I recently listed my Maryland condo for sale, received an acceptable offer from a well qualified buyer, agreed to that offer, ordered resale docs from the property management companies then learned that one of those same management companies informed the buyers that 58% of the owners in the condo association were in arrears. 76 of 132 owners were behind in their dues! Not sure if this is just condo dues since there is also an HOA, but why allow me pay for resale docs knowing they're in a situation where FHA or conventional lenders will not provide financing?
Are there any laws currently in place to protect against this? Can they refuse to refund that money? Do condo owners who have kept their dues current have any rights? Are there any controls in place to keep condo/hoa dues arrears from getting out of hand to the point that financing can no longer be obtained? If not, who's fault is that? It shouldn't be the fault of the up to date condo owner who has a qualified buyer with excellent credit, but can't sell because no lender will finance any property within the Association. Especially since they've paid all of their dues to maintain and secure their investment.
Can any action be taken against the Condo Association, HOA Association or Management Co? Aren't they responsible for for managing the property and protecting the condo owners investment? Isn't it the management company's responsibility to assure arrear percentages do not exceed those allowed by FHA and conventional lenders? Shouldn't aggressive action have been taken prior to letting arrears get out of hand? Are banks required to be notified when dues aren't paid? Are banks required to be kept up to date with arrears percentages within condo associations? Shouldn't they get involved before percentages get out of hand? I would hope so, if no conventional lender will finance them over 10% and FHA won't over 15%. If they foreclose, how could the bank sell them, if allowed to get to this point? Who would buy them, if no lender would finance within that development? Do lenders even care since they're usually bailed out?
What about the condo owners? If 58% of the dues are not being paid, how is the budget of the condo association being funded? What bills aren't being paid? Insurance? Taxes? Are monies being taken from other budget areas (Rob Peter to pay Paul) such as future maintenance, improvements, etc?
If the federal government bails out banks in dire straights due to foreclosure and there is assistance offered to owners of many homes threatened with foreclosure, is there any assistance offered to Condo Associations that are experiencing high volumes of foreclosures, short sales and unpaid dues? If they can't be financed to be sold, wouldn't the banks eventually suffer? If the entire development fails, won't the government lose the tax income for all 132 units? Not to mention, the tax income from any other developments allowed to come into this same situation.
If necessary...Put liens on future tax refunds of those with outstanding balances to pay those balances, reduce arrears percentages to acceptable levels and allow those currently on the market to be sold! I know I'd probably be penalized for discontinuing my mortgage and association payments, but why pay dues or a mortgage for a property in a development where there is no value since no lender will allow any financing? Am I supposed to just keep dumping money into it until it fails or is there a way to restore order and obtainable financing now and in the future?
