DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – About 350 Dallas–Fort Worth homes are currently facing foreclosure not because the owners are behind on mortgage payments, but because they owe money to their homeowners associations or equity loan holders.
This number accounts for less than 10 percent of the total foreclosure postings for May in the four-county area, but the number of filings is increasing, said George Roddy, president of Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service.
Homeowners associations (HOAs) debts typically include unpaid dues, fines or special assessments. Each HOA is governed independently and the HOA foreclosure filings do not have to specify how much is owed, which varies widely.
Because foreclosures by HOAs do not include the original debt on the properties, the buyers of those properties have to negotiate to pay the original mortgage. Owners have six months after the sale to redeem their ownership by paying the HOA debt, according to Roddy.
Additionally, nearly 250 foreclosure filings were made in DFW this month that were the result of defaults on home equity loans.