L.P. from New York writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I paid for my condo fees with money orders. Now the management is saying they didn’t get the ones for May, July, September, November. How do I get to see who signed the money orders to put in the bank?
Mister Condo replies:
L.P., depending on how you drew the money order, your best bet is speaking with the money order issuer to see if they offer a tracking service. Many do but they also charge a nominal fee for the service. I have seen fees well under the $10 range per transaction so it shouldn’t cost you too much to do the research. Once you get your receipts, simply contact the management company with your evidence of payment. That should clear it up for you. You might also want to ask if there is some type of online payment option available to you. These systems tend to automate the ledge process creating receipts for all parties involved. All the best!
As a collection agency that specializes in community associations, I see this all the time. Owners who pay with money orders need to keep their receipts. I know that the receipts for these money orders are small pieces of paper. My suggestion is to tape them to a larger piece of paper or take a photo of them and keep a good record. It is very frustrating to a good paying owner to have to go back and recover these payments but you need to protect yourself.
Also, as Bob mentions perhaps you should utilize the payment portal that most management companies provide so that you don’t get caught up in this situation again. I know it is frustrating to you and may be killing your time. However, you need to protect yourself so keep these records for at least five years. Yes, five years because I have seen some poor ledger keeping.
One final suggestion. Once a year ask your management company to provide you with a hard statement of account that shows you are all paid up. This way if they come back at you with a non-payment you can show that for 2018 (or whatever year) you were all paid up. Community association accounts receivable are in the stone ages with coupon books and few communities providing statements.