if a lien is filed

Carol,
I am not too happy reading your post. Owners are required to pay dues in order to have a safe and functioning place to live. There should not be expectations of a free ride, therefore dues are a part of the perks of living in a condo. Roofs, streets, grass cutting and I could go on and on, are amenities that all of the owners are entitled to. But that means that your fair share needs to be paid.

Some attorneys are going after small claims court, which will require a financial remedy alot sooner than waiting for a lein to be collected. And if like you asked, what if a lot of owners do not pay, then the association will have to be creative and use other means of supporting the property. That might mean a special assessment and at it's worse, loss of maintenances and the value of the property goes to he-l. Do you like the sound of loosing the value of your property? This is a no win for everyone.

at my moms condo there are several homeowners behind on assoc dues some as much as 10,000.00 - 4,000.00 - 2,000.00
at what point can the lien become a foreclosure. Who forecloses. what if they have been paying their mortagage payments and all other bills. The amount of dues are not even close to the value of the property.

Carol:

It doesn't matter if the dues are not even close to the value of the property. Laws vary from state to state, but foreclosure is a real issue and can happen in a lot of places. The HOA would foreclose against you if that is what they chose to do and can do. What a lien does is prevents you from selling the property until you pay it in full...either way the money will have to get paid.

Other things that can happen to you...well your voting rights should be suspended, use of any common area should be suspended as well. They HOA can send you to a collection agent which would show up on your credit report. They could also take you to court to get a judgement, I am not sure how judgements work but there are legal means to collect on those.

Bottom line, if you refuse to pay your credit can get damaged, you can get sued, and you can lose your home...is it worth it, not to me but I am not in that situation.

Owners falling behind on assessments has become a significant problem for associations everywhere. When an owner stops paying their assessment, the other owners feel it by having to cover that shortfall through increased assessments, or by cutting back on expenditures. No association likes to take legal action against a neighbor in financial trouble, but the boards need to understand that their responsibility is to the association and all of the owners and so, certain steps need to be taken. First is the lien, to protect against the home being sold without the back assessments being brought current. Second, in those states that allow the association a "super lien" (very few states, a super lien usually requires the party who forecloses to pay so many months of the back assessments - often just 6 months), you may want to look at foreclosure within that time frame, so time may be of the essence. Third, the longer you delay foreclosure, the more likely the possibility that the association may not re-coup its back assessments or costs.

Some states allow non-judicial foreclosure, which means it doesn't have to go through the courts, however, foreclosure is such a tricky business, especially today, that this is not highly recommended. Let the attorney handle it.

If there is a reasonable way to work with the owner of the delinquent property to recover the back sums, then by all means pursue it. The real estate market being what it is today, the foreclosed unit/home may remain vacant for an extended period, and you'll find yourself fighting with the foreclosing party over assessments all over again. However, any re-payment plan that you work out with the owner should be in writing, and held to closely. If the owner doesn't hold up their end of the arrangement, then continue with the legal action.

I would think that board members, who fail to protect the association's assets, and, as a result, place a heavy burden on the other owners, could be held accountable. Ask your attorney if they believe this might constitute a "breach of fiduciary responsibility"?

Joe

Any lien holder (in this case the assoc. and it's attorney) can foreclose on that lien after it has been filed. State laws vary on how much time you have to foreclose after a lien is filed. Sometimes only 90 days.

If the property is actually foreclosed it is sold at a sheriff's auction. The proceeds go first to the mortgage holders and tax authorities. Usually the hoa is around third on the priority pay list. And they would get their money out of the equity or profit from the sale. The draw back being that there may not be any equity and the hoa may come out with nothing. Some states still alow a personal suit to be filed to collect the balance of money owed after the property is sold.

Many hoas use the threat of foreclosure as a collection tool. If the owner is solvent then you have a good chance to get your money. If they have other people chasing them and are mortgaged to the eyeballs then you're probably going to lose out. The positive outcome may be that the new owner is a paying customer. Even if the unit stays empty, its better to have no income from it than to be wasting money trying to get paid.

Peter,

Not knowing about time share units, but I would think that the building provider(usually a huge corporation), would just sell the abandoned units to another person. They hardly are having difficulty filling them up. It seems easier for owners to just walk away that to wait in line for a buyer and continue paying fees, which have more than likely increased since they first bought into a time share situation.