Deadbeat Landlord/Condo Converter Ordered To Turn Over Title To 15 Units After Pocketing Rent, Stiffing Association Out Of $175K In Maintenance Fees

In Miami, Florida, The Miami Herald reports:

• A South Florida condominium converter who was renting out units but ducking his maintenance fees has been ordered to turn over ownership of 15 units to the condo association, plus rent checks that had been improperly collected. Facing possible jail time for contempt of court, developer Robert Wolfarth, the managing member of the Village at Dadeland Associates, agreed to hand over title to the units in about 90 days. He also was ordered to pay the association $11,700 in rent owed under a blanket receivership established in June.(1) [...] Once the condo association gets possession of the units, it plans to continue renting them out and using the money to pay off Wolfarth's old debts -- that is until Wolfarth's mortgage lender comes calling.

Reportedly, Wolfarth was collecting rents from his units while dodging more than $175,000 in maintenance fees.

For more, see Condo converter ordered to turn over 15 units to association (A condo converter must turn over 15 units to the condo association because he failed to follow a court order).

In a related story, see Condo associations turn to receivers to fight deadbeat investors (Condo associations across South Florida and the state are increasingly turning to court receivers - appointed by a county circuit court judge to collect rents and profits of lands involved in a dispute - to save them from deadbeat investor owners.).

(1) Under a blanket receivership, a judge appoints a single custodian to collect rents from all tenants living in units subject to foreclosure by a condo association. Such receiverships are a relatively new legal tool being used by associations to collect maintenance fees. The order against Wolfarth, issued Aug. 27, demonstrates how effectively they can be used, said attorneys representing the Village at Dadeland Condo Association.