Condominium Corporation Forecloses on $4.70 Outstanding (Plus $3000 Lawyer Bill)

In 2009, Geeta Ramcharitar of the Venetian Village condominium, in Melbourne Florida, had a $4.70 outstanding sum owed to the corporation. It’s not clear why the sum was outstanding, or why the board simply didn’t write off less than a fiver in debt, but the debt existed.

Instead of resolving the issue – the corporation requested their law firm to start a collection process. By the middle of 2010 the law firm had billed about $3000 to collect this fiver. The corporation was then able to retain a court hearing to foreclose on the unit to collect outstanding amount, interest, fines and lawyer fees. The good news is the judge threw out the foreclosure and the amount owning.

The board of the condominium should literally be slapped. Multiple times. In order to collect on $4.70 they wasted a huge amount of people’s time – including mediation and court time – and a lot of people’s money. In essence, the board made a very very stupid decision (they are there to make decisions in the best interest of the condominium) – and should have written off the amount a long time ago. For good measure the lawyer should be slapped too – for padding her income on such a frivolous request.