Another Bridgewater horror story...Home owner fees like "extortion" (sale, HOA fees) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

Occifer · 09-10-2010, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christinalsbrown

They had not placed a lien which is the only legal way they can collect funds for violations.

An HOA can't place a lien for assessments like this, only unpaid dues and assessments that are shared by all the other owners as well. These are basically violation fines, which they can't do anything about except send a collection agency after the owner. I wasn't even aware that an HOA could block the sale of a property for something like this.

bentlebee · 09-10-2010, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Occifer

An HOA can't place a lien for assessments like this, only unpaid dues and assessments that are shared by all the other owners as well. These are basically violation fines, which they can't do anything about except send a collection agency after the owner. I wasn't even aware that an HOA could block the sale of a property for something like this.

If the can or can't do this...the mess is so big that buyers walk away and others will not go there...

That is why I feel for the Home Owners who bought hoping to live in a nice neighborhood and got life in hell...

conniekaufman · 03-13-2011, 01:02 PM

Wow. I was considering buying a house in Bridgewater. Maybe I should back away now.

I am a Realtor in Virginia looking to move to Florida. What I see wrong here is that the Association did not disclose these fees upfront when the HOA docs were requested. Hm... maybe we do it differently in Virginia. The best solution would be for the HOA to pass rulings that a new owner must live in the property 2 years before renting. That would ward off investors looking to rent the property and bring the values down.

mary54mi · 03-13-2011, 01:16 PM

Man, one would think the HOA would be happy to have a responsible homeowner in their community!
We looked in WChapell but left, too many fees and such for our little budget. Nice area though. There are so many vacant homes that need TLC to bring area back up. HOA needs to be thankful for you, not demanding IMHO.

BucFan · 03-13-2011, 01:56 PM

HOA fees are collected to pay bills. There's a purpose for collecting them and a reason why HOAs don't give up on collecting them.

Sunscape · 03-13-2011, 04:05 PM

This just sounds so wrong! The HOA can't place liens on future accessments. It's a shame none of the ppl involved are going to/willing to sue.
Guess Bridgewater won't be selling any houses with this HOA.

bentlebee · 03-13-2011, 04:48 PM

There are 40 homes for sale over there and many under contract...maybe the HOA has changed since this topic came up a while ago...

xbillyx · 03-13-2011, 07:21 PM

Just one more reason I'll be avoiding HOAs like the plague.

MortonR · 03-13-2011, 07:36 PM

I am confused....

I have lived in an area where there is an HOA, and as a result I understand how they are structured and can assess fees/liens.

That being said, I don't see how they could go back and more or less "after the fact" demand the payment of fees or enforce work to be done at the last minute.

I can understand that they could fine the current owner (bank?) and impose liens for things, but to come up and do this nearly at the time of sale as if it was an afterthought seems to be somewhat questionable from a legal standpoint.

I would be interested to hear what any of our real estate or legal members might have to say about this.

The implications are such that an HOA could show up at the table at the last minute and demand monies, essentially holding the buyer for ransom, in a sense.

RMorton

bentlebee · 03-14-2011, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MortonR

I am confused....

I have lived in an area where there is an HOA, and as a result I understand how they are structured and can assess fees/liens.

That being said, I don't see how they could go back and more or less "after the fact" demand the payment of fees or enforce work to be done at the last minute.

I can understand that they could fine the current owner (bank?) and impose liens for things, but to come up and do this nearly at the time of sale as if it was an afterthought seems to be somewhat questionable from a legal standpoint.

I would be interested to hear what any of our real estate or legal members might have to say about this.

The implications are such that an HOA could show up at the table at the last minute and demand monies, essentially holding the buyer for ransom, in a sense.

RMorton

It is actually holding the seller hostage...the buyers have walked away and the sellers were stuck.