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HOMEOWNERS living in Florida have blasted their HOA after steep $605 monthly fees nearly made their neighborhood unliveable.
One resident cried, “There’s no help,” following a series of unfortunate events that saw her scrambling to dodge eviction.
The local, Sharon Seibert, lives with her sister in the Village of Sandalwood Lakes in West Palm Beach, Florida, which is over an hour north of Miami.
They nearly lost their home for good when they got behind on expenses due to illness and loss of income.
At the time, they couldn’t keep up with a sharp increase in bills, alongside their eye-watering HOA fees.
Seibert called her home “precious” but said it has been a “challenging” time, she told NBC affiliate WPTV.
“It’s very difficult when you find yourself in a tough situation, and there’s no help,” she said.
But Sandalwood Lakes HOA president Gabriela Botofan said the HOA fees actually went down about $70 since the prior year.
Despite the decrease, the fees are too expensive for some residents who are now being driven out of the community.
House hunter Simon Putman said that there are “not many” options for homes without HOA fees in Palm Beach County.
Putman said, “It was like, ok, where could we go to maximize all of our money and don’t have to deal with the whole HOA hassel.”
He decided to move four hours away to Ocala, Florida.
“I got land, not paying HOA fees, nice places to live and you can still kinda get that good quality of life,” Putman said.
Real estate company Redfin found in a study published in August 2024 that HOA fees rose 12.8 percent in West Palm Beach.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Sandalwood Lakes for any comment on the HOA fees.
FLORIDA POLITICIAN CRACKS DOWN ON HOAS
Florida state Republican Representative Juan Carlos Porras recently introduced legislation to allow local police to investigate, audit, and inspect HOAs.
If the bill is passed, local law enforcement can work alongside state agencies to weed out fraud and ensure HOAs will be under intense scrutiny.
The bill also would make it easier to recall HOA board members, allow homeowners to recover legal fees if they win a lawsuit against their HOA, and require HOAs to provide documents and records before prospective homebuyers close on a house.
“Even in my district — one of the largest organized crime busts in the state’s history occurred with our HOA, The Hammocks,” Porras told WPTV.
“They stole millions of dollars from our residents.”
Can a HOA legally take your home?
Camron Dowlatshahi, a Los Angeles attorney spoke to The U.S. Sun about whether and how homeowner associations have the right to evict you from your home.
The short answer is yes. But there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of it happening in the first place.
First, pay attention to any red flags and all monthly fees listed on your contract when you sign up to join an HOA.
“When you’re signing the HOA paperwork, it’s a contract. And so if there’s some provision clearly set forth in that contract and then later on, you don’t agree with it, or you don’t think it’s fair, well that’s unfortunate, because you signed that contract,” said Dowlatshahi.
But if you decide to stop following the rules, the HOA “can decide to fine you an exorbitant amount and then you can’t pay that now they’re threatening to start the eviction process.”
However, studying the contract with a fine eye can go both ways.
“If it’s something that’s not clearly laid out in the contract, and maybe they’re doing something that’s in breach of that contract, or contrary to those terms, then certainly you would have a case to defend yourself.”
Though each case will differ, the lawyer suggests “consulting an attorney as much as possible,” if your HOA is trying to take your home.
Camron Dowlatshahi is a founding partner at Mills Sadat Dowlat LLP
THE HAMMOCKS HOA SCHEME
The HOA crackdown comes after several board members from Florida’s largest HOA were arrested for allegedly stealing $2million from residents in November 2022.
Ten months prior to being charged with stealing millions, the HOA board in the Hammocks located in Miami-Dade County held a secret budget meeting.
In the meeting, they implemented a 300 to 400 percent increase in monthly maintenance fees, according to the Miami Herald.
After the board members arrests, a resident spoke out about the high fees she was paying.
“It was fine until this new board took over. It’s gone to crap,” Hammock Trails resident Shannon Baratz told local Fox affiliate WSVN in late 2022.
The alleged scammers pleaded not guilty.
“If we allow our cops to do their job — audit, inspect, and even investigate these HOAs and condos — I think a lot of these problems will cease to exist,” Porras said.
