ATLANTA, GA – August 30, 2026 (STL.News) A Georgia couple’s fight to save their first home from foreclosure is drawing attention to a financial risk that millions of Americans may underestimate when buying property: purchasing a home governed by a homeowners or condominium association means buying into the association’s finances as well as buying the house.
Tatiana Pimentel used her life savings to purchase her first home in DeKalb County, Georgia, in 2024. Now Pimentel and her fiancé, Obren Cicmil, are fighting the Whitehall Forest East Condominium Association over charges that they dispute and an attempt to foreclose on the property.
According to Atlanta News First, the association initially pursued nearly $8,000 in allegedly unpaid assessments. The couple says the amount being demanded has since increased to approximately $20,000 as additional monthly assessments and attorney fees accumulated.
The circumstances are particularly troubling because Pimentel’s closing documents reportedly showed a zero balance owed to the association when she purchased the property. Court documents nevertheless alleged that she was more than four years behind on association dues, even though she had owned the property for less than two years.
The dispute remains unresolved, and the association’s allegations should not be treated as facts. But the case offers an important warning for anyone considering a condominium, townhouse, or single-family home with mandatory HOA membership.
Before buying the property, investigate the association.
A $5.1 million warning about HOA finances
The Whitehall Forest East controversy extends well beyond one homeowner’s account.
Atlanta News First reported earlier this year that the DeKalb County community had accumulated approximately $5.1 million in unpaid water bills. Residents interviewed by the station questioned the association’s leadership, finances and governance. Some said they had requested accounting records, books and bylaws.
Association president Dean Heard told Atlanta News First that approximately 60% of homeowners were not paying their dues, leaving the association unable to pay bills or make needed pipe repairs. Heard also said he became president after discovering missing money. A police report cited by the station concerned allegations involving a former president and $3,550 in closing funds. Those allegations should not be interpreted as proof of criminal wrongdoing.
The larger financial lesson is difficult to ignore.
An HOA is not some distant corporation whose financial problems are separated from the homeowners it governs. Ultimately, virtually all of its ordinary revenue comes from the property owners.
If an association owes a large water bill, needs a new roof, faces dramatically higher insurance premiums, loses a lawsuit or discovers that its reserves are inadequate, the money generally has to come from somewhere.
That can mean higher monthly assessments, special assessments, reduced services, postponed maintenance or aggressive collection against owners who fall behind.
In other words, an HOA’s financial condition can become your financial condition after closing.
That is why buyers should examine an association with some of the same care they use to inspect the house itself.
A beautiful home with an affordable mortgage can become considerably less affordable when an association suddenly needs thousands of dollars from every owner.
Small HOA debts can become major legal problems.
The Georgia case is far from the only example demonstrating the power associations can have over homeowners.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau explicitly warns consumers that failure to pay condominium or HOA assessments can result in debt collection and even foreclosure. HOA assessments also generally aren’t part of the homeowner’s normal mortgage payment, meaning owners have a separate financial obligation they can’t safely ignore just because their mortgage is current.
The problem has become increasingly significant.
The Wall Street Journal reported this month that 6,376 properties had HOA-related foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2026, nearly 40% more than two years earlier. More than 285,000 HOA liens were reportedly filed in 2025.
Associations themselves are under growing financial pressure from insurance, maintenance, labor and repair expenses. Some older communities also face the consequences of years of inadequate reserve funding.
When owners stop paying, the homeowners who continue paying can effectively shoulder more of the financial burden. That gives associations a legitimate reason to collect assessments.
But collection can also produce extraordinary consequences.
ProPublica and Rocky Mountain PBS previously investigated HOA foreclosure cases in Colorado. In one case involving homeowners Mary and Steve Kunic, court records showed an association obtained a foreclosure judgment totaling $5,311.50.
Only $480 represented assessments, late fees, and lien fees. More than $1,800 represented legal costs and nearly $3,000 represented attorney fees, with additional attorney fees later added. The family ultimately borrowed roughly $10,000 to prevent losing the property.
That illustrates one of the greatest dangers of ignoring even a relatively modest HOA dispute.
A few hundred dollars can become several thousand dollars once interest, late charges, collection expenses, and attorney fees start to accumulate.
Enough controversial HOA foreclosure cases have prompted some states to strengthen homeowner protections.
Colorado, for example, enacted reforms requiring additional notices and repayment opportunities and restricting certain fees and foreclosure practices. State lawmakers subsequently approved further changes addressing foreclosure sales, minimum bids and attorney fees.
However, the laws vary considerably from state to state.
Homeowners should therefore never assume that keeping the mortgage and property taxes current guarantees that another creditor cannot threaten their home.
Buyers need to investigate the HOA before closing.
A prospective buyer should consider the HOA or condominium association part of the property being purchased.
Start with the association’s financial statements and annual budget.
How much money comes in every year? How much goes out? Is the association consistently operating at a deficit? Are large numbers of owners delinquent?
Then investigate the reserve account.
Associations should generally be setting aside money for predictable long-term expenses. A condominium complex knows roofs will eventually need replacement. A subdivision knows private streets, retaining walls, pools, clubhouses and other common property will eventually require significant work.
If an association collects artificially low assessments for years without adequately funding reserves, today’s inexpensive HOA dues can become tomorrow’s enormous special assessment.
