HOA Dues (when there wasn't supposed to be one)

[mathman32]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Texas (Dallas County)
We have received paperwork from an attorneys office stating that we owe the HOA money. They have now placed a lien against the home and its very close to a foreclosure process. The HOA fees have not been paid because when we purchased the home, the real estate agent (ours and the sellers), the bank, and the title company all agreed that there was no HOA. Can they legally do this for an amount less than $1000? The letter is very threatening and at this point, we are not sure what to do about this.

 

[FarmerJ]

What the real estate agents had to say about it is not that important what really counts is if the title search company missed something then I would suggest you have a claim with them and there may be some kind of recourse against the seller if you can prove they failed to disclose a HOA to you. So start with the company who did the title search.

 

[FlyingRon]

Note well, that it is NOT the HOA's fault here. Presuming this is a legally established HOA (which it appears to because they have been successful in getting the lien placed), you have NO option but to pay them to stop the foreclosure.

Texas alas has absolutely crappy protection for you. The seller is not under any obligation to inform you of an HOA unless you make a written request for such information (you should however check to see if it was actually in your purchase contract). This is opposed to like here in Virginia where the HOA information is a MANDATORY disclosure.

If you did have title insurance, that's probably your best bet.

As other's point out, verbal representations mean SQUAT in real estate transactions.