Couple Faces Climbing Fees In Community


 

Article Courtesy of Tampa Bay Online

By
Posted on Monday, November 21, 2004

 

VALRICO - A $161 annual assessment has snowballed into at least $1,500 in legal costs for a Lithia Ridge couple, whose homeowners association is suing to foreclose on their home.

Joyce Rasin said last week she has tried three times to pay the assessment. She and her husband, Albert, moved to the deed-restricted community 10 years ago.

She said they initially liked the idea of rules to keep the neighborhood nice and maintain property values. Now, she said, ``I would have to give it a second thought'' before moving into another neighborhood governed by a homeowners group.

``You feel like you're a prisoner in your own community,'' Rasin said, noting that state lawmakers recently passed bills aimed at expanding rights for home-buyers in such subdivisions. ``You come home and you're stressed out.''

Ricky Thacker, a Brandon attorney representing the Lithia Ridge Homeowners Association, and association president Cyndi Acosta declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Rasin said she tried to pay the annual assessment, used to maintain common areas, by check before the due date late in 2003. She said she never noticed the check didn't clear and discovered she and her husband were behind in their payment when a past-due notice arrived.

The notice, dated March 9 and postmarked March 10, gave the couple 30 days from the time they received it to pay the assessment fee, plus a late charge and postage totaling $168.54. Rasin said the couple received the certified notice March 12 or 14.

She said she went online and directed her bank to pay the bill. Bank records show a check was mailed April 7 to the homeowners association post office box but never was cashed.

Letters from Thacker followed. By April 12, the amount owed had risen by $100, according to the first letter. Rasin said she and her husband attended a homeowners association meeting to inquire about the payment and were told that someone would check the post office box, report back to the Rasins and call the attorney. She said no one called.

In July, a letter from Thacker listed the amount owed at $516.39. By September, it had climbed to $1,490.39, and the homeowners association was filing a foreclosure suit in Hillsborough County Civil Court.

Rasin said she and her husband attempted to address the board again in August but couldn't find the meeting because no location was posted. In August, she sent a check for the original past-due amount to the homeowners association and notified all the board members by certified mail. Thacker returned the check as a partial payment.

Wednesday, Judge Charlotte Anderson ordered the case to mediation. Thacker declined to comment. Acosta would say only that all meetings are properly posted, including meeting sites.

The Rasins have been handling their case without hiring a lawyer. Wednesday, the judge threw out most of their responses to the lawsuit as legally insufficient and gave them 20 days to file new ones.

Joyce Rasin said many homeowners can't afford attorney fees.

``I have tried everything to avoid going to court,'' she said. ``You really feel like you're between a rock and a hard place.''

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