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HOA evicts owners for owing $194 in past dues

Posted on Fri, Mar 08, 2013 @ 08:10 AM
  
  
  
  

I am trying to find out how to get back our home after the HOA evicted us for owing $194. Plus unreasonable attorney fees. The HOA has had possession of our home for over 2 years, have long ago cured our debt and have made alterations to our home of over $15,000.00. They have also signed two 12 month leases since that time. The 1st lease was signed in Sept 2011. There is currently a credit balance on our account and they are now threatening to try to collect the fees that we owed pre-bankruptcy 2010. We are currently in our 16th attempt to modify our mortgage and it doesn't seem that a foreclosure will happen any time soon. We need some questions answered.

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COMMENTS

First, what state are you in? 
It is incomprehensible that any owner could not come up with 194 dollars or that amount could be used to forceclose on.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 8:18 AM by john mastro


The question would be one for you to ask your attorney, and a court. 
As a layman, I am going to offer the opinion that if a court approved the foreclosure you aint never getting it back, and you probably do not deserve to get it back for the reason of not being able to pay over such a long period of time. However if the Original Poster (OP) is willing to give a lot more details, then we might comprehend the circumstances.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 8:22 AM by john mastro


The tyranny of some associations is amazing. I live in association (umbrella) in Illlinois that acted that a unit that they took possession was their unit and were entitled to all the income from that unit. Some association attorney's now market collections to their clients heavily. This has been a rough time for homeowners and I expect that this heavy handed action will come back to haunt the association with more laws.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 8:31 AM by Condo Owner


How can an HOA evict you? Doesn't make sense for the HOA to spend the money and time over $194.00. Ifs its your home, why is your mortgage company allowing this?

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 8:32 AM by marilyn


This post doesn't give us the full picture. 
Why could not you pay $194.00 in the first place? No surprise if the assn has accumulated attorney fees! 
Did you file for bankrupcy?Why two years have passed? 
This situation doesn't make sense.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 8:52 AM by RS-FL


Need more details. As Marilyn suggests, it is very hard to believe that you were "evicted" because you owed them $194. But now, at a later point in time, you have a credit balance? And still have a mortgage? How can that be? This makes no sense.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 8:52 AM by RPB


I am trying to understand exactly what is going on.  
 
My analysis of your rhetoric is that you do not have a clue as to what is going on and the laws of your state. 
 
There are two processes going on here, though you try to make it one; HOA rights when an owner is behind in assessments and bankruptcy. 
 
In most states, when an owner falls behind in paying the monthly assessment, the HOA will add a late payment fee. After a pre-established amount of time passes with no assessment payment being received, the HOA will hire an attorney to place a lien on the owner property, the cost of the attorney to do this is added to the money owed the HOA. This simply means that in order for the owner to legally sell the property, the HOA will received the money owed them out of the sale. In a fewer number of states, after a pre-established amount of time passes after the lien is placed and no assessment payment has been received, the HOA will hire an attorney to foreclose on the property with the money from the sale to pay what the HOA is owed. With an outstanding mortgage, this can get a little dicey but that is what attorneys are for. 
 
When you file for bankruptcy in US Bankruptcy Court the HOA can no longer contact you until the court has reached a decision. At filing, the amount owed the HOA is added to the list of debt and the HOA is added to the list of creditors. Should the court decide to dismiss, then everything returns to the way it was prior to the filing and you owe all the accumulated debt to the HOA to date. Should the court decide that you have to surrender your property to your mortgage company, then the HOA loses and has to write off the money you owe as a bad debt. Should the court put you on a payment plan to pay back your creditors, the HOA would have been dropped off the list of creditors as an incidental debt. The HOA's only hope is to sue you for what you owe but that typically does not happen because of the cost in doing so and the low probability that any money will be recovered. 
 
As far as answering your questions, that can't be done without knowing what state the property resides in and a chronological list of events. 
 
Bottom line, listen to your attorney. 
 

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 10:12 AM by Ron - NC


If you owned the home, you cannot be evicted. Were you a renter? Methinks you need a lawyer to untangle this bowl of legal spaghetti.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 11:15 AM by Jimmy


Good for the Association! You owed them money, didn't pay it and they did what needs to be done. Whay in the world have you waited 2 years to complain especially if you are "evicted"? 
I believe you are a deadbeat complainer and that is all.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 11:20 AM by Jim


I want to add to what RPB said. The US Bankruptcy code currently requires that delinquent condo assessments and related costs incurred by the owner prior to him/her filing a bankruptcy petition cannot be collected by the Association (except under very limited circumstances). In doing so, the contract between the owner and the Association under the Bylaws (requiring an owner to pay the assessments allocated to his unit) is voided for purposes of the pre-petition debt.  
 
But filing bankruptcy does not extingush that contract as to post-petition assessments that are not paid. The contract can be enforced by the Association by bringing a breach of contract claim agaisnt the owner in court. 
 
