What happens if I don't pay my condo fee?

[Anonymous]

Season's Greetings! My condo board just voted to raise our condo fee AGAIN this year. And this is on top of the board raising our fee similarly in 2010. And in 2009.

The fees just keep going up and I'm paying several hundred dollars extra on top of my mortgage and condo fee, which was already quite steep to begin with. We were told when we bought several years ago that the fee might go up but our realtor predicted "no more than $100" based on previous raises and so we budgeted for a $100, $200 increase at the most. Now I am paying North Arlington prices for a South Arlington condo and I can't afford it much longer. The condo fee is almost half my mortgage now.

Can I lose my condo if I fail to pay the condo fee? Is there anything I can do about this? Do I have to file for bankruptcy? Any advice from HOA/realtors/those in the same situation appreciated. FWIW, we go to the board meetings and vote but are outnumbered on pretty much every issue.

[Anonymous]

At some point they will put a lien on your condo, and if that doesn't get you to pay they can force a sale. Do what you need to do to stay current and put it on the market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At some point they will put a lien on your condo, and if that doesn't get you to pay they can force a sale. Do what you need to do to stay current and put it on the market.

This is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At some point they will put a lien on your condo, and if that doesn't get you to pay they can force a sale. Do what you need to do to stay current and put it on the market.

Exactly. I am on a condo board, and we really try to work with people, but we had no choice but to force sales on a couple units recently.

[Anonymous]

Correct- you can lose your condo for not paying the condo fees. That's why many people avoid buying condos - especially of your condo fees don't go toward something substantial like a pool, 24 hour security/ concierge, etc, Half the cost of your mortgage is a lot! Stay current, place it on the market and buy a small townhouse w/o condo fees instead. You may have HOA fees but the are pretty minimal compared to cond fees.

[Anonymous]

I live in a condo - and this pisses me off. You know what you are getting into buying a condo. Fees go up. Period.

If you don't pay your fees, you screw your fellow owners who DO pay. I hope they fine you. And I really hope you don't live in my building.

[Anonymous]

Fees do go up, and realtors who promise they won't go up very much really need to be taken with a grain of salt... they have a sale to make, after all...

[Anonymous]

Real estate attorney here. I want to clarify something. Its not that the condo association will force a sale; they will foreclose on your unit. They might also sue you for the balance.

if your condo docs are well written you will be denied use of common facilities too.

No one is making a profit from your condo dues, except for a 5% fee charged by the management company. Otherwise it costs no more to own a condo than house (admittedly a condo may have items a house would not, like full time front desk, but you knew that when you bought). If you cannot afford your condo dues, you cannot afford a house either (what would you do when the roof needed to be replaced).

The only pity from me, is for your fellow unit owners who will now have to spend money foreclosing on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Season's Greetings! My condo board just voted to raise our condo fee AGAIN this year. And this is on top of the board raising our fee similarly in 2010. And in 2009.

The fees just keep going up and I'm paying several hundred dollars extra on top of my mortgage and condo fee, which was already quite steep to begin with. We were told when we bought several years ago that the fee might go up but our realtor predicted "no more than $100" based on previous raises and so we budgeted for a $100, $200 increase at the most. Now I am paying North Arlington prices for a South Arlington condo and I can't afford it much longer. The condo fee is almost half my mortgage now.

Can I lose my condo if I fail to pay the condo fee? Is there anything I can do about this? Do I have to file for bankruptcy? Any advice from HOA/realtors/those in the same situation appreciated. FWIW, we go to the board meetings and vote but are outnumbered on pretty much every issue.

I saw a legal ad in the paper just yesterday of a HOA selling someone's unit that was deliquent on fees.

[Anonymous]

In addition, OP, if you are delinquent in your fees, you association will refuse to release the condo documents if you try to sell. And providing them to prospective buyers is a prerequisite for selling in most jurisdictions, so they can effectively prevent you from selling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in a condo - and this pisses me off. You know what you are getting into buying a condo. Fees go up. Period.

