There are few things more basic to a homeowners association than the fees it takes to keep the place running. When one or more owners default in the payment of fees, the impact is felt by all. And the longer the delinquency, the deeper the cut. It is a situation that many boards dread because of having to deal with neighbors. Here are a number of ways to reduce the impact of, cure or avoid collection problems in your community:

Establish a collection policy with teeth. While this sounds simple enough, many HOAs have nothing more in place than the often inadequate provisions of the governing documents. The collection policy needs to be clear and concise. Some of the basic provisions should include:

1. Date the fee is due

    

2. Date it's late

    

3. Penalty for late payments

    

4. How late payments will be applied to outstanding balances

    

5. Legal procedures that may be invoked after a certain period or level of delinquency is reached

    

6. Who pays collection costs

    

7. Lien filing rights on an owner's property if payment is not received and,

    

8. Foreclosure provisions.

The goal of the well written collection policy is to move the HOA's bill to the top of the payment pile. As with any policy enacted by the board:

Apply the policy consistently. Once the policy is agreed upon, do not deviate from it. While there are great excuses still to be heard, the board has a fiduciary duty to protect the HOA's rights. If one owner doesn't pay, other owners have to ante up the difference or services will need to be curtailed. The board must absolutely avoid selective enforcement due to a friend's, family member's or a personal default.

Apply the policy in its entirety. The typical collection policy is made up of a series of sequential events that are triggered by time and/or dollar amount. Once put into motion, allow it to run its course. This typically ends in placing a lien on a member's property. Garnishing wages, seizing property and foreclosure are possible but usually not invoked unless the case is extreme.

Use an attorney well versed in legal collection procedures. While attorneys should not be the first line of defense, the procedure should include them once the size or age of the balance due reaches a certain proportions. Liens and foreclosures are an attorney's domain. The impact of an attorney letter alone may be sufficient to turn the collection tide.

Hire a property manager. Collections and rules enforcement are the main reasons folks don't want to serve on the board. A manager doesn't live there and for them, collections are business as usual. If your HOA is experiencing greater than normal collection problems, this may be the best step to getting collections back in line.

Let's face it, collections are an unpleasant but necessary part of homeowners association living. Rather than reacting or overreacting, prepare for them with a strong yet fair policy. If the members know the will of the board, most won't tempt the process.

In a flurry of end-of-session bill signings, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger approved seven new laws that provide a range of consumer protections to home-mortgage holders and may allow some to hold on to their houses.

Late Sunday night, the governor signed AB 260 by Assemblyman Ted Lieu (D-Torrance). The measure, which takes effect Jan. 1, tightens restrictions on mortgage brokers so they cannot steer borrowers to riskier, higher-interest loans when they qualify for less-expensive ones.

The new law also bans so-called negative-amortization loans, which offer the option of monthly payments so low that the loan amounts can actually grow over time.

The law also limits prepayment penalties to no more than 2% of the loan balance and allows state regulators to enforce federal lending laws.

The governor vetoed similar legislation last year at the urging of some groups in the mortgage and real estate industries.

The California Assn. of Mortgage Brokers, the California Mortgage Assn. and the California Assn. of Realtors unsuccessfully opposed this year's version of the bill.

Lieu, the bill's author, successfully argued that his proposal was needed more than ever to help California homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Lieu noted that, according to RealtyTrac, a real estate data service, 92,326 homeowners were hit with foreclosure notices during August.

"Look out Wall Street, California is no longer the Wild West," Lieu said in a statement Monday. "Although it took two years, I am pleased to have been able to overcome the powerful interests blocking reform so that future generations won't ever experience this type of crisis."

Other mortgage-related bills signed by the governor:

* SB 36, by Sen. Ron Calderon (D-Montebello), sets licensing requirements for all residential loan originators.

* SB 239, by Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), makes it a felony to commit fraud on a mortgage loan application.

* AB 329, by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), requires lenders to give more and clearer information to those interested in reverse mortgages, which let seniors borrow against their homes' equity.

* SB 237, by Calderon, creates a registration program for appraisal management firms.

* AB 957, by Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), allows buyers of foreclosed homes to choose local escrow officers, rather than being forced to use the escrow company chosen by the seller.

* AB 1160, by Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Cupertino), requires that mortgage loan documents be written in the same language the verbal negotiations were conducted in.

New data suggest that foreclosures are rising in more expensive housing markets.

About 30% of foreclosures in June involved homes in the top third of local housing values, up from 16% when the foreclosure crisis began three years ago, according to new data from real-estate Web site Zillow.com. The bottom one-third of housing markets, by home value, now account for 35% of foreclosures, down from 55% in 2006.

The report shows that foreclosures, after declining earlier this year, began to accelerate in the late spring and that more expensive homes have more recently accounted for a growing share of all foreclosures. "The slope of that curve in recent months is much sharper than it was recently," said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. Rising foreclosures among more-expensive homes could create added pressure for a housing market that has shown signs of stabilizing in recent months as sales of lower-priced homes pick up.

The Zillow research compared homes against the median values for their local market and broke each market into three tiers by value. Zillow then looked at the share of monthly foreclosures in each tier over the past decade.

Foreclosures are rising in more expensive markets as home values in those areas fall, leaving more homeowners with mortgages that exceed the value of their properties. Prime loans accounted for 58% of foreclosure starts in the second quarter, up from 44% last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Subprime mortgages accounted for one-third of foreclosure starts, down from one-half last year.

The prime category includes so-called exotic mortgages that were increasingly used to buy more expensive homes, including interest-only mortgages that allowed borrowers to defer principal payments during an initial period. Borrowers often aren't able to refinance out of these products because the drop in home values has left them with little equity in their homes.

Default rates are particularly high and expected to rise on option adjustable-rate mortgages, which allow borrowers to make minimum payments that may not cover the interest due. Monthly payments can increase to sharply higher levels after five years or when the outstanding balance reaches a certain level. A study by Fitch Ratings found that 46% of option ARMs were 30 days past due last month, even though just 12% of such loans have reset to higher monthly payments.

Zillow estimated that nearly one in four homes with mortgages was worth less than the value of the property at the end of June. Mr. Humphries said he didn't expect to see foreclosure volumes level off until later in 2010.

Susan Decker, who quit in January as president of Yahoo after the company hired Carol Bartz for the top job of chief executive officer, has paid $5.1 million for a waterfront home in Marin County.

Once viewed as a candidate to succeed Jerry Yang as CEO, Ms. Decker spent about two years as president after a successful run as chief financial officer. But her last year proved problematic: Among other things, she advised Yahoo's board to reject Microsoft's acquisition offer, angering Wall Street.  

The two-story Belvedere, Calif., home, which Ms. Decker bought through a limited-liability company, sits at the tip of a lagoon on the Tiburon Peninsula and has five bedrooms and 5 1/2 baths. The property has a deck, yoga room and landscaped garden with small pond. The seller is Michael Chen, a retired Taiwanese businessman who built the roughly 4,500-square-foot home in 1994, replacing a house he'd purchased in 1989 for $1.27 million. Olivia Hsu Decker and Karen Plastiras of Decker Bullock Sotheby's International Realty had the listing.

Since resigning, Ms. Decker has focused on her board directorships and started as an "entrepreneur in residence" at alma mater Harvard Business School; she'll work with students interested in start-ups.

Packard Bell Founder Agrees to Sell New York Condo

Packard Bell founder and real-estate investor Beny Alagem and his wife, Adele, have gone into contract to sell their three-bedroom condominium in New York's exclusive 15 Central Park West. The asking price was $24 million, more than 50% higher than their $15.4 million purchase price last year.

Mr. Alagem, 56 years old, founded Packard Bell Electronics in 1986; it's now part of Packard Bell NEC. Since resigning from the company in 1998, he has invested in such real-estate purchases as the Beverly Hilton Hotel in 2003 and the Hilton Los Cabos Beach and Golf resort in 2006.

Neighbors in the Robert A.M. Stern-designed building, completed in 2008, include Sanford Weill, Daniel S. Loeb, Sting and Nascar driver Jeff Gordon . Amenities include a lap pool, theater and dining room for owners. The Alagem apartment has a master bedroom facing Central Park and, in the western wing, two guest bedrooms and a library paneled in leather, according to the listing.

The buyer and purchase price could not be learned. The listing agent was Richard Wallgren of Brown Harris Stevens.

