Neighborhood and community associations are another victim of home foreclosures and a soft economy. These associations, which often pay for everything from pool, roof and road maintenance to security and painting, are running low on cash.
Homeowners are paying dues late, and sometimes, especially when their houses are in foreclosure, not at all.
The Wall Street Journal explains:
A growing number of homeowner and condominium
associations across the country are raising their fees or putting the
brakes on clubhouse improvements, new landscaping and other shared
neighborhood amenities. The kitty is so low for some that essential
services, such as building maintenance, electricity, trash removal and
repairs have been cut.
As community residents lose their homes to foreclosure
and new home building has slowed considerably, many of the roughly
300,000 neighborhood associations in the U.S. are grappling with
shrunken budgets. One estimate puts the delinquency rate on dues at
less than 5 percent in many markets -- higher than normal, though still not
enough to threaten basic services, says John Carona, president of
Associa, a Dallas-based company that represents 7,000 community
associations in 26 states. Normally, the delinquency rate is about 2 percent,
he says.
My sister's condo association is facing similar issues. It has...
