ARTICLE VII
EFFECT OF NON-PAYMENT OF ASSESSMENTS;
REMEDIES OF THE ASSOCIATION
7.1 Effect of Non-Payment of Assessments; remedies of the Association. Any installment of an Assessment not paid within thirty (30) days after the due date shall bear interest from the due date of such installment at the rate of eighteen percent (18%) per annum. If any installment of an assessment is not paid within thirty (30) days after it is due, the Owner responsible therefor may be required further by the Board of Trustees to pay a late charge of FIFTEEN ($15.00) DOLLARS or ten percent (10%) of the amount of the delinquent installment, whichever is greater. Any validly imposed assessment or other charges provided for in this Declaration shall constitute a lien against Lots in the Subdivision of any Lot, which fails to pay an assessment or charge in a timely manner. The Association may bring an action at law against the Owner, personally obligated to pay the same, or foreclose the lien against the Lot. No Owner may waive or otherwise escape liability for the assessments provided for herein by non-use of the Common Area or abandonment of his/her Lot. If any installment of an Assessment is not paid within thirty (30) days after its due date, the Board of Trustees shall mail through the US Postal Service or electronic email, an acceleration notice to the Owner and to each first mortgagee of a Lot, which has requested a copy of the notice. The notice shall specify: (1) the fact that the installment is delinquent; (2) the action required to cure the default; (3) a date, not less that thirty (30) days from the date the notice is mailed to the Owner by which such default must be cured; and (4) that failure to cure the default on or before the date specified in the notice may result in acceleration of the balance of the installments of the Assessment for the then current fiscal year and sale of his/her Lot. The notice shall further inform the Owner of his/her right to cure after acceleration and to bring a court action to assert the nonexistence of a default or any other defense of the Owner to acceleration and sale. If the delinquent installments of Assessments and any charges thereon are not paid in full on or before the date specified in the notice, the Board of Trustees, at its option, may declare all the unpaid balance payable without further demand and may enforce the collection of the full Assessment and all charges thereon in any manner authorized by law and this Declaration.
7.2 Notice of Assessment. No action shall be brought to enforce any assessment lien herein, unless at least thirty (30) days has expired following the date of a Notice of Assessment is electronically emailed or deposited in the United States mail, certified or registered, postage prepaid to the Owner of the Lot and a copy thereof has been recorded by the Association in the office of the County Recorder in which the Properties are located; said Notice of Assessment must recite a good and sufficient legal description of any such Lot, the record Owner or reputed Owner thereof, the amount claimed (which may, at the Association’s option, include interest on the unpaid assessment at eighteen percent (18%) per annum plus reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses of collection in connection with the debt secured by said lien) and the name and address of the claimant. Such Notice of Assessment shall be signed and acknowledged by an officer of the Association and said lien shall be prior to any Declaration of Homestead recorded after the date on which this Declaration is recorded. The lien shall continue until fully paid or otherwise satisfied.
7.3 Foreclosure Sale. Any such sale provided for above may be conducted by the Board of Trustees, its attorneys or other persons authorized by the Board of Trustees in accordance with the applicable law to the exercise of powers of sale in mortgages and deeds of trust, or in any other manner permitted by law. The Association, through duly authorized agents, shall have the power to bid on the Lot at foreclosure sale and to acquire and hold, lease, mortgage and convey the same.
7.4 Curing of Default. Upon timely curing of any default for which a Notice of Assessment was filed by the Association, the officers thereof shall record an appropriate Release of Lien, upon payment by the defaulting Owner of a fee, to be determined by the Association, but not to exceed SEVENTY FIVE ($75.0) DOLLARS to cover the cost of preparing and recording such release. A certificate executed and acknowledged by any two (2) Members of the Board of Trustees stating the indebtedness secured by the liens upon any Lot created hereunder shall be conclusive upon the Association and the owners as to the amount of such indebtedness as of the date of the certificate, in favor of all persons who rely thereon in good faith. Such certificate shall be furnished to any Owner upon request at a reasonable fee, not to exceed FIFTEEN ($15.00) DOLLARS.
7.5 Cumulative Remedies. The assessment liens and the rights to foreclosure and sale thereunder shall be in addition to and not in substitution for all other rights and remedies which the Association and its assigns may have hereunder and by law, including a suit to recover a money judgment for unpaid assessments, as above provided.
7.6 Subordination of the Lien to Mortgage. The lien of the assessments provided for herein shall be subordinate to the lien of any first mortgage (meaning any recorded mortgage with first priority or seniority over mortgages) made in good faith and for value and recorded prior to the date on which the assessment came due. Sale or transfer of any Lot shall not affect the assessment lien.