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A MOTHER of four is scared for her family’s future after her home was sold without her knowing.
The mother took her HOA to court when the association foreclosed on her home without telling her.
Monica Villela was shocked to discover Christophe Attard, the owner of Welcome to Realty LLC, standing in her driveway as she headed to pick up her children from school in March 2022.
Attard showed Villela papers stating that he had purchased her home at a foreclosure auction sale.
“As soon as he left, I started crying,” Villela told The Denver Post.
“I remember exactly that day started my nightmare.”
Since then, Villela has been fighting her HOA, Green Valley Ranch, to keep the home she and her now ex-husband purchased back in 2005.
“I’m so scared,” she tearfully said in a courtroom in April.
Villela said her ex-husband, Gilardo Gonzales Jr., still pays the mortgage bills, but since they split, it has been hard for her to pay for her four children and the mounting HOA fines she received.
The mother said she has received nearly $8,000 in HOA fines for weeds and leaving garbage cans on the property, which has led her HOA to foreclose on her home.
When Attard purchased the home, he allowed the family to stay there rent-free, but is now seeking to evict them.
Villela said the eviction notice, which appeared on their door in March, gave the family until May 31 to buy the house or leave.
“[My daughter] was devastated,” Villela said.
“She couldn’t even talk because she was crying so hard.”
However, Denver Judge Mark T. Bailey ruled on April 5 that Attard’s purchase of the home is technically illegal.
The judge ruled that since Attard’s investment company, Welcome to Realty LLC 401 (k) PSP, purchased the property, it is invalid because it does not meet the conditions of Denver’s inclusionary housing ordinance.
The ordinance imposes affordability covenants on certain properties, preventing homes from being owned by investors.
Bailey’s ruling means that the company needs to sell the property it bought at the auction in December 2021.
What is an HOA?
One in five Americans live in an area with a Homeowners’ Association – or HOA. But what exactly is it that they do?
- An HOA is a homeowner’s association – an organization that aims to maintain a clean and cohesive place to live for its residents.
- Entire neighborhoods, subdivisions, condominiums, family homes, or townhouses within “a planned development” will often make up an HOA.
- They also act as a governing body for tenants, who run and fund the HOA through monthly fees.
- Their principal aims are to keep the community functioning and visually appealing and to maintain property values.
- They primarily focus on common areas of a neighborhood, such as roads, parks, and pools – but may also stipulate what residents can do with their properties, such as yards and driveways.
- Often these restrictions enforce uniformity on properties, for example, ensuring most houses look the same and all driveways are clear of weeds.
- An HOA rulebook of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&R) is distributed to all residents, and an elected volunteer board of directors enforces these regulations.
- Breaking these rules can result in penalties such as fines and even litigation – as most HOAs are incorporated and subject to state law.
- HOAs are often the subject of controversy, with some members feeling that the rules are too punitive and restricting, or that the leadership has too much power.
- But others like that HOAs give communities the power of self-governance, and can ensure a degree of harmony between residents.
The judge’s decision also prevents Attard from leasing the house to anyone.
Those fighting against HOAs believe that the ruling is a big step forward and will set a precedent, possibly forcing other investors to sell homes they bought with affordable housing covenants.
“[The order] would also suggest that every sale at auction of every home in Green Valley Ranch was probably not legal because the auction house, or the county sheriff who’s running the auctions, were not qualifying buyers,” Zach Neumann, co-founder of the Community Economic Defense Project, told The Denver Post.
“And as far as we can tell, most of the purchasers are real estate investors who, by definition, are not qualified buyers.
“And there’s a lot of potential that all of these sales have been invalid and are potentially reversible.”
Green Valley Ranch and Welcome to Realty did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s request for comment.
