Article VII: Maintenance Assessments

Section 1. Creation of the Lien and Personal Obligation of Assessments

Each Owner of any Lot by acceptance of a deed thereof, whether or not it shall be so expressed in such deed, covenants and agrees to pay to the Association: (1) commencement assessments; (2) administrative assessments; (3) annual assessments or charges; (4) special assessments for capital improvements; (5) assessments for the costs of maintenance and operation of the Surface Water or Stormwater Management System; and (6) assessments for the costs of maintenance and operation of the Mitigation and Conservation Area. The Association shall levy and collect adequate assessments against Members of the Association for the costs of maintenance and operation of the Surface Water or Stormwater Management System. All assessments, together with late fees, interest, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees for collection thereof, shall be a charge on the land and shall be a continuing lien upon the Property against which each such assessment is made. Each such assessment, together with interest, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees for collection thereof, shall also be the personal obligation of the person who was the Owner of such Property at the time when the assessment fell due and all subsequent Owners until paid.

Section 2. Purpose of Assessments

The Assessments levied by the Association shall be used exclusively to promote the recreation, health, safety and welfare of the residents in the Property and for the improvement and maintenance of the Common Area, easement areas benefitting the Property, or right-of-way areas adjacent to the Property the Association chooses to maintain, or for any other purpose set forth in the Declaration that the Association deems necessary.

Section 3. Maximum Annual Assessment

Until January 1 of the year immediately following the conveyance of the first Lot to any Owner, the maximum annual assessment shall be Five Hundred and 00/100 Dollars ($500.00) per Lot.

(a) From and after January 1 of the year immediately following the conveyance of the first Lot to an Owner, the maximum annual assessments may be increased each year by ten percent (10%) above the maximum assessment for the previous year unilaterally by the Board of Directors without approval or vote of the Membership.

(b) From and after January 1 of the year immediately following the conveyance of the first Lot to an Owner, to increase the maximum annual assessment more than ten percent (10%) of the prior year’s maximum annual assessment, a vote of two-thirds (2/3) of each class of Members who are voting in person or by proxy at a meeting duly called for that purpose, must occur.

Section 4. Special Assessments for Capital Improvements

In addition to the annual assessments authorized above, the Association may levy, in any assessment year, a special assessment applicable to that year only for the purpose of defraying, in whole or in part, the cost of any construction, reconstruction, repair or replacement of a capital improvement upon the Common Area, or to repair any Privacy Walls, including fixtures and personal property related thereto, provided that any such assessment shall have the assent of two-thirds (2/3) of the votes of each class of the Members who are voting in person or by proxy at a meeting duly called for this purpose.

Section 5. Commencement Assessment

A Commencement Assessment of Two Hundred and 00/100 ($200.00) per Lot shall be paid to the Association at the time of closing by the original purchaser of a Lot purchasing from the Declarant. The Association may use the Commencement Assessment for any of the purposes set forth in this Declaration. The Commencement Assessment shall be paid directly to the Association and shall be utilized in a manner consistent with other Assessments.

Section 6. Administrative Assessment

A one time Administrative Assessment of Twenty and 00/100 Dollars ($20.00) per Lot shall be paid to the Association by any successive purchaser of a Lot at the time of closing on the purchase of the Lot. The Administrative Assessment is designed to defray the cost of the Association of maintaining accurate records including transfers of title and changes in addresses of all of its Members and to assure that all new Members receive a complete set of Governing Documents that relate to the rules, regulations and responsibilities of ownership within the community. The Administrative Assessment shall be paid directly to the Association and may be used for any purpose as set forth in this Declaration.

Section 7. Uniform Rate of Assessment

All assessments must be fixed at a uniform rate for all Lots, and each Lot shall be liable for 1/24 of all assessments.

