Tag Archives: Tampa Bay

Debt Collectors Have Rules, HOAs Don’t!

We hear it all too often on this website: How come HOAs don’t have to follow the law like all other debt collection agencies?

The only answer I have is that legislators are either crooked, or stupid, flat-out don’t care or a combination of any of the three. Believe me, your message is getting through to a handful of them. They occasionally contact me. But overall, lawmakers are feigning ignorance of this growing national scandal.

Linked below is a tragic story of an older man who’s dying of leukemia. The $75 dues payment he couldn’t afford has turned into a multi-thousand dollar campaign to snatch this man’s home. Make a note: It’s the Heather Lakes Homeowners Association near Tampa Bay, Florida. Make sure to tell your Realtor you don’t want to live there!

Debt collectors are forbidden by state and federal law from using the collection practices so common in the HOA industry. No one can tell me that this national scam doesn’t amount to organized crime. It does, and it has to be recognized as such.

(HOA fines dying man, FOX13 News)