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A HOMEOWNER was left in tears after discovering that her forever home had been sold from underneath her.
Finda Koroma, 68, has lived in her four-bedroom home in Mesquite, Texas, since January 2005.
Finda Koroma has been left sleepless and stressed out after her HOA ruined her retirement plan by selling her house from under herCredit: KERAAfter falling behind on her HOA fees, Koroma received an eviction notice informing her that her home had been sold months earlierCredit: KERA
Koroma was one of the first residents to move into the newly built homes in The Hills at Tealwood neighborhood but 19 years later, it has all come crumbling down.
The home health nurse originally from Sierra Leone has discovered that the Homeowners’ Association Board voted for the foreclosure of her property due to her debts to the HOA.
Koroma owed the HOA $3,542.64 after falling behind on paying her HOA fees after she lost work during the pandemic.
“I didn’t have clients, so there was nothing coming in. I was even behind on my mortgage,” she told Kera News.
The court order by the HOA to foreclose Koroma’s property was signed in the summer of 2021, a year and a half before it was sold.
“This is a daylight robbery,” Koroma said.
“I’ve been here all these years, worked my butt off…and then all of a sudden somebody can just come overnight and take everything away from you? Just like that?
“How would you deprive a family rip them off and you expect them to be homeless?
“You’re already taking everything away from me and if I don’t have anywhere to go I will be under the bridges, is that what the law says?”
Growing tearful, the homeowner begged for help to tackle the powers of HOAs.
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“We don’t have a voice. We are helpless. We need somebody to help us. To fight this HOA thing,” she said.
“You buy your own house and they have to control you for everything?”
“This is my retirement. I’m not going to give up without a fight.”
“Just somebody wake me up and tell me it’s a dream.”
Koroma had been making renovations to her property as and when she could afford it to eventually sell it to fund her retirement.
The homeowner claimed that she was not notified of the foreclosure of her property by the HOA and that she only found out when she received an eviction notice.
However, in the HOA’s foreclosure application to the court, it submitted documents saying Koroma had been notified both by mail and private process server,
Koroma says she is sleepless and stressed not knowing where to go if she is evicted from her home.
According to Hera News, Zillow estimates that Koroma’s home is worth about $340,000.
However, when a property is put through the foreclosure process, it is given to the highest bidder in an auction run in the county.
The HOA takes out the resident’s debt from the proceeds of the sale along with legal fees and other costs and the money left over goes to the resident who lost their home.
Koroma’s home sold for $82,000 and once the HOA took out her $3,500 debt and almost $4,500 for legal fees and other costs, Koroma was handed just under $74,000.
Those rules run with the land. You buy the land, and you’re subject to those HOA rules.
Attorney Nick VeachKera News
Jason Reed, a lawyer for The Hills at Tealwood HOA, defended the foreclosure of her home, saying is it the solution the association had available to them.”
“Unfortunately, from time to time, they have to utilize that remedy in order to recover funds that are that are owed to the association that haven’t been paid,” Reed told the news outlet.
“When residents don’t pay the HOA fees that cover the costs of operating the association and maintaining shared amenities, the other people in the community are effectively carrying the burden of that person not paying.”
Koroma claims that Summit Residential Services which purchased her home only gave her notice of her eviction in August last year, eight months after her home was sold.
This many months after the sale, Koroma could no longer save her home by paying back her HOA debt and she appealed her eviction with the help of Legal Aid of Northwest Texas.
“I know she’s upset about it, but my guy is just an innocent purchaser at the foreclosure sale and owns the house and needs to get her out so he can sell it or lease it,” Drew Siegel, a lawyer who represents Summit Residential Services said.
Summit Residential Services then filed a lawsuit suing Koroma for over $25,000 in rent for the months that she has been living at the house after it became their property.
“Those rules run with the land. You buy the land, and you’re subject to those HOA rules,” Nick Veach, an attorney specializing in HOA lawsuits told the news outlet.
“And all HOAs give a right to foreclose.”
“The law needs to change,” Koroma said.
According to Dallas County Texas Courts records, the lawsuit Koroma is facing concerning rent payment to Summit Residential Services is still pending.
Meanwhile, the foreclosure filing between The Hills at Tealwood Homeowner’s Association and Koroma reads that the judgment was awarded to the HOA and against Koroma.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to Siegel, Reed, and Legal Aid for comment on the case.
Koroma is begging for changes to be made to HOA powers as her future hangs in the balance after living in her home for 19 yearsCredit: KERA
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This article was originally published by a www.the-sun.com . Read the Original article here. .