Landmark Legal Proceeding Provides Florida HOA and Condominium Associations with Powerful Legal Tactic

MIAMI, June 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- A new legal strategy, coined Total Recovery, has been approved in a landmark legal proceeding in South Florida, establishing a new legal trend to help strengthen HOA and condominium associations across the state and potentially nationwide.

In this landmark case, Association Law Group (ALG) devised the Total Recovery legal remedy to address the growing problem facing homeowners and condominium associations when units go into foreclosure and they are left with mounting unpaid maintenance fees.

Total Recovery is an innovative legal remedy used to recover the debt owed to homeowners and condominium associations for unpaid maintenance fees on foreclosed units beyond the statutory obligations required to be paid by first mortgagees that have foreclosed on such units.  These statutory caps on the amount payable to associations often leave communities in the position of inheriting significant amounts of bad debt, since such amounts collected from lenders rarely cover the full amount due to associations.  In turn, all of the other homeowners who are paying maintenance fees inherit these debts causing thousands of communities and condominiums to continue to struggle financially.

When this all too familiar scenario arose in a case involving a foreclosed home at Keys Gate Community, a community of over 3,000 homes in South Florida, ALG revitalized a legal tactic that has been used mostly by lenders in the past to recover post foreclosure deficiencies from borrowers, guarantors and other liable parties.

Specifically, in this case, the lender U.S. Bank National Association ("U.S. Bank") was forced into taking title to a home from Keys Gate Community Association, Inc. (the "Association") through ALG's reverse foreclosure in March of 2010.  However, once U.S. Bank paid the Association the limited statutory amounts due, the Association was still owed more than $4,300 in past due maintenance fees.  ALG then filed a motion for deficiency judgment against the prior unit owners for such amount.  The judgment was recorded and then ALG secured a writ of garnishment from the court against the prior owners' bank account for the remaining amounts due to the Association which were not collectible from U.S. Bank.  Through this method, the prior owners' bank account was eventually frozen, which enabled the Association to collect $2,160 immediately and cause the owner to enter into a Stipulation for Entry of Final Judgment of Garnishment on February 16, 2011, establishing a payment plan for the remaining amounts due to the Association.

ALG also worked closely with the prior owners to come up with a payment plan that was feasible so that the Association could be paid in a timely fashion while also taking into account the financial circumstances of such owners.  ALG also waived its legal fees in this matter.

"With ALG's Total Recovery, associations can finally recover accumulated debt on foreclosed properties despite the statutory cap on assessments afforded to lenders," explained Ben Solomon, Esq., a co-founder and partner of ALG.

The Total Recovery legal tactic continues to be tested and approved since ALG's landmark case this year – proving its viability as a new tool to help communities across Florida get back on track.  In fact, in recent weeks, ALG was granted another Total Recovery judgment in Miami-Dade in the amount of $23,717.11.  Many other Total Recovery actions have been filed across Florida.

About Association Law Group

Association Law Group (ALG) is a full service law firm dedicated to the representation of homeowner and condominium associations throughout Florida.  ALG attorneys are well known as zealous and highly effective advocates for community associations and condominiums throughout Florida.  They are legal innovators recognized for conceptualizing strategies including "Blanket Receivership," "Reverse Foreclosure," and the "Mortgage Terminator," which have helped rescue countless associations throughout Florida.

ALG currently provides legal services to hundreds of association clients throughout Florida from Pensacola to Homestead. ALG has experience in representing all types of associations ranging from high-rise condominium towers, to large master communities with thousands of homes, to smaller townhome and low-rise condominium projects.  For more information, please visit: www.AssociationLawGroup.com.

SOURCE Association Law Group