Lauren Ritchie COMMENTARY March 17, 2013

Sixteen homes, 16 sets of panicked owners. The residents of a Leesburg subdivision that went belly up during the real-estate bust face a financial dilemma that’s the result of greedy investors, a failure by lawmakers to think ahead and maybe the alignment of the planets. Unfortunately, the same the thing could happen to homeowners across Florida. The retirees at the Cottages of Sanders Grove at the Heritage report that they’ve just had their homeowner-association fees jacked up from $180 a month to nearly $500. And that’s just for this year. If they can’t — or won’t — pay, the association can foreclose on them. And guess who controls the association? The investor who just bought the project. What a clever idea. Raise the rates, and when people can’t pay, take their houses.  Read more:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-lauren-ritchie-homeowner-associations-20130317,0,3618114.column