WatchSince the housing bubble burst in Florida five years ago, more than 400,000 borrowers have had their homes foreclosed on by their lenders. But for some, it's payback time.
Hundreds of homeowners and condo associations are foreclosing on banks that have failed to pay dues and other expenses on the properties they've repossessed.
When banks foreclose on a home they become responsible for paying fees to the homeowners association -- both any unpaid fees going back as far as 12 months and all expenses going forward.
In many cases, however, banks are failing to pay, leaving these associations short on cash, according to Miami-based attorney Ben Solomon.
So far, Solomon's firm has filed more than 1,100 liens against banks on behalf of homeowners and has pursued 131 foreclosures. In more than 90% of the cases, he said, the banks settle by paying the bills.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/12/26/real_estate/bank-foreclosure/index.html
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Boca Raton, FL
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About freaking time. The HOAs should also be assessing fees.
The banks can decide which is a greater loss: walking away from the property or paying the HOA fees and maintenance. Either way, it costs money to maintain empty houses and motivates banks to sell the properties at market price rather than hording them.
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Baltimore, MD
I would triple like this if I could!
My favoritie part:
In early November, Keys Gate Community Association in Homestead, Fla., brought a foreclosure on a property owned by mortgage servicer, NovaStar, which owed $22,890 in back dues and fees.
In mid-November, the association foreclosed on NovaStar and the home was sold at auction to a third party for $62,000, fully paying off the debts to the association.