Clubhouse Renovation Special Assessment – Payment Options

The Total Cost of the Assessment is based upon a credit line of $13 Million, and there were only 2 payments options.

Option 1: Pay the full amount of $11,861.31 by March 15, 2022. We were advised that 515 units [out of 1,096] paid in full prior to the deadline. The HPA collected $6,108,574,60.

Option 2: Make 46 Quarterly payments [11.5 years] in the amount of $317.91 starting April 1, 2022. Unit owners who didn’t pay the special assessment in full by March 15th, were automatically enrolled in the quarterly installment plan. They are paying a fixed rate of 3.7% interest.

It is important to understand the following about the special assessment installment plan. You will have two separate quarterly payments, one for your regular condo fee, and a 2nd quarterly fee for the special assessment.  You cannot combine them into one payment because the money is deposited in two different banks. The first quarterly special assessment of $317.91 was due on April 1, 2022 and will continue for 11.5 years. Payments are due the first week of January, April, July, and October.

You have four [4] options for paying the quarterly special assessment on the installment plan.

1. You can pay it via an old fashioned paper check with a coupon. Mail it to the address on the coupon.
2. You can fill out an ACH Form, similar to the one for your regular quarterly condo assessment. With this option, $317.91 will automatically be transferred out of your checking account 4 times per year. This is a set it up once and forget it option.
3. This is almost identical to Option #2, but there is one big difference. With this option, you can choose between MONTHLY or QUARTERLY payments through South State Bank. You set up automatic withdrawals from your checking account, which go to South State Bank, either monthly or quarterly.  If you decided to pay once a month, instead of quarterly, the monthly withdrawal amount is $105.97. That is derived simply by dividing the quarterly amount due by 3 [$317.91 / 3 = $105.97]. Once this automatic protocol is set up, you don’t have to lift a finger, everything proceeds automatically, just like option #2.
4. You can set up automatic quarterly payments through your own bank

After you’re on the special assessment installment plan, you will have an annual opportunity to pay off the entire assessment amount early. Each year, there will be a 30-day period, during the month of June, whereby you can pay off the assessment in full. If you do such, you will be charged interest through the end of the calendar year. The first opportunity to pay off the special assessment in full, will be available June 1, 2023  through June 30, 2023. The full payment is due by June 30th, 2023. In order to qualify for the full payoff, you must have your special assessment and regular maintenance accounts current and in good standing. This option is going to be available starting on June 1, 2023 for 30 days. If you miss that 2023 payoff timeframe, you must wait until the next early payoff period in June of 2024.

Read the relevant section of the HPA BOD Minutes:
Members on the quarterly payment plan who are selling their units while having an outstanding special assessment amount:

• Members must have their special assessment and maintenance accounts with their phase current and in good standing to qualify for the reduced interest option
• The amount owed on the estoppel will be calculated as the outstanding principal owed as of the next quarterly payment due plus interest due through the end of the year of the sale. (For Example, if the unit is current, a unit sold in August of 2023 would show principal due from October 2023 through July 2033 and the interest due from the October ’23 payment and January ’24 payment).
• Units must CLOSE by December 15th in order to be counted in the current year, units closing after December 15th will have to pay interest through the end of the following year.
• Member’s whose accounts are not current with the association or in legal will owe the entire remaining stream of payments: $317.91 per quarter for all remaining unpaid quarters, plus any other amounts owed due to delinquency, plus late fees and applicable interest

Finally, the HPA BOD voted 11-1 to require sellers of the unit, who are on the installment plan, to pay off the entire balance of the assessment on their unit @ closing.