Homeowner fees ‘like extortion,’ homeowner says.
Two days before closing on a house, Eugene Vrooman got bad news: If he didn’t come up with $14,000, the homeowners association wouldn’t allow his deal to go through.
In addition to unpaid assessments, the Bridgewater Community Association demanded money for cosmetic repairs to the home, which had been vacant for more than a year. It wanted the exterior of the 4-year-old house cleaned and painted, weeds pulled and new sod.
"My wife and I were just devastated," Vrooman said. "We’ve been working on this deal for six months. We planned to clean up the home, but we want to do the work ourselves, not some homeowners association. This just feels like extortion."