Squatters?

My THA has many issues (see other posts), but one issue is with "squatters." Allow me to explain.

I had an owner, let's call her Mrs. Smith. She bought her townhome outright a few years ago with inheritance money. Mrs. Smith always paid her THA dues monthly, so there were no problems. Mrs. Smith started to get dementia, and her family swooped in like vultures (yes, I do dislike them). Mrs. Smith is the owner on file with our county, but she lives in Virginia with her daughter who takes care of her. The family (like eight people!!!!) lives in her townhome now, and they haven't paid dues in a long time. Some outstanding dues from 2006 we've written off, but all of 2007 and most of 2008, and all of 2009 dues are outstanding.

So..."squatters" are in the townhome and no one is paying the dues. Mrs. Smith's daughter (taking care of her) states that I can go ahead and foreclose the lien over the back dues, because she just can't take care of it or battle her vulture-like family.

What are some options here. I've sent letters to both the unit (occupant) and to the owner (really the daughter).

My THA needs lots of legal assistance, so if this is one more legal advice issue, just let me know. Does anyone else have problems with "squatters?"

Thanks!

Ah, I forgot to mention... The vulture-family swooped in and (as far as I can tell) got the Mrs. Smith to sign for a new mortgage (her property was completely paid off!!!!!) during her less-than-lucid moments. Daughter in Virginia doesn't care if it hurts her mom's credit or she loses the house because Mrs. Smith will never come back to live in it. Her unit is mortgaged to the hilt now.

Large mortgage...I don't know how you define large... It's probably for the full value of her home (we're averaging around $100k for our townhomes).

Ok...no legal action against the detestable people.

Thanks, MaryA1!

T

Tracie:

So what do you plan to do???? Tolerate this situation and continue to write off the unpaid dues????

You're into the third year with no end in sight?

Good advice, why you would bother to contact the tenants is beyond me, they have no part in this.

Your only choice is to take action against the unit owner or whomever is now representing her now that she has gone "round the bend".

For me sitting there while this clan lives there dues free would not be an option.

If what you stated is correct then who is paying the mortgage?

If I were in this position I would begin foreclosure preceedings immediately
2 1/2 years is enough.

And finally what message is this sending to your unit owners who pay their dues and are forced to have tyhese types as neighbors while not carrying their share of the cost to operate your property.

Thanks all...

Ellen - Yes - the bottom feeding family got the cash from the mortgage. When I go online to check our county property records, all I get is the registered owner with an address. How do I find the mortgage company? I can find the "sale information", with the "grantor", but I don't see a mortgage company.

Jon - I guess I just kept hoping that her family living there would wake up and start behaving like reasonable members of society. They (the squatting family) have walked money orders over to me occasionally, so I thought they had an agreement within the family about dues obligation. And, since they had paid before, it would seem they are "assuming the obligation"?? Does that make sense? Plus, with the other issues our HOA is facing (complete and total legal NON compliance with any state statutes...), I wasn't sure if we were within our legal rights to foreclose the lien. You know? Since we're not following our own obligations (as a Townhome Association), how can we expect anyone else to?

Kirk - The above was also a partial answer to your question. I couldn't care less if these people don't like me (although they are my immediate neighbors... figures, right?) I just don't know if there's going to be legal backlash. Plus, the new banking laws that people say affect foreclosure proceedings...

Note to self - move the phone call to the lawyer up to numero uno on my to-do list.

I really appreciate it, all!!! Keep it coming!

T

Hi all,

Just my .02 cents.....maybe it is a REVERSE mortgage. No payments are due on a reverse mortgage until the "owner" passes away.

Barb

Mary,
You are right....about the owner must be living in the house.
I believe that TracieS stated that

"The vulture-family swooped in and (as far as I can tell) got the Mrs. Smith to sign for a new mortgage (her property was completely paid off!!!!!) during her less-than-lucid moments"

So this mortgage (possibly reverse) could have been taken out while whe was still living in the house....and since she is still the owner of record and the property has not changed hands, the mortgage company has not been notified of her moving out!

Possibility?????

Barb

Tracie,

I have no idea. Maybe contact the daughter to see if she has the paperwork that her mother signed.

Steve,

Thanks!!! It works here in Delaware County PA! I looked up my own address/name and it had every mortgage, home equity loan, every mortgage payoff and it even had my notary oaths of office included! My county office is titled: "recorder of deeds".

Good luck, Tracie!!!

Barb

All,

By going to our county's assessor office, I found the legal information (registered owner, date of last sale, tax info), then I had the document numbers to go to our court's website for the deed information.

There's no company listed, just a husband and wife's name as the "grantor".

One more thing to hand off to a lawyer...

Thanks! I definitely found the information available, but it just wasn't what I was expecting.

Thanks!

There is one other owner in arrears - for a total of two owners. It's a big impact on our small, 19-unit budget.

Reserves? What reserves?? No, seriously, Colorado (so far) doesn't require associations to have reserves, so we've never had a reserve study done, and we have less than $25k in our savings (which functions kind of like our reserves).

I have submitted RFPs to a few local engineering firms who are specialists in reserve studies. About $2000...just to tell us how to save. Oh well, since our BOD and other owners are extremely complacent, I guess it's a small price to pay. Now, I just need them to approve this expenditure over $1000.

Dana- thanks for asking, and I bet you just sit there and shake your head. Well, I do, too! But, it's time to get this all straightened out, which is my summer project.

T

Tracie,

the two options that would be best to take are a foreclosure or foreclosure with a receivership. A receivership is where the court steps in and names a property manager to recive rents and pay the association out of those rents with or without the mortgage payment included until the association is paid off. I don't think the family status is relevant in this case since they do not have title to the property and are in effect renters to the mother, unless there is maybe a power of attorney. a law firm can help with this. but everyday this goes on, the other 18 owners are paying the bills for this single unit. At some point in these situations an association board has to decide that the cost to remove a non-payor through foreclosure is less expensive in the long run than continuing to provide subsidized housing forever.

Another thought..perhaps there is an agency in your area who investigates crimes against seniors who may even look into this pro bono.