Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New Jersey

Re: HOA going after me for previous owner's debt

I generally agree with John, but have some questions. Did your closing attorney contact the HOA before the closing to advise of the sale and determine if there were any contributions due from you, plus outstanding bills from the former owner. Was the balance due by the former owner reduced to a judgment, which would place a lien against the property and be picked up in the title search. Did you or your attorney review any collateral documents such as Deed restrictions in favor of the HOA, By-Laws of the HOA, etc. In most instances, knowing there was a HOA and that all property owners were required to become members, some pre-closing contact should have been made with HOA, which would have brought this to light. If the HOA had not reduced their claim to a lien, you might not be responsible, although most HOAs provide in their HOA documents that arrearages can be collected from a subsequent owner. Your closing attorney may have dropped the ball by not contacting the HOA before the closing. This is a response to an Internet question and the reply is not intended to be legal advice or as creating an attorney-client relationship.

Re: HOA going after me for previous owner's debt

I'll give you the textbook answer, but you will need to have a lawyer look over the documents.

The HOA is entitled to its fees if and only if the obligation to pay them runs with the land. To do that, it should be recorded on the deed or another document that a title search would find. If it is recorded, you title search should have found it and it would have been mentioned in the title report. Then the amount due would have been investigated and paid at closing.

So, it sounds like somebody dropped the ball. The problem is to determine who. You may get some results if you call your title insurance company and tell them that you want to make a claim. Better still, have a lawyer look at what you have and advise you on your rights.

Call if I can be of help to you.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm