I think I'm getting extorted (community fees)

[RogueInnovation]

Ok, so I bought a place (within an apartment building), and everything is all good with it, except one thing
Its community fees are in the range of 5-10 times higher if not more than literally any other place I've checked, I pay in two months what others pay in a year. I've done numbers on it, and between taxes, repairs etc, there is no way to get the property in the green while renting it out... Then I investigated these fees a bit more and it is absurd and surely where all the profit margin is being syphoned out...
Should I call a lawyer, or how should I go about this lunacy?
Is there any law limiting the president of the building to a certain range? And if so, how can I cut this bs off at its source.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[CareCPA]

Are community fees similar to an HOA? I believe with an HOA you can request access to the financials, can you do this with the community fees? Then you could see where it's all being spent.

 

[Vigilante]

Did the fees change by a radical amount since you bought the place, or did you just not identify what the fees would be before you purchased?

There's exactly zero you can do about it, other than sell it.

 

[RazorCut]

You didn't know the Common Area Maintenance fee's before purchase?

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[B. Cole]

Eek - sounds like a nice lesson on Control.

 

[Sauce]

Could be a special asessment? (Maybe they had a bunch of roofs go bad, maybe the pool area needed to be resurfaced, maybe the Mansard siding need to be replaced?

I own a condo with a $175 per month fee. It is a decent performer. Good thing about it is I am only responsible from the sheet rock in. Bad news, my COA Fee can get jacked at any time.

Only option is to take it up with the board or join the board. Read the disclosure and dig deep to see what the problem is. Hopefully you haven't bought this place yet or if you dead you read the disclosure?

 

[biophase]

Ok, so I bought a place (within an apartment building), and everything is all good with it, except one thing
Its community fees are in the range of 5-10 times higher if not more than literally any other place I've checked, I pay in two months what others pay in a year. I've done numbers on it, and between taxes, repairs etc, there is no way to get the property in the green while renting it out... Then I investigated these fees a bit more and it is absurd and surely where all the profit margin is being syphoned out...
Should I call a lawyer, or how should I go about this lunacy?
Is there any law limiting the president of the building to a certain range? And if so, how can I cut this bs off at its source.

Your real estate agent should have informed you of these fees (I'm assuming they are HOA fees) before you purchased.

You can't compare HOAs with other buildings. It doesn't work that way.

There's nothing you can do about the fees. It's pretty much impossible to lower them. Everyone in the building pays a portion according to their unit's square footage.

Why didn't you know about these before you purchased?

Just as an example. I have a 700 sf place with $500/mo fees. There's a place nearby that is 1000sf with $5000/mo fees. It's an older building, sucks to be them!

The fees are what is required to run the building. I'm guessing you purchased in an older building, or a building that has alot of amenities.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.