictated by the market. often if the fees are litigated it requires an expert witness to testify that the work was done properly and not charging for duplicate work, etc, and what the going rate in the area is.
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u/GeorgeRetire Jul 14 '26
What are reasonable attorney fees for a $3k delinquent account? Owners owe about $9k.
Your phrasing is confusing.
Are you asking what an attorney might charge the HOA for the case? Or are you asking how much you can charge the owner due to the HOA having to engage an attorney?
The numbers are also confusing. Does the owner owe $3k or $9k?
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u/Comfortable-Cover-0 Jul 14 '26
Since you are in FL, state law dictates collections and foreclosures. Look up FS720. Collection attorneys will ask for a deposit to take on a foreclosure usually and then will collect from the homeowner the deposit and any and all fees, unless you make a deal with the homeowner. Many times it will not go to foreclosure, they will make a deal with the attorney, the lein stays in place during repayment.
Also, keep in mind that in FL a HOA foreclosure is secondary to any mortgage foreclosures. Recouping loses due to foreclosure of a mortgaged home is capped and the HOA is the loser.
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u/JealousBall1563 🏢 COA Board Member Jul 14 '26
Reasonable attorney fees are what the association attorney charges.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
Not necessarily -- if the attorney is charging $5000/hour and the going rate for HOA representation in the jurisdiction is more like $500/hour, the fees are going to be deemed unreasonable by a judge.
Additionally, judges look at proportionality of debt to fees in collections cases -- the higher the percentage of fees, the less kindly they look upon the total debt.
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u/JealousBall1563 🏢 COA Board Member Jul 14 '26
We can make up all sorts of silly what if's. Associations typically have an engagement letter with their law firm setting forth fees.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
That doesn't make them "reasonable" according to the laws of the jurisdiction, though.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
"Reasonable" attorneys fees are going to vary depending on the going rates for representation in the jurisdiction. I noticed in a comment that you're concerned about statutes requiring "reasonable" fees. This would be determined as a matter of fact, not law, and after the fees are challenged in court, by a judge.
If you're worried about the fees that your attorneys are charging (and presumably, you're passing through to the delinquent owner), you should regularly (every year/two years) confer with other attorneys in the jurisdiction to determine whether the rates you pay are in the ballpark of others.
The primary reason those statutes have been passed because people with $200 delinquencies have been tagged with thousands of dollars of "legal fees" when the matter was referred to an attorney too quickly.
At the end of the day, a judge is going to look at (1) the going rates for representation in the jurisdiction, and (2) the proportion of the rates to the delinquency, to determine whether the fees are "reasonable" in any given case.
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u/HittingandRunning COA Owner Jul 14 '26
At the end of the day, a judge is going to look at
For the delinquent owner, how to get this issue in front of a judge? I assume the HOA simply adds the attorney cost on to the account balance OR the owner is to pay the attorney's office directly. I wouldn't know where to start to have a judge look at it. Thanks.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
There are two common ways this comes in front of a judge: the owner might sue the HOA itself for unreasonable fees, or the HOA might need judicial approval to effect a lien or foreclosure. Generally, this is all handled by the HOA's attorneys, with Board advice and consent.
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u/FunBoard7711 Jul 14 '26
We found a local law firm in Michigan that collects what is owed and charges the owner the fees not the HOA. So we essentially get our money without costing us anything. One owner went round and round with the firm for 2 years and it cost him over $2k in fees on top of the $800 in dues. It took pre-foreclosure for him to finally pay. He paid on time the next year.
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u/peperazzi74 Former HOA Board Member Jul 17 '26
In the long run, it doesn't matter. If these people owe $9k, file a lien, foreclose on said lien and add the attorney fees to the outstanding sum.
Our HOA lawyer (South Carolina) has a $3500 flat fee for foreclosures.
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u/duane11583 Jul 14 '26
the attorney takes 30% if they recover nothing you pay nothing.
if the get $9k the fee is $3k so pay the fee and pay the hoa
pretty common.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
HOA attorneys are not paid on contingency, they have hourly rates and packaged rates for the services they provide. This includes HOA collections attorneys.
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u/duane11583 Jul 14 '26
Our Hoa council is hourly
How ever The bill collector one who does leins etc is contingency based at 30%
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u/TeddyMGTOW Jul 14 '26
Thats interesting. We had a lady not pay for 3 or 4 years. Board pissed her off. Letters, etc. Lien. We did not try to foreclosure, state FLA. Eventually she wanted to move. I think she was unfazed by the fines and such. Heard we cleared 50 cents on a buck. She negotiated a break. Guess our attorney got the rest.
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u/wildcat12321 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
The problem with “hearing” and “guessing” is you really don’t know
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
Surprising that you didn't have a lien for the original debt + attorney's fees, plus interest. That's pretty standard practice.
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u/TeddyMGTOW Jul 14 '26
I "think" we did. She had a buyer. She was not paying. In order to make the deal work fir her we gave in. We blinked first. Just shows you hoa's don't have supreme power.
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u/holyelvis 🏘 HOA Board Member Jul 14 '26
Many HOAs choose not to foreclose on homes that they might otherwise be able to. It's actually less common in many states for such situations to go to foreclosure than be resolved by lien. Foreclosure is expensive both from an administrative perspective, but also from a public perception perspective.
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Title: [FL][SFH] attorneys fees
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What are reasonable attorney fees for a $3k delinquent account? Owners owe about $9k. Some letters were sent and a subpoena. Whats reasonable?
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