abc ACTION NEWS: Missing a simple HOA fee could lead to losing your home
Legally little can be done
By Sarina Fazan
March 2, 2016
Oleg Stepanov is a husband and father to a 9-year-old boy and 2-year-old girl. About a year ago, he received a letter that put him in a state of panic. “It was scary because I opened a letter and [it] says they would foreclose on my house if I did not pay $750,” Stepanov said. Stepanov was not only panicked but confused. He moved to the Panther Trace subdivision from Canada nearly a year ago but never got his HOA bill. “In Canada I got mail forwarding here for a year. But I did not get that mail, and I still did not receive those bills,” Stepanov said.
He said he tried to pay his $75 fee only to be told the HOA already handed it over to a lawyer. By that point, a legal fee had been added to what he owed, increasing his bill to $750. Reluctantly, Stepanov settled. He said he had no choice under threat of foreclosure. He said that he even had to borrow money from neighbors to pay the bill. Read more: