[PackerBoy]

It is interesting to me that this conservative forum produces so much liberal-sounding sympathy.

If the homeowners agreed to abide by the association's rules, were properly assessed $120 in charges, failed/refused to pay them, ignored a dozen collection letters, and failed to come up with the case when they were sued -- what is wrong with legal process taking its course, even if the result seems tragic? This is like saying that a $40,000 car should not stop running just because the owner failed to put $20 of gas in its tank. The owners' failure brought about this result, not a cruel HOA.

It also seems strange to me that they could not/did not manage to find $120 somewhere. They had no neighbor, friend or relative who would help them out? Very strange.

[alisasny]

I have spent every penny of my Life Savings, 401K, I.R.A., and my credit union savings building my wife and I, our dream home.....

...which left me with no funds to support my wife and I in our dream home but its not my fault.......

[MaryFromMichigan]

It could be that the Mrs. had a hard time handling the finances when her husband was ill.
She may simply have put things aside in her confusion.
Its quite possible that the couple didn't let on to their friends and family that they were in a bind financially.

[wimpycat]

I agree with what you said, in principle. In practice, if I had been on the HOA (God forbid!) I would have suggested a personal visit to their house BEFORE the foreclosure process started, and notified them, face-to-face, that they were in real danger of losing their house. I then would have held off on the foreclosure as long as they paid at least something towards their HOA dues every month--like $10/ month. You can't tell me they couldn't come up with $10 a month.

Yes, this could have been avoided if the homeowners in question had paid the dues like they had knowingly signed on to when they got the house. But at the same time, the HOA could have taken the time to speak in person with these people and at least made an honest attempt to work something out before throwing the book at them.

[BJungNan]

It is interesting to me that this conservative forum produces so much liberal-sounding sympathy.

It sounds like you don't understand what a conservative is. What exactly are you suggesting the conservative position would be in a situation like this?

Be careful with your answer, I am your stereotypical evil land baron with a company store and poor saps paying me rent for broken down shacks. I might just follow your suggestion.

[Sandmansleeper]

The homeowners are the victims...When are the liberals, like Sen. Boxer and her ilk going to pass enough laws to protect us all from our stupidity! Dumbed-down minds want to know.

[Kay Ludlow]

If the homeowners agreed to abide by the association's rules, were properly assessed $120 in charges, failed/refused to pay them, ignored a dozen collection letters, and failed to come up with the case when they were sued -- what is wrong with legal process taking its course, even if the result seems tragic?

Abiding by the agreement is the right thing to do, but there's another essential question here.

How did HOA's get this much power? Because our local governments are REQUIRING HOA's, often with very restrictive rules, as a condition of development. If you don't agree to form the HOA, your development will not be approved. In our area, I know for a fact the paid planning staff provides developers with the proposed HOA rules. The developer can make changes, but the planning staff better agree with them. HOA's are a surrogate for government, requiring restrictions and 'taxes' (dues) that government is not permitted to require.

[sauropod]

Your post is riduculous. I used to belong to an HOA board and they have this thing called discretion.

[BigBobber]

Similar stories come up every few months on this forum. People become outraged over this kind of thing because there is no sense of justice or proportionality in the outcome.

How can a $120 bill grow to nearly $2000 in only a year? What kind of "late" penalty is being applied, and at what interest rate? What did the "collection agency" do to earn their portion of $2000? Send a few letters and leave some mesages on an answering machine?

What kind of legal system imposes a $200,000 fine for a $120 debt? That's right, the home is worth $260,000 and the owner will net $60,000. The foreclosure sales on "the courthouse steps" are a crock. They should be sold through realtors like every other home sale.

You need to rethink your "let them eat cake additude". It's not conservative.