The association is required to give notice to the homeowner prior to filing the lien by sending two copies of the notice, one by regular mail and one by certified mail, that includes the amount due and the deadline for payment. For HOAs this is 45 days and for condos this is 30 days. If you missed payments, the lien will include the assessments, interest, attorneys fees, and if the governing documents allow, late fees. Once you are turned over to an attorney for collections any payments are applied to all the fees first and assessments last.
After the lien is recorded the association must then go through the same process to foreclose before filing to foreclose on your home. Once you receive a summons, you have 20 days to file an answer and affirmative defenses or a motion to dismiss. The association will file a motion for summary judgment, which means there are no disputed facts and the association should get your home without a trial.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HANDLE THIS WITHOUT AN ATTORNEY. Your best option is to negotiate a payment plan or file Chapter 13 bankruptcy to put this in a 5-year payment plan. Chapter 7 will not save the home.
If you missed any payments, fighting over the amount with the association is useless in almost all instances because it will generate attorneys fees that you are liable for and must be paid to keep your home. The courts will award the attorneys 100% of their attorneys fees if you are at fault, even if it's a small amount and their numbers are wrong.
The courts are facing having their funding cut thanks to the foreclosure cases clogging up the dockets. In many cases good case law is being ignored to move the cases out of the courts and owners are being denied justice and due process because of budget concerns. This has changed the owners slim chance to virtually no chance, but that's my personal opinion.
CONDO & HOA LAW BLOG: The latest news on Florida laws regulating condominiums and homeowner associations.
Is it fair to apply payments first to other charges before principal payments? That seems to keep these other charges going and going.
ReplyDeleteWhile it's not fair, it's legal. The Florida Statutes provide for this and until our HOA friendly legislators decide to do something to protect our property rights, we're stuck with this unfair system.
ReplyDeleteEven the appellate courts have recognized the system is unfair and the payoff amount "becomes a moving target" with every attempt to communicate with the association attorneys to resolve the matter generating more fees. Ocean Two v Kliger.
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ReplyDeleteNice Post ! This blog is very interesting and informatics .I Appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteForeclosure Compensation
My HOA's governing documents are silent on the Association's authority to file liens and foreclosures on homeowners but they have authorized their agent, a lawyer, to file liens n anticipation of foreclosure. What is the hired attorney's obligation to a client (HOA) who hires it to perform services that the association does not have the authority to execute?
ReplyDeleteGood Information for us keep doing more also this is great post I like it if anybody needs more just visit here thank you all Foreclosure
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