If you don't pay your fees, you screw your fellow owners who DO pay. I hope they fine you. And I really hope you don't live in my building.

Another poster who owns a condo here. I understand the point you're trying to make, but you have to admit that there is a tremendous range between condo fees. There are well-managed associations and then there are less so. There are comparable buildings across DC with an identical range of services that charge different fees, so obviously it is possible to do the same thing for less money. In a big building with established boards, you have to be cynical enough to suspect kickbacks to service companies as a possibility. It is also possible that associations decide to purchase services that not all residents find acceptable or even desirable.

I am not arguing the point that fees need to be paid. I am trying to point out for you some of the legitimate reasons why this may be a point of resentment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a condo - and this pisses me off. You know what you are getting into buying a condo. Fees go up. Period.

If you don't pay your fees, you screw your fellow owners who DO pay. I hope they fine you. And I really hope you don't live in my building.

Another poster who owns a condo here. I understand the point you're trying to make, but you have to admit that there is a tremendous range between condo fees. There are well-managed associations and then there are less so. There are comparable buildings across DC with an identical range of services that charge different fees, so obviously it is possible to do the same thing for less money. In a big building with established boards, you have to be cynical enough to suspect kickbacks to service companies as a possibility. It is also possible that associations decide to purchase services that not all residents find acceptable or even desirable.

I am not arguing the point that fees need to be paid. I am trying to point out for you some of the legitimate reasons why this may be a point of resentment.

Yes, which is why when I bought my condo, I did research, I estimated a 3% adjustment in fees a year. I spoke to a real estate lawyer. I did checks on my HOA and their backgrounds.

My condo does stuff I don't love, all of them do, but then don't live in a condo building with $1000 in fees you can't afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a condo - and this pisses me off. You know what you are getting into buying a condo. Fees go up. Period.

If you don't pay your fees, you screw your fellow owners who DO pay. I hope they fine you. And I really hope you don't live in my building.

Another poster who owns a condo here. I understand the point you're trying to make, but you have to admit that there is a tremendous range between condo fees. There are well-managed associations and then there are less so. There are comparable buildings across DC with an identical range of services that charge different fees, so obviously it is possible to do the same thing for less money. In a big building with established boards, you have to be cynical enough to suspect kickbacks to service companies as a possibility. It is also possible that associations decide to purchase services that not all residents find acceptable or even desirable.

I am not arguing the point that fees need to be paid. I am trying to point out for you some of the legitimate reasons why this may be a point of resentment.

Then join the board and fix the problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Then join the board and fix the problems.

I agree
Join the board and find out where they are wasting money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a condo - and this pisses me off. You know what you are getting into buying a condo. Fees go up. Period.

If you don't pay your fees, you screw your fellow owners who DO pay. I hope they fine you. And I really hope you don't live in my building.

Another poster who owns a condo here. I understand the point you're trying to make, but you have to admit that there is a tremendous range between condo fees. There are well-managed associations and then there are less so. There are comparable buildings across DC with an identical range of services that charge different fees, so obviously it is possible to do the same thing for less money. In a big building with established boards, you have to be cynical enough to suspect kickbacks to service companies as a possibility. It is also possible that associations decide to purchase services that not all residents find acceptable or even desirable.

I am not arguing the point that fees need to be paid. I am trying to point out for you some of the legitimate reasons why this may be a point of resentment.

Yes, which is why when I bought my condo, I did research, I estimated a 3% adjustment in fees a year. I spoke to a real estate lawyer. I did checks on my HOA and their backgrounds.

My condo does stuff I don't love, all of them do, but then don't live in a condo building with $1000 in fees you can't afford.

PP here. I understand your point about fees that were high to begin with. There are, however, less obvious examples. Like this friend I have who lives around Dupont Circle. Her association fees are like $500 per month, which sounds reasonable. But then once a year they will do a special assessment for windows or some other new projects, which is around 5K per unit, and there is no way around it. I don't have to explain to you that these things cannot be adequately predicted nor universally welcome.