HOA Fees Triple for Winter Park Woods

Homeowner’s associations (HOAs) are looked at negatively for many reasons. These associations tend to charge high monthly fees and control pretty much everything homeowners do.

One HOA has left its residents in a state of panic after tripling its HOA fees. Some residents at Winter Park Woods, a condo complex 20 minutes away from Orlando, are now paying more than $3,300 a month in fees. Many residents are now grappling with HOA fees that are greater than their mortgage payments.

One resident has lived in the community for three decades and owns a three-bedroom condo. Her fees were recently raised to $3,371.79. She is outraged, calling the increase “way too high.” She is torn because she loves the location. While she is not entertaining any offers to sell her condo at the moment, she worries it may happen in the future.

The Winter Park Woods Condominiums Association says the reason for the rate hike is because it owes Orange County millions of dollars for code violations. The raises are also necessary to cover increased insurance costs and follow new laws. Following the Surfside condo collapse in South Florida in June 2021, a new law was put in place to require structural inspections for condos more than 30 years old. In addition, more money to be set aside for repairs, leading to an increase in HOA fees.

Constant weather dangers such as hurricanes and flooding have not helped. They  have driven up insurance costs and led HOAs to raise fees in anticipation of repairs. In the case of Winter Park Woods, the HOA was underfunded.

Another Winter Park Woods resident said his fee increased from $634 to more than $2,100 a month. He initially decided to sell but received an insultingly low offer of $70,000 from an investor. Some residents did end up selling for a much lower price than they anticipated so they could be free from the rising HOA fees.

HOAs are getting tough all over Florida. It’s unfortunate that Winter Park Woods was short-sighted and its poor planning caused ridiculous rate hikes. While environmental and legal risk factors need to be taken into account, Winter Park Woods’ rate hikes were out of the ordinary.

Rising HOA fees and insurance costs has caused a huge uptick in the number of condos on the market, which has decreased prices. The number of unsold homes in Florida rose almost 23% in January. There were 172,209 homes for sale in Florida at the end of January, the most of all the months on record. To boost interest and sales, many sellers have taken 40% cuts on their asking prices.

Seek Legal Help

HOAs come with a lot of rules and high fees to boot. Many homeowners end up in nasty disputes.

If an HOA is not upholding its obligations to the community, it may leave itself open to legal action. Fort Lauderdale HOA dispute lawyer Edward J. Jennings, P.A. can help you take action. We can help you understand your options so you can avoid court. Fill out the online form or call 954-764-4330 to schedule a consultation.

Source:

dailymail.co.uk/real-estate/article-14406773/hoa-fees-monthly-increase-winter-park-woods-florida.html