Responsibility for Past Delinquent Subdivision Dues

I have a question on Subdivision Dues not paid by a previous home owner :

We purchased a property in a Subdivision currently run by the Developer and as yet not handed over to a HOA - the property was sold to us by one of the Developers Agents.

Prior to the sale closing we and our lawyers were assured by the Agent that all property taxes and Subdivision dues had been paid in full by the seller.

This has turned out not to be the case and now the Developer has presented us with a bill for 2 years of delinquent debt from the previous owners time in residence in this house.

Our own dues since we took up residence are paid up in full annually.

• Are we liable for this debt ?
  
• Is there somewhere in written or case law to cover this issue ?

 

The developers AGENT sold the property. The key word being agent. As an agent that person is speaking on behalf of the developer.
Imho. Too bad for the developer.
Edit.. your lawyer should sort this out.

 

There should had been something along with the deed of sale to show what you are buying into.

 

Was there a document to do with subdivision rules, and restrictions of home owners ?

 

Thanks Furriner ,

I agree with you on the aspect of fair play and on that basis had previously refused to pay however there is a new Board now directly appointed by the Developer ( should these people not be elected ? ) and they have just signed an agreement between themselves that will permit them to disconnect the water supply for all delinquent non payment of dues - this gives the Developer the upper hand in this stand off .

There is a document relating to subdivision rules and restrictions however this document did not form part of the sales transaction.

The Subdivision Office and RE have pointed out to us that the onus is on us to check with them if dues are paid and to get a certificate of clearance from them prior to signing - in some regards I agree with this statement however as the Agent who sold us the property , and gave us assurances the dues were paid , was a direct employee of the Developer are we not doing this however indirectly ? That we did not get this in writing I accept is a failure on our part and that of our Lawyer whom we paid to represent our interest .

I intend to seek further clarification from my Lawyer as soon as he is available and see what wizardry he can come up with to address this f*/%k up

 

I would first check if it's a legit subdivision. Some developers build within the limit not required to be classed as a subdivision. If this is the case then the developer cannot enforce dues, and certainly cannot disrupt your water supply.

Is the sale completed already? Onbviously the sale proceeds should had gone to pay any debt on the title. Mortgage debt first , and then liens on the title. Yes a proper subdivision enforcing dues would use liens on the title from which a lawyer would then be able to identify during purