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only publishing my interpretation of my situation. You should seek your
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I heard today that a friend/neighbor of mine is going to
Small Claims Court for his unpaid condo fees. We chatted for a
bit. I feel glad that I was able to tell him how mine went. It
was unfortunate that I did not have any good news to tell him,
but he at least got the benefit of hearing what I went through.
The highlights of advice to him were that the prosecuting
lawyers will come after him personally, not just after the real
estate. If they were just going after the real estate, I do not
think they would even have to go to Small Claims Court. Also,
they would come after all of his assets including any vehicles,
real estate, checking accounts, savings accounts, stocks, bonds,
brokerage accounts, wages... and they would come after him
relentlessly. It was not a very encouraging conversation. I did
advise him to speak with a lawyer and pay the condo dues before
it ever got to Small Claims Court as the attorneys would tack on
hefty fees and penalties and interest. I do not know if he
has enough money to pay them, but he will end up in a deposition
after the Small Claims Court hearing if he does not. If he finds
any other way out of it, I will be surprised.
He was also going to a foreclosure
hearing downtown for one of his condos. He texted me later that
they set a date sixty (60) days out for foreclosure. That would
give him a little time to find a buyer, but he doubted he would
find one (I doubted as well). Surprisingly, he had already
submitted two sale contracts to the banks earlier. Both,
however, had been rejected by the banks. One was only ten
thousand dollars ($10,000) short of what the bank wanted
(although only half of what the mortgage was). It is like the
banks do not want short sales. They seem to prefer foreclosures.
Rest assured, they will be getting their fair share of
foreclosures from down here on Perdido Key.
The bad thing about the
foreclosure extension is that he will not find a buyer, most
likely; and he will be liable for the condo fees during that
time as well. He would have been better off without the
extension.
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