Article Courtesy of FOX 4 -- Naples

By Liza Fernandez

Published July 4, 2014

NAPLES, Fla -  Lots of people run into problems paying their homeowners' association fees at one point or another. And an elderly Naples couple, Phil and Sally Duplers, is no different.

They tried making good and pay up, but lost their $1,000,000 home when their homeowners’ associated foreclosed on the house anyway.

The couple tells 4 In Your Corner it’s been a tough couple of years. “We ran into financial problems. I've been quite sick,” said Sally Dupler. She had a stroke, and the couple missed about 6 months of HOA dues. “It was about $3,500 approximately,” Sally added.

After several attempts at collecting, the Serafina Association at Tiburon in Naples started to foreclose on the home last October. And in May, a Collier County judge decided the Duplers owed approximately $7,000, plus any additional interest and fees.

On June 3, the Duplers paid the amount they thought they owed -- $6980.24, the amount stated on the final judgment.

But the check was 10 cents short.

“That was my fault; I added it up wrong,” admitted Sally Dupler.  

On June 9th, The Duplers’ home was sold in a foreclosure sale. 

“Ten cents short and then when she goes to pay it, they're like, no, you owe $3,000 more than that, without any explanation of what the charges are,” said the Duplers’ attorney Todd Allen.

That’s why he was in court Tuesday, trying to get a judge to set aside the sale and take a closer look at the amount due.

Allen believes some of the additional charges leveled against the Duplers are erroneous.

“Some of these fees should have never been charged, Allen added.  

But Judge Mike Carr disagreed, ruling the final judgment and the sale of the Duplers' home stand.

“This is hard, this was going to be our last house,” said Sally Dupler.  The couple is now living in a condo they own, also in Tiburon.

The attorney for the Serafina at Tiburon Association, Jason Hamilton Mikes, tells 4 In Your Corner, the final judgment made the Duplers responsible for interest due after the final judgment and any fees the association incurred in the foreclosure sale.

Those amounts were later tallied, bills for which, Mikes said, were later sent to the Duplers; but they did not pay.