Foreclosures/Florida

Our HOA in Florida has 101 townhomes and we have a lien of $20,000+ on an owner who refused to repair the unit. Some of the siding was held together with tape..that's how bad it was. We tried mediation, legal, etc. She didn't even show up at several mediations saying "as long as I pay my mortgage they can't do anything". We even offered her a second mortgage to cover the expenses we incurred. Every reasonable attempt to resolve the situation was met with a no. The owner went through 3 attorneys and was so difficult to deal with they "fired" her. So the HOA had the unit repaired at it's own expense along with all the attorney fees, etc. She is sitting there fat and sassy with her unit repaired thinking we did her a favor. This is so unfair to the other 100 responsible owners.

My question is what are our options? If we foreclose will the HOA have to make her mortgage payments until the unit is sold? Will the HOA have to sell the unit or will the lender do this? Can we notify the lender without being liable? Would a "due and payable" clause in the mortgage be activated if we notify the lender without our being sued by the owner?

Needless to say our reserves are seriously depleted because of this and we would like to avoid more expenses.

I hope there is a Florida attorney out there who can offer advice. We don't object to an attorney charging us for advice but we are reluctant to dip into reserves again.The Board does not want to take action until we know all the facts.

"Blood out of a stone" is not the case. This owner has a small mortgage and if she has no other options can always refi or get a reverse mortgage. She has options other than her being kicked out of her home but would rather have all the owners pay for the upkeep of her property..it won't happen.

Susan,

Thanks for your input but I am asking for a FLORIDA attorney to answer the last three paragraphs of my post. We wouldn't need to wait until the property is sold if she decided to refi or whatever. Thanks for saying we need to keep the judgment current. We certainly will but do not intend to wait until the property is sold. We want to explore our options and I want to hear what they are.

Dwight,

I have to disagree. As a senior who recently did a reverse mortgage. The lender will simply pay off any outstanding mortgage, etc and then they will have clear title. There are so many mortgage companies begging seniors to get a reverse mortgage they would welcome her. Of course, their closing fees are outrageous but if she has no other options it beats being evicted.

Ellen, although some attorneys may monitor this site, they rarely respond. They really can't without knowing all of the facts. Why your association has gone through all of this without an attorney (I'm assuming this since you're asking for one) is beyond me. Adding the legal costs to her bill just might wake her up, especially if you begin foreclosure action.

Many attorneys will provide a free or low cost consultation that may help you come to a decision. Check with some other assocaitions in your area as to who they use and how satisfied they are.

Joe

We have had an attorney all the way..supposedly a good firm. The repairs were about $6,000 and the rest is the attorney fees. Now they tell us we can't foreclose even though we have a recorded final judgment since the property is homestead. So, yes, we will be looking for another law firm for advice. We can't continue pouring money into this but perhaps the lender would call their loan if they find out about this. Only, perhaps.

Ellen -
I don't think we are really disagreeing. She will be able to apply for a loan, and may even get approved. But if the title company is doing their job, then most likely escrow will not close until the lien is paid off. That may mean that the lien gets paid as part of the closing process, but you still get paid.

However, I do want to emphasize the "most likely" part. There are situations where titles will transfer even if there is a lien against the property. We currently have that situation in our neighborhood. The previous owner refused to pay any assessments. After three years and our going through the entire process of trying to collect, there is currently a $3000 lien against the property (as well as a warrant out for the owners arrest for contempt of court, but that's another story). Earlier this year we discovered that instead of letting the bank foreclose on him, he transferred the title to somebody else who apparently got his own loan to pay off the original mortgage. Since the transfer took place without involving a title company, our lien didn't show up and there is now a new owner of this property.

However this is good news for us. If the bank foreclosure had gone through, then we probably would have been out of everything. But since the title transferred without a title search, our lien is still in effect and we still demand payment from the new owner. He took on the responsibility of that debt when he accepted the title to the property without the search.

As long as your problem owner doesn't go through foreclosure, you still have an opportunity to collect. If she sells the property or refinances, you should be able to get paid as part of the escrow process.