For more than a decade the marketing tag-line for CID Analytics (CIDA), the company behind the CIDA REPORT™, has been Because You Are Buying More Than a Home!
The phrase is not intended to be a casual or catchy reference that misleads or incites the audience. When we say Because You Are Buying More Than a Home, we mean it!
Case in point is this story by Micah Smith, a morning reporter for Denver Colorado’s ABC affiliate, Channel 7. If you are a casual reader who has not been initiated into the microcosm of society known as a homeowner association (HOA), you might think this unfortunate situation is an aberration, but the fact is the same story is repeated over and over again in metropolitan areas throughout the United States and even in some semi-rural settings.
It must be stated that neither CIDA or the HOA DETECTIVE™ are attorneys and hence we are not purporting to offer legal advice. That said, anyone who purchases a home in a HOA would be well-advised to become as knowledgeable about the laws in their state as is possible, in an effort not to end up in a situation such as those hapless homeowners featured in Micah Smith’s report.
A good place to start would be to visit a website such as nonlo.com and do some research on the subject of judicial vs. nonjudicial foreclosures and which type of legal process applies in your state.
According to Nolo.com 20 states and the District of Columbia “predominately” use judicial foreclosures, which means a lender, in most instances, will have to file a lawsuit and go through a civil proceeding before the lender may foreclosure on a home. Conversely, in the other 29 states nonjudicial foreclosures are allowed, at least in some instances.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/chart-judicial-v-nonjudicial-foreclosures.html
As a you might expect, foreclosure laws are not cut and dried whether we are talking about judicial or nonjudicial foreclosures, which speaks to the issue of the importance of buyers becoming educated before they purchase a home in a HOA. Once a buyer becomes a homeowner, the need for education is imperative if you are going to avoid the misfortune of having your dream home subjected to a foreclosure proceeding as a result of a few hundred dollars in unpaid HOA fines.
For the uninitiated, we will say it again: The same level of urgency applies when a buyer is purchasing a condominium or a home in a Planned Development (PUD); whether the home is a detached or free-standing house located in a traditional residential development. If there is a HOA or condominium association involved, You Are Buying More Than a Home, when you purchase a home in one of these developments.
