abc15.com: Valley man shocked by HOA lawyer fees

January 31, 2014 — By Joe Ducey

PHOENIX – You know the feeling when you get close to paying off a debt? It’s great! A huge weight off your shoulders. Well imagine thinking you’re a few payments away, only to find out you owe way more than you thought. It happened to Anthony Beltran of Chandler. But this wasn’t some random miscalculation on his part. After fighting his way through bankruptcy, things were starting turn around for him. But one debt that didn’t go away were Homeowner’s Association Fees. He’d been paying it off for about a year and figured he had about $500 left, but wanted to know the exact amount.

Since Beltran received the debt notice from the HOA’s attorney, he called them to find out. He says they wouldn’t tell him over the phone but offered to email him the information. The email showed he owed $942.13 What? He thought he owed half of that!  “So I started digging through all of the files they’d emailed me,” said Beltran. “That’s when I saw the additional fees and I was dumbfounded.”
Nearly half of the bill was for attorney fees. Read more: