OUTRAGEOUS LATE CHARGES INCREASE NUMBER OF FORECLOSURES |
An
Opinion By Jan Bergemann Published January 29, 2011
For the sake of our legislators, I can only hope that they intended to protect owners against unreasonable charges, giving them a last chance to save their homes before losing it to unreasonable fees, when they created these provisions: FS 720.3085 (Homeowners' Associations) and FS 718.116 (Condominiums). CCFJ warned about the wording, pointing out the many loopholes the proposed wording left, making these provisions instead a legalization of outrageous costs, causing owners already fighting with serious financial problems to finally give up. But what do we, the lowly citizens, know if it comes to the income of attorneys and managers?
The
wording in FS 720.3085 and FS
718.116 actually allows managers and attorneys to charge
outrageous fees. Admittedly, these service providers are very inventive when it comes to find ways of adding more charges to their bills. I have seen very inventive charges (but for owners very costly charges) added to bills by management companies and attorneys.
We all know that a lot of owners are squeezing pennies to make ends meet. Many families have considered letting their homes go because of "underwater" mortgages. If families are trying to play catch-up, trying to pay unpaid dues, such LETTER FROM AN ATTORNEY [45-Day Warning Letter] will surely kill their best intentions. Unpaid annual dues in the amount of $204.75 turned into more than double the amount, already for the letter supposed to tell them that "a lien and a subsequent foreclosure may be authorized by the association and commenced unless the following amounts are paid in full within forty-five (45) days from the date of this letter."
If
you look at these charges, please understand: These extra charges benefit
the service providers, not the associations and/or the other owners. And
remember: If the owners in arrears don't pay these charges and let the
property go to foreclosure, these service providers still get the money --
paid for by the associations. These associations get more or less nothing
if the bank takes the property at foreclosure sale. The statutes don't
require banks and mortgage lenders to pay legal fees or other cost of
collection, only "the lesser of 12 months of unpaid
regular assessments immediately preceding the acquisition of title or one
percent of the original mortgage debt." In reality that means
that the associations, meaning the owners who are still paying dues, are
stuck with the cost.
And in case that letter didn't completely scare the owners that are in arrears with payments and they are asking for a payment plan, then the amount due suddenly triples -- see: Response to Request to Pay in Installments. A $200.00 payment plan processing fee is added, about the same amount as originally owed.
Latest then some folks will say: "Thank you, but no thank you!"
Was that the idea when adding these provisions to the community association statutes -- making service providers get rich and more owners losing their homes?
It really doesn't help if families in financial distress are burdened with demands to pay amounts adding up to the double and triple what was actually owed -- just with the first serious reminder. All it does is make more families give up their homes. Shouldn't it be our goal to keep as many families in their homes as possible?
If we want to save the homes of quite a few families, we need to add language to these provisions, demanding that the warning letter is sent by certified mail to the owners -- without outrageous fees being added in the first place. This letter should contain the FINAL WARNING: If you don't pay -- or arrange for a payment plan -- your account will be turned over to the association attorney for collection, which could easily double or triple the amount actually owed! HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS (FS 720.3085)
CONDOMINIUMS (FS 718.116)
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