Geeta Ramcharitar, Florida Woman, Nearly Foreclosed On Over $4.70 Fee

For one Florida resident, a fee of less than five dollars almost cost her a condo.

Geeta Ramcharitar owed her condo association a past-due balance of $4.70, according to Florida Today. Not paying the fee ultimately cost her $3,000 after a Florida judge threw out a foreclosure case brought by the condo association and ordered both sides to pay their own attorneys fees, Florida Today reports.

As the housing crisis continues to hit condo owners and condo associations, Ramcharitar's situation – though extreme – may become more common, according to Florida Today. The number of condo associations unable to meet their operating expenses as owners lapse on their fees is growing, according to legal research firm, JDSurpa, forcing condo associations to become more aggressive in collecting fees.

It's not the lowest amount that's been the basis of a foreclosure threat though. This summer, one Massachusetts homeowner received a notice demanding he pay $0.00 to his mortgage lender, or face foreclosure.

The Associated Press reported in 2009 that as the housing crisis pushed condo values into a free fall, some condo and homeowners associations began raising fees and then foreclosing on residents who couldn’t pay.

Some condo associations are taking over units where the owners have defaulted and turned them into rental properties, according The Wall Street Journal. And the associations are backed by the law, The Journal reports; state legislators voted down two recent laws in Nevada that would have put a cap on the amount of fees an association can assess on delinquent borrowers:

“The old rules of engagements have changed,” said Donna Berger of Katzman, Garfinkel & Berger in Fort Lauderdale, who was not involved in Ramcharitar’s case told Florida Today. “What I am saying is, associations should absolutely take advantage of some of the tools at their disposal. The goal is not to be punitive but they have to make an attempt to recoup their losses.”

One condo community in Palm Beach County, Florida is getting creative in recovering the fees it would need to pay its creditors by filing for bankruptcy, according to The Sun Sentinel. John Kinsey, the condo association’s lawyer, said he believes that this condo association bankruptcy may be the first of its kind in the nation. But it could catch on. The condo association emerged from bankruptcy with more than $400,000 more than before it filed, The Sun Sentinel reports.

Comments

[RecreationalPilot]

02:28 PM on 10/04/2011

Condo Associations - Small people with BIG egos.

I wonder who's going to pay their legal bill?

Oh, that's right - it will be all of the owners. The residents should sue the board for wasting resident money. They thought they were going to be slick and force out a resident and sell off the property - guess again.

I'm just surprised that a junta state like Florida allowed the owner to keep their property. After all, they are the ones who allow doctors to intern elderly in their own mental health facilities for up to a week, charging the state and victim.

[Lahonda]

08:34 AM on 10/04/2011

Scamming Americans is right wing hobby.

[MyResponsibility]

08:18 AM on 10/04/2011

Makes one wonder why the condo owner preferred to ignore the demands to pay $4.70 a d opt instead to pay $3000. To stop a CC all one has to do is pay the arrears in the case of a lien. We aren't getting the whole story.

[RecreationalPilot]

02:30 PM on 10/04/2011

Until you know the story, stop guessing.

Perhaps they did pay, and a petty board member 'accidentally' lost the check? Perhaps the owner was overbilled on another matter and was not being properly reimbursed?

[MyResponsibility]

03:10 PM on 10/04/2011

I know the more of this story than you or most everybody else.  And unlike you who wishes to guess as to what the condo association did to wrong Geeta, I actually researched what was behind it all, as the story simply does not make sense.

See, though it is true that Geeta had a balance owing for her condo maintenance in the amount of $4.70 which was due on 8/1/09 , she also owed the Association for the months of November, December, and January of 2009 in the amount of $540.00. After she made a payment of only $180, it left her with a balance owing of $364.70.  It was THIS amount that the Association placed a lien against her house on 11/13/09.  http://199.241.8.115/oncoreweb/ImageBrowser/image.aspx?ImageId=20651054&jpg=-1

On 2/15/10, after not having received payment on the amount in arrears, the Association filed a Lis Pendens, which is an official, public notification that the Association is commencing legal action to collect the amount in arrears. http://199.241.8.115/oncoreweb/ImageBrowser/image.aspx?ImageId=20904538&jpg=-1

Now, what I'm left to guess is why the court found that the Association not prevail at court on their claim and why both parties were required to cover their own costs, but I'll employ a little bit of creative guessing, just as you offered to me -

Just prior to going to court, Geeta paid off $360 of the $364.70, leaving a past-due amount of $4.70.  Upon being heard in front of the judge, and learning that Geeta had paid $360 of $364.70, ruled that she would not foreclose on the property for $4.70.  Since Geeta had a hand in the motion of the suit by her unwillingness to pay the balance, they required her to pay her own costs. http://199.241.8.115/oncoreweb/ImageBrowser/image.aspx?ImageId=22494805&jpg=-1

[sanfran55]

09:59 PM on 10/03/2011

Outrageous. It's like anything related to homeownership has become a nightmare.

[Jeffin90019]

08:02 PM on 10/03/2011

I bought a condo in a building with an association, and it felt immediately as though I'd moved to pre-war Germany or the post-war USSR. Everyone was watching everyone. The board was drunk on its own perceived power. I was reported to the board for having Christmas lights up past the "official" deadline. I recieved a written warning with a written threat of follow-up action. Never again. I sold the place. No one is telling me what color drapes I can hang in the living room of my home.

[Veets99]

09:01 AM on 10/04/2011

Yah, I was warned about "green shamrock" lights around st. patty's day.
Not approved.
bad owner, bad bad bad.

[ReaItors Are Liars]

03:21 PM on 10/03/2011

It's not like houses are worth much more than $5.

[frank day]

09:55 AM on 10/04/2011

It's not like you own a home anyway.

But I'm praying for you.

[ReaItors Are Liars]

10:25 AM on 10/04/2011

It's not like you own a home anyway.

But I'm praying for you.

[vippy]

02:46 PM on 10/03/2011

Imagine, having to get a lawyer for $ 4.70. Common sense left this country some time ago!

[invirginia]

01:20 PM on 10/03/2011

Reason why she didn't pay the $4.70?

[Mister Grumpy]

01:43 PM on 10/03/2011

I'll bet there was something about the woman the association didn't like.........

[RecreationalPilot]

02:32 PM on 10/04/2011

You can practically take that to the bank.

[Giverny]

05:55 PM on 10/03/2011

Our condo association tried to attach a lean on our condo for nonpayment of the dues. WE showed the paperwork cancelled checks, all in order, they said no, it's missing payment from the spring. The issue is if you do miss or are late they add a fee and they hadn't. WE had to threaten a lawsuit to get them to send us their documentation. As it turns out they were applying out checks to another condo of the same address but different street name, same covenant.