StarsGoBlue
02-10-2004, 03:59 PM
From today's Stockton Record:
County tries to help couple
Supervisors' appeal denied by homeowners
By Francis P. Garland
Lode Bureau Chief
Published Tuesday, February 10, 2004
SAN ANDREAS -- Calaveras County supervisors Monday approved asking a Copperopolis homeowners association to do whatever it can to keep a Lake Tulloch-area family from losing its home to foreclosure.
But the attorney for the Copper Cove at Lake Tulloch Owners Association said the group would do nothing to void the December foreclosure sale of Thomas and Anita Radcliff's Quill Road home, which took place after the Radcliffs failed to pay $120 in association dues.
"There is no basis to set aside the foreclosure sale," Michael Woodbury, a Sacramento attorney, said when asked about the board's written request, which was approved unanimously Monday.
"Ultimately, (the Board of Supervisors) would like the association to fix the Radcliffs' problem for them. And that's not fair."
The Radcliffs' problem came to light last month when they told the media they had lost their home to foreclosure for failing to pay $120 in homeowners dues.
Thomas Radcliff said he and his wife sent a dues payment to the association, but it still turned the matter over to a collection agency.
Supervisor Victoria Erickson said the Radcliffs' payment was $1.50 short -- and the agency and the association chose to pursue the foreclosure. "That's sickening," Erickson said.
A Bay Area man named Robert Vardanega purchased the home at an auction for a reported $70,000 -- less than half of the assessed value and only about one-fourth of what the Radcliffs claim the home is worth.
Calaveras supervisors, in their letter to the homeowners association, said this wasn't the first time the association had foreclosed on a home for similar reasons. ::: Advertisement :::
The board said it found such action "entirely inappropriate" and that foreclosure never should be used to collect unpaid association dues.
Erickson, who represents the Copperopolis area, said that although the association had a legal right to do it, she called the action "morally wrong."
Erickson called the law that gives associations the right to foreclose for unpaid dues "absolutely disgusting."
In addition to approving a letter to the association, the board agreed to send a letter to state Sen. Rico Oller, R-San Andreas, urging him to consider amendments to the current law that governs homeowners association foreclosures.
Among the board's suggested changes are a requirement that associations wait at least a year before foreclosing for unpaid dues, giving homeowners a 90- to 180-day "right of redemption" and requiring proof of personal contact for all notices.
An assessment firm that handled the Radcliffs' case for the Copper Cove homeowners group said it had sent numerous notices, but the family never responded.
Erickson, though, said the association should have made personal contact, given that the Radcliffs lived in the neighborhood.
"Why didn't they ever knock on the door and say, 'Hey, how you doing? Is there a problem? Can we help you out here?' " Erickson said.
Erickson said that when people are having medical problems, as the Radcliffs claim to have had, $120 can be tough to find. She said the association should have worked something out with the family.
Woodbury, though, said the Radcliffs had ample opportunity to make good on the dues, because they were due in January 2003 and the home wasn't sold until December.
Woodbury said he doesn't believe the law should be changed, because removing the "motivating factor" of foreclosure might prompt some homeowners not to pay their dues.
That, Woodbury said, would just put the burden on those who pay their dues and pay them on time. "That's fundamentally unfair," he said.
The Radcliffs, meanwhile, continue to battle to keep their home. They hope to convince a Superior Court judge Wednesday that Vardanega's eviction notice was flawed.
If that motion fails, the family plans to file a civil lawsuit against the association and its collection agency for breach of contract, unfair debt-collection practices and negligence, said Michael Macomber, a Sonora attorney representing the Radcliffs.
County tries to help couple
Supervisors' appeal denied by homeowners
By Francis P. Garland
Lode Bureau Chief
Published Tuesday, February 10, 2004
SAN ANDREAS -- Calaveras County supervisors Monday approved asking a Copperopolis homeowners association to do whatever it can to keep a Lake Tulloch-area family from losing its home to foreclosure.
But the attorney for the Copper Cove at Lake Tulloch Owners Association said the group would do nothing to void the December foreclosure sale of Thomas and Anita Radcliff's Quill Road home, which took place after the Radcliffs failed to pay $120 in association dues.
"There is no basis to set aside the foreclosure sale," Michael Woodbury, a Sacramento attorney, said when asked about the board's written request, which was approved unanimously Monday.
"Ultimately, (the Board of Supervisors) would like the association to fix the Radcliffs' problem for them. And that's not fair."
The Radcliffs' problem came to light last month when they told the media they had lost their home to foreclosure for failing to pay $120 in homeowners dues.
Thomas Radcliff said he and his wife sent a dues payment to the association, but it still turned the matter over to a collection agency.
Supervisor Victoria Erickson said the Radcliffs' payment was $1.50 short -- and the agency and the association chose to pursue the foreclosure. "That's sickening," Erickson said.
A Bay Area man named Robert Vardanega purchased the home at an auction for a reported $70,000 -- less than half of the assessed value and only about one-fourth of what the Radcliffs claim the home is worth.
Calaveras supervisors, in their letter to the homeowners association, said this wasn't the first time the association had foreclosed on a home for similar reasons. ::: Advertisement :::
The board said it found such action "entirely inappropriate" and that foreclosure never should be used to collect unpaid association dues.
Erickson, who represents the Copperopolis area, said that although the association had a legal right to do it, she called the action "morally wrong."
Erickson called the law that gives associations the right to foreclose for unpaid dues "absolutely disgusting."
In addition to approving a letter to the association, the board agreed to send a letter to state Sen. Rico Oller, R-San Andreas, urging him to consider amendments to the current law that governs homeowners association foreclosures.
Among the board's suggested changes are a requirement that associations wait at least a year before foreclosing for unpaid dues, giving homeowners a 90- to 180-day "right of redemption" and requiring proof of personal contact for all notices.
An assessment firm that handled the Radcliffs' case for the Copper Cove homeowners group said it had sent numerous notices, but the family never responded.
Erickson, though, said the association should have made personal contact, given that the Radcliffs lived in the neighborhood.
"Why didn't they ever knock on the door and say, 'Hey, how you doing? Is there a problem? Can we help you out here?' " Erickson said.
Erickson said that when people are having medical problems, as the Radcliffs claim to have had, $120 can be tough to find. She said the association should have worked something out with the family.
Woodbury, though, said the Radcliffs had ample opportunity to make good on the dues, because they were due in January 2003 and the home wasn't sold until December.
Woodbury said he doesn't believe the law should be changed, because removing the "motivating factor" of foreclosure might prompt some homeowners not to pay their dues.
That, Woodbury said, would just put the burden on those who pay their dues and pay them on time. "That's fundamentally unfair," he said.
The Radcliffs, meanwhile, continue to battle to keep their home. They hope to convince a Superior Court judge Wednesday that Vardanega's eviction notice was flawed.
If that motion fails, the family plans to file a civil lawsuit against the association and its collection agency for breach of contract, unfair debt-collection practices and negligence, said Michael Macomber, a Sonora attorney representing the Radcliffs.