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Posted on 09/15/2026 4:37:09 PM PDT by Libloather
An Arizona man lost the home he bought for nearly half a million dollars after falling just $977 behind on homeowners association fees — with the property ultimately selling back to the HOA for a mere $8,172.
Toby Newton purchased the four-bedroom Mesa home for $475,000 in 2022, but ran into financial trouble two years later after losing his job and being diagnosed with diabetes, according to the Mesa Tribune.
Newton fell behind on his quarterly HOA assessments, which were around $170, eventually owing $977 in fees and interest.
“I bought the house and then I got sick,” Newton told the outlet. “I got diabetes and I was out of work.”
Newton said he contacted the Superstition Springs Community Master Association in an attempt to work out a payment plan.
He initially offered to pay $50 per month toward his debt while keeping up with his regular assessments. After that was rejected, he increased his proposed payments — eventually offering $200 a month — but said the HOA rejected those offers as well.
By November 2024, the association had initiated foreclosure proceedings.
As the case dragged on, the relatively modest HOA debt ballooned.
Court filings showed that by July 2025, Newton owed $1,311 in missed assessments and late charges, along with $1,042.09 in plaintiff’s fees and $3,345 in attorney fees.
The home was ultimately sold at public auction in October 2025 to the Superstition Springs Community Master Association for just $8,172. Newton’s total debt stood at $6,579 by then.
The case unfolded as Arizona lawmakers moved to give homeowners greater protections against HOA foreclosures.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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Yup, they agree to it and then the HOA gets taken over by zealots and the people let them because they don’t vote at the meetings or even go to the meetings.
I’d burn the damn house.
Yes they do with the guise of maintaining property values. HOA should be banned nationwide. Why would you need an HOA for rules that each homebuyer should agree to legally at closing. Sure you’ll get some sketchy neighbors who don’t care but we live in a free society, governed by many. 😉
Quarterly HOA fees of $170 are inconsequential. I’d like to see all the other expenses this guy was paying while he let this thing sit without being addressed for 2+ years.
Unfortunately, it all sounds as though the procedures were done legally. It is most unfortunate that the concept of ‘compassion or empathy’ never entered the picture to any great degree, but he didn’t have the money, didn’t seem likely to go back to his former level of earning anytime soon.
There are likely some folks who would literally be driven mad, should they lose their $450K home under the same circumstances. These people, with less self control, would be mad enough to use violence, in order to ‘set the record straight’.
I believe that the USSC has ruled that government entities can do this exact same thing. This country truly is messed up.
While that may be true it hardly justifies the consequence. What is more, they did not budge and intended to make an example out of this fellow.
Fight the HOA and you lose. Better to leave or burn the house.
Well, if it sold for $8,000 - it wasn’t a $450,000 house
Fraud...he should take this to Federal court.
In my experience, HOAs are practically a necessity for newer subdivisions in most parts of the country. This is dictated by stormwater management regulations, which require open spaces for detention basins that serve multiple properties and don’t belong to any one owner. In my own subdivision, the HOA’s main function is to hold title to the parcels where the detention basins are located, and to maintain them.
“I’d burn the damn house.”
I’m surprised the house of the people who took the house wasn’t burned down. Injustice will provoke a reaction in some.
“ Well, if it sold for $8,000 - it wasn’t a $450,000 house”
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Or it was and had a $440,000 mortgage on it. And the mortgage could also have been badly in arrears. Just sayin’.
Sounds like theft or fraud.
That’s a good point. I suspect an HOA lien is secondary to a mortgage lien in most states.
There has to be more to the story.
Most HOAs allow payment by credit card. I find it hard to believe he couldn’t pay the HOA fees via credit card payment, then paying $50 a month to the credit card company.
“Well, if it sold for $8,000 - it wasn’t a $450,000 house”
To use the term that we use in the Real Estate business, the above is true ONLY if it’s sold at “arm’s length” - meaning on the open market, to the highest bidder.
Otherwise, it’s nothing other than Grand Larceny.
Just make the HOA disgorge %442,000 to him in cash. Then he can pay back the $977 he owes.
I suspect there is a lot left out of this story.
Fraud? how’s that? And what is the basis for federal jurisdiction? The media have perpetrated this widespread notion that federal courts are some sort of super court, in place to oversee the simpleton state courts. Not so. I can imagine what the basis for federal jurisdiction would be
They capriciously came after many, including myself, but when they told me to reseed my entire lawn and had no pictures of the problem, I called the HOA management firm. A lady I had previously resolved a couple minor things with answered and told me our board had made up the problems, took no pictures, and sent out all the mail pieces, themselves. I now had good grounds for suing.
The annual election was only two months away. However, we found out the board (all but one were liberals) had finally caused a revolt of the majority. These long-time problem makers were shoved out, but not before the main accounting liberal got within 6 inches of the face of a lady who'd posted pictures of the insanity, spitting on her as he yelled in her face. Some residents in the audience so supported the liberals they then screamed (women) or yelled (men) against all who had a problem with the capricious HOA board members. It was a fun meeting.
The balance shifted and hasn't gone back, from what I've heard.
Do not buy into a liberal HOA.
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