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Old 11-11-2014, 07:03 PM
 
5 posts, read 6,705 times
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Hello! Im on here asking this question for my best friend. She lives in Greensboro NC, and has recently became part owner of the condo. A little back information...the condo was originally her mothers, but the mom was sick of driving an hour and a half from charlotte to greensboro every time one of her tenants didnt pay rent, or tried to mess the condo up. So it was one less headache for her mom to sell the condo to her. So first of all, the mom sold it to my best friend. But there was one catch...since she didnt have any money, her father basically paid the mother for it, so now my best friend and her father are listed on the deed.

ok...so she has physically lived in the condo for a month and a half now. ( her dad lives in his own house) She has an HOA fee of $625 a month becuase her condo is a 2 bedroom.( the building comes with weight room, pool, bball court, gazebo, free wifi, free cable etc). She has yet to pay one HOA fee, and the letters have started coming saying that she has $1200 to pay immediatel due to assesments.

Here are her questions: Since she never signed any paper work with the people who own the condo building, or the property management, does she really have to pay that? (her mom her dad, and her just had some paperwork signed and notarized and then they sent it back to the attorney through the mail)
She never signed anything that stated she knew there were any fees.

question 2 is how long can it take for them to try to take you to court for non payment of a HOA fee in condo?

also, since its a condo, can they actually physically put you out, or can you stay forever and just keep running up a tab?

Please be kind, im asking this for a friend ( if it were me i would have paid lol) Thanks!
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Old 11-11-2014, 07:12 PM
 
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Yes, she has to pay.
Yes, they can foreclose on the property and evict your friend.
They will also take legal actions against any other owners of the property, so she might have to start explaining to mom and dad why they are being served with legal notices here pretty soon. How soon? Who knows, some of those condos are pretty aggressive about this stuff.
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Old 11-11-2014, 07:38 PM
 
4,787 posts, read 11,715,861 times
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When you buy a condo, it's not like renting an apartment. You don't sign any paperwork with the home owner association. This is not a lease.

No, she doesn't get to live there and run up the fees. They will foreclose. She and her father will also be responsible for the court fees, late charges, interest on the fees, etc. that it takes to get her out of there.

I would suggest you tell your friend and her father to get their financial act together, get up to date on those HOA fees, before their credit is ruined by a foreclosure.
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Old 11-11-2014, 07:45 PM
 
3,826 posts, read 5,777,335 times
Reputation: 2397
Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post
Here are her questions: Since she never signed any paper work with the people who own the condo building, or the property management, does she really have to pay that?

question 2 is how long can it take for them to try to take you to court for non payment of a HOA fee in condo?

also, since its a condo, can they actually physically put you out, or can you stay forever and just keep running up a tab?

Please be kind, im asking this for a friend ( if it were me i would have paid lol) Thanks!
Answer o question 1: Yes, she has to pay.

Answer to question 2: In the community we own in different state HOA moves fast, so after 90 days you are in troubles. So, it's really up to HOA and it might be within few months.

Answer to "also" qyestions: Yes, you can be kicked out physically from the condo, and HOA can forclose on this condo too.
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Old 11-11-2014, 07:54 PM
 
8,544 posts, read 12,311,430 times
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Yes, condo fees come with the territory. If the fees/dues aren't paid, the condo association can oftentimes foreclose on the property. There was a recent case of an 85-year old woman in a Detroit suburb who lost her condo of 28 years because she mistakenly did not pay a $342 condo repair fee. The condo associated filed a lien and foreclosed on the property, selling it to an investor. The investor filed to evict her from her home and she ended up trying to fight the eviction and trying to reverse the taking of her property.

Unfortunately, we may never know how her lawsuit might have turned out since she died before the case went to trial.

Woman, 85, on verge of losing home after unpaid bill - FOX 32 News Chicago
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Old 11-11-2014, 08:20 PM
 
Location: Georgia
4,578 posts, read 5,634,762 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post
ok...so she has physically lived in the condo for a month and a half now. ( her dad lives in his own house) She has an HOA fee of $625 a month becuase her condo is a 2 bedroom.( the building comes with weight room, pool, bball court, gazebo, free wifi, free cable etc). She has yet to pay one HOA fee, and the letters have started coming saying that she has $1200 to pay immediatel due to assesments.
"Free" wi-fi? "Free" cable? Uh, no. Those are all things that are being paid for out of that $625.00 a month. So they aren't free -- right now, she's just a giant moocher. $625 is a HUGE HOA fee, especially for a little town like Greensboro. I mean, good grief, for a two bedroom condo, that would be just short of a decent house payment in that area.

Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post
Here are her questions: Since she never signed any paper work with the people who own the condo building, or the property management, does she really have to pay that? (her mom her dad, and her just had some paperwork signed and notarized and then they sent it back to the attorney through the mail) She never signed anything that stated she knew there were any fees.
Oh, come on. She KNEW there were fees, unless she is a complete and total blithering nitwit. She's living there. Daddy bought her a place to live, and she can't even handle the freakin' HOA fee? No rent? No house payment? And she can't even be bothered to pay the HOA fee? I have to ask -- is your friend, in some way, challenged?

Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post
question 2 is how long can it take for them to try to take you to court for non payment of a HOA fee in condo?
In North Carolina, an HOA can file a lien for any amount over 30 days past due. After 90 days -- and including lien fees, legal fees, penalties, fines, etc. -- an HOA can foreclose. And in North Carolina, it's a non-judicial foreclosure -- which means it's simply a matter of paperwork, no "sale on the courthouse steps", etc.

When she gets notice of an overdue bill, by state law, she can request setting up a payment plan to pay the arrears, but there's no law as to how long the payment plan has to be.

Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post
also, since its a condo, can they actually physically put you out, or can you stay forever and just keep running up a tab?
Yes, they can actually throw you out. She is considered an owner, as her name is on the deed. When the HOA gets their foreclosure, out you go. The HOA is then considered the owner, and can evict. Throw your stuff to the curb, the whole nine yards.

Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post
Please be kind, im asking this for a friend ( if it were me i would have paid lol) Thanks!
Well, duh -- ANYONE else would have paid in full, because losing an investment of tens of thousands of dollars because of failure to pay an HOA fee is beyond careless. She KNOWS the money is due -- if she didn't before, she does now. She needs to get on the ball and get this straightened out.
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Old 11-11-2014, 08:48 PM
 
4,567 posts, read 10,614,264 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by njoylife82 View Post

also, since its a condo, can they actually physically put you out, or can you stay forever and just keep running up a tab?
After the condo is foreclosed on by the HOA, it will likely be sold. The new owner will evict her, and if she keeps ignoring it, its likely the sheriff will knock on her door one day and tell her she has 20 minutes to get as much stuff as she can and leave or go to jail.

So yes, if she doesn't pay, someday someone will finally physically remove her.
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Old 11-12-2014, 01:36 AM
 
5,048 posts, read 9,572,700 times
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Maybe she thought she was not buying a condo in a HOA. Maybe she and her mother thought the condo had only...what...condo fees of course since the outside it jointly care fore (did she at least pay that fee?) and that she wasn't going to use any amenities like pool, tennis, the roads are public, she gets a separate water bill or it's in the condo fee she pays so why pay a HOA fee.

There are some states that require an interview with a purchaser so the new owner will understand what they're getting into. Many places, a person can get out of the contract before closing if the owner has not presented them with the HOA disclosure packet. This is where you really needed a realtor or a...I was going to say lawyer. But you friend did have a lawyer, is that right?

Well, she can get into it with the lawyer as far as his not telling her whatever the law is in your area but she does owe the money, she can have a lien placed against the unit, and she could be fined exhorbitant amounts daily or weekly on top of that, and eventually the hoa could someohow foreclose on her.
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Old 11-12-2014, 04:14 AM
 
51,585 posts, read 25,589,248 times
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$625 for a 2-bedroom condo in Greensboro, NC? Yowza! Gazebo or no gazebo, that's pretty steep for Greensboro. You can buy a 3 bedroom home in a nice neighborhood near the University for not much more than a $100K.

It is quite likely that when she and her father signed the documents at closing, some of these documents were about how this was a condo and that fees and even future assessments would be part of the picture.

If she has not paid the dues in two months, it is quite likely that her next letter will be from an attorney. No only will she owe dues and late fees but now attorney fees as well since most HOA documents spell out that "all collection costs, including the cost of an attorney, will be the responsibility of the homeowner."

Believe you me, foreclosure notices will follow in short order.

Now if she wants to live rent free and doesn't want to live with her folks, she can talk them into buying her one of those $100K homes in her own name. Then she can stop making payments and let the banks work their way through the foreclosure process. This can often take several years.

But HOAs tend to be faster out of the block with such matters as her neighbors are now picking up he share of the cost of the WiFi, etc. She could find herself at the curb within a few months.
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Old 11-12-2014, 04:20 AM
 
51,585 posts, read 25,589,248 times
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P.S. HOA boards realize that the bank will eventually foreclose as they are primary on the deed.

But the smart boards will get busy and rent out the condo in the meantime. This will keep those dues flowing and keep the place occupied until the bank forecloses and sells.

Your friend is trying to run a scam that will likely unravel within the next few months.

What does her father say about this? Is he up for losing his investment in this outrageously expensive condo?
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