Central Florida HOA Uses Court Process To Hijack Another Homeowner's Unit, Evicts Existing Tenant, Finds New Renter

In Wesley Chapel, Florida, The Tampa Tribune reports:

• The Bridgewater homeowner's association doesn't own the house Connie Hicks rented. But that didn't stop the association from evicting Hicks, giving her 24 hours to pack up and leave. Now, a new family lives there and they're paying $250 more a month more in rent. What's more, the money is going to help pay off a lien the association filed against the homeowner.
  
  
• "It created a big mess for me," said Hicks, who lived there for seven months. "I wouldn't want any other renter to go through this." Hicks was shocked because she thought she did everything she was asked to by the association and by the courts.
  
  
• Still, she was booted from the house as part of Bridgewater's controversial legal strategy, first reported by The Tampa Tribune earlier this month and now the subject of news coverage nationwide.
  
  
• The association's aggressive interpretation of Florida law has legal experts debating how much power a homeowner's association has. [...] Court records show that so far this year, the association tried to evict tenants in six houses. The association is using a Florida law that says an association can evict a tenant if the homeowner fails to pay association fees.
  
  
• Bridgewater goes through the legal process of evicting, but what happens next has some real estate attorneys and homeowners crying foul.

For more, see Another renter evicted by homeowners' association.