HOAs: Man May Lose Home Over Refusal To Pay Dog-Walking Fine: "A Florida man who won't walk his dog on a leash now seems set to lose his $380,000 home, all because he refuses to pay a $1,000 'leash violation' fine to his Homeowners Association. And he's ready to kill over it.
Robert Wirth, Jr., now owes around $100,000 in legal fees following the seven-year epic battle with his HOA, which foreclosed on his home (actually owned by his wife) to collect the debt incurred after he was caught walking his black lab, Cole, without a leash in the deed-restricted subdivision."
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This is from Mystery Reader--and what a story.
5 comments:
Sounds like another possible Richard Glassel HOA inmate goes postal on his board scenario.
Wow, how can somebody be so stubborn and ignorant. It makes me wonder how people like this guy get to even have a home worth $380,000. Unbelievable.
Take care, Elli
Aargh, these Florida cases. I see that the comment thread for the article has the repeated refrain, "If you don't want to follow the rules, don't buy the house." Except that there are vanishingly few homes in FL that don't come burdened with an hoa. (Yeah, why didn't the guy buy that house next to the dodo and passenger pigeon preserve?)
And then there's the fact that these fines can no longer become a lien on the parcel anymore--see F.S. 720-305:
"(2) If the governing documents so provide, an association may suspend, for a reasonable period of time, the rights of a member or a member's tenants, guests, or invitees, or both, to use common areas and facilities and may levy reasonable fines, not to exceed $100 per violation, against any member or any tenant, guest, or invitee. A fine may be levied on the basis of each day of a continuing violation, with a single notice and opportunity for hearing, except that no such fine shall exceed $1,000 in the aggregate unless otherwise provided in the governing documents. A fine shall not become a lien against a parcel. In any action to recover a fine, the prevailing party is entitled to collect its reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the nonprevailing party as determined by the court."
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=Ch0720/ch0720.htm
I gather that this fine predates the 2004 restriction. But I don't understand how the "local real estate atty" can say with a straight face, "If they don't take steps to enforce deed restrictions . . . [t]hey lose the ability to enforce them." They have ALREADY lost this ability.
So why pursue the foreclosure? It isn't like the hoa needs to be reimbursed for anything, other than its own legal fees that it could have chosen to limit years ago by dropping the case when the law was changed.
Not to mention the fact that in this real estate market, they shouldn't be seeking to evict homeowners who are maintaining their property. Do they think that buyers will be lining up to purchase a home in an hoa that behaves this way?
Not to mention that I seriously doubt this hoa established a separate ARC to hear fine appeals, as has been required by law for more than the seven years that this case has been dragging on.
FS 720-305:
"(a) A fine or suspension may not be imposed without notice of at least 14 days to the person sought to be fined or suspended and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of at least three members appointed by the board who are not officers, directors, or employees of the association, or the spouse, parent, child, brother, or sister of an officer, director, or employee."
(same link as above)
I will say that I hate when people walk their dogs off-leash (these people never pick up after their dogs either, in my experience). But the hoa's misbehavior is worse.
(You can have your blog back now, Evan.)
iBeth,
In the not so distant past, many of these abusive boards and their associates, filed fabricated complaints against innocent and unsuspecting families, for money! They moved to foreclose based upon the fabricated legal fees, and/or, other fees, whether it was/is legal in a specific state, or not!
The misdeeds and injustices of far too many of these groups, is truly unthinkable.
I suggest you take a look at:
www.facesoflawsuitabuse.org
Every property owner who has been forced to endure this targeting, terrorizing and harassment should get in touch with this group. In addition, a rather bright young man has started a site to report and rate attorneys. What a good idea! The public, along with those who have actually had "dealings," with these less than decent, "officers of the courts." Of course, anyone can rate the good, too!
www.rateapartner.com
HOAs should not be allowed to fine (and then foreclose to collect that fine). There is NOTHING reasonable about fining someone $1,000 and sticking them with a bill for legal fees adding up to $100,000 because they didn't jump through hoops "obeying" every command and demand that comes down the pike from the neighbors on the board, and their attorneys.
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