Re: Email re Overdue balance
Canal terrace
PHJ Cholmondeley
Dear Mr. Oyenuga,
I am attaching your current statement showing a balance of $8,088.20.
In looking it over with regard to your comment that your check had been delivered on the 15th, I see several places – mid 2011 – where your payment is recorded on the same day that a late fee is assessed. You believe that you paid on time because the payment was in our hands but what you fail to realize is that in each instance there was an outstanding balance which was not covered by the amount of your check.
It is standard accounting practice for a check received to be put toward the most outstanding charge. Therefore, your check in the amount of one condo fee when several were outstanding did not pay the current fee, but rather was put backwards toward the earliest unpaid fee.
The five dollar administrative fee charged on Dec. 19 is a new fee that my company has decided that we have to charge in addition to the condominiums late fee to cover the cost of printing and mailing each month the statement to people who are behind in their payments.
I hope that this answers your questions fully but will be happy to explain further if necessary.
Suzanne Winter
President
The New Washington Land Company
1804 T St., NW
Washington, DC 20009
202/483-8282 – Office
800/483-3345 – Toll Free
202-271-8282 – Mobile
From: Canal Terrace [mailto:phjchom...@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2012 5:51 PM
To: advance...@yahoo.com
Cc: Lisa Krausert; Suzanne Winter
Subject: Re: Email re Overdue balance
Victor I am leaving for vacation got two weeks. By copy of this email I am asking Nwl to update your statement to reflect financing of the convectors for two years. So study the statements and then make the payment you mentioned. I will check email over the holiday and gat back to you on the fines.
Paula HJ CholmondeleyThe Sorrel Group
PO Box 490
Brookline, MA. 02446
On Dec 22, 2012, at 6:52 AM, "Victor Oyenuga" <advance...@yahoo.com> wrote:Thx Ms Cholmondeley.
My apologies for just getting back to you.
I've just been able to get on the computer and had to interrupt my email to you early this morning to attend to a pressing matter..
If we are to go ahead and accept NWL's records since I've been sloppy in maintaining mine, it seems Jan and Febuary payments were skipped in 2011 and two payments made in February apparently to make up for this.
If you'll be kind enough to allow, of course after consultation with your other board members,I will appreciate being allowed to make the 2012 May to December payments by the end of the coming week.
In the interim will appreciate looking into the matter of late fees from both sides ( yours-the board and mine - I want to study the schedule of payments on NWL statement this weekend -so far I've counted 19 x
$74 charges most around the 16th of each month which as I mentioned was charged after payments before deadlines of the 15th) as well as any skipped payments from 2011 and quantify what will be included in a second installment.
As I mentioned in one of my email exchanges to you, I will appreciate allowing me to make payments for the convectors on an installment basis over a period of 2years at 5percent interest which as I maintained I will endeavour to see paid off before that time period elapses.
The other ancillary charges of repairs etc I also intend to pay
Thx again for your consideration and will look forward to your email reply at your convenience.
Regards,
VictorSent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
From: PHJCholmondeley Canal <phjchom...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 11:20:53 -0500
To: <advance...@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: Email re Overdue balance
I agree thsi is hard to read on a blackberry so take a look and let me know if you are in agreement with the fees due excluding the fines.
On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 10:23 AM, Victor Oyenuga <advance...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thx Ms Cholmondeley.
Will look over the condo fees and get back to you. Can't really make it out on my blackberry.
As I said will pay condo fees and then interest if you can get back to me on interest or penalty decided.
The convectors I'd like to finance over the allowable 2years with 5percent interest but intend to accelerate pay off before then.
Thx again!.
