FAQ

Equity Experts helps community associations maintain their financial health through our 25+ years of industry experience, unique deferred, cost model, patent-pending technology, and strategic partnerships that allow us to offer our clients both traditional debt collection and legal options.

The biggest difference between Equity Experts and most attorneys is that we perform early stage collections at a lower cost to both the community and the debtor prior to legal.

No, through are strategic partnerships with legal experts in your neighborhood, we can provide the same solutions as your local collection attorney.

Equity Experts operates across the United States in many different regions and jurisdictions. Chat us today to see if we operate in your specific market!

We specialize in solutions for all types of community association debt, including assessments and any utilities, violations, or other charges pursuant to your governing documents.

Equity Experts uses our patent-pending technology to provide the best collection path, which includes both proactive pre-legal outreach and legal solutions.

Our dynamic reporting portal can be found through our website at www.equityexperts.org. These reports allow the Board or their community manager to easily review the accounts in our office and provide detailed notes on account statuses, what they mean, and next steps. The secure portal is updated daily and can be accessed 24/7.

Our fees and costs are determined through completing a thorough analysis of market rates and industry standards.

We charge the HOA for each step of our process as it occurs, however we defer these fees and costs throughout our recommended collection path.  A table of these fees and costs can be found in the current version of our terms and conditions.

Even though we charge the HOA as each step of the process is executed, we don’t as the association to pay us out of pocket for those charges while we are actively authorized to follow our collection path.

Yes! For any action that follows our recommended best path from TechCollect, all costs are deferred and added to the full balance owed to the association by the past due owner.

Deferred costs mean that all costs for our services under the best path do not need to be paid out of pocket by the community at the time the service takes place, but they are still owed. In almost every case, if we are allowed to follow our best path recommendation, the costs for our services will be collected from the past due owner along with the rest of the association balance.

Yes. Sometimes people may confuse deferred costs with contingency fees, which are prevented by statute in certain jurisdictions. With contingency collections, the collector does not charge the client unless they are able to collect. As explained above, our deferred fees are charged at the time each action takes place and are a legal obligation of the community on that date, but payment of the obligation is deferred while we are pursuing the full balance owed.

We offer non-deferred, fee for service options at competitive rates for actions preferred by the board that do not fit within our recommended best path.

The FDCPA is the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act. This is a federal law that regulates consumer debt collection. One of the benefits of working with Equity Experts is vetting our collection and legal vendors to ensure they minimize risk and liabilities.

Very similar to the FDCPA, the CFPB, or Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is a U.S. government agency that makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat consumers fairly

Board Members, and Community Managers, serve in a position of trust, requiring them to ALWAYS act in the best interest of the community.

When a debtor files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, he/she is petitioning the bankruptcy court to completely discharge (eliminate) all existing debt. If the debtor has assets available, the trustee may require the debtor to liquidate those assets to repay creditors. Individuals are only permitted to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in situations where his/her income, expenses, and debts make it impossible to complete a repayment plan under Chapter 13.

After the initial petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the trustee will schedule a “341 Notice”. This notice is sent to all creditors the debtor has listed in his/her bankruptcy filing. This is also known as a “Meeting of Creditors” notice. The creditor’s meeting is a formality where the debtor is sworn in and is asked to testify about information in their bankruptcy filing, debts, income, property, and recent financial transactions. Most often creditors do not show up unless they have a reason to believe fraud has occurred. After the creditor’s meeting, a discharge is usually entered within 60 days.

Often a debtor does not have assets when entering a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. If the debtor has a home under mortgage with sufficient equity, the mortgage holder will likely request a lifting of the bankruptcy stay to proceed with foreclosure. Most other assets that the debtor has will be exempt from the bankruptcy (clothes, furniture, primary vehicle, etc). If the trustee determines that there is non-exempt property, he/she may require the surrender of said property. In most cases, the non-exempt property is not able to be sold or does not carry enough value. In these situations, the trustee will “abandon” the property. This simply means the debtor can retain the property through the bankruptcy process.

Even though a Chapter 7 bankruptcy will discharge the debtor’s individual liability to the debt, any lien in place on the property can remain. In the event the homeowner tries to sell the property, the lien that is encumbering the property will need to be satisfied before the lien will be released. In these situations, Equity Experts will keep the file open in case we are contacted regarding a potential sale of the property. The association can also choose to foreclose on the property. This should only be done in extreme circumstances as there is likely not enough equity in the property to satisfy the senior lien holder. If there was, it would have become a non-exempt asset subject to surrender in the bankruptcy.

When a debtor files for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection, he/she is petitioning the bankruptcy court to allow for the implementation of a debt restructuring program that allows for the repayment of outstanding debt through a repayment plan that is approved and administered by a trustee appointed by the court. Chapter 13 repayment plans can typically be 36-60 months.

Once a debtor has filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection and has filed all the required paperwork, the court will appoint a trustee to the case. The debtor is required to submit a Repayment Plan to the trustee that documents how he/she will be able to repay debts listed in bankruptcy. This includes the amount of income available for repayment plan after allowable expenses are deducted, the repayment plan, how much each creditor. The trustee will send a “341 Notice” (meeting of creditors) to all creditors listed in the bankruptcy filing. After the initial meeting of creditors, a non-government creditor is required to file a Proof of Claim in response to the bankruptcy. Once the repayment plan has been approved by the trustee, the repayment plan commences. The debtor pays a lump sum to the trustee each month and the trustee distributes funds in compliance with the repayment schedule. Once the repayment plan has been completed, the trustee will file the necessary paperwork and the bankruptcy will be discharged.

If a creditor received notice of the Chapter 13 bankruptcy but failed to file a Proof of Claim, the debt at the time of the bankruptcy is discharged from the debtor’s liability and the amounts cannot be collected from the debtor. It also means the association cannot actively pursue collections on the current dues until the bankruptcy closes or terminates. If a Proof of Claim is filed properly and on time, the association can expect to receive payments towards the initial delinquency that existed at the time the bankruptcy was files, as well as current dues.

When a debtor files bankruptcy, either Chapter 7 or 13, there is an automatic “stay” that is in effect. This “stay” prevents creditors and their agents from any collection attempts against the homeowner. Collection attempts are defined as calls to the debtor to collect the debt, foreclosure and garnishment proceedings, lawsuits, etc. A “stay” does not end at discharge. The bankruptcy “stay” is only lifted when the bankruptcy closes or terminates. An association can file an “Objection to the Stay” in a bankruptcy to contact and collect current assessments from the debtor. This tends to be an expensive option due to the need for an attorney able to argue cases in Federal Bankruptcy Court.

Yes! Through our program, RelEEF, Equity Experts offers financial assistance to homeowners who are facing hardships.

Yes. Equity Experts typically offers payment plans up to 12 months.