Assessment By-laws
Article 4 - Assessments
4.1 Purpose of Assessments. The assessments provided for herein shall be used for the general purposes of promoting the recreation, health, safety, welfare, common benefit, and enjoyment of the Owners of Lots, including, without limitation, the maintenance of real and personal property, all as may be more specifically authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors.
4.2 Creation of the Lien and Personal Obligation for Assessments. Each Owner of a Lot, by acceptance of a deed therefor, whether or not it shall be so expressed in such deed, covenants and agrees to pay to the Association: (a) general assessments; (b) special assessments; and (c) specific assessments. All such assessments, together with late charges in the amount of the greater of Ten Dollars ($10.00) or ten percent (10%) of the amount of each assessment or installment not paid when due and interest (at a rate set by the Board of Directors from time to time, but not to exceed the lesser of the maximum rate permitted. by law or eighteen percent (18%) per annum on the principal amount due) and costs of collection, including, without limitation, reasonable attorney's fees actually incurred, shall, from the time the sums become due and payable, be a charge on the land and shall be a continuing lien in favor of the Association on the Lot against which each assessment is made. The recording of this Declaration shall constitute record notice of the existence of the lien and no further recordation of any claim of lien shall be required. Each such assessment, together with such late charges, interest and costs, shall also be the personal obligation of the Person who was the Owner of the Lot at the time the assessment fell due. Each Owner shall be personally liable for the portion of each assessment coming due while the Owner of a Lot, and each grantee of an Owner shall be jointly and severally liable for such portion thereof as may be due and payable at the time of conveyance; provided, however, the liability of a grantee for the unpaid assessments of the grantor shall not apply to any first Mortgagee taking title through foreclosure proceedings. No Owner may waive or otherwise exempt themselves from liability for the assessments provided for herein, including, by way of illustration, but not limitation, abandonment of the Lot. No diminution or abatement of any assessment shall be claimed or allowed by reason of any failure of the Association to take some action or perform some function required to be taken or performed by the Association, the obligation to pay assessments being a separate and independent covenant on the part of each
Owner. All payments shall be applied first to costs, then to late charges, then to interest and then to delinquent assessments.
4.3 General Assessments. It shall be the duty of the Board to prepare a budget covering the estimated costs of operating the Association during the coming year. The Board shall cause the budget and the assessments to be levied against each Lot for the year to be delivered to each. member at least thirty (30) days prior to the due date of any general assessment. The budget and the assessment shall become effective unless disapproved at a meeting by a majority of the Total Association Vote and the Declarant. Notwithstanding the foregoing, however, in the event the membership disapproves the proposed budget or the Board fails for any reason to determine the budget for any period, then and until such time as a budget shall have been determined, as provided herein, the budget in effect shall continue. General assessments shall be levied equally on all similarly situated Lots and shall be paid in such manner and on such dates as may be fixed by the Board of Directors, which may include, without limitation, acceleration, upon ten (10) days' written notice for delinquents. Unless otherwise provided by the Board, the assessment shall be paid in one annual installment. General assessments include any sums the Board determines necessary for the continued ownership, operation and maintenance of the Common Property, operating expenses of the Association, payment for any items of betterment and the establishment of reserve funds as the Board shall deem proper. General assessments may include, without limitation, sums for property taxes, insurance premiums, legal and accounting
fees, management fees, charges for utilities, cleaning and janitor services, landscape maintenance, expenses and liabilities incurred as provided herein and in the Articles of 6 Incorporation and Bylaws for indemnification of officers and directors and in connection with
the enforcement of rights and duties of the Association against Owners and others.
4.4 Special Assessments. The Association may levy a special assessment if approved by two-thirds (2/3) of the Total Association Vote and the Declarant. Special assessments shall be paid as determined by the Board. The Board may permit a special assessment to be paid in installments extending beyond the fiscal year in which the special assessment is imposed.
