Many body corporate managers charge the body corporate for issuing notices when a lot is in arrears. The body corporate passes this fee onto the lot owner as a lot expense so – the impact to the body corporate is neutral; the body corporate manager happily receives additional remuneration; but the lot owner gets to pay additional fees and consequently is usually not happy! A typical fee would be $30. Sometimes, a lot owner pays off the original outstanding amount but overlooks the additional fee for being in arrears and subsequently receives an additional fee and late notice. This can be very frustrating for lot owners.
In the past, when technology was limited to post, we could reasonably believe that the fee charged by a body corporate manager was appropriate and reflected the effort involved. However, with the advent of email, txt and automation – we believe that the body corporate manager effort is much reduced (and probably no effort is required at all).
In our business, we do not charge fees for issuing late notices to lot owners. Every month, our system automatically emails and/or txts any lot owner who is in arrears. If necessary, the system will automatically post – however this is very unusual given that most lot owners have email. The constant reminder works and the lot owner does not get upset by the imposition of additional lot ledger fees. We track any lot owner who has debt that approaches two years in age. However, we are yet to have any lot owner get to that point where debt recovery action is needed. When that point is reached, the committee is contacted so that they can decide the next action.
If you like our approach, please consider moving your business to us. Read about all our alteratives here.