Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

HOA's lien on my mother's house

My mother recently received correspondences from an attorney's office representing her HOA stating that there is a lawsuit against her to foreclose her home due to unpaid HOA dues. Last week a summons was served to her. I do not know what to do. My mom never received any prior letters/bills in regards to her HOA dues. Her last name happens to be the same as the previous owners so all these correspondences were forwarded to the old owner's new address. She never got any of these letters until recentlly. we only found out about this when the lawyer's office forwarded the lawsuit letter to another homeaddress. now there is a lawsuit against her, a lien on her property, and dues and fees assessing to approx $3500 for dues that are only $500. should we justpay the $3500? or do we have any rights because she never received HOA bills or correspondences? please help, our deadline is drawing near


Asked on 8/26/07, 7:20 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: HOA's lien on my mother's house

You are correct to pay attention to that deadline; be sure to write to the attorney and to the court (if the suit has been filed).

You need to review the closing documents from when your mom bought the house. Each and every obligation that was outstanding at the time of the sale should have been dealt with at closing.

That's what you pay title insurance for. So, this could be a title insurance problem.

I can't tell for sure without seeing the documents.

Also, having mail forwarded is not valid service. But that is cold comfort because if they take a default it is harder to deal with the foreclosure than if you just step up and respond.

That said, you need to lawyer up. Check avvo.com ( a v v o ) for a local real estate attorney who can handle litigation.

The risk of not responding is losing the condo.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell

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Answered on 8/26/07, 11:12 pm


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