BANKS FORECLOSE - NOT PAYING CONDO FEES

Hi all,
With the number of forclosures rising, many banks are refusing to pay Condo Fees; please read the following alert:


Dave Israel
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CALL Alert for October 2, 2008—

Town Hall Meeting in Miami Beach; Resolution Regarding Proposed Legislation to Address Mortgagee Liability for Assessments

Dear David Israel of Greenbrier C Condominium Association, Inc.,

Jerry Libbin, a Miami Beach City Commissioner, will hold a town hall meeting on October 15, 2008 to discuss reforms needed to protect Florida's homeowners from banks that are not paying their fair share of assessments on foreclosed units. We encourage our members to send a representative from their board to this meeting.

WHEN: 6:30-8:00 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2008.

WHERE: Loews Miami Beach Hotel. 1601 Collins Ave., Miami Beach, Fla., 33139 (NOTE: Public parking is available in nearby city-owned garages).

CONTACTS: Jerry Libbin: 305-389-0710 Keith Donner: 305-804-7686

As you may recall, CALL conducted an online statewide Mortgage Foreclosure Survey from March 26 to April 8, 2008 which showed a direct correlation between rising mortgage foreclosures and corresponding decline in revenues from maintenance fees and other assessments in the state's condominium and homeowner (HOA) communities.

More than 60% of the nearly 500 survey respondents said that banks and mortgage lenders now holding title to the foreclosed units or homes are not meeting their legal obligation to pay regular fees or other assessments to the association.

Fully 66% of respondents said their association's Board of Directors intends to increase maintenance fees and/or pass special assessments to compensate for anticipated shortfall in revenues due to declining maintenance fee and assessment collections resulting from mortgage foreclosures.

We believe that these problems are even worse today. In order to deal with this crisis, we believe that legislation is necessary.

Section 718.116, Florida Statutes currently states that the liability of a first mortgagee who acquires title to a unit by foreclosure for unpaid assessments shall be the lesser of the unit’s unpaid common expenses and regular periodic assessments which accrued or came due during the six months immediately preceding the acquisition of title or one percent of the original mortgage debt.

This limit is commonly referred to as the “Statutory Cap”. There are similar statutory caps in the Cooperative Act and the Homeowners’ Association Act.

The Statutory Cap is having a negative impact on associations’ financial stability and it is being exacerbated by the excessively slow pace by which the foreclosure lawsuits filed by the first mortgagees are proceeding to judgment and foreclosure sale.

We believe that changes should be made to deal with the inequities present in the Statutory Cap by providing the foreclosing first mortgagee with no liability for delinquent assessments accrued during the six months immediately preceding acquisition of title, but will provide for joint and several liability for all other delinquent assessments for foreclosing first mortgagees.

This would protect banks that act quickly and increase the ultimate cost to those who do not.
Attached is a proposed Resolution that addresses this issue by asking the Florida Legislature to adopt needed reforms. We are asking that all of our member condominium association boards consider adopting this Resolution at its next board meeting and mailing it to the association’s respective State Senator, State Representative, and Governor Crist.

Very truly yours,

Yeline Goin and David Muller, Co-Executive Directors
Community Association Leadership Lobby (CALL)