Section 1. Each Owner of any Lot, by acceptance of a deed therefor, whether it shall be so expressed in each deed, is deemed to covenant and agree to pay to the Association (1) annual assessments or charges, (2) special assessments for capital improvements, and (3) any assessments made by Declarant pursuant to this Declaration, If the Owner fails to timely pay any assessments within thirty (30) days of the date specified by the Association or Declarant (during the Development Period), the annual and special assessments, together with any interest, costs and any reasonable attorneys' fees incurred to collect such assessments, shall be a lien on the land comprising the Lot, and shall be a continuing lien upon the Lot against which rich assessment is made.. Each such assessment, together with any interest, costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in attempting to collect the easement, shall also be the personal obligation of the person who is the Owner of such Property at the time when the assessment fell due.. The personal obligation for delinquent assessments shall continue even if the Owner subsequently transfers legal or equitable title to the Lot; however, the personal obligation for delinquent assessments shall not pass to the delinquent Owner's successors in ownership of the Lot unless expressly assumed by the successor(s) The Association shall record such liens in the Office of the King County Auditor.

 

Section 2. Purpose of Assessments. The assessments levied by the Association shall be used exclusively to (a) promote the recreation, health, safety and welfare of the residents of the Properties, and (b) for the improvements and maintenance of the Common Areas and Common Maintenance Areas as provided in Article VI.

 

Section 3. Annual Assessment. Until January 1, 1994, the annual assessment shall be $210.00 per Lot; 25 percent (25%) of which shall be allocated and paid to the Declarant for Plat management services provided by the Declarant (or by a professional management firm hired by Declarant) to the Association Such allocation of funds to the Declarant shall cease when the Development Period expires and the Association assumes collection costs, bookkeeping, and other management responsibilities which are described with particularity in the Bylaws of the Association. The balance of the annual assessment shall be used by Declarant during the Development Period, and by the Association after the Development Period, for maintenance, repair, and other purposes permitted by this Declaration.

 

The annual assessment may be increased after the December 31, 1994 during the Development Period to reflect increased (1) maintenance costs, (2) repair costs, or (3) plat management costs. All increases during the Development Period must directly reflect increases in the above recited costs During the Development Period, the Declarant shall have the authority to reduce the annual assessments if economic data supports such a reduction because of reduced maintenance costs or other anticipated Association expenses.

Section 4. Special Assessment for Capital Improvements. In addition to the annual assessments authorized above, the Association (or during the Development Period, the Declarant) may levy, in any assessment year, a common 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 Maintenance Areas not prohibited by this Declaration, including fixtures and personal property related thereto, provided that any such assessment for those capital improvements or repairs exceeding $5,000.00 shall have the assessment of two-thirds (2/3) of the members of the Association who are voting in person or by proxy at a meeting duly called for this purpose.

 

Section 5. Notice and Quorum for any Action Authorized Under Sections 3 and 4. Written notice of the place, day, hour and purpose of any meeting called for the purpose of taking any action authorized under Sections 3 and 4 of this Article shall be sent to all members not less than thirty (30) days nor more than fifty (50) days in advance of the meeting.. At the first meeting called, the presence of 60 percent (60%) of the members of the Association or of proxies entitled to cast 60 percent (60%) of the votes of the Association shall constitute a quorum.. If' the required quorum is not present, another meeting may be called subject to the same notice requirement; the required quorum at the subsequent meeting shall be one-half (1/2) of the required quorum at the preceding meeting.. In the event that a quorum is still not achieved at the second meeting, then the Declarant, during the Development Period, shall have the sole and exclusive authority to initiate a special assessment and carry out capital improvements more fully described in Section 4 herein without first obtaining the approval of the required number of members of the Association as further defined in Sections 4 and 5 herein.

 

Section 6 Uniform Rate of Assessment. Both annual and special assessments arising under Article VIII, Section 3, 4, and 11, must be fixed at a uniform rate for all Lots, provided, however, that, as stated in Article VIII, Section 10, any unimproved Lot owned by the Declarant shall not be subject to any assessments or charges described in this Declaration Assessments shall be collected on a monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, or annual basis as determined by the Declarant during the Development Period, or by the Association for periods after the Development Period.

