Shane Mummery and dozens of his neighbors are on the verge of losing their homes – and they face hefty losses on their investments.
They haven’t missed mortgage payments, and they don’t want to sell. But none of that matters.
Mummery and his neighbors own units in a New Tampa complex that failed as an apartment-to-condominium conversion. The 396 units in Portofino were put on the market as condos in 2006, but the developer sold just 31 of them. Last July, an apartment management company bought the rest of the units. Now, that company wants to terminate the condominium, buy out the individual unit owners – at today’s lower market rate – and convert the whole complex back to apartments.
And, apparently, the condo owners may have little say. A revised Florida statute and provisions in the original condominium declaration make it easier for the developer to force owners out.