SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Many local condos went into foreclosure when owners couldn't pay up in Seminole County. WFTV found one condo Homeowners' Association [HOA] in Seminole County that's now going to court to protect owners from paying the fees that bank foreclosures owe.
Wafaa Haqi is running out of neighbors.
"Are all these places around you empty?" WFTV reporter Eric Rasmussen asked.
"Yes, yes," Haqi replied.
Twenty percent of the condo units at Regency Park in Lake Mary are now in foreclosure.
The HOA's president, Amrit Gill, says it's a big reason his association isn't collecting enough money in dues, while banks take as long as two or three years to complete the foreclosure process.
"The banks are just dragging their feet. They're putting the association in a bind, the residents in a bind," Gill said.
With so many empty condos all around them, the owners who are still there worry they could have to pay more in fees to make up the difference. But the HOA thinks it's found a way to force the banks to pay their fair share when a home goes into foreclosure.
"Something needs to be done at this point because the banks are continuing to stall," Attorney Ben Solomon said.
Solomon's law firm is helping clients like Regency Park by using a new tactic he calls reverse foreclosure.
It's speeding up the foreclosure process in court and forcing banks to take title to their properties and start paying the dues they owe.
The same strategy has already worked in South Florida.
Owners in Regency Park say it's their best hope to avoid the threat of a special assessment, paying more for neighbors who are already long gone.
The attorney WFTV spoke with said his firm is handling 83 reverse foreclosure cases in Florida. He says it's targeting what he calls the most flagrant cases of banks stalling to avoid paying HOA dues.
WFTV
