"They came beating on the door early that morning," she said. "They gave us five minutes to get out." 

Cruickshank lost her two-story home at 5108 Bonnedale Court because she failed to pay the monthly fee of $41.90 to the homeowners association. Records show she stopped paying her dues in November 2000. 

The homeowners association sued Cruickshank for the unpaid dues. When she failed to respond to the lawsuit or pay the money, her home was auctioned at the Hillsborough County courthouse on Aug. 14. Gary Casper paid $18,200 for the home, valued at $75,000 by the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's Office. Plantation's lawyer collected $3,377 of the sale money for attorney fees and unpaid association dues. 

"We're fixing it up and we're going to sell it," said Casper, who lives in Odessa. Casper is a broker for Premier Realty and co-owns Casper and Friends, a company that buys and resells foreclosed real estate. 

Plantation property manager Tom Jones said Cruickshank stopped paying her association dues and ignored the late notices. "We try to work with people when they are having problems paying," Jones said. "But she made no effort whatsoever." 

The monthly fees maintain the common grounds and recreational facilities in the planned development of nearly 2,000 homes. Cruickshank is one of a handful of Plantation homeowners who have lost their homes for failing to pay their dues. 

Cruickshank, a 46-year-old single mother of three children, ages 27, 20 and 18, said she did not expect to be evicted from the home she bought in 1994 for $69,500. For eight years, she has struggled to pay the $800 a month mortgage on her salary from Wal-Mart. 

She denied receiving late notices from the homeowners association and said she was not aware of the lawsuit against her. She said she thought her former boyfriend was paying the association dues while she paid the mortgage. 

Cruickshank said she was totally surprised when Casper and a sheriff's deputy arrived at 8 a.m. Sept. 18 to take possession of the house. Her 20-year-old daughter, Rosalina, was still in her nightclothes when they were forced to leave the house. Rosalina went to her father's house in Town 'N Country and Cruickshank stayed with her sister until she found an apartment. 

Casper said he has opened the house for Cruickshank three times to let her get her belongings. 

"We even helped her move," he said. "We gave her more than a week to do it. We let her store stuff there when she had no place to store it, and we let her have the light fixtures and whatever else she wanted. 

"I feel bad for her, but if we hadn't bought the house the homeowners association would own it and they wouldn't do anything for her." 

Court records show that Plantation filed a lien against Cruickshank in February 2001 for failing to pay the assessment; a process server hand-delivered a lawsuit to Cruickshank on Dec. 19, 2001. 

Plantation attorney Francis Friscia asked the court this past February to find Cruickshank in default because she had not responded to the lawsuit. In May, the homeowners association was authorized to satisfy the debt by foreclosing on her home. 

Records show that the clerk of court mailed Cruickshank a notice to attend a July 1 foreclosure hearing in Hillsborough County court. When she did not appear, her home was scheduled for auction. 

Even after Casper bought the home, Cruickshank had 10 days to request a court hearing to prevent him from taking possession. Still, she did nothing to save her 2,000-square-foot home. 

Cruickshank and her family now rent an apartment on Waters Avenue. 

"Everything happens for a reason," she said. "How else can you look at it?"