Financial Squeeze On HOAs, Condos Continues As Unit Owners Fail To Pay Maintenance Fees While Lenders Drag Feet On Foreclosures

In West Palm Beach, Florida, WPEC-TV Channel 12 reports:

• Foreclosures do not only affect the folks who lose their homes, but more and more, neighbors are also taking the brunt of a home lost on their block. They're having to pay extra in association fees. And in most cases, they have very few, if any options. For the folks living in the Shakerwood community, in Wellington, higher HOA fees have skyrocketed in recent months. Residents there are having to pay $230 more, and there are multiple reason for the fee hike. The neighborhood consisting of 92 homes, has 25 to 30 of those homes empty. That means less people to pay association fees.

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• Contractually, a bank does not have to pay association fees once foreclosure proceedings have been filed. But residents still have to pay. "When a bank is in foreclosure it's not paying assessments... It's not obligated to pay assessments... So therefore, it's in the banks best interest to drag out the foreclosure as long as possible," said David Karpinia, an attorney with the Becker & Poliakoff Law Firm.(1)

For more, see HOA Fees Skyrocketing (More foreclosures are forcing many homeowners to cough up more cash when paying for homeowners association fees).

See also, Reuters: U.S. property bust threatens condo "death spiral."

In a related post involving a condo association who went to court and successfully forced a foot-dragging mortgage lender to either proceed with a foreclosure on a unit or begin paying the maintenance fees thereon, see Miami Judge Orders Foot-Dragging Lender To Foreclose & Take Title To Condo Or Start Paying Maintenance Fees.