VictorDate: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 08:46:59 -0500
To: <advance...@yahoo.com>
Cc: Dale Brown<dale.sus...@gmail.com>; Greg Mansfield<Greg...@verizon.net>; Halina izdebska<izdebsk...@gmail.com>; Joel Klenck<jkle...@gmail.com>; Leslie Thompson<lot...@yahoo.com>; Linda Forsyth<lindaf...@yahoo.com>; Lisa Krausert<li...@tnwlc.com>; Peggy Meites<Pjme...@verizon.net>; Suzanne Winter<suzann...@tnwlc.com>; Yolanda Porche<ypo...@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Email re Overdue balance
Victor I will forward you the email that I have from NWL through Dec which shows all the amounts that are due. At the end of the statement it breaks down the amounts outstanding by category. Please look this over and then get back to me with when you can pay the condo fee itself and the fees so we can get this up to date as soon as possible. I will do my best with the fines but we really need you to bring the condo fees up to date. Then I can ask the board if they will reduce the fine. And again please let me know what time frame you want for financing the convector
Thanks for your prompt reply.On Fri, Dec 21, 2012 at 6:13 AM, Victor Oyenuga <advance...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Thx Ms Cholmondeley.
I appreciate your email reply.
As I mentioned in my email to Peggy that she subsequently referred to you, I quite understand the fact that Canal Terrace is a small building struggling to survive and late fees have to be assessed.
Despite that it is the punitive and radically excessive amount 20percent and the administration that I'm protesting
The issue I had in 2011 with NWL was when payments were made before or on the cusp of the 15th , we were still charged late fees.
I regret to say, as an extremely busy small entrepreneur also struggling to make it in the present difficult economic circumstances, my wife Louise is the person who the task of monitoring condo matters have fallen on.
As a matter of fact, since the checks for the condo fees are usually written by me on a particular checking account that she is not a signatory to , she called my attention to errors where we were charged late fees even when payments were made before the 15th deadline .
I tried to resolve this a few times by talking to a lady on the phone at NWL when I had the time to do so.
We then resorted to Louise having to call in every time we made a condo fee payment (usually by the 15th) to NWL so as to alert them of payment in their mailbox to avoid a late fee being assessed against us.
Despite this effort and the fact that all of the times she was assured we were within the deadline and no late fees will be assessed, whenever statements arrived at the end of the month ,we were still charged a late fee for the month in question.
Of course during the period of Louise's illness I did not followup the way she did until she was well enough and then spoke with Suzanne Winters again.
Again I want to reiterate that while I do understand the association's circumstances, I find it difficult to live with being penalized based on the scenario I have enumerated above. I think to say the least it's a bit too aggressive.
.
You mentioned $10,000 in this email when the statement dated 12/19 from NWL has $7,788.20 including convectors of $2,466.20.
By my rough calculation the amount that is actually owed in Condo fees without interest should be around $2,984.00. To refer to your statement above about "having the funds set aside", that's all I have set aside at this time. The additional ancillary charges of trash etc I will of course pay.
Since I stopped paying in May as a protest, I will be quite willing to work out a modest cost of funds charge for the benefit of the condo which can be paid as a seperate installment.
Once again thank you for your gesture and I sincerely look forward to a quick resolution of this matter.
A happy holiday to you and your family.
Regards,
Victor
I am ready to make a payment for all of the outstanding condo fees immediately which should be all that's accrued since the time I stopped making payments ( I'm assuming from May and would appreciate being corrected if I'm wrong).
The convector installments, I can start making on a two year installment basis of course with the 5percent finance charge added on( the 5percent is extremely reasonable in this case and is an example of the lines alongst which late fees should be assessed not a punitive 20percent per month)..
If you are agreeable to the convector arrangement, I will start making payments for this starting January or February.Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
From: PHJCholmondeley Canal <phjchom...@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2012 02:14:59 -0500
To: <advance...@yahoo.com>
Cc: Dale Brown<dale.sus...@gmail.com>; Greg Mansfield<Greg...@verizon.net>; Halina izdebska<izdebsk...@gmail.com>; Joel Klenck<jkle...@gmail.com>; Leslie Thompson<lot...@yahoo.com>; Linda Forsyth<lindaf...@yahoo.com>; Lisa Krausert<li...@tnwlc.com>; Peggy Meites<Pjme...@verizon.net>; Suzanne Winter<suzann...@tnwlc.com>; Yolanda Porche<ypo...@gmail.com>
Subject: Email re Overdue balance
Victor happy holidays and thank you for your email to Peggy Meites who is a member of the board of directors. She has relayed it to me and I have shared it with the full Board. We are sorry to hear of the health challenges of your wife and hope she recovers.
