Homeowners Associations Screwing Homeowners Again
Blog Houston complains about homeowner association abuse. The Chronicle tells the sad tale
Pamela Bernhardt was close to completing renovations on a house she owned and hoped to sell. She had installed a new roof, new granite tops in the kitchen and new tiles in the bathroom.
Earlier this month, she arrived at the house on the 14200 block of Swallowfield in southwest Houston and found a small, yellow note stuck to the front door.
The handwritten note said that the house had been sold at a foreclosure sale seven months earlier. The local homeowners association had sold the house, valued at about $250,000, saying Bernhardt failed to pay a $420 assessment fee.
"It was so devastating," Bernhardt said. "I was just stunned."
Bernhardt's situation was another example of the excessive power of homeowners associations and the need to reform the use of foreclosure sales to collect fees, state leaders and activists said Wednesday.
.......
A lawyer for the Briarhills Homeowners Association, which foreclosed on the house, said sufficient protection is on the books for homeowners and that Bernhardt was given ample opportunities to pay the debt.
Bernhardt has filed suit, claiming she never received notices alerting her to the delinquent fees. She is asking for her house back.
"I was never sent any notices," the 52-year-old real estate agent said. "I would have paid the $420, before spending about $48,000 on renovations."
Terry Sears, a lawyer for Briarhills, said notices were sent to Bernhardt by certified mail and that after the sale she had 180 days to buy her home back.
"She could have bought her home back for the amount of the past due assessment," he said. "It's unfortunate she did not respond to any of the notices."
Had the dispute been mediated in court, Bernhardt would not have lost her home, said state Sen. Jon Lindsay. Some foreclosures can be enacted without going before a judge, Lindsay said.
"I want to see judicial foreclosures," said Lindsay, R-Houston. "A judge should be looking over the shoulder of this process."
Lindsay said he would address the concern during the current session. The deadline for introducing new bills has passed, but he could still amend a pre-existing proposal, Lindsay said.
Wasn't it last year that a homeowners association stole an 83 somthing year old womens house? Her house was sold for $1600 dollars, This is a $250 - $275K house, they waited for her to complete the renovations before deciding to take possession. Apparently Ms. Bernhardt didn't get the 420 Bills or notifications, because the homeowners association mailed them to the wrong address! There is a lot of guilt to be thrown around here. There is no outcry from the other residents of Briarhills the association is supposed to be accountable to them. Their reward for voting for the thieves is that their property values have taken a sudden dip. Who in their right mind would want to buy into this neighborhood. Its bad enough when the homeowner association busybodies are nosing around about uncut lawns and the wrong color trim, but in Briarhills in Southwest Houston they will steal your home. I hope they are proud.
posted by Liberty @ 8:14 PM
7 Comments:
Hi there. I would just like to say that Briarhills has TWO associations, a property owner's association (POA), and the HOA that sold the woman's house. Some houses are one, and some are the other. The POA is run by competant, responsive folks, and the HOA is run by a bunch of brain-dead theives. If you're going to bash Briarhills, bash the HOA, but leave the POA out of it! :)
www.briarhills.org
I wasn't aware that there are 2 organizations, but members of the POA should be very concerned also. This behavior of the HOA is surely going to affect POA propery values as well.
Hey,
Great Blog!!
I will bookmark your site for sure for updates on Foreclosure related issues..
Keepup the good work!!
HOA foreclosures are increasing. Please sign on this petition if you want to help stop this American tragedy at http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?homeback
visit http://www.missouricitychatter.blogspot.com for more on HOA/developer abuse and visit ahrc.com . . .
I'm being sued by Dilston House Association in Houston for their atty fees in an ongoing lawsuit I originally filed for the association's violation of the Texas Property Code regarding my parking place.
Anyone know Bruce Shimmel or Carl Dibarbeiris?
The description of what happened is almost identical to what happened to me last week in Dallas. I was renting a house. I came home and found a yellow sticky note advising that the house had been purchased. I contacted the sticky note owner, who repeated what the note said. I contacted my landlord, who said they knew nothing about it, and that I was probably in a bad situation. I went to the county courthouse, and verified that the property had been sold 6 months earlier to the day by the HOA for delinquent HOA dues of less than $500. I notified the landlord what I had found out, and they contacted the original out of state owners. The bottom line, I had no rights as a tenant, and had to spend a lot of money to move immediately, including a moving company, storage place and 80 plastic containers. I am now homeless, and the homeowner appears to have lost her house.
This is a nightmare that must be fixed.
I am a homeowner under Briarhills POA. Although they are not foreclosing on homes, the description "competant, responsive" is inaccurate. The previous posting must have been made by one of the POA board members trying to pat themselves on the back. A more apt description is "cliquish and self-serving". Ex. The POA president's construction firm got the contract to renovate the clubhouse. (Things that make you go, "Hmm?") I have seen them use 'chicken little' smear campaigns to keep out those outside their clique. Homeowners who have tried to get involved eventually just bow out in disgust.
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