Q If the HOA has title to a unit and a bank holds the mortgage and takes it back from the HOA is the bank responsible for all expenses? i.e., maintenance, tax, water and electric. The bank has allowed one unit to become inhabitable and it has become a burden and blight to the community.

—Banking on It

A “When you say the bank “takes it back” from the HOA—I am assuming that you mean the bank has now foreclosed its mortgage and has become the new owner of the unit,” states Attorney Eric Glazer, the founding partner of the community association law firm of Glazer & Associates, P.A., in Fort Lauderdale.

“On the day the bank takes title, they owe the association the lesser of one year of assessments or one percent of the original amount of the mortgage they foreclosed on. That’s it. Going forward however, the bank has the same responsibility to maintain the unit as does every other owner in the community.For example, the bank cannot let the unit become infested with mold growth, which would endanger the health and safety of the surrounding owners and surrounding units.Furthermore, the bank must pay monthly assessments like all other owners. If the bank is failing to do either, the association must contemplate legal action against the bank and if successful, the association would also recover attorney’s fees and costs.”