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Collections Policy

plan(As Revised and Approved by the Board of Directors 2/8/2000)

Delinquent Member Collection Policy

  1. No member may return as a member for the next term if s/he has an outstanding balance at the end of the current term.
  2. It is the member's responsibility to follow financial policies and be aware of his/her account standing.
  3. Delinquent member fee collections will begin when:
    • A member who is paying by the SCA installment plan does not pay the required fees and does not submit a correct and complete payment plan to the Business Office by the SCA installment fee deadline; or
    • A member paying under an approved payment plan does not make payments as agreed to in the payment plan.
  4. The Delinquent Member Collections process terminates only when:
    • The member pays all debts in full up to the appropriate installment date;
    • A promissory note is approved;
    • The member is evicted from the premises; or
    • The member successfully appeals the process through the Board of Directors.
  5. The Delinquent Member Collection process is as follows:
    • On the day following the due date, if payment has not been made, a 7-day notice will be issued. An $25.00 late fine will be charged in connection with the issuance of this notice. This fine will be waived if payment is received within the next 24 hours.
    • If, within this 7-day period, the Collections Process is not terminated by an action as described in section 4 above, a 72-hour notice will be issued, along with a $50.00 fine.
    • If, within this 72-hour period, the member fails to bring his/her account current or appeal to the Board of Directors, the member will be asked to leave the premises. If the member leaves, it shall be recorded as a "self-eviction"; fees shall be pro-rated to the date of self-eviction, and the Past Member Collections policy shall commence.
    • If the member fails to leave the premises through self-eviction, SCA will begin eviction proceedings in Lane County District Court, and the member shall be charged a non-refundable $101.00 fine.
      • When eviction papers are filed, all unpaid fees, fines, and other SCA debts are immediately due.
      • SCA will stop the legal eviction process only when the member makes full payment in cash, money order, or cashier's check at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled court appearance.
      • If payment is not made, the legal eviction process will continue.
      • If the member pays all SCA debts in cash, money order, or cashier's check within 72 hours after the court appearance the member may continue as a member for the rest of the term.
    • If a member wishes to live in SCA in any subsequent term after having the eviction process (self or legal eviction) initiated against him/her, s/he must appeal to the Board for that term and for the next term s/he wishes to live in SCA. If the Board agrees to allow the member to return, all fees for the approved term(s) must be paid in full on the first installment due date.
    • If the member fails to pay in full after being evicted, fees shall be collected in accordance with the Past Member Collections Policy.
  6. If a member's check bounces:
    • The member will be charged a $15.00 fee;
    • The delinquent member collection process will commence; and
    • the following payment must be made in cash, money order, or cashier's check.
  7. If a member's check bounces during the collection process the process continues as if the payment had not been made.

Past Members Collection Policy

(Approved by the Board of Directors 10/15/2013)

  1. All members must have their fees paid in full prior to moving out of S.C.A.
  2. For members leaving with unpaid balances, the following will apply:
    • If the member is eligible to receive a deposit refund, all amounts due to S.C.A. will first be subtracted from the deposit prior to refunding the balance.
    • If the member is not eligible to receive a deposit refund, or a balance remains after applying an eligible refund, the member must meet with the Business Manager to make payment arrangements prior to checking out. (These payment arrangements will not take the place of existing promissory notes, if any, but are an "informal" addendum to same.)
    • If the past member pays the balance as agreed in the above section, no further collection activity will take place.
  3. If the past member fails to meet with the Business Manager prior to checking out the following will apply:
    • If no communication has been received from the past member within 10 days of leaving, a letter requesting payment in full and explaining the next steps in the collections process shall be emailed/mailed to the member at the address listed on the checkout form. If no checkout form was received, the letter will be emailed/mailed to the member's permanent address listed in his/her membership file.
    • The frequency that letters will be sent will correspond to the amount owed:
      ß Under $300: contact via email once a month
    • ß $300 - $500: contact via email and snail mail once a month
      ß $500 - $1000: contact via email and snail mail twice a month
      ß $1000+: escalate contact, possible to social media but let’s not publicly shame people.
    • If the account is not paid in full within 150 days from last payment, the account shall be charged off to bad debt and reported to the credit bureau as such. Any payments received after this time shall be credited back to the bad debt account.
  4. If the past member fails to pay as agreed to with the Business Manager, the following will apply:
    • Within 5 days of non-payment a letter requesting the agreed-upon payment and explaining the next steps in the collections process shall be emailed/mailed to the member at the address given at the time of meeting with the Business Manager. If no address was given, the letter will be emailed/mailed to the member's permanent address as listed in his/her membership file.
    • The frequency that letters will be sent will correspond to the amount owed:
      ß Under $300: contact via email once a month
    • ß $300 - $500: contact via email and snail mail once a month
      ß $500 - $1000: contact via email and snail mail twice a month
      ß $1000+: escalate contact, possible to social media but let’s not publicly shame people.
    • If no payment is received within 150 days from last payment, the account shall be charged off to bad debt and reported to the credit bureau as such. Any payments received after this time shall be credited back to the bad debt account.
  5. The Business Manager will report all past member collection activity to the Board in his/her regular weekly reports.

Fee Collection Policy Reminder Note (sample)

This note was posted for all co-opers before the summer of 2007 as a reminder of SCA policy regarding outstanding balances in the SCA. Several members of the SCA were in debt above $500 going into the summer, and this was to stimulate fee payment before the interim.

Dear fellow co-opers,

This is an official and important notice to all SCA members regarding your membership fee balance and contract with the SCA. As per the collections policy in the current SCA policy book, no member may return as a member for the next term if s/he has an outstanding balance at the end of the current term. It is the member's responsibility to follow financial policies and be aware of his/her account standing.

We are now ending the current spring term of 2007 and entering the SCA interim summer period. Many SCA members have balances outstanding with the SCA and are in breach of policy. Please note the following policy points as they will be enforced at the end of our summer interim:

1) An outstanding balance remaining at the end of summer (this means **ANY** balance above $0.00) and entering into the fall term will **automatically terminate** your membership in the SCA.
2) You will not be allowed to live in any SCA house for the fall term or in terms to follow until fees are paid in full to the SCA office.
3) Your room will be vacated and given over to a new member.
4) The eviction process will be followed as per the collections policy in order to recover any unpaid balance.

If you are unsure of your current membership fee balance, please speak with our business manager, Melanie, at the SCA office of the Lorax (email: scaoffice@comcast.net). You may also contact the current Corporate Treasurer or your house treasurer for more details.

If you cannot make payment to completely resolve your membership fees before the interim, please get in contact immediately before leaving for the summer.

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