Courtesy of the Herald Tribune

Posted August 5, 2005

By PAUL QUINLAN and WILL ROTHSCHILD

SOUTH VENICE -- Karin Healy, the Venice woman whose home was auctioned after she failed to pay her homeowners' association dues, will keep her home, a judge ruled Friday.

Healy's attorney, Nancy Cason, successfully argued Friday morning that state homeowners' law provides a 10-day window for people to reclaim property that has been auctioned, provided they pay what is owed before the title changes hands.

Healy paid $6,164.58 in back dues, court costs, attorney's fees, interest and penalties on Thursday. The 47-year-old single mother of three said a Shriners clown stepped forward and helped her with the debt after hearing of her plight. She would not identify the benefactor.

The case raised questions about the power of homeowners' associations and whether they should be allowed to sell off a resident's home over a relatively small debt.