Thanks to John Hernandez for this story of foreclosure and "counter-foreclosure":
Condo associations that are in a financial bind from mounting foreclosures are now targeting lenders who have taken back units from owners in default but are themselves failing to pay their share of maintenance fees.
As more units end up in the hands of lenders, the banks and mortgage servicing companies are responsible for maintenance payments for those units. But administering the growing pool of real estate has proved challenging for lenders.
The Residences at the Bath Club Condominium Association in Miami Beach is pressing a foreclosure action against Wells Fargo as trustee for an investment pool that owns the mortgage on a unit that isn’t paying its maintenance fees.
The lender owes $32,252 in late maintenance fees on the unit it took back more than a year ago.
If that doesn’t sound complicated enough, it gets even more complex:
Determining exactly who is on the hook is itself difficult. The original mortgage was issued by Mortgage Loan Specialists of Irvine, Calif. A spokeswoman for Wells Fargo said it was only the trustee for the bondholders who invested in a securitized mortgage pool. The servicer of the loan is Impac Funding Corp. of Irvine, Calif., which shares the name with the company that issued the mortgage-backed securities and is also named in the foreclosure suit, Impac Secured Assets Corp.
The lender needs to come up with the past due maintenance fees by Friday morning or it could lose the oceanfront condo in a foreclosure auction. The unit sold for $1.45 million during the height of the condo boom, according to Miami-Dade County property records.
The highest bidder would get the two-bedroom condo at 5959 Collins Ave. free of a mortgage.
Recently, lender’s have started a pattern of not paying maintenance fees:
In a recent statewide community association survey, more than 60 percent of respondents said lenders owning foreclosed units or homes in their communities are not paying dues to the associations.
The survey was conducted by the Community Association Leadership Lobby, an advocacy group created by the law firm Becker & Poliakoff.
Attorney Ken Direktor, who leads Becker & Poliakoff’s community association practice, said he encourages his lawyers to aggressively go after lenders who fail to pay association fees.
“We have had a few foreclosures with a sale date set. At that point, the bank has paid every time,” Direktor said. “Nothing has gotten past that point … yet.”
First!
Sorry, didn’t notice the comments were off
“wonky,” says Igor (you don’t have to rub it in!)
John-
I must be getting butter-fingered or something. I’ve had several posts that the comments ended up being turned off. I’m not sure how that is happening.
I’m not really trying to be John McLaughlin saying, “And the answer is…“
I guess the banks are planning on these vacant properties to become crack houses, for which the proceeds can pay the HOA dues.
Igor says “pass the pipe”
OT but urgent!
Call your Senators — this is crunch time for the Dodd Countrywide bailout. No vote before an investigation of Dodd’s connections to CFC and BofA!
This post has been edited.
We have had a very liberal policy towards “astroturfing”. Generally it has been deemed acceptable as long as it has been housing related. However, this has gotten excessive. Multiple “ads” will no longer be permitted.
T.
You know there is a part of me that finds the whole idea of associations getting screwed out of their money as very funny, but thats only because I hate the very idea of a housing associations to begin with.
/walks away mumbling about legalized mob protection money…
Bristinwolf-
I love old movies, in large part because the good guys are good guys, and the bad guys are bad. It seems that often in newer movies, in the name of “realism”, we often have heroes that are “troubled” or “complex”. I hate these things. When the “good” guy is no better than the bad guy, I find myself not caring if the good guy wins or not.
That’s kind of what it’s like sometimes as you watch the real estate industry. There are so many buyers, agents, HOAs, lenders, you name it- trying to game the system.
There are good guys out there- and I cheer them on. Some of the bad guys though, are getting the shaft, and I figure they are just getting what is coming to them.
I think I’m on the HOA’s side in this one, but I don’t think that necessarily makes them the good guys.
wcvarones,
It must be a big mistake. That’s what the party in power will say. What’s a few thousand dollars. What’s a few thousand bucks wrapped up and stored in a freezer. This congress will go down as the most corrupt in history. Get used to them. They’re going to be around a while. I still think there’s something very eerie about having mortgage companies all of a sudden becoming your new best friend. The hose is filling up fast. Be ready. No grinning.