New law affects rental properties - 6/30/2010

SB1196 goes into effect July 1, 2010 affecting all properties in communities with HOAs.

Deadbeat homeowners, tenants forced to pay up
Unpaid association fees will be cause for eviction
By DICK HOGAN • news-press.com • June 30, 2010

Starting Thursday, homeowner and condominium associations have a new weapon in their war against deadbeats.

That's the day a new state law goes into effect giving associations the right to go after renters for delinquent homeowner fees - left unpaid by an owner, often in foreclosure, who's still renting out his unit.

The law is being warmly greeted by Lee County associations, many of them financially strapped because of a wave of foreclosures that hit the area after the residential real estate market collapsed in late 2005.

"I think it's an excellent idea," said Susan Snyder, association past president for the 99-unit Centre Court condominium in Fort Myers.

Centre Court has no freeloading renters right now, but has been plagued with them in recent years with foreclosed owners who stop paying even while they continue renting, she said.

However, Snyder said, she thinks the law still needs to be changed to require lenders to pay more than the current maximum of six months' worth of back fees.

"We had one owner who died intestate, he was $12,000 arrears and we got six months out of that," she said. "They're giving us peanuts, now we want the meat."

But Dave Roberts of Dave Roberts Realty in Fort Myers, which matches tenants and owners, said he's concerned that tenants or owners could be unfairly targeted for small amounts of back fees that are delinquent as a result of a mistake or a misunderstanding.

"The problem is that most of these condo associations, these homeowners' associations, are run by volunteers, headed by volunteers," he said. "I've seen errors in communication, systems not in place."

Robert Podvin, executive director of the Community Association Institute South Gulf Coast Chapter, said the new law helps remedy one of the worst threats to the financial health of associations in Southwest Florida.

"A lot of them have been in deep financial trouble" because they've been unable to dislodge renters from non-paying units, he said.

Joe Adams, Fort Myers-based managing shareholder of real estate law firm Becker & Poliakoff, said the new law will help associations deal with non-paying unit owners.

Associations now can get rent applied to back fees by petitioning a judge to appoint a receiver who will be paid by the tenant.

The new process is intended to be cheaper than the receiver alternative but "whether it works as such remains to be seen," Adams said. "This isn't a panacea. This is one more tool in the box."