Hawaii Condo Associations Feel Pinch From Non-Maintenance-Fee-Paying Owners; Some Use Utility Shut-Offs To Persuade Delinquents Into Coughing Up Cash

In Maui, Hawaii, The Maui News reports:

• Psst! Hey, buddy. Wanna buy a foreclosed condo in Wailea? One dollar! Believe it or not, it happens - but it can be a bad bargain. As more and more financially strapped apartment owners fall behind on their common area maintenance fees, condo associations find themselves feeling the pinch. The quitclaim foreclosure auction is just one of several unpleasant choices facing association boards when members quit paying their fees, which at upscale projects can easily run $1,000 a month.

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• Another tactic is to try to pressure the delinquent by shutting off the water, cable television or even electricity. Robert Miskae, past chairman of the Condominium Council of Maui, said that his group has been advised by one of Maui's leading condo law attorneys to avoid shutoffs, because of potential health and safety issues.

For more, see Isle condo boards get creative to obtain fees (As more financially strapped owners becoming delinquent, associations feel the pinch).