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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 25, 2001
Re: A high price to pay, March 18 story.
This letter is in response to the article about Mr. and Mrs. Hammer, the East Lake couple who lost their home by foreclosure for not paying their homeowners dues.
What has happened to our morals and compassion? It is clear from the story that the Hammers were delinquent in their dues, but how did that really affect the community as a whole? Why didn't someone go to see them? If they had, I think that there would have been a better understanding of their dilemma, and there may have been a way to avoid this whole situation.
People buy in these communities in order to become part of a neighborhood. They look to the association to maintain the community and enforce the rules and regulations. However, there is an exception to every rule. This board used its power to take someone's home! How cruel can you be? The Hammers were worth $685 to this board? I would like to add that if a lien had been filed, the association would collect this debt when the house was sold.
As a local real estate broker, I have been involved in situations similar to this one. When people fall on hard times due to illness, loss of their job, etc., depression can set in, and their whole lives become completely disorganized. When this happens it is very difficult for some to reach out for help, and when they do, sometimes it's too late.
I sincerely hope that the Hammers are able to get their house and their lives back. Furthermore, I hope that this case will prove to be an eye-opener to associations and board members that their job isn't only to enforce the covenants and to maintain the community, but to protect the homeowners from situations like this one.
I would like to think that if the Hammers' situation had been known, those homeowners might have taken a collection to pay the debt owed. That is what the words neighbor and community really mean.
By the way, whatever happened to the Welcome Wagon?
-- Nancy G. Dively, Tarpon Springs
Re: More humanity needed with association fees, March 20 editorial.
If they had even a spark of compassion, this never would have happened. The neighbors are partly to blame, too, as someone could have checked on Robert and Linda Hammer when she was ill and found out they needed help. If they were not able to help her with the paperwork, they could have called in a social worker.
There is no excuse for ignoring a neighbor in need. They are not talking about people who have only lived there for a few months, as they have been there for eight years. What has happened to neighbor helping neighbor? If someone had stepped in when she was ill, they could have collected and organized her mail and helped her avoid this disaster.
That's what real neighbors used to do, but sad to say this is not the case today. Everyone seems to live for themselves and to heck with others and their problems.
The homeowners association is heartless, and if what they are doing is legal, it shouldn't be. In any other state we have lived in, when the association fee is not paid, a lien is placed on the home until it's paid. I have never heard of anyone losing their home due to a $450 debt.
The whole community should be up in arms until these people are settled back into their home, as they were before this happened. I also can't see how the buyers would even consider going through with the deal, knowing they are evicting people from their home.
-- Fran Glaros, Clearwater
Once again, I open the paper to find a picture of a sullen family that has had their home sold out from underneath them by failure to pay homeowners dues.
At this time I would like everyone who owns a home in a deed-restricted neighborhood to pull out their deed restrictions and covenants along with the bylaws and read them. Know your rights. If you don't have them, get them from a board member or neighbor. Read them before you get fired from your job, diagnosed with an illness, etc.
Get in touch with your homeowners board and introduce yourself to neighbors. These people can help you in times of need.
The old saying "ignore it and it will go away" is not true with structured homeowners associations. Put in place to protect the value of the homes within the subdivision, they need to be run as businesses. Ignoring multiple certified letters and correspondence from attorneys is just plain stupid.
None of these cases of home sales due to failure of payment of dues was just sprung on these people overnight. It took months if not years to achieve, and in every story I've read, the victim always plays innocent by stating, "I never thought they could take my home." Well, after a bunch of certified letters stating so, I'd certainly begin to believe it.
It's time for people to take responsibility for their actions. If you are having trouble making ends meet, get a neighbor, loved one, clergy, co-worker or whoever to go talk to the association. Ignoring the obvious is not the route to take.
-- L. Hatton, Palm Harbor