Late February HOA dues

Did anyone else get a late charge notice from Armstrong for their February HOA dues? I dropped the payment off at the post office on Feb. 4, but it was not processed at the lockbox until Feb. 16...12 days later. I know we had some snowfall, but 12 days to go to Philadelphia seems a little ridiculous.

 

If you dropped it the 4th with snow on the way how did you expect it to get there before the 10th? It is late as of the 10th. So with a record blizzard and the federal government closed for snow the 8th, 9th 10th and 11th plus the 15th being a federal holiday I think it made it quickly in just 2 days.

Staci

 

The Federal Government closed for 4 days, but I don't think the same four days applied to the Postal Service.

 

But a lot of businesses did as did the airports which is how the USPS moves a lot of their mail. I do know the local post office was closed Monday the 8th and with limited services on the 9th.
So even if you add back in the 10th and 11th the payment is already late.

Staci

 

Legally speaking, the post office post mark represents the date of acceptance of the payment. The post office is acting as a defacto agent of the HOA by definition if the HOA accepts payment via the US Mail. This is why you can put your tax return in the mail on midnight April 15 and still not be late.

So if you can prove the post mark then you should have the charge removed.

 

Why would you drop off a payment anyway? Online Baking - I havent paid a bill with a check in years... Why pay the post office to do what the bank will do for free!

 

Or sign up for automatic debit. It's free and you will never pay a late fee as long as there are sufficient funds in your account. The form is in the Feb newsletter on page 14, the March letter on page 12 or print a copy from the website:

http://www.broadlandshoa.org/fileshare/files/108/auto_pay_application.pdf

 

I like to be in control and manage all my payments from one place -- my online banking (BoA) -- that's why I don't do direct debit.... I just wish Armstrong supported electronic transfer so my online banking wouldn't have to send a physical check. Armstrong is my only payee that doesn't support electronic payments (1-2 business day delivery vs 5 day on most online banking sites). You would think in this day and age this shouldn't be a hard thing to implement, considering they can already do automatic debit.

 

I am lucky. I have the best of both worlds. For those institutions who can handle electronic payment acceptance, my bank will connect with them. For those who do not, my bank will cut and mail a check for me. Haven't written a check in years either.

 

Armstrong will never support online bill payment (other than auto debit), because then they would loose the astronomical amount of late fees that they collect because they are the only company that you cannot pay online as you go through your monthly bills. Either they control when it comes out of your account or snail mail it is. So frustrating but I'm sure it helps pay for the large brick building they are located at in Farifax.

 

I pay mine via an automatic recurring bill pay. Granted my bank still has to mail a check to Armstrong, but I don't have to feel the pain of that.

 

I pay it via online bill pay as well. Whether Armstrong supports it or not shouldn't really matter -- my bank will mail the check to them and still guarantees on time payment.

 

Haven't had an issue with Armstrong so far...but has the HOA board looked into alternatives to Armstrong or spoken with Armstrong to support Online Bill payment?

Is Armstrong not interested becauase they will lose revenue or is it too expensive to implement? Just wondering...that's all ?!?

 

Armstrong does not get the money from late fees. The HOA does.

 

It becomes very complicated because of the charges incurred per transaction. It would cause us the HOA to raise everyone's rates to cover the possibility of added fees.

Staci