House Bill 18-1057 has been introduced and, if ultimately approved, bodes well for community associations. Essentially, the Bill permits a creditor who obtains a Judgment against a debtor to obtain from the Department of Labor and Employment the current employment information of a debtor. Procedural safeguards would also be put in place that would prohibit the creditor from disclosing the information to third parties or utilizing it for any other purpose besides collecting the debt.
If the Bill is passed, it will allow community associations that obtain a money judgment against an owner for delinquent assessments or other debt to more easily obtain the employment information of the owner. This will provide an association with the necessary information to garnish the owner’s wages to satisfy the delinquent debt. Currently, it can be challenging to locate the current place of employment of a delinquent owner. This adds additional expense to collecting the debt and sometimes leads an association to pursue more aggressive avenues to collect the delinquency. In the end, I believe that this Bill can benefit both delinquent owners and associations.
Stay tuned for future blog posts surrounding additional proposed legislation affecting community association.