Unpaid fees put Florida condo owners in foreclosure
Sitting in her small condo in one of Tampa Bay’s biggest retirement communities as her hands tremble, a 75-year-old woman reads a letter threatening to put her out of her home. Like so many other Floridians, Ann Studen is facing foreclosure. But in her case, it has nothing to do with her mortgage. She’s four months behind on her $280 monthly maintenance fees, and her condo board has put a lien on her $70,000 unit.
It happens more often than you might think. While no one tracks foreclosures prompted by homeowner boards and associations, there are a rising number of people in Studen’s situation, according to civil court judges and condominium officials.
In a shaky economy, this is one more way that people are falling through the cracks.
“I have no place to go. Where could I go?” says Studen, her face contorting in anguish. She’s out of savings, low on cash and running out of time.