Buyer Beware
If you plan to buy a home in a neighborhood with a manadatory Homeowners Association you might want to reconsider after reading this story from NPR.
Real Estate Agents often tout the benefits of living in such neighborhoods, but rarely do they tellyou that you are also placing yourself at risk of loosing your home. In addition to telling you what color you can paint your home, they can also foreclose on your home if you fail to pay your dues.
In these trying economic times there has been a spike in foreclosures by Homeowner Associations.
Capt. Mike Clauer was serving in Iraq last year as company commander of an Army National Guard unit assigned to escort convoys. It was exceedingly dangerous work — explosive devices buried in the road were a constant threat to the lives of Clauer and his men.
He was halfway through his deployment when he got a bolt from the blue — a frantic phone call from his wife, May, back in Texas. “She was bawling on the phone and was telling me that the HOA [homeowners association] had foreclosed on our house, and it was sold,” he says. “And I couldn’t believe that could even happen.”
More via Not So Neighborly Associations Foreclosing On Homes : NPR.
One Response to “Buyer Beware”
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I have heard a different take on this story from the the guy on 660 radio – in Dallas… The Wife did not open the mail for severl months, the forcloser thing started before he was deployed and the house itself was a GIFT from family members-and all they had to do was pay the monthly dues.. I am sorry but those bills need to be paid. I am a veteran’s wife we pay our mortgage and our hoa dues and a multitude of high local bills and we always have. When we lived in California our monthly HOA dues were over $200 per month…
Also my husband told me the military was paying this family TAX FREE money for their living expenses and food… Sorry I am not sorry for this situation. They need to get a grip.
I am getting a little tired of the victom mentality… if indeed there are hardship cases then those should be know to everyone…but I am sorry people in the military and veterans have to pay bills too.
You need to research your articles.