Section 8. Date of Commencement of Annual Assessments; Due Dates

The annual assessments provided for in this Article shall commence as to all Lots on the date (which shall be the first day of the month) fixed by the Board of Directors of the Association to be the date of commencement. Each subsequent annual assessment shall be imposed for the year beginning January 1 and ending December 31. The annual assessments shall be payable in advance in monthly installments, or in annual, semi-annual, or quarterly installments if so determined by the Board of Directors of the Association. The first annual assessment shall be adjusted according to the number of months remaining in the calendar year. The Board of Directors shall fix the amount of the annual assessment against each Lot at least 30 days in advance of each annual assessment period. Written notice of the assessments shall be sent to every Owner subject thereto. The Association shall, upon demand and for a reasonable charge, furnish a certificate signed by an officer of the Association setting forth whether the assessments on a specified Lot have been paid. A properly executed certificate of the Association as to the status of assessments on a Lot is binding upon the Association as of the date of its issuance.

Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, as long as Class B Membership exists, as to unoccupied Lots owned by Declarant, Declarant may elect not to pay the annual assessment on each such unoccupied Lot. Should Declarant so elect not to pay the assessment, Declarant shall pay all costs incurred by the Association in accomplishment of the purposes set forth in Article VII, Section 2 hereof, in excess of the total amount collected by the Association through all assessments. Declarant may at any time revoke this election and place itself in the position of being obligated to pay the full impact of all assessments for each lot owned by the Declarant at the time said revocation is presented to the Association.

Section 9. Effect of Nonpayment of Assessments; Remedies of the Association

Any assessment not paid within 15 days after the due date shall bear a late fee of Twenty-Five ($25.00) Dollars and interest from the due date at the rate of twelve percent (12%) per annum. The Association may bring an action at law against the Owner personally obligated to pay the same or foreclose the lien against the Owner’s 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 Lot.

Section 10. Assumption of Delinquent Assessments by Successors

The personal component of the obligation for delinquent assessments shall not pass to the Lot Owner’s successors in title unless expressly assumed by them. Irrespective of the assumption of the personal component of the obligation by any successors in title, the lien for delinquent assessments shall continue to be a lien upon the Lot until such time as it is fully paid.

Section 11. Subordination of the Lien to Mortgages

The lien of the assessments provided for in this Article shall be a lien superior to all other liens except real estate tax liens and the lien of any mortgage to any Institutional Lender which is now or hereafter placed upon any property subject to assessment as long as said mortgage lien is a first lien against the property encumbered thereby; provided, however, that any such mortgagee, when in possession, or any receiver, and in the event of a foreclosure, any purchaser at a foreclosure sale, and any such mortgagee acquiring a deed in lieu of foreclosure, and all persons claiming by, through or under such purchaser or mortgagee, shall hold title subject to the liability and lien of any assessment coming due after such foreclosure (or conveyance in lieu of foreclosure). Any unpaid assessments which cannot be collected as a lien against any Lot by reason of the provisions of this Section shall be deemed to be an assessment divided equally among, payable by a lien against all Lots subject to assessment by the Association, including the Lots as to which the foreclosure (or conveyance in lieu of foreclosure) took place.

Notwithstanding any contrary provision hereof, no Institutional Lender acquiring title to a Lot through foreclosure or conveyance in lieu of foreclosure, and no purchaser at a foreclosure sale, and no persons claiming by, through or under such Institutional Lender or purchaser, shall be personally obligated to pay assessments that accrue prior to the Institutional Lender’s or the foreclosure purchaser’s acquiring title.

Section 12. Special Taxing Districts

In the event that a Special Taxing District is established to provide any services currently rendered by, or which are the responsibility of, the Association, these covenants and conditions shall no longer be of any force and effect as to any such services provided by said Special Taxing District, provided however the covenants and conditions set forth herein shall continue to bind and run with the land as to all of the Property for services not provided by said Special Taxing District. If said Special Taxing District is terminated for any reason, these covenants and conditions shall thereupon apply in full force and effect as if said Special Taxing District had never been created.