A.J. from Middlesex County, Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Is there anyone in this state that can help me? I have called every agency. I am facing foreclosure, the association called my bank as I owed $2,000.00 for a special assessment, I didn’t even own here then they tacked on $1,200.00 in late fees. The bank has added it to my loan which was down to $179K. It has affected my credit. I have 3 months left I can afford this place. I was not made aware how disrepair it was in. I put $20K into it. Please help.
Mister Condo replies:
A.J., I am sorry that you find yourself in the middle of this debacle. The reality is that the condo association has every right to levy a Special Assessment an owner does not pay that assessment, they have every right to actively pursue remedy against you, including referring the matter to a collection agency for collections action and, failing a successful outcome, an attorney for actual foreclosure action. You mentioned that you didn’t own when late fees were tacked on which makes it sound as though the Special Assessment had already been levied before your purchased. If that is true, and that information was not revealed to you by the previous owner, you may have action against the previous owner. I am not an attorney and offer no legal advice in this column. State agencies won’t help you with a personal lawsuit against the previous owner so do yourself a favor and contact an attorney to discuss the liability of the previous owner to disclose the Special Assessment. If they did something not in accordance with state law, you may have a case. Good luck!
Yikes. Check your sales purchase agreement. At times pre-printed form language will say remaining assessments are to be paid in full by the seller at the sale transaction, but they can differ. And if it wasn’t in the form, and not disclosed, you still should ask your closing attorney either way. Additionally, assessments are supposed to be on the resale certificate, but not sure if the assessment is so old that it was paid off by everyone else a long time ago.