A Guide to Sending the New Notice of Late Assessment

As of July 1, 2021, associations are required to send delinquent owners a Notice of Late Assessments, giving the owners 30 days to bring the account current prior to turning the account over to the association’s legal counsel for collections. Failure to provide the delinquent owner with this 30-day notice will preclude the association from recovering legal fees related to past due assessments, i.e., any fees incurred in a subsequent collection/foreclosure action. The notice must be sent via first class United States mail to the owner’s last address as reflected in the association’s official records, and if the last address is not the property address, the notice must also be sent to the property address by first class United States mail. The notice is deemed delivered upon mailing and a rebuttable presumption that the notice was mailed as required can be established by a sworn affidavit executed by a board member, officer or agent of the association, or by a licensed manager. A form for the 30-day notice, titled “Notice of Late Assessment” can be found in §§718.121, 719.108 and 720.3085, Fla. Stat.