Oh, yeah, that's fair!

It's been a while since my last post but in my defense, I've been pretty busy of late.  I decided that I'd write about something when something came along that really caught my attention.  Well, guess what?!?

Here in South Carolina, there is a publication called South Carolina Lawyers Weekly at sclawyersweekly.com).  Great periodical, it is, full of stories about lawyer and law and legal things.  In fact, in the January 6, 2020 edition (Volume 19, Volume 28), there was a really great story (Home foreclosure over $250 debt stuck down) about a family that had been foreclosed upon.

Seems that Devery and Tina Hale purchased their home in Richland County for just over $100,000 in 1998.  Around January 2011, they fell behind on HOA dues (owing about $250) and the HOA filed a lien and later filed a complaint seeking the sale of the property over $500 in unpaid dues, plus interest.  For whatever reason, the Hales didn't respond to the complaint and the HOA filed an affidavit of default.

Here's where things get interesting.  Seems the Hales home was put up for auction at which the home was sold for a whopping $3,036.  Whereupon the buyer, Regime Solutions, promptly sought to have the Heals evicted from their home - which is about the time the Hales finally woke up and took things seriously.

Upon appeal of the default and foreclosure sale, the Court of Appeals affirmed both the default judgement and the sale of the home.  When the matter finally came before the South Carolina Supreme Court, Justice John W. Kittredge, writing for a unanimous court, noted that, "the price paid for the property was so grossly inadequate that the sale could not be sustained."  The full opinion can be found at the South Carolina Supreme Court website under Winrose Homeowners' Association, Inc., v. Hale.

What is bothersome is that this case had to go to the Supreme Court before someone realized the Hales were being boondoggled.  I mean, first there was the $250 in HOA dues.  Really, you're going to flip out over $250?!?  Seems to be the case what with the HOA's attorney (one Stephanie Trotter of McCabe, Tortter & Beverly in Columbia) bragging that her firm had received seven judgments in favor of various HOA clients.  Then there was the lopsided foreclosure sale of a mere $3,036 on a $100,000 home?  Really?!?  That didn't shock the conscious of a single judge at the Court of Appeal???

I suspect, if I were an HOA board, I'd be happy to have someone like the HOA's attorney on my side but when you have a ruthless HOA who is litigation happy, who does that help?  Maybe it's time to remove that HOA board and get people who understand that sometimes people get behind on dues.  Maybe it's time they get a board that isn't so litigation happy.

Just maybe.