Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

I am curious why you were not paying the Homeowner's Association regular and/or special assessments? Regardless of whether you were going to keep the house or not, you are required to pay HOA assessments until you sell the home or it is foreclosed. Unlike property taxes, it is a personal obligation that you must repay, whether you keep the house or not. In my substantial experience with homeowner's association debts and their collection tactics, you're going to end up repaying 100% of what they demand. If you can find some point along the way where they did not comply with the law, you might be able to avoid some of the fees, but if you are retaining the home, you're going to be forced to repay the entire, past-due amount. They likely have, or will soon record a lien against your home which means they can foreclose the home, and/or wait to force repayment when it is sold, refinanced or title is otherwise transferred. Even if you walk away from the house, their going to keep coming after you. They can also sue you and obtain a judgment which will allow them to levy bank accounts and garnish wages. My suggestion is to negotiate the best-possible repayment plan and stick to it. HOA's have become the nastiest debt collectors we deal with, and they are just not willing to negotiate down on the assessments or their costs.

*Due to the limitations of the LawGuru.com Forums, The Gibbs Law Firm, APC's (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. Further, information you provide to the Firm through this website is not confidential - it is available publicly to anyone visiting this website. The Firm shall have no obligation to keep the information you provide herein confidential in any context. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence. As required by 11 U.S.C. �528, we must now disclose that, "We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. Assistance we provide with respect to Debt Relief may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code."