Foreclosed home listings continue to grow in the condo and townhome sector of the housing market in Brevard County, Florida.
Last year, 419 condo units and townhomes were repossessed by banks, based on records from the Brevard County Property Appraiser Records. A foreclosure research firm said that another 568 units were in default and are in the process of getting foreclosed.
Across the U.S., over 66,000 condo units were repossessed in 2009, with another 113,000 units in serious default.
In Palm Bay and in other areas with a lot of condo and townhome foreclosures, personal devastation arising from foreclosures has not been limited to the delinquent property owners.
Even condo and townhome owners who have been paying faithfully their monthly mortgage amortizations and their housing association dues have been suffering from the foreclosed properties. According to housing researchers, about 60 percent of multifamily properties in Florida are struggling from unmaintained foreclosed units and unpaid HOA dues.
Even property owners who have rented out their townhomes or condos and have been collecting the rentals have not been paying their HOA dues, according to HOA officers.
At the 50-unit Arlington Pines townhome development in Palm Bay, only 12 unit owners have been paying their HOA dues. In financially distressed times, even the $223 monthly HOA fee at Arlington has been a big burden to pay.
According to analysts, the current foreclosed home listings in Florida are not showing the real numbers of distressed condos and townhomes in the state. Banks have not been completing their foreclosure processes on condo units and townhomes which are difficult to sell and which belong to HOAs that are tenacious in collecting HOA dues.
In the meantime, condo and townhome owners who have not chosen to walk away despite the foreclosure problems of other unit owners have been filling the gap between maintenance and utility costs and the regular HOA collections. Their monthly dues are continually raised so the HOAs can pay property insurance premiums, maintenance costs, water bills and other utilities.
Jan Bergemann, head of the homeowner advocacy organization Cyber Citizens for Justice, said that his group has been calling on lawmakers to pass legislation that would force banks to pay HOA dues and maintenance fees for their foreclosure properties.
According to Bergemann, forcing responsible unit owners to pay for properties in foreclosed home listings is not fair and can even force them also to fall into financial distress and into foreclosure.
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