I need help about lien

Started by GretchenS1 • 23 replies • 2206 views

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GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

My mortgate company told me they were escrowing my annual fees so i did not pay them. I found out today they never paid them and i didn't know know this. I have not received anything from anyone in over a year so I was under the impression they were paid up.

Now what do i do, i have a intent to foreclose served, i have no problem paying the dues, but now i get stuck with fees.

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

So sorry you had to have this happen. I can imagine what a shock it must be. But I'm curious if you ever received any notices of late or non-payment?

If not, who was getting them?

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 1,767

Posted:

As a mortgage banker for the largest mortgage company in the U.S., I have never seen a mortgage company impound for HOA dues/fees. It is typical though that an escrow company will collect approx 45 days of HOA dues and pay the HOA 1 month and the seller 15 days. Unfortunately, it is not unusual for an escrow company not to pay the dues to the HOA or Management Company mainly because their was no communication between the parties.

Are your HOA dues/fees monthly or annual. If annual and depending when escrow closes, then I would check with the escrow or your real estate agent to help you out. This should be easily worked out if the escrow company failed to pay someone monies they collected from you.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Gretchen,

On the surface, this appears to be a lack of communication on everyones part. Therefore, you need to correct the communication.

First and foremost, contact the board and indicate a willingness to pay. Dig up the documentation from your closing/bank that said they would pay the Association assessments out of escrow. Include a copy of this documentation with your contact with the Board and request that fines/fees be waived. They don't have to waive them but it can't hurt to ask.

Now contact your mortgage holder and request reimbursement from escrow for the back assessments you needed to pay and provide them with the amount and mailing address to send your annual assessments to. If you visit the lender in person (which you might need to to expedite the issue) get a written agreement on what will happen in the future.

In the future, it's your responsibility to inform the mortgage holder of any changes in the amount of assessments. You will also need to stay on top of any new mortgage company if the note is sold. Personally, I would recommend that you make arrangements with the lender to handle future assessment payments yourself so this issue isn't repeated.

Tim

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

That is why i am confused i only recieved a letter in January of 2009 saying we owed our dues. I forwarded this to our mortgate company and they said i had the funds in escrow.

Our mortgate company was bought out and the new mortgate company told me they don't pay homeowners fees out of escrow accounts. If they had not been paid shouldn't i have received something telling me i had to pay them in 30 days or else?

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

I just would like to know what legally i should have received from the homeowners to let me know they still were never paid?

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Gretchen,

This would depend on your Associations enforcement policy. Every Association has something a little bit different. It is possible that the notices went to the mortgage company (your agent for paying the assessments) who was in process of selling the note and never responded.

I believe that if you show the documentation to the Board, they will work with you on this.

Tim

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

I am trying to contact the board, my mortgage company was shut down by the goverment due to bad pratices, the only documentation they gave me was the new interest rate and my escrow balance. I have nothing showing they payment to be made to the homeowners. I was puzzeled the homeowners never sent me a letter telling me they were still unpaid.

I did get my coupons for this year and forwarded them to my mortgage company which is how i found out also they were not paying it.

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

They have an attorney who I have been trying to call? any suggestions.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

If phones are not being answered or messages returned, send a certified letter to the board with a copy to the lawyer. Try and deal with the Board over the lawyer as they are the only ones that can waive any interest/penalties.

Looking at the issue through the eyes of the Association, they just want to be paid. Since it did go to their legal department, you might need to pay those fees as well (depends on your Associations governing documents and the Boards mood).

If you send a letter, include a check for the entire assessment (or as much of it as you can). Explain that you did not receive any notices prior to the letter from the attorney, otherwise you would have addressed the issue immediately. I would recommend against getting into what notices should have been sent and when as this probably won't get much sympathy.

As for documentation that the first mortgage company would have paid the assessments, there should have been something in the closing documents you signed. If you can't find them, explain to the board that you were under the impression that assessments were paid from your escrow account and recently discovered that this is not the case.

Since it's late at night (east coast time) check back tomorrow and you will probably have additional advise from others.

Hope this helps,

Tim

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 1,767

Posted:

I am curious, which bank that you making your mortgage payment too was shut down?

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

You made me feel better already. I will type up something tonight to the Board. I am guessing this isn't the association just the Board of Homeowners who i know the president.

I am fine with paying any fees I just am upset that if they hired an attorney he never sent me any information, and i had to find out today by a Bankruptcy attorney sending me a letter asking me if i needed help.

Then i went on the clerk of the court and called my present mortgage company and found out they filed a claim that is now costing me 425.00 filing fee.

I pay all my bills on time, and got raked over the coals by our last mortgage company, then got bought out by Bank of America who has been great, but how hard is it to send a letter.
Its the attorney fees that i will not be able to pay, i don't want to lose my house that i pay for every month over 300.00

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

We had Countrywide, they were taken over by Bank of America and I received a certified letter from the state attorney telling me they were being investigated by the goverment and Bank of America told me today they are no longer in business.

