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Article
and Video Courtesy of FOX 13 -- Tampa Bay
By Gloria
Gomez
Published
August 25, 2011
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 Watch
VIDEO
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RIVERVIEW - Riverview resident Stephanie
Bonefont has been a homeowner for nearly 11 years, but this week she could
wind up homeless.
| The reason why is
the tricky part. The single mother is in a twisted legal
fight with her homeowners association, South Pointe of
Tampa, over unpaid dues.
And she says "they're
making off like bandits, getting paid twice for this house.
Meanwhile, I have to buy it three times."
Back in 2008, her home was
foreclosed and the title was sold. Here's the problem:
Bonefont said she never got any notices. That's because they
were mailed to the wrong address. |
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Then one day she got an unexpected knock at
her door.
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"The guy who came to my door, it wasn't
in foreclosure at this point, (the house) was in his name," she said.
The homeowners association had sold the
title to a man named Pasto Angulo for $7,400 - the amount Bonefont owned
on fees.
She fought it.
Because the notices were sent to a wrong address, a judged reversed the
sale. And she said she paid Angulo more than $7,300 to get the deed back
in her name. |
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But the homeowners association says not so
fast. It says it has no evidence that she repaid Angulo.
His attorney confirmed the sale to FOX 13 by providing a copy of the
check.
| But since the
association never received a payment directly from
Bonefont, a judge will allow the home to go up for sale
Friday.
"They are double
dipping, and unfortunately, my research didn't turn up any
cases where this has happened before because I don't think
its ever happened, " David Jordan, Bonefont's
attorney, said.
The homeowners association
said in a written statement its moving forward with the
lawsuit.
"The
court twice rejected the legal theories advanced by Ms.
Bonefont's counsel and |
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confirmed
her property should be sold for homeowners association assessments,"
a portion of it read.
It seems Bonefont's only choice to stop the
foreclosure is to write another big check, this time to the homeowners
association.
"How many people has this happened to
that are too afraid to fight - that can't fight?" she said.
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