Foreclosure crisis fallout: HOA's owe cities money

Article and Video Courtesy of Channel 12

By Lauren Hills

Published May 27, 2015

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BOYNTON BEACH -- The Crossings in Boynton Beach is home to hundreds of people and like so many other places, the housing crisis hit hard.

   

City officials say in 2010, the development had many homes in foreclosure and those homeowners stopped paying their HOA dues.

 

"When you're in a community with foreclosures, even if you don't have issues with financing personally, other people do, and you have to pick up the dollars if they're not paying," said David Merker, Boynton Beach city commissioner.
  
Ultimately, the HOA racked up more than $125,000 in delinquent utility bills owed to the city.

  

"Most times when someone goes through foreclosure, they don't pay condo or HOA dues, this hurts all members of the community because someone has to make up the deficit," said Matt Halperin, President of the Realtors Association of The Palm Beaches.

He says it's often passed on to current residents as the HOA tries to pay off the balance.
The Crossings now has two years to pay the money it owes in utilities.

City Commissioners believe they'll make it happen.

"They went through a bad time during recession, it's not like they're running away," said Merker.

The city says the HOA already started paying off the bills.

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