 

Section 7. Date of Commencement of Annual Assessment; Due Dates. The annual assessments described in this Article shall commence during the first calendar month following recording of the plat of Belmont Woods, or any division thereof. If the plat is recorded in divisions, then the annual assessment shall only apply to those Lots recorded within each division based on the date each division is recorded.. The first annual assessment for each Lot Owner shall be adjusted according to the number of months remaining in the calendar year calculated from the date of recording of the division in which the Lot is located. After the Development Period expires, the Board of Directors shall fix the annual assessment. Written notice of the annual assessment shall be sent to every Owner subject to such assessments.. The due date shall be established by the Board of Directors The Association shall, upon demand and for a reasonable charge, furnish a certificate signed by an officer of the Association setting forth whether the assessment on a specified Lot has been paid. A properly executed certificate of thee Association as to the status of assessments on a Lot is binding upon the Association as of the date of its issuance.

 

Section 8. Effect of Non-Payment of Assessments; Remedies of the Association. Any assessment not paid within thirty (30) days after the due date shall bear interest from the due date at the rate of 12 percent (12 %) per annum, Each Owner hereby expressly vests in the Declarant during the Development Period, or the Association after the Development Period, or their agents the rights and powers to bring all actions against such Owner personally for the collection of such assessments as debts and to enforce lien rights of the Association by all methods available for the enforcement of such liens, including foreclosure by an action brought in the name of the Association in like manner as a mortgage of real property. Such Owner hereby expressly grants to the Declarant or to the Association, as applicable, the power of sale in connection with such liens.. The liens provided for in this Section shall be in favor of the Association and shall be for the benefit of the Association, The Association shall have the power to bid in an interest at foreclosure sale and to acquire, hold, lease, mortgage and convey the same The Owner is responsible for payment of all attorneys' fees incurred in collecting past due assessments a enforcing the terms of assessment liens (see Article XVI, Section 5). No Owner may waive or otherwise escape liability for the assessments provided herein by non-use of the Common Areas, Common Maintenance Areas or abandonment of his Lot.

 

The Association shall have the right to suspend the voting rights and enjoyment of Common Areas (see Article VI, Section l[b]) of an Owner for any period during which any assessment against the Lot remains unpaid and for a period Not to exceed sixty (60) days per infraction for any infraction of the terms of either this Declaration, the Articles or the Bylaws of the Association.

 

Section 9. Subordination of the Lien to Mortgage. The lien for assessments, provided for in this Article, shall be subordinate to the lien of any first mortgage or first deed of trust ("first mortgage"). Sale or transfer of any Lot shall not affect the assessment lien.. However, the sale or transfer of any Lot pursuant to a mortgage foreclosure, or any proceeding in lieu thereof, or the first mortgage holder's acceptance of a deed in lieu of foreclosure, shall extinguish the lien created pursuant to this Article as to payments which become due prior to such sale or transfer No sale or transfer, however, shall (a) relieve such Lot Owner or Lot from liability for any assessments thereafter becoming due nor from the lien thereof, nor (b) shall relieve the delinquent Owner from personal liability for the amount of the payments which become due prior lo such sale or transfer, and for costs and attorney's fees.

 

Section 10 Exempt Property. All property dedicated to and accepted by local public authority shall be exempt from the assessments provided for in this Article. Property and Lots within Belmont Woods owned by Declarant, and all Common Areas, shall be exempt from any and all assessments provided for in this Declaration. This Section shall apply notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary in this Declaration.

 

Section 11 Management by Declarant during the Development Period. Declarant, at its option, shall have and may exercise all of the rights and powers herein given to the Association. Such rights and powers are reserved by the Declarant, its successors and assigns as provided in Article III Declarant shall have the right and option lo assess Owners for actual costs of maintaining Common Areas, Common Maintenance Areas, and rights-of-way, and to assess a Plat management fee during the Development Period as set forth in Article VIII, Section 3.