A HOMEOWNER has paid thousands of dollars to try and keep her home, but it was still sold at foreclosure for just a few bucks.
Residents in Georgia are feeling broken by their homeowner's associations as the HOAs are able to just take people's houses.
"It’s totally insane," Tricia Quigley, a former Cherokee County homeowner, told WSB-TV.
"It’s totally insane."
She found out how an HOA can snatch your home from right under you the hard way.
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Quigley's home of 18 years was sold at foreclosure for less than the average price of gas in the US.
As of today, the average regular gas cost for a gallon is $3.64, according to the AAA.
"It went for $3.25," Quigley stated.
When she owned the home, she said she did not pay two of her biannual homeowner association dues.
The payments were a total of $800 but ended up putting out even more as a result.
Quigley paid over $10,000 trying to get right with the HOA.
Despite her efforts, the late fees and attorney fees kept growing.
"I kept thinking I paid all this money; how come it’s not stopping," she said.
A big part of the costs came down to attorney fees.
Everything she did in connection to the case increased the bill, including sending emails.
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Every attempt to contest, fix, or even pay the overdue bill affected the cost of fees running up to the thousands.
Another homeowner, Juliet Graham, had to pay even more than Quigley by the time she finally sold her downtown Atlanta condo.
"You broke us," Juliet Graham stressed.
"We’re broke."
Two metro Atlanta law firms specializing in representing HOAs have filed 279 notices for damage and foreclosure notices in the past three years, WSB-TV found.
"I can’t imagine the mafia having been any worse than what my experience was with this," Graham said.
A number of bills have been introduced recently by Democratic Georgia State Senator Donzella James that try to reign in overly aggressive HOAs.
"People need to be protected and safeguarded against foreclosures," State Senator James stressed.
