05. ARTICLE V. SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS
1. Each assessment regarding a Lot shall be a charge against the Owner and shall become automatically a lien in favor of the Homes Association on the Lot against which it is levied as soon as the assessment becomes due. Should any Owner fail to pay any assessment with respect to the Owner’s Lot in full within 30 days after the due date thereof, then such assessment shall be delinquent, the Owner shall be charged a late fee of 5% of the unpaid amount and the unpaid amount shall bear interest at the rate of 10% per annum (or, if lower, the maximum rate permitted by law) from the delinquency date until paid, which late fee and interest shall become part of the delinquent assessment and the lien on the Lot. Should the Homes Association engage the services of an attorney to collect any assessment hereunder, all costs of collecting such assessment, including court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees, shall, to the extent permitted by applicable law, be added to the amount of the assessment being collected and the lien on the Lot. Each assessment, together with late fees, interest thereon and collection costs, shall also be the personal obligation of the Owner(s) of the Lot, jointly and severally, at the time when the assessment became due.
2. All liens on any Lot for assessments provided for herein shall be inferior and subordinate to the lien of any valid purchase money first mortgage now existing or which may hereafter be placed upon such Lot, as provided below. A foreclosure sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure thereunder shall automatically extinguish the lien hereunder for such assessments to the extent applicable to periods prior to the earlier of (i) the entry of the order allowing such foreclosure or (if no order is required) the holding of the foreclosure sale, or (ii) the execution of a deed in lieu thereof, but shall not release such Lot from liability for any assessment applicable to periods thereafter. If the Owner subsequently redeems the Lot from the foreclosure sale, the lien hereunder shall automatically be reinstated retroactively in full.
3. Payment of a delinquent assessment with respect to a Lot may be enforced by judicial proceedings against the Owner personally and/or against the Lot, including through lien foreclosure proceedings in any court having jurisdiction of suits for the enforcement of such liens. “The Homes Association may file certificates of nonpayment of assessments in the Recording Office, and/or the office of the Clerk of the District Court for Johnson County, Kansas, whenever any assessment is delinquent, in order to give public notice of the delinquency. For each certificate so filed, the Homes Association shall be entitled to collect from the Owner of the Lot described therein a fee of $100.00, which fee shall be added to the amount of the delinquent assessment and the lien on the Lot.
4. Such liens shall continue for a period of five years from the date of delinquency and no longer, unless within such period suit shall have been instituted for collection of the assessment, in which case the lien shall continue until payment in full or termination of the suit and sale of the property under the execution of judgment establishing the same.
5. The Homes Association may cease to provide any or all of the services (including, without limitation, use of Common Areas and trash services) to be provided by or through the Homes Association with respect to any Lot during any period that the Lot is delinquent on the payment of an assessment due under this Declaration, and no such cessation of use privileges or services shall result in a reduction of any amount due from the Owner before, during or after such cessation. No Owner may waive or otherwise avoid liability for any assessment by not using any Common Areas or declining any services provided through the Homes Association.
6. No claim of the Homes Association for assessments and charges shall be subject to setoffs or counterclaims made by any Owner. To the extent permitted by law, each Owner hereby waives the benefit of any redemption, homestead and exemption laws now or hereafter in effect, with respect to the liens created pursuant to this Declaration.