RichardP13 (California)
Posts: 1,767

Posted:

I used to work Countrywide and then Bank of America after they purchased Countrywide.

There are two loan documents that can help you. One is the HUD-1 or Settlement Statement (This will have all the accounting that went into the transaction, who got paid when the loan closed), the other is the First Payment Letter, this document will show the monthly breakdown of your monthly payment (Principal and Interest, Property Taxes and Hazard Insurance. It would also show if they were impounding for HOA, which in all my years at either company was never done, (long story).

It would have been the responsibility of the escrow company to pay the HOA or the Property Management Company any monies collected from you at time escrow closed.

If I can help further, please contact me through my website, www.richardlperry.com or [email protected]. I still have contacts at Bank of America.

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

Thank you for that, we did a remodification so we only had to sign a note, i do everything electronically so i didn't even think to check my mortgage statement to see if they were paid.

it is my fault for not checking but i just am upset i wasn't given any notice. That would have corrected this and i would have been paid up.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Bummer, a terrible situation.

I'm betting the extra money you paid to your mortgage company was applied to the principal and not your escrow. I'm afraid your HOA will seek the back-payments for the HOA dues, attorney fees and any other hard costs associated with your case. I know you realize you made a mistake by not looking at your paperwork, but I doubt the HOA will let you off the hook for additional charges after they paid for an attorney.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SteveM9 on 04/29/2010 4:03 AM
Bummer, a terrible situation.

I doubt the HOA will let you off the hook for additional charges after they paid for an attorney.

But they might once they hear the situation. There is no harm in asking as the worst they will say no. At best they will waive all additional fees. I suspect that they might meet somewhere in between and offer a waiver of some fees and/or a payment option to pay off the fees (but not the assessments).

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

I am fine with paying any fees i just want any information on if most HOA's will let me pay as much upfront as i can, and make payments on what's left which would be any attorneey fees.

I understand it is my fault for not checking that these were paid, i didn't know anyone could foreclose on you without written notice first that you owed and give you chance to pay before the file a claim.

Just the claim file fee is 425.00 i would have been happy to pay if i knew. I can say i know for a fact i have not received 1 thing from the HOA or attorney in over a year and a half.

So why would they just put it in foreclosure without telling me i owe them first.

DwightT (Idaho)
Posts: 664

Posted:

I can't speak for your HOA, or even most HOAs. But in my HOA if a homeowner will communicate with us we will almost always waive any soft costs (such as late fees). As Steve mentioned we typically won't waive the hard costs that have already been paid (we have to recover our expenses), but we will always work with the homeowner to set up a payment plan.

In your situation, the HOA may have been trying to contact you through the address that they had on file (the old bank). They could have put out more of an effort to locate you, especially if you live in the property. If any notice that we send out gets returned, we will do a title search to make sure we still have the correct owner and address. If that doesn't get us any new info, our management company will do a 'door hanger' notification just to make sure we don't fall into this type of situation. Only after we have done everything we can to contact the homeowner and received no communication will we go to the more drastic steps (small claims court in our case).

GretchenS1 (Florida)
Posts: 10

Posted:

The really want my home, they filed a foreclosure intent, and as i said never heard a word from them since January of last year. That is why i am upset, they know where we live and can call or mail us at anytime.

Now i have to pay fees and fines, when i would have paid it a year ago.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Letter of Intent to foreclose should state how long you have to pay off the debt. You could take out a small home equity loan.

You'll need to talk to your BOD or a member of your BOD to see if there can be a payment program. I would say "call today" the clock is ticking.

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Gretchen, I seriously doubt if they really want your home.

Most HOAs have that option as a means of collecting a lien.

It's not the home they want, it's the money owed to them.

An HOA is generally not in the real estate business.

Again, I hear your frustration, and the apparent lack of communication, but it's not personal. Their communications may have gone to the mortgage company.

Who knows? I don't. But I would be wanting to find that out.

Keep us posted.

JeanneK3 (Maryland)
Posts: 562

Posted:

GretchenD:
There are scams out there where fees are misdirected and then foreclosures are issued. Don't rule out the possibility that you have been targeted. You need to file a complaint with the Florida Ombudsman and perhaps hire an attorney to make sure you are not being victimized.
Jeanne

DeeS1 (Michigan)
Posts: 223

Posted:

Has a lien actaully been filed against your property? Many HOA collection policy's require that an Intent to file Lien notice be given to a Homeowner 30 days prior to filing a lien. Our HOA is required to send them certified. You should be able to find out what your HOA's official collection policy is and, if it includes this step and they can not show that it was sent to anyone of record at all, they may be more likely to waive the attorney fees.

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