hi

My HOA has been trying to charge me for the previous owners bill and is now putting a lein on my property for the previous owners bill I received the following letter (below).. what can I do about it?

We recently received your closing documents from the title company of your purchase of the above property in the _____________ townhome association. As you may know ______________ townhome belongs to a master association, ___________ association. In 2007 owners paid two different assessments, one for _________ townhome and one for ________association.

We regret to inform you that the seller of your property still had a balance of unpaid 2007 assessments which was not requested on the estoppel letter, this was a mistake on our part. We are sorry to introduce you to the association by receiving a statement for the balance owed, which per Florida statutes must remain on the property and become the responsibility of the new owner. Please note the primary purpose of a homowners association is to maintain and increase the value of each owners property. It is n ot a desire to impose any kind of hardship on owners however, they have a difuciary responsibility to ensure governing documents of the association are followed and each owner pays their share the associations assessments.

Enclosed please find a statement of account in the amount of $_____ which represents the remaining balance from 2007. When the balance is paid you will not have to make any more payments to the ____________ master association.



So what do I do about this can these people really charge me for a bill that was created before I moved in? From what I see on my statements this association has taken moneys i paid for my association fees applied it towards the previous owners bill and are now charging me late charges , attorneys fees, interest, and filing fees for a lein on my property on my bill.. Can they truly do this?

Thank you

Typically they can place a lien on the property, but I am confused on how you did not know this at closing. Have you browsed through the information in LawInfo's Free Legal Resource Center to learn more about your issue yet? See: http://www.lawinfo.com/consumer.html and http://resources.lawinfo.com/en/index.html. You can certainly try to speak to a lawyer to determine what legal options may be available. In the meantime, you may be able to learn more on your own. Search the "Free Legal Resources" tab, or browse the Consumer Resources. Good luck.