When you buy a house that had previously entered foreclosure, isn't it the realtor's responsibility to provide information on delinquent HOA fees on the property? Shouldn't the bank or previous home owner have to pay Home Owner's Association fees for the duration that the property was in their possession?

I've always heard its important to ask incessant questions during a walk through, i.e. "does the roof leak, do any pipes leak, etc." Because if they say no, and were misrepresenting the property, free money to fix it!

When you're used to living in the inner city, you're ignorant to such issues. That's interesting though, Pope. I didn't know that. But how can you prove that someone verbally misrepresented the property without a witness?

I'm not an expert, but I would think any deliquent HOA fees would be paid at closing and deducted from whatever money the seller would receive.  I believe the HOA could put a lein on the property if the fees are very far behind.

 

When my husband and I bought our condo, the previous owner was a month or two behind on the condo fees.  That was deducted from the amount of money he was to receive and given to the condo association at closing.

I've always heard its important to ask incessant questions during a walk through, i.e. "does the roof leak, do any pipes leak, etc." Because if they say no, and were misrepresenting the property, free money to fix it!

 

Would that type of stuff have to be disclosed when put on the market? 

I'm not an expert, but I would think any deliquent HOA fees would be paid at closing and deducted from whatever money the seller would receive.  I believe the HOA could put a lein on the property if the fees are very far behind.

 

When my husband and I bought our condo, the previous owner was a month or two behind on the condo fees.  That was deducted from the amount of money he was to receive and given to the condo association at closing.

The bank was the previous owner, for about two years prior to closing. HOA fees were never brought into the equasion at the time so obviously they weren't paid. Hmm.

I'm sure HOA fees should at least be disclosed at the closing when you sign the HOA agreement.

 

No HOA agreement signed at the closing? Hello safety orange siding and a yard full of political signs year 'round!

Nope; no HOA agreement at closing.

Ready for some bad news (and bad writing)?

 

From the American Homeowners Resource Center:

http://www.ahrc.com/new/index.php/src/news/sub/article/action/ShowMedia/id/717

 

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THE GOLDEN FEARS OF HOA YEARS

 

Just when you were looking forward to enjoying those Golden years, you are nothing but beholden to thy HOA neighbor

 

July 21, 2003

 

By Ann Roth

Copyright Ann Roth

Orange County, California -

 

Ahhhh yes........You've finally paid your dues.

 

You have also paid for the diapers, the DMV, the diplomas, the degree and finally, the Deed. Thirty years of blood, sweat and tears commitment to pay off that mortgage and own your "Golden Castle" free and clear"!

 

Just when you think you are home free, you quickly realize home is NOT so free.

 

YOU LIVE IN A HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION!

 

What were you thinking? You read your Covenants, conditions and restrictions - a.k.a. your HOA "constitution"? Didn't you?

 

Sure you did. Your CCR's were 20 years old and but a mere 15 pages of legalese 101. Easy enough to read and comprehend even for the average "Joe Homeowner". [glow=yellow,2,300]But what you couldn't have possibly read are the 100 pages of HOA civil code that apply because you never got a copy.

 

The seller never told you about them. The realtor never told you about them. Because if they did - there likely would have been no sale and therefore no commission. And that is assuming they even knew they existed.

 

It matters not. There is no requirement in the law that they be disclosed to you anyway. Because these HOA civil codes are considered public law - you are required to know they exist by default. Never mind that those laws spell out in gory detail how your home can be foreclosed on by a handful of so called "elected" neighbors for not paying your dues.[/glow]

 

AND YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE DONE PAYING YOUR DUES?

 

Never. Not for as long as you live in a homeowners association. Those dues just keep going and going and going and going in perpetuity. They also go up. Ever increasing dues can quickly surpass your fixed income living expense limitations. Your timeless HOA indebtedness does not include unexpected special assessments and possible fines for violating your HOA "constitution".

 

If you can't afford to pay these dues and assessments - you pay big time. That is with your home.

 

Now you are - BEHOLDEN TO THY HOA NEIGHBOR.

 

Foreclosure by neighbor is fast becoming a lucrative housing sport for the HOA industry. What better than a paid off home with thousands upon thousands of dollars in equity to supply an unlimited source of nourishment for a litigious feeding frenzy with "Joe Homeowner" being served up as bait in the middle of the arena?

 

All of this can snowball out of control in just a matter of days with the noose tightening for that final foreclosure choke hold in as little as 90 days time. The HOA industry vendors with a vendetta will sink their claws into your carotid equity and bleed you to debt in no time.

 

All that hard work. Decades of blood, sweat, and tears shed to create shelter for your Golden years and to provide a legacy for your children and your Grand children, could be gone as quickly as the blip on the angiogram of HOA housing.

 

Used to be a time that the family farm was passed on for generations to come. Now, the "family farm" is just farmed out once it's coffers are plump and juicy.

 

The last thing you want to be doing in your Golden years is fighting HOA predators. You may well end up spending your last days on earth fending them off. That is if the stress doesn't kill you first.

Directly from a friend of mine who works for a real estate title insurance company and is familiar with closing procedures:

 

The previous owner has been foreclosed on, therefore, the dues they may have owed would not have been paid. The bank is only responsible for the dues from the sale date forward. Anything owed prior to that would have to be written off by the HOA unless they were a party to the foreclosure action (highly unlikely).  The agent MAY have knowledge of an HOA, but without information directly from the seller, at times, its impossible to determine if the property has an HOA or not. The subdivision deed restrictions that are filed in the recorders office  will indicate whether or not the developer has determined that an HOA will be formed. The next problem is tracking down the officers of the HOA to obtain the dues information,  as the officers may be elected  yearly; are normally homeowners in the subdivision; and the information is not on file anywhere!

I think if you want indisputable proof that Americans are lazy, stupid sons-of-bitches undeserving of the rights afforded them by the constitution, it's that HOAs are even permitted to exist.

In other words, since the bank was the previous owner, they are liable for the fees during the time they owned the property? The current fees after our closing are not an issue, it's the debt accumulated from the previous owner; the bank.

Based on some of the articles I've seen, HOAs themselves are a party to 18% of all foreclosures. With neighbors like that...

I think if you want indisputable proof that Americans are lazy, stupid sons-of-bitches undeserving of the rights afforded them by the constitution, it's that HOAs are even permitted to exist.

I agree. It's stupid. This neighborhood sucks. There are probably 5 different models in this subdivision, there is no walkable access to anything; probably 1/6th of the houses are for sale *coughforeclosurecough* because unqualified people somehow get loans pushed through so they can achieve this "American Dream". I just can't get over how ugly these houses are; even for new development. The houses are literally boxes with garages (a smaller box) attached to the side. I got lost walking the dog the other day because everything looks the same. I had no sense of direction. I didn't know where to go because there were no landmarks. Everything is winding and just..the same. Not even a matured tree to differenciate place. These homeowners have no idea what they should REALLY be doing to protect the vitality of their community.

 

I walked the dog past the neighborhood carnival the day before yesterday. It was basically everyone involved in the civic association and no one else. I knew that that's who they were because they were the ones putting on the carnival and they had a tent with chairs and table arranged like a corporate meeting room. It was the lamest thing I've ever seen. There is no community here, only people who are or aren't in charge of it.

 

 

No cursing, young man.