4.5 Specific Assessments. The Board shall have the power to levy specific assessments as, in its discretion, it shall deem appropriate. Failure of the Board to exercise its authority under this Section shall not be grounds for any action against the Association and shall not constitute a waiver of the Board's right to exercise its authority under this Section in the future with respect to any expenses, including an expense for which the Board has not previously exercised its authority under this Section. Fines levied pursuant to this Declaration and the costs of maintenance performed by the Association for which the Owner is responsible shall be specific assessments. The Board of Directors may also specifically assess Owners for Association expenses as follows: (a) expenses of the Association which benefit less than all of the Lots may be specifically assessed equitably among all of the Lots which are benefited according to the benefit received; and (b) expenses of the Association which benefit all Lots, but which do not provide an equal benefit to all Lots, may be assessed equitably among all Lots according to the benefit received.
4.6 Subordination of Liens to Mortgages. The lien of all assessments authorized herein is hereby made subordinate to the lien of any first Mortgage placed on a Lot if, but only if, all assessments and charges with respect to such Lot authorized herein having a due date on or prior to the date of the Mortgage as filed of record have been paid. The lien hereby subordinated is only such lien as relates to assessments and charges authorized hereunder having a due date subsequent to the date such Mortgage is filed of record and prior to the satisfaction, cancellation or foreclosure of such Mortgage or the sale or transfer of the Lot pursuant to any proceeding in lieu of foreclosure or the sale or transfer of the Lot pursuant to a sale under power contained in such Mortgage. Such subordination is merely a subordination and shall not relieve the Owner of the Lot of the personal obligation to pay all assessments coming due during such period of ownership; shall not relieve such Lot from the lien provided for herein (except to the extent a subordinated lien is extinguished as a result of such subordination as against a Mortgagee or such Mortgagee's assignee or transferee by foreclosure or by sale under power); and no sale or transfer of such Lot to the Mortgagee or to any other Person pursuant to a decree of foreelosure,
or pursuant to any other proceeding in lieu of foreclosure or pursuant to a sale under power, shall relieve any existing or previous Owner of such Lot of any personal obligation or relieve such Lot or the then Owner of such Lot from liability for any assessment authorized hereunder become due after such sale and transfer.
4. 7 Remedies of the Association. Any assessments or installments thereof which are not paid when due shall be delinquent In addition to the lien rights, the personal obligation of the then Owner to pay such assessments shall remain such Owner's personal obligation and shall also pass to such Owner's successors-in-title. Such Owner shall nevertheless remain as fully obligated as before to pay to the Association any and all amounts which such Owner was obligated to pay immediately preceding the transfer; and such Owner and such successors-in-title shall be jointly and severally liable with respect thereto, notwithstanding any agreement between such Owner and such successors-in-title creating any indemnification of the Owner or any relationship of principal and surety as between themselves. Any assessment or installment thereof delinquent for a period of more than ten (10) days shall incur a late charge in the amount
of the greater of Ten Dollars ($10.00) or ten percent (10%) of the amount of each assessment or installment not paid when due and interest (at a rate set by the Board of Directors from time to time, but not to exceed the lesser of the maximum rate permitted by law or eighteen percent (18%) per annum on the principal amount due) and costs of collection, including, without limitation, reasonable attorney's fees actually incurred. The Association may cause a notice of delinquency to be given to any Owner who has not paid within ten (10) days following the due date. In the event that the assessment remains unpaid after sixty (60) days, the Association may
institute suit to collect such amounts and/or to foreclose its lien. The Association may file a claim of lien with the Office of the Clerk of Court of the county where the Lot is located, but no such claim of lien shall be required to establish or perfect the lien for unpaid assessments. Each Owner, by acceptance of a deed vests in the Association the right and power to bring all actions against such Owner personally, for the collection of such charges as a debt or to foreclose the lien. The lien provided for in this Declaration shall be in favor of the Association and shall be for the benefit of all Owners. The Association shall have the power to bid on the Lot at any foreclosure sale and to acquire, hold, lease, mortgage and convey the same. The Association may also suspend the membership rights of the delinquent Owner, including the right to vote, the right of enjoyment in and to the Common Property and the right to receive and enjoy such servicing and other benefits as may then be provided by the Association. Any such suspension shall not affect such members obligation to pay assessments coming due during the period of such suspension and shall not effect the permanent lien on such Lot in favor of the Association.