The Board should have a policy concerning late payment of assessments. Associations should take advantage of the right given them by the Condominium Act to charge up to 18 per cent interest on assessments not paid on time.

When condominium fees are seriously overdue, the Board can take one or more of the following steps.

a. Give the unit owner notice that the Association will File a "notice of lien" in the County Registry of Deeds unless past due payments are made and contact the bank holding the mortgage of the delinquency. This will insure that if the owner sells the unit, the attorney or title company searching the title will know of the lien.

b. Where a unit owner still does not pay up, the Association can start legal proceedings against the owner in one of two ways.

-Small claims court

-Foreclosure. The Association has the right to foreclose on a unit, in much the same manner as a bank holding a mortgage. A letter notifying a unit owner that foreclosure proceedings are imminent, will usually result in payment being made.

Any expenses, including legal fees, incurred in collecting assessments, will be awarded to the "prevailing party", meaning that a delinquent owner will usually be liable for much more than simply the amount of the past due assessments.