Nicolas Cage Sets NYC Sale

On New York's Fifth Avenue, a condo owned by actor Nicolas Cage has gone into contract after being listed for $9.75 million.

The Oscar-winning actor has bought and sold houses in many places—among them San Francisco, New Orleans and Bath, England. Cordelia Robb of Brown Harris Stevens had the New York listing.

MGM Mirage is cutting the price of the condos at its $8.5 billion City Center development by 30% due to the economic downturn, the company announced Monday.

The move is intended to address a growing backlash from many of the people who signed contracts on condos in the 2,440-unit complex during the height of the Las Vegas real-estate boom. Many had said they would have trouble closing on those units now that financing has become harder to obtain and the market in Las Vegas for luxury condos has crashed. Investors and observers had anticipated a price cut from the company for some time.

"We believe that in this economic climate, this price reduction is an appropriate step to take on behalf of our buyers so as to provide them greater flexibility in closing on their residences," City Center's chief executive, Bobby Baldwin, said in a statement.

The multi-towered City Center project, which is situated on 67 acres on the Las Vegas Strip, is expected to open in December as a mixed-use complex with residential, retail and casino spaces.

In 2006 and 2007, when the market for luxury condominiums was at its height, MGM Mirage used more than $300 million in deposits for residential units to help fund the enormous complex. That was common practice among developers at the time.

MGM Mirage had hoped to sell its condos at top-of-the-market prices, which would have brought in $2.6 billion. However, it ended up getting deposits on only a portion of the inventory. If all of those deposits were to result in sales, it would mean $1.6 billion in revenue.

But the market for new residences in Las Vegas has dropped by roughly 40% and financing for luxury condos has withered. That threatened to scuttle sales for people who had put down deposits on City Center, and that could have spelled trouble for City Center, which risked opening its doors with a raft of units still up for sale.

By offering up a 30% discount, MGM Mirage expects that many more of those who put down deposits will be able to finalize sales.

Almost all new ceiling fans today are equipped with a remote control, especially higher priced ceiling fans. The receiver part of the remote is nestled inside the fan body itself, while the control mounts either on the wall or into the wall as a switch.

If you've been thinking about replacing your existing ceiling fans, I've made plenty of DIY mistakes to share with you during my two installs. But it is relatively easy to do this project yourself. If you can change out a receptacle, you can install a ceiling fan.

Before You Buy a Ceiling Fan

Don't run out to buy the first cute ceiling fan you see. Stop to consider these specifications:

• First determine your ceiling height.
  Ceilings heights below 9 feet might require a fan that hugs the ceiling, known as a flush mount, so you don't get your head chopped off when walking under spinning blades. Find out the distance between the ceiling and the bottom of the fan, referred to as the hanging depth. Allow at least 7 feet from the bottom of the fan to the floor.

   

• Choose the blade sweep.
  Experts tell me the number of blades isn't as important as the size of the motor and the length of the blades. Larger motors cost more than smaller motors. Blades that measure 52 inches work better in rooms that are greater than 15 feet in length; whereas 44-inch blades are made for smaller rooms. If you are replacing a smaller fan with a larger fan, make sure the blades will not hit another object in the room, such as a door. Allow a minimum of 18 inches from the tip of the blade to the wall.

   

• Lighting options.
  Note that if you choose a light fixture requiring a fluorescent lamp, that fixture is unlikely to be compatible with a dimmer switch, and you may need to replace your light switch beforehand. Consider whether you want light to flood the room or to illuminate the ceiling.

   

• Measure existing fan diameter where it meets the ceiling.
  In most instances, your fan body will sit flush with the ceiling. If the diameter of your existing fan housing is smaller than your new fan, no problem. But if your new fan housing is smaller than the original, you will need to paint or otherwise fix the ceiling after installation.

How the Remote Works

While you have a variety of options to choose from, the two most common are either a wall control switch or a hand-held remote control. Some wall switch controls cost extra, but at least you will always know where to find the remote control -- it's in the wall switch.

• Remote receiver.
  This is a small rectangular box with DIP switches (a series of tiny buttons all set in one direction) and three to four wires. Insert the battery into the receiver. The wires will likely be white (neutral), black (hot) blue (light) and copper or green for grounding. This unit rests inside the fan body. AFTER YOU TURN OFF THE ELECTRICITY, you will connect the wires from the receiver to the wires coming out of the ceiling, securing each color combo with wire nuts.

