First of all, I forgot there was a sub forum just for HOA issues. I LOL'd.

Anyway, this HOA has been ignoring calls and emails of mine for months now. More specifically, the company the HOA outsources payments to.

Their website asks for an account number in order to register before making a payment, but no statement with an account number was ever mailed to me. So now my first payment of HOA dues is past due by a month. You'd think they'd be happy to take my money, right?

Is this an issue I hand over to my RE attorney? Or is there an organization or government department to report HOAs to if they fail to communicate with home owners?

@Nate Hananger I had tons of issues with my HOA communication being a huge part of that, I'll tell you first and foremost pay the debt that you owe get caught up on payments. They will put a lien on your property if u do not.

From there contact a attorney for a free consultation see if u have a case.

Oh I am giving them call after call, email after email, Michael. 

It’s just insane that they won’t respond. So I am searching for alternatives. Such as sending my attorney the paper trail of email communications I’ve sent the payment company. 

@Nate Hananger Is your HOA active? I mean do they have meetings and such or are they dysfunctional/nonfunctional?

I say this not to be sarcastic, but because I've found this is a legitimate question in the 'digital' age. Have you tried going to their office and talking to someone? I realize it may not be feasible, but I have found that many (myself included) 'forget' that sometimes running an errand gets the answer within minutes.

Originally posted by @Dana Whicker :

@Nate Hananger Is your HOA active? I mean do they have meetings and such or are they dysfunctional/nonfunctional?

Yes, it's active. Yes, there are meetings. However (and this will answer the question of the post after yours too) I am in California and the property, HOA and payment managers are all in Washington.

Taking a flight up there just to speak to a human being is pretty ridiculous. It may be the last resort, but that still doesn’t guarantee they’ll be any more accommodating. 

I’m not sure what type of law it would be, but there should be one that requires any company that handles funds for clients to have an active phone number AND respond to phone calls within a certain period of time to avoid fines or worse. 

@Nate Hananger get someone local to go over there and talk to someone for you. That seems like a pretty easy solution. What are you good to do, just keep calling them forever? Gotta get creative

Send them a certified letter, possibly with your first months check in it, requesting they contact you to help setup your payments.

I live in the State of Indiana and I see this time and time again. Follow the advice and pay the fee + any late fees.  We have two huge law firms in our state that work exclusively for property managers.  They sue, win, place a lien on the property and then foreclosure. The icing on the cake is the property management company will then buy the homes and now they have rentals to make even more money off of.  These law firms file on average 50-75 lawsuits every Monday morning in my county.  (They sue thousands of people every year.)

Resources: Check to see if your Attorney General has jurisdiction over the HOA's/Property Management companies in the State of Washington. Google/ social media to find if there are any groups that are for HOA Reform and rights. I know that in Indiana we have three major groups that are working on this topic.

Bottom line- Don't ignore, pay and create a 'paper trail' the best that you can.  

Next advice- never live in a community with an HOA.

Best of luck

Thanks for all of the input. 

I was about to use the certified letter option, when the accounting department finally gave in and replied after I mentioned possibly having to contact my RE attorney. 

Hopefully this doesn't happen again when the HOA dues come around in 2020.