Buyers should request the latest reserve study, where available, and determine whether the board is actually following its recommendations.
Insurance deserves similar scrutiny.
Ask what the association’s master insurance policy costs, what it covers, how much premiums have increased, and whether the association has experienced significant claims.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that rising insurance and maintenance expenses are among the pressures affecting associations nationwide. In one Long Island example cited by the newspaper, an association’s annual insurance expense reportedly increased from $60,000 to $360,000.
Homeowners ultimately have to absorb those costs.
Buyers should also request recent board meeting minutes. Several years of minutes can reveal issues that may not be obvious from a current budget.
Look for discussions about leaks, roofs, foundations, structural problems, insurance claims, litigation, delinquent assessments, loans, emergency repairs and proposed special assessments.
Meeting minutes can also tell you something about governance.
Are elections regularly conducted? Do homeowners participate? Are financial reports presented? Are the same people controlling the board indefinitely? Is the association frequently involved in litigation?
None of those issues automatically means a buyer should walk away, but unexplained irregularities deserve further investigation.
Buyers should also determine who actually handles the money.
Is there a professional management company? Who signs checks? Are two signatures required for large expenditures? Are bank statements independently reviewed? Does the association receive regular audits or financial reviews? Does the management company carry appropriate insurance or bonding?
Ask how much money is in checking accounts and reserve accounts and where those accounts are held.
And ask one particularly important question:
Does the HOA have significant unpaid bills, loans, or judgments?
The answer could affect every homeowner in the development.
Don’t rely only on the monthly HOA fee
Buyers understandably focus on the advertised assessment.
A house with a $150 monthly HOA payment may appear substantially more attractive than one charging $400.
That comparison can be dangerously incomplete.
An association charging $400 while properly maintaining its property, carrying adequate insurance and building substantial reserves may be financially healthier than one charging $150 while postponing maintenance and saving almost nothing.
Low dues are not necessarily evidence of good management.
Sometimes they indicate that owners have been enjoying artificially low expenses while expensive obligations accumulate in the background.
The Wall Street Journal recently advised buyers to investigate planned improvements, reserve funding, insurance claims and the overall operation of the community before purchasing into an association.
Buyers should therefore consider requesting, subject to what is available under applicable state law and association rules, documents including the budget, balance sheet, reserve study, insurance information, governing documents, assessment history, recent meeting minutes, litigation disclosures and information about pending or contemplated special assessments.
Have a real estate attorney review complicated documents when significant money is involved.
And when possible, talk to several residents who are not board members.
Ask them whether dues have increased, whether special assessments are common, whether repairs are completed promptly and whether homeowners can obtain financial information without unnecessary difficulty.
A five-minute conversation with three neighbors may reveal something that dozens of pages of sales materials do not.
Homeowners should continue watching after they buy
Due diligence shouldn’t end at closing.
Once you become an HOA member, attend meetings.
Read budgets.
Review financial reports.
Vote in elections.
Ask questions about reserves and major contracts.
Keep proof of every assessment payment, particularly if management companies or payment systems change.
If the association sends a delinquency notice that you believe is wrong, do not throw it away.
Respond in writing and keep copies.
Request an itemized accounting showing assessments, payments, interest, fines, collection charges and attorney fees.
If a lien or foreclosure notice arrives, consider obtaining qualified legal advice immediately. Waiting can turn a relatively small disagreement into something much more expensive.
Homeowners also shouldn’t assume that because an HOA board consists of neighbors, financial controls are unnecessary.
An association can control hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars belonging collectively to homeowners. It should have accounting procedures appropriate to that responsibility.
Homeowners have every reason to expect transparency, accurate records, and responsible financial management.
You are buying into a financial partnership.
The central lesson from HOA disputes across the country is not that every association is bad.
Many associations are responsibly managed, financially sound and necessary for maintaining common property. They depend on homeowners paying legitimate assessments, and persistent delinquencies can unfairly shift expenses onto neighbors who pay their bills.
The warning is instead about understanding what mandatory membership means.
When you purchase a home governed by an HOA or condominium association, you aren’t merely purchasing four walls and a piece of land.
You are entering a long-term financial relationship with every other owner in the community.
Their unpaid assessments can affect you.
The board’s decisions can affect you.
The association’s insurance costs can affect you.
Poorly funded reserves can affect you.
Deferred maintenance can affect you.
Lawsuits and unpaid bills can affect you.
And depending on state law and the governing documents, unpaid assessments can potentially put the home itself at risk.
The Whitehall Forest East case provides a particularly stark illustration. A first-time homeowner who says her closing paperwork showed no HOA balance is now defending her home against foreclosure. At the same time, the broader community has faced questions surrounding millions of dollars in unpaid water charges. The association disputes aspects of homeowners’ complaints, and the foreclosure litigation remains unresolved.
Homebuyers routinely spend hundreds of dollars inspecting foundations, electrical systems, plumbing and roofs before closing.
They should perform a financial inspection of the HOA with similar seriousness.
Because once the closing documents are signed, the association’s problems may no longer belong to somebody else.
They may belong to every homeowner in the neighborhood.
This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal or financial advice. HOA and condominium laws, lien priorities, disclosure requirements, and foreclosure procedures vary by state. Homeowners facing liens, collection actions, or foreclosure should consider consulting a qualified attorney in their jurisdiction.
