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[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]My husband and[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]I have been dealing with a foreclosure situation, but also a negligent landlord. He apparently never paid his home owners association dues either. I was recently issued a letter from[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]the[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]HOA board stating that in[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]the CC&R’s its says[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]that[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]the board has the right to come after the tenants if the owner is negligent on paying the dues. We[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]received a bill for $11k. [/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]We never signed anything, we were never given the CC&Rs,[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]and[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]we were completely shocked. So we are basically[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]having to move[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]because of our landlord not paying his[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]mortgage and his HOA dues, but now we are being[/SIZE][/FONT][SIZE=3] [/SIZE][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]harassed to pay his debt to the HOA board. [/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2]Is this legal? Thank you so much for your assistance ~ [/SIZE][/FONT]
Hmmm...I don't have much experience with this and definitely think you should contact a lawyer, but here are a couple of questions....
First, in your lease, are you responsible for HOA dues?
Second, in your lease, does it have a clause that you are responsible to abide by the HOA's covenants and restrictions?
I think that second part may be key. If you signed that you are going to abide by them, even if you didn't receive them, and it's written in their that tenants can be responsible for the landlord's unpaid dues, then perhaps they have a case. But, $11,000 seems quite high, so I'm guessing he hasn't paid them for sometime. I would think that if this were even to fly, you would only be responsible for when you actually lived there.
Good luck to you. This is an awful situation and precisely why I don't recommend private rentals to my clients, only large apartment communities. I hear stories like this more and more frequently.
Kind of hard to read, with all the formatting showing up that way, but I get the point.
I've never heard of any such clause in CCR's. First, let me say that I can't imagine this being legal, as it is a "HOME OWNER's ASSOCIATION" and you are not a "HOME OWNER", but here are several things I would ask first.
Does your lease say you agree to comply with the CCR's? If so, you should have asked for a copy when you signed.
How long have you lived in the rental? 11k is a lot of HOA dues. Worst case, they can't possibly hold you responsible for dues that were due when you didn't live there.
I would call a local title company and ask them for a copy of the CCR's if you don't have a copy at this point. Read for yourself what they actually say.
If they really do say what your letter says, I would consult an attorney. Again, I can't imagine this being enforcable.
Thanks everyone for replying, sorry about the formatting, I have no idea why it came out that way.
The lease I signed doesn't have any section that discusses CC&Rs and our responsiblity to them.
The amount owed was definitely a few months longer than we've lived there, but they didn't break that down, they just added all the months he was delinquent and sent us the bill. It was crazy.
We did get a copy of the page in the CCR's that states this provision, but we never signed anything that would hold us accountable for such a payment if the land owner himself became negligent.
We do need to respond to them before we move this month, so we will have to consult an attorney for that, but thank you all for confirming what I felt was true, which is we aren't responsible for the owners debt.
If the CCR's say you are ultimately responsible for the bill if it goes unpaid by the homeowner, then the HOA should have some responsibility to send you a copy of each bill as it goes out. 11k sounds like its been going on for some time. If you have not received any prior bills so that you knew that debt was racking up, the HOA should have some liability there.
Not a chance in hell, you didn't sign anything. Ignore the letter and don't waste your money on an attourney unless they're dumb enough to refer you to a collections agency. Until then, don't waste another thought on it.
You probably can't even be evicted, although since all such law is local I'm not positive. Generally your landlord is the only one who can evict you, and in some jurisdictions the HOA would have to allow you to remain in the house for the duration of the lease even if they filed a lien and foreclosed, as long as you abided by the lease.
Your contract is between you and the landlord, and the landlord's agreement to pay dues is between him and the HOA, which has no right to bind a third party to something like that provision in their covenants. And no, abiding by the covenants does not mean paying the dues unless the lease requires you to. It means you don't leave your trash cans out overnight or cause the landlord to get in trouble with the HOA. These are probably mostly attorney's fees anyway, since most HOA dues are only 200, maybe 300 a year, if that. You don't have any duty to the HOA because you don't own the property. A lot of people on HOA boards are power-hungry doofuses who don't know the law. If they keep sending you collection notices, I'd inform them in writing that your lease is between you and the landlord, that it doesn't require you to pay the dues, and that they have no right to make you answer for the landlord's debt.
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