When things in life seem impossible to overcome, TikTok is the pace to go for potential answers, advice, and help in general. Sometimes the sense of community on the app is quite a thing to behold as people are able to air their frustrations and expose the injustices of the world.
In this case, a woman by the name of Britney has come to the app seeking the help of the community after the HOA managing at her condo hiked up the monthly fee by an exorbitant amount while also demanding a huge payment separate from those fees. The reason for this is supposedly due to the Surfside apartment collapse in 2021, and after the incident, a law was created that meant condominium complexes had to fully fund their reserves. Unfortunately, it seems Britney’s complex had much less money in the reserves than it needed, meaning the residents would have to pay up.
Her and the other residents have been left at an impasse as it seems no one is able to put together the money required to help restore the reserves. And considering how much it all comes to, it makes sense that no one has the money. At least Britney isn’t alone in the situation, but it just shows how unreasonable the HOAs demands really are.
To make up the money needed, the board of directors put together a plan to get residents to pay. It would require them to pay a fee between $11,148 and $22,104 depending on how each condo is assessed. The amount to pay would be split with 50% being paid at the end of June and the rest at the end of July. This news was given to residents on the 23rd of April, with Britney’s apartment being evaluated at $15,569, meaning she would need to find over $7,500 in less than two months and then pay the same one month later.
But there’s more. The board also increased the monthly fee from $651 a month to $1,824 effective June 1st. Now, $651 a month is already an insane fee for the HOA with many in the comments claiming they only paid around $30 where they lived. To increase it by almost 300% is downright criminal, and in the middle of a cost of living crisis when people are already struggling to pay rent as it is! Britney is visibly upset in the video, this is the first property she’s ever bought so she also has mortgage payments on top of all of this.
I do not make enough money to have that much saved up, I don’t. And it’s not just me, there’s so many families that live here and like elderly people.
You may be wondering if those involved have the option to just not pay the HOA fees. Well, according to an article from the Townsq blog, it could lead to “loss of certain privileges or access to amenities provided by the HOA.” But that’s best case scenario. The article also states that “HOAs may have the right to take legal action to collect unpaid fees.” So Birt and the other residents could be in real trouble if they don’t pay up.
Is there something fishy going on here?
In the video, she also mentions that prior to all this, a company approached the residents looking to buy everyone out of their homes. Is there a relation here? It’s not clear, but some of the comments suggested that someone on the board may have been involved with the company and they were looking to make it too expensive to live there so people would up and move.
Britney does confirm that the board members that were voted in were not actually residents, and that they were board members for other complexes in the area where they were pulling the same tactics. Maybe it is all part of a sinister plan to price people out rather than buy them out. Either way, it doesn’t sound legal, and Britney and the other residents vowed to fight their case with the hopes of removing the current board, in the comments she also revealed that they had hired an attorney.
Other comments advised taking the story to Channel 9 News to expose the situation. Another suggested getting a ‘forensic audit’ to examine the HOAs financial records. All good advice for sure, but the whole thing would actually end up sorting itself out as Britney revealed in an update video posted last month.
The video starts with her barely containing a big grin as she explains how the board meeting went. The residents had banded together with the hopes of voting out the current members and their plan came to fruition as a new board was ultimately put together. While she does admit that they still have issues to work through, the new members are hoping to find away to fill up the reserves in a way that won’t financially cripple everyone who lives there.
Many suspected that the old board conceded because they were up to something shady. If that’s the case, I’m sure we’ll get another update video, but for now, Britney and the other residents are probably all breathing a huge sigh of relief after this big win.