New Law Allows Fla. HOAs To Begin Muscle-Flexing Against Non-Paying Unit Owners; Cable TV Shutoff Among 'Extreme' Collection Measures Used

The Palm Beach Post reports:

• Throughout South Florida, where homeowner associations reign over the fading fortunes of gated communities and condominiums, governing boards are using more aggressive - some say guerrilla - tactics to collect late fees.

• Emboldened by a new law that allows boards to ban non-paying homeowners from community common areas, associations also are restricting residents' access to their homes by disabling devices that allow automatic entry into neighborhoods.

• As foreclosures swelled with the real estate collapse, associations begged lawmakers last year for more muscle to recover delinquent home­owner dues, which typically go hand-in-hand with missed mortgage payments.

• They complain banks are slow to foreclose on properties with bulging association fees because they must pay the bills after repossession. The result: homes wallowing in years of association debt.

• The argument behind the law is that the owners who are not paying for the maintenance of facilities, such as pools, clubhouses and tennis courts, should not get to use them. But a wider interpretation is also forcing some debtors to wait in the visitors' line at entrance gates. In condominiums where [electronic] key fobs are used to gain entrance, homeowners with association debt sneak in behind other residents or head to the security desk for permission to enter.

• Residents say blocking access to their homes is just bullying, and in conflict with other language in the law. Attorneys who represent associations say it's one of the most effective ways to collect late fees - along with turning off cable TV.

• "We are beyond the days when you tar and feather people, and I don't think we can put a scarlet letter on someone," said attorney Gary Poliakoff, whose Fort Lauderdale-based firm represents associations. "These are some harsh measures, but they are causing the owner to reflect on the fact that they are forcing others to pick up the burden of maintaining the community."

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• The Community Advocacy Network, which supported last year's legislation on the common-use-area restrictions, is going back to lawmakers this year asking for clarifications in the law. One request is for stronger language allowing the suspension of cable TV. "You would be surprised how compelling it is when HBO and Showtime may be turned off," [attorney Donna] Berger said. "They seem to find the money then."

For more, see HOAs fight back against homeowner behind on fees (A new law allows homeowners associations to keep people who don’t pay their share out of the pool and other common areas).