Speaking with CBS News Miami, Farthing has expressed just how stressful the situation has become. “I’m lucky to feed my dog some days, you know, I just don’t get out of bed because I can’t,” she said. “I can’t deal with it.”
According to a Campbell Property Management opinion piece, aging condo buildings are incurring heavy bills for condo-owning retirees across Florida –– as state rules enforce compulsory inspections and repairs of older buildings. A data report by real estate company ATTOM also showed that Florida is among the states with the highest foreclosures in the U.S., with 34,336 foreclosure starts in 2025.
The $2,300 bill threatening to make a retiree homeless
Farthing had to retire early because of the COVID-19 pandemic and health problems. Currently, she lives with diabetes, PTSD and an autoimmune disease. She has to pay $2,300 monthly for repairs to her 50-year-old building as part of mandatory assessments.
Farthing and 20 other homeowners have received help from United Way Broward, with Farthing getting nearly $10,000 in what United Way’s Vice President of Housing, Rebecca McGuire, described as “a one time, $200,000 grant specifically for HOA and taxes.” McGuire is unsure that they’d get more of that grant again.
McGuire believes the situation is pressing enough to require the intervention of lawmakers. She told CBS News Miami that “people are going to lose their homes. The situation of homelessness is going to go through the roof. People are going to walk away from condos where they put their life savings into and they’re going to sit empty.”
How Florida’s condo foreclosure actually works
Standard mortgage default protections don’t apply to Farthing’s case, as it falls under condo association law. According to Florida Statutes Chapter 718, Section 116, every condominium association (COA) automatically holds a legal claim against your property for any unpaid monthly dues, special assessments, fines or late fees.
Even if you have completely paid off your mortgage and own the home outright, the association can still place a lien on your property and eventually foreclose on it if you refuse to pay your community dues.
Under Florida Statutes Section 718.116(3), once an owner falls behind on payments, their unpaid assessments accrue interest from the due date at the rate provided in the declaration of condominium (not to exceed the rate allowed by law), or 18% per year if no rate is specified in the declaration.
