FloriDUH: HOA charging $600 for a mailbox

The Bridgewater Community Homeowners Association in Wesley Chapel may be at the vanguard of a get-tough movement by homeowners associations trying to get their communities back on track after the devastation caused by mass foreclosures. Few neighborhoods have been harder hit than theirs: Sixty-five percent of the homes were sold to investors, and all but about 160 of the 760 homes – 79 percent – have faced foreclosure. Values were cut in half, and homes fell into disrepair, reports Tampa Bay Online . Now the association is trying to turn the neglected neighborhood around by charging fees to new buyers lured by low home prices. They think homeowners who didn’t pay mortgages or dues for years should not be allowed to just walk away and leave behind an eyesore, reports TBO.com. The community started charging buyers a $400 transfer fee, then a $225 fee to release liens against the property. There is also a $250 charge to prepare a letter detailing the fees owed. If buyers or sellers opt to do the work themselves, there is a $75 fee for the association to review the work, reports TBO.com. And $600 for a mailbox. Eugene Vrooman and

his wife were just two days away from closing on a home on a deal they had been working on for two months when the Bridgewater HOA gave them some bad news: If they didn’t come up with $14,000 for for cosmetic repairs, the association wouldn’t allow his deal to go through. The HOA wanted the money to paint, clean and re-sod the exterior of the house, reports TBO.com. Vrooman and his wife found another home in another subdivision. “I’m paying on a $400,000 mortgage when someone else walks in and pays $140,000 for the same house,” Mark Spector, association president, told TBO.com. “We have people who haven’t paid a payment in four years, and they want us to let them out of their bad debt. That’s not going to happen.” Should a HOA get tough — or just get the property sold? Photo: Tampa Tribune Staff photo by JAY CONNER Eugene W. Vrooman was ready to buy this home in the subdivision until he found out there were $14,000 in outstanding fees being charged by the HOA. More FloriDUH

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FloriDUH: HOA charging $600 for a mailbox

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