We regret having to send you the letter from the lawyer but unfortunately you have left us no choice. Let me address each issue you raise in turn.
Late fees: The late fees you are being assessed were approve by the unit owners at the annual meeting in 2006. Because of this, New Washington Land in assessing you the late fees is only doing their job based on the rules and regulation of the condo association. New Washington Land does not have the authority to reduce or waive your late fees. We are a small building which operates as frugally as we can. When a unit owner does not pay their dues something in our building suffers. Because of this the late fees were imposed by your fellow unit owners because the non payment puts every other owner in the building at risk. While the fees charged may seem high to you they are allowable under our association agreements and ever unit owner is subject to these fees equally. Others in the builiding have incurred them and paid them.
Late condo fees: Victor it is hard for the board to accept your explaination that you stoped paying your monthly condo fee to protest the late fee. During 2011 you missed two months condo fees totaling $746.00 and incured $686. 80 in late fees. We recognized that after skipping these two months you continued to pay your montly fees but in looking at your statement we do not see any thing that leads us to believe that you were in the process of making up these missing two months. We would have expected you to catch up on the missing two months by making some sort of partial payment and then contact the board to dispute the late fees. That at least would have been a show of good faith. If you have any correspondence with NWL indicating this please share it with us.
As I mentioned it is hard for this board to understand how you could expect that your decision to stop paying your montly fee condo fee all together in May 2012 and have the late fees continue to pile up would resolve this issue. Because you receive monthly statements from the association every month you have backed the board into a corner where we had no choice but to have the lawyer send you a letter.
Convectors: You are right you have the right as a unit owner to finance the convectors for 1 year at an interes rate of 3% or two years of 5%. Since NWL has no correspondence from you they have no basis for putting you on a payment plan. Hence our assumption that this was not something you were interested in.
I appreciate you willingness to try to resolve this amicable. I am willing to take this to the Board to try to get their approval for the following.
1) You have to let us know via email if you wish to finance the convectors for 1 year or 2 years. Please conside the interest rate in your decision. Please be mindful that if you sign up for this and then miss a payment the full oustanding balance will again be immediatle due in full. This is the same guideline that applies to all of us in the building.
2) You have to pay all of your outstanding fees. The $10 adminstrative fee, the $10,444.00 in condo fees, the $40 in general repairs and $50 in trash collection fees and the $300 in legal fees we have incurred. This totals $10,844.00. I am hopeful that you have put these funds aside. I will ask them if you can pay this in two installments. The building needs the money. If you can agree to make these payments in two months in writing, then:
3) I will ask the board if they are willing to reduce the $1492. 00 by some amount. But I need your commitment to pay the fees in two months first so I can show them you are willing to pay the basic amount you owe. If you do this then I have a show of good faith and I will ask for a one time hardship allowance on the late fees. However you should know that according to NWL this is not the first time you have stopped paying your monthly fee and incurred late charges resulting in a letter from the lawyer. I cannot tell you what the boards decision will be until I hear from you on paying the fees you owe in two months and then I will communicate with them and advocate on your behalf. .
Also please be mindful that this reduction is a one time offer. If you are late in the future we will not waive the late fees, they will be charged at the current rate and we will take legal action to protect the other unit owners in the building. Please do not force us to do that.
Victor it would help us all if the future when you have issue you would communicate with the board via NWL early and often.
I look forward to hearing from you and wish you a happy holiday.
<for Oyenuga.pdf>