Homeowners Assoc Collection While In Foreclosure?

[ryan]

I am approx 4 months behind in homeowners association dues on my townhouse. Just received a letter from local attorney representing assoc insisting on back payments and another $150 attorney fee tacked on.

Meanwhile my TH is now in foreclosure. I am about 5 months away from BK.
Any action recommended that I should take at this stage?

The letter indicated I could reply asking them to validate the debt, also.

[DeadManCrawling]

I would ask for validation, just to stretch things as much as possible.

They can try to put a lien on the house and so on, but really this doesn't matter to you. If they sue and obtain a judgment before you file, you may have to be alert for garnishment or seizure of accounts. Filing answers to their complaints in court will slow them down enough to get you 5 months, in most cases.

Once the BK is filed, though, you will have to start paying the HOA again, unless the foreclosure is complete and the house is deeded back to the lender or someone else. HOA fees after BK go to whoever is on the deed. So, hope that the foreclosure moves quickly.

We are still waiting for our foreclosure to proceed. Been a year since we paid anything, and our attorney says it could be a couple more years before it is done. We are paying the HOA during this period. I don't like it, but there isn't really any choice.

[GoingDown]

Something similar happened to us.

A deceased relative owned a home in a different state. After his death, no one had any interest in that home and so no one did anything with it. The grass became overgrown, litter and junk built up around the home as the foreclosure process dragged on for over a year! The homeowner's association hired someone to clean up the yard and sent the bill to the estate of the deceased relative. No one bothered to do anything about it, and the HOA sent the matter to a collection agency. They started calling about it and we all said FOAD to them.

They can't collect it from us. We never owned that home. We were never responsible for it.