Article Courtesy of
GPB News By
Wade Goodwyn
Published July 8, 2010
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Capt.
Mike Clauer was serving in Iraq last year as company commander of an Army
National Guard unit assigned to escort convoys. It was exceedingly dangerous
work -- explosive devices buried in the road were a constant threat to the
lives of Clauer and his men.
He was halfway through his deployment when he got a bolt from the blue -- a
frantic phone call from his wife, May, back in Texas.
"She was bawling on the phone and was telling me that the HOA [homeowners
association] had foreclosed on our house, and it was sold," he says.
"And I couldn't believe that could even happen."
Clauer had a hard time understanding what his wife was saying. His s300,000
house was already completely paid for. Could it be possible that their home
was foreclosed on and sold because his wife had missed two payments of their
HOA dues?
In many states it is not difficult for an HOA to foreclose on a member's home
for past dues even if the amount owed is just a few hundred dollars.
"I was really in a hurry trying to get home before my family was living
on the streets," Clauer says.
Sold For A Steal
But by the time he got back to Texas, it was too late. The Clauers'
four-bedroom, 3,500-square-foot home had been sold on the courthouse steps for
just s3,500 -- enough to cover outstanding HOA dues and legal costs.
The new owner quickly sold it for s135,000 and netted a tidy profit.
"Basically it's everything to us," Clauer says. "Having a house
like this paid for was huge for us, for our retirement plans. We thought we
were so far ahead, and now it's like we're starting from the beginning."
Lawyers for the HOA say that while Clauer's case is regrettable, it was his
and his wife's fault for not paying their dues in a timely manner.
"The fact of the matter is, the laws of the state of Texas allow the
homeowners association to file assessment liens on properties who haven't paid
their assessments, and they also allow foreclosure on those liens," says
Patrick Whitaker, who represents the HOA. "And the homeowners association
followed the letter of the law."
Beg For Mercy
And in 33 states, an HOA does not need to go before a judge to collect on the
liens.
It's called nonjudicial foreclosure, and in practice it means a house can be
sold on the courthouse steps with no judge or arbitrator involved. In Texas
the process period is a mere 27 days -- the shortest of any state.
David Kahne, a Houston lawyer who advises homeowners, says that in Texas, the
law is so weighted in favor of HOAs, he advises people that instead of hiring
him, they should call their association and beg for mercy.
"I suggest you call the association and cry," he says.
If a homeowner misses a couple of association dues payments, the s250 or s500
they owe often becomes s3,000 after the association's lawyers add their legal
fees, Kahne says.
It's not the HOA that has to pay the lawyer's bill but the delinquent
homeowner. If the homeowner wishes to contest and loses, the owner is on the
hook for legal fees that could run deep into the tens of thousands of dollars.
Kahne says that as the economy has gone under, HOA management companies and
lawyers have been making millions off homeowners through this foreclosure
process.
"We're having literally thousands of lawsuits filed over very small
amounts of money," Kahne says. "And those very small amounts of
money rapidly become large amounts of money when the association attorneys add
their bills."
Suddenly faced with a demand that they pay s3,000 immediately or lose their
home, many disbelieving homeowners don't know where to turn.
With the recession, foreclosure filings for delinquent HOA assessments in
Texas have increased from about 1 percent of all home foreclosures to more
than 10 percent currently, according to the industry.
'Won't You Be My Neighbor'
Over the past 20 years, HOAs have exploded across Texas. While there are 1,100
municipalities, there are now 30,000 HOAs. And these associations have far
more power to take away a citizen's home than any city or county in Texas.
The perception that the balance of power has swung too far toward HOAs has
begun to permeate the Texas Legislature. Reform legislation has passed the
Texas House of Representatives, but no bill has been able to make it through
the state Senate.
"Associations are a collection of neighbors," says Republican
state Sen. John Carona, who represents Dallas. "The goal has to be to
work well together -- have a harmonious community -- and to create a lifestyle
that people enjoy and want to be a part of."
In addition to representing Dallas, Carona owns the largest HOA management
company in the country -- Associa, which has more than 100 offices, 6,000
employees and 7,000 HOA clients in 30 states and Mexico.
Carona defends the rights of HOAs to foreclose for delinquent dues, even for
small amounts.
"If an association did not have a means, a forceful means, to collect
that money from any homeowner who, for whatever reason, couldn't pay, it
places an unfair burden on every other owner in that association," Carona
says. "And a burden, quite candidly, that those other members didn't
bargain for."
There have been complaints that some members of HOA boards have bought HOA-foreclosed
properties for a pittance, and then sold them for a hefty profit.
In Texas, there are no laws to prevent this. Carona says the best way to
address this apparent conflict of interest is not by passing new state laws
but by letting the HOAs handle it internally through modification of the
association's constitution.
"I think that an association can avoid that type of thing by adopting
conflict-of-interest rules," he says.
Closing Loopholes
Republican state Rep. Burt Solomons from North Texas has been trying in vain
to pass HOA reform legislation. He says during state legislative hearings
there was no shortage of outraged homeowners, but he acknowledges that the
HOAs, their property management companies and their lawyers fought back
effectively.
Solomons says HOA board members and advocates testify and say, "'We need
the power to access and fine and foreclose, and we need the money. And we look
for people in violation of the rules and restrictions that we put in
place.'"
"And they drive around in golf carts looking for them," Solomons
says.
In theory, HOAs are only supposed to foreclose for nonpayment of dues. But
Solomons says that through a loophole in Texas law, in practice, HOAs can
foreclose for nonpayment of HOA fines, too. Solomons watched with frustration
last year as his reform bill died in the Senate.
Legal Recourse
As for Clauer, he's gone from fighting in Iraq to fighting his HOA in Texas.
And if he weren't in the military, Clauer would have no legal recourse at this
point.
But in a spasm of gratitude in 2003, Congress passed the Servicemembers
Civil Relief Act, which was supposed to prevent nonjudicial foreclosures
against military personnel fighting oversees.
"Hopefully we're going to get the house back," Clauer says.
"That's what we're fighting for -- that the judge will understand that
this was illegal. That the HOA can't do what they've done."
If a federal court decides in favor of the Clauers, the foreclosure and
subsequent sales of their home would have to be unwound and the deed returned
to them. If they lose, the captain's nice, paid-for, suburban home would be
lost to his family forever. The case goes to court early next year.
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