To the extent that the Association has recorded a lien on title of the unit for the debt owed, the bankruptcy court cannot void that lien, and after the bankruptcy proceeding has concluded, the Association can enforce the lien by foreclosing on the property.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 11:55 AM by Eric


We are senior community in NE. There is a young man in a unit who is too young to live here and should not be here (long story) Our lawyer told us we can not evict him as only an owner can evict someone. Our lawyer is still working on this. 
In most states the association can place a lien on your property and foreclose if you get too far behind in your fees. 
We just charge a $10.00 late fee if the fee is not paid by the 15th of the month. This usually works.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 1:28 PM by Bonnie


Moderator: delete this entire thread,, as it makes no sense! The original question makes no sense, nor do any of the answers. 
They all are crap.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 4:51 PM by john_mastro


Outrageous for any HOA to be able to hire lawyers over any amount as small as that (under 200.00) The HOA board are tyrants, using excuses to be mean. I see it all the time. These creeps are power hunger, have low self esteem, want to be somebody.....so they get on the board. They are always causing more problems among homeowners than bringing neighbors together. They get a "click" of homeowners and a "click of board members" and they slap each other on the back to lift up their self esteem. I do not believe in HOA's, I am in one for 25 years and hate it! Should have moved years ago and so sorry I did not. It is worse than a socialized government, it is bias run power hungry people with needs they can't seem to fulfill unless they work for nothing as a board member. Who works for nothing and walks around with a smile and a knife at the same time!! I smell sulfur when I get near the board meetings. Now the crazy ones have us in a major law suit which will cost us dearly! Can't sell our property without disclosure that our HOA is suing our sister HOA, which I pay into both, so I loose regardless of which one wins. These people are nuts. I would suggest people never buy any property EVER in any type HOA....sooner or later you will get your share of NUTS to deal with, so forgetaboutit! Buy a home you can REALLY OWN, the HOA owns your soul and will drive you nuts as well.

posted @ Friday, March 08, 2013 10:39 PM by Peggy J. D'Amato


Having been a board member a couple of times I must object to Peggy's bitter commentary. I do not know what drives her comments but I do know that all boards are not as she describes. Also, her frustration does not contribute anything to this thread. John is right, not that the whole thing is junk, but we need to stop commenting on this thread because we do not know enough about the situation to do so intelligently. Peggy, join the board!!!

posted @ Saturday, March 09, 2013 6:44 AM by RPB


It would be helpful if the original poster would come back , indentify themself and fill in the blanks here. There is a lot of data and information missing so it is puzzling why the moderator does not do some helpful editing.  
It sounds like the OP is in bankruptsy, and that HOA has assumed the mortgage on the unit , and has leased back the unit to the OP? And now they want the $194 dollars in fees owned before declaring bankruptsy? All the answers are not crap, because after rereading a bit it kind of makes sense but with a bunch of assumptions. This is a bit of a complicated situation and would need your lawyer to tell us the situation more clearly and concisely.

posted @ Saturday, March 09, 2013 11:36 AM by john_mastro@hotmail.com


Too many unanswered questions here: What state are you in? What chapter bankruptcy did you file? Did you include the HOA in the bankruptcy? Are the fees you owe after you filed bankruptcy?, if so then you would be responsible for them. The HOA can't evict you unless the unit completes foreclosure, the mortgage company buys it back and takes posession or it goes to sherrif's sale and a new owner buys it and you are given 30 days to vacate. You would be responsible for all fees until the sale date.  
 
Who are the leases with? Do you own the unit or are you renting? Is the unit owner occupied? 
 
Get a current statement with all fees owed. If you are going thru a modification with your mortgage company call them and ask them to pay your HOA fees current and then tack it onto your mortgage. Many owners don't know that your mortgage company will do that.  
 
Why are you going thru a MOD process for the 16th time? Something is not right because there are too many programs to get you modified. Do you live in a "Hardest Hit Funds" state?

posted @ Wednesday, March 20, 2013 5:53 AM by Kathy


This does not make sense to me. $194.00 and 2 years passed. Are you kidding me? We have a tenant that owes us $8,000.00 and we are at our wits end to get this money. We have taken various legal steps all except force ing her out and she is still here. Why didn't you pay the 194.00. Before it got to this point? Just not making sense to m. Sorry......

posted @ Wednesday, March 20, 2013 7:34 PM by S


I am the person that wrote the question about owing $194 to the HOA and was evicted over 2 years ago. 
I apologize for the delay but I lost this space temporarily and I have been so busy trying to find an attorney. 
This is how it went down: 
Post bankruptcy we owed 1 mo assess. 
When we spoke to the HOA Mgmt or their Attorney they would inform us that we still owed the $1200 pre bankruptcy plus legal fees. $4000 were discharged in Chapt 7. 
HOA's attorney continued with this lie up to court dates. 
I could never get accurate amount of what we owed and why. 
The attorney fees were piling up as I waited to next court date. HOA's attorney pushed for continuances to rack up their fees.  
The judge wouldn't hear what I had to say nor would he look at any evidence I presented. This court in Illinois was so unbalanced. He allowed the HOA attorney to speak for them and for me. The injustice was intolerable. All we could do was stand by and watch. 
 
We hadn’t even finished moving our things when they changed the locks prior to eviction notice. 
The Board waited for 6 months before getting a tenant. 
They leased our home to a tenant in Sept 2011. At this point we were still getting monthly statements at our new address. 
We recommenced our correspondence in February 2012 since our debt had been or was soon to be cured. No telling exactly when because when we became close to a credit balance they would begin adding additional repairs and maintenance. 
We received no response. 
In March of 2012 I began a series of facial cancer and reconstructive surgeries and was out of commission for a few months. 
My next letter was Feb 2012 no response. We knew from the statements the BOA had signed a second lease. I requested copies of leases and copies of R&M invoices plus all additional attorney fee invoices. 
We received no response. 
I did finally receive a nasty letter from their new attorney after numerous attempts to contact the management company when they stopped sending me statements in Nov 2012. 
I continue to be ignored by the HOA attorney, the HOA and the management company. 
We drive by often and as of last week someone was still occupying our home. 
I have now checked the box for getting emails for comments from this site. I will monitor daily. There is so much more to this story as I am holding back for legal reasons. Just know that this Association is bad to the bone and details will follow. 
My only hope is for justice to prevail. I am a believer in justice. 
 
 

posted @ Monday, June 17, 2013 12:15 PM by notsameasever


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