   

• Set DIP switches.
  If you are installing more than one remote-controlled ceiling fan, set the DIP switches on both the receiver and the control of one fan to an identical alternate sequence (such as "all up" rather than "all down"). Otherwise, when you turn off the ceiling fan in one room, it will turn off the fan in the adjoining room.

   

• Junction box preparation.
  Make sure your junction box can support the weight of a new fan before you install the plate for the new fan. Many weigh about 50 pounds. You can use the same screws to attach the new plate or use the screws that came with your fan. Do not attempt to touch the wires without turning off the electricity to the house.

Identify Parts

You may say to yourself: "Who cares? I don't know what these parts are much less where they go." But do try to identify them, including the hardware. I made the manufacturer send me by overnight mail new set screws because the manual identified them as set screws, but they were clearly noted as canopy screws on the fixture and included in my first package.

Attach Housing Body to Ceiling

After the plate is installed, look for a hook or a hanging mechanism that will support the weight of the fan while you are attaching the wires together. This is helpful if you do not have three hands. Nestle the receiver inside and follow manufacturer instructions for attaching the body or collar to the plate. Secure with set screws.

Install Lamp

Attach the lamp or bulb to the fixture. Before you proceed, turn on the power. Press the remote to check that the light works and the body where the blades will attach spins. It it does not work, most likely a connection from the receiver to the junction box is loose. Before proceeding, shut off the power. Check and fix.

Attach Blades

Most fan blades are marked up or down. Make sure your fan blade faces the right direction and slip it into the slot. If screws are provided, use them.

Attach Shade

Most fans with a light come with a shade or a cap. Attach it as your final step, and you're finished.

Wall Control Switch

If your option includes a wall control, turn off the electricity and remove the existing wall switch. Note how the wires are attached and reattach them to the remote switch the same way. If you see a white wire, test it to determine if it is hot. White wires that are hot should be marked black but not everybody marks them. Cap with wire nuts and test. If you are uncertain how the wires attach, consult an electrician.

We've got a bumper crop of positives this week for housing, starting with pending home sales, which jumped by 6.4 percent in August.

That was the seventh straight month of increases in the National Association of Realtors' forward-looking index -- the longest streak since 2001.

The pending sales index measures signed contracts heading for closing, and is an important indicator of where the real estate market is headed in the coming couple of months.

Regionally, pending sales were up by 8.2 percent in the Northeast, 7.6 percent in the Midwest, by just less than one percent in the South, and up a stunning 16 percent in the Western states.

But pending sales are hardly the only bright spot this week: New home sales were also up in the latest month -- by seven tenths of one percent nationwide, according to the Commerce Department.

Even home prices, which had been on the negative side in dozens of areas for most of 2008 and into early 2009, have now turned around and are rising just about everywhere. The Case-Shiller 20-city price index took its biggest jump in four years last month, up by 1.6 percent.

Prices were positive coast to coast, with Los Angles and Washington D.C. up 1.8 percent, San Francisco 3.3 percent, Chicago 2.7 percent and Minneapolis up an extraordinary 4.6 percent for the month.

And remember: the Case-Shiller index has been the darkest, gloomiest measure of the real estate market's direction for years, and the last major index to turn around this year. So it's a very welcome change we're looking at here.

Mortgage rates continued to be helpful as well last week, with rates continuing their slide. Average 30-year fixed rates dipped to 4.9 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, while fifteen year rates dropped to 4.3 percent.

If rates slip just a few more notches, they'll be approaching 40-year low points ... and we could see not only a spike to home sales, but a refinancing boom as well.

Now of course, the news never all bright in any given week. We saw a surprise drop last week in a key measure of consumer confidence -- the Conference Board's index, which slipped by 1.4 points after months of generally improving outlook among consumers.

Analysts attributed widespread worries about future job layoffs and a national unemployment rate close to 10 percent -- and much higher rates in some major local markets -- to the drop in confidence.

Unemployment is obviously sobering, and no doubt is restraining the housing sector. But all in all, that sector looks very promising at the moment.