A foreclosure badly affects the Home Owners’ Association of an area. Large number of HOAs have been facing monetary crises as a result of foreclosure. Homeowners who are facing a cash crunch sometimes are forced to discontinue paying the HOA fees that is required for maintenance of the overall property such as mowing lawns, pest control, trash services, and maintenance. We recently came across an article at realestateproarticles.com about the increasing incidents of foreclosures affecting HOA. The HOA in these scenarios the Association will be forced to make use of its own cash reserves for covering the overall maintenance needs of the property. Consequently, the HOAs balance of cash reserves declines terribly that forces the HOA to stop the progress of many important maintenance programs. This in turn leads to the deterioration of the entire neighborhood. The increasing numbers of abandoned homes in Houston and Dallas have been driving Home Owners’ Association around the city and across the state to increase the monthly association fees to cover these shortfalls. The HOAs are trying to implement all possible measures to solve this grim issue. In order to get rid of the negative impact of foreclosure in their respective neighborhoods and communities, regular meetings are being held to find a tangible solution for dealing with such foreclosed homes. Similarly, the number of HOA foreclosures is also rising throughout the country. Generally, a foreclosure happens when the homeowner fails to pay his mortgage payments. In the same way, A Homeowners’ Association also has the authority to conduct a foreclosure process against a homeowner who stops paying his/her HOA fees. Besides the problem of association dues, HOAs are also facing several other problems owing to foreclosures. The ever-increasing number of foreclosure and short sale homes are being sold at nearly half of their original price. This will significantly lower the value of the homes compared to their original worth. This will also affect all real estate properties in the neighborhood and thus, the overall housing market will be badly affected. The economic downturn has affected millions of American who have lost their jobs and their homes. The residual effect from these tragedies are that the communities that the homeowners were in are also being brought into the story by the effect that it has the value of the properties in the community, strains on HOA budgets for maintenance, blights of foreclosed and distressed homes in neighborhoods. When we evaluate the impact to our communities in Houston, Dallas, or anywhere in the United States; we realize that the struggle of homeowners extends to the community as well, and it is not a private tragedy that is playing out. ...read more