Article
Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Daniel
Vasquez
Published July 8, 2009
Has a squatter moved
into your community?
That's the case for The Circle Villa Condominium Association in
Lauderhill. "We have at least several unit-owner squatters and one
renter squatter," said Dorine Neal, president of the 96-unit condo
association. "The numbers are growing in this economy."
As if cash-strapped community associations faced with foreclosures,
delinquencies and non-paying owners didn't have enough to deal with,
increasingly some are stuck with squatters.
In some cases, squatters are owners of units in foreclosure who stop
paying mortgage or maintenance fees and leave their electricity, cable and
water bills for the rest of the association residents to pick up while
they live cost-free. In others, they are holdover renters in units or
homes in foreclosure who stay put without paying a dime in rent or other
fees.
"We do hear stories of owners or even tenants living in units that
have been foreclosed on or abandoned. They are basically squatters,"
said Bill Raphan, a South Florida supervisor with the Office of the
Condominium Ombudsman. "Unit owners are furious at their boards for
not taking action. Boards are saying that it is a tedious and costly
project getting them evicted."
Unfortunately, associations have to spend a lot of time and money to get
rid of squatters.
In the case of Circle Villa, said Neal, it took about seven years and
$14,000 in attorney fees to evict one squatter. "And yes, we are
looking to have more evictions," said Neal. "We need the income
and if we can get them out and get paying renters or owners in, we're more
than gung ho to do it."
Earlier this year, lawmakers dropped the ball by not passing legislation
that would have allowed associations to collect the rent directly from
tenants when owners are delinquent. But, experts say, there are ways to
get that accomplished through governing document changes and other legal
arrangements.
What to do:
First an association must determine if its governing documents provide the
authority to approve the occupants of a given unit. "Without a
provision in the declaration of condominium or covenants that empowers the
board to review applications for sale or lease and approve occupants, the
board would have no authority to take any action to [remove] an
occupant," said Robert Kaye, a Fort
Lauderdale
attorney who specializes in community association law.
File a lien:
In cases where associations don't have eviction powers, Kaye said the only
available remedy for the association is to pursue its legal rights in
civil court against units in delinquency. The effort entails filing a lien
on the unit, foreclosing on the lien and ultimately taking title of the
unit. Once the association is the owner, it can take action to remove
unauthorized occupants with a writ of possession, which takes only a few
days to complete in court.
How long, how much?
For a condominium, the entire process could take six months or longer to
complete and cost approximately $3,000 in fees and legal costs. For a
homeowner association, the time frame is at least 30 days longer since the
two pre-foreclosure letters Florida law requires must be sent by the
association 45 days apart rather than the 30 days required for condos.
Even when an association has the authority to approve tenants or renters,
the governing documents (most likely within the declaration) will have to
be checked to make sure the association also has the authority to evict
unapproved occupants. If not, an option is to pursue a more lengthy legal
process of filing a law suit to obtain an injunction against the owner and
unapproved occupants and eventually force their removal.
Eviction is a specialized process in the courts that is geared to move
faster (called "summary proceeding"), and in most cases, can be
completed within two months. The standard litigation process can take
somewhat longer, although the ultimate result should be the same.
Quite often, when the unapproved occupants are served with a lawsuit, they
will vacate the premises rather than become involved in the legal process.
Daniel
Vasquez can be reached at:
[email protected]
or at 954-356-4558 (Broward) or 561-243-6686 (Palm
Beach County). His condo column runs every Wednesday in the Local
section and at www.sunsentinel.com/condos.
You also can read his consumer column every Monday in Your Money and at www.sunsentinel.com/vasquez
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