My question involves a condominium located in the State of: Florida.
In Orlando FL, we bought a condo in 2005 and a little over a year ago we felt as if we were being ripped off by our HOA. When we first moved here, the monthly fees were $200. We thought that was ridiculous but we struggled to pay it. We were dumb not to attend the meetings but once they abusively raised the rate to $225 and then $250 six months later, we got fed up and went to a meeting to see if they could justify these ridiculous charges.

We found out that the HOA had taken out a high 6-figure loan to repair units long before we moved there. The interest rate on that loan is a little high too. We had no idea about that when we moved here, we were helping to pay a debt that took place long before. None of that was disclosed to us at the closing when we made the purchase. If we had known that, we would not have purchased here. That was our first time buying a home so that was one of the many questions we didn’t know to ask. We felt completely screwed.

That was a little over a year ago and since then, I lost my job, had a death in the family and suffered a miscarriage after a bad car accident (we were never compensated for that accident even though the other driver was pronounced recklessly at fault). We just could not afford the HOA fees. We stopped paying. Then our mortgage interest rate became “adjustable” and we could not afford the mortgage either. It took me forever to find another job and when I did, it was only part time and after 4 months, shortly after my promotion, they laid everyone off. So we tried to get a modification from Countrywide and they screwed us over with horrible terms, promised to send us other paper work that never showed up and now all of a sudden we owe Bank Of America instead of Countrywide.

Now a little over a year of not paying HOA dues we received a letter saying that we must appear in court for July 13, 09. We see no way to send this association $250 per month when we have no idea if we are going to get an affordable modification agreement from BOA. We have a little money saved up in case we are tossed out on the street so that we can maybe rent an apartment and avoid homelessness. If we give them what little we have saved, then we cant afford to move if BOA doesn’t give us a modification we can afford. My husband’s income affords us utilities, food, gas and the ability to keep repairing our lemon vehicles that break down on us, so that we can get to work. I am only working part time now making $150 per week and $125 is the least expensive child care we can get.

Lastly we were approached by brokers who scouted us like vultures and they promised us that they can get us an affordable mortgage payment that includes HOA, property tax and mortgage at a reasonable interest rate under “Obama’s New Plan”. However, these so-called brokers want an upfront fee of $1300 that we cannot afford. We saw people on the news that people have been scammed and not helped by upfront-fee-charging organizations. It is supposedly illegal to charge an upfront fee for these services in Florida, but these brokers tell us that according to “Florida Statutes” they can charge a fee.

We are afraid of getting scammed. We are trying to see if BOA will give us a mortgage modification. And that process has already been started but we have not received their quantitative decision yet. So my questions are:

1) Will the HOA be able to remove us from our home? If so, how much time do we have in our home before we are thrown out? If they throw us out, will we still have to pay them? What if we just cannot afford to pay them?

2) What are our rights in this situation? Is seems like we have none.

3) Why are we obligated to help this HOA pay back a loan that took place before we moved here, when none of this was given to us in writing when we closed on this purchase? We never received an itemized list of what the HOA dues were paying for or anything. Will a judge take that into consideration?

4) Will a judge allow us to pay just what we can afford? Like if we can only afford $50 for now, and we pay that consistently, could they still throw us out of our home?

5) We cannot afford an attorney. So what should we do in court on July 13th? What information do we need to bring with us? What do we say?

6) We have shredded the paperwork that proves I was in a bad car accident in 2007 when we realized that we would never be compensated for it. Is the judge going to hold that against us? That accident costs us so much loss financially that it helped spin us into the foreclosure and inability to keep paying the HOA fees.

7) Can or will they garnish my husband’s wages or our income tax return?

8) We may never be able to pay back over a year’s worth of fees and current ongoing fees. You cant get water from dry sand. What are our options and rights?

9) We have a 1st and 2nd mortgage. Would the Condo Assoc. have to buy out the lenders in order to foreclose? If they do have to buy out lenders can Assoc. still come after me for deficiency if they auction property for less than what they paid to my lenders?

10) Is it worth it to trust a broker to help us with this problem and just try to find a way to pay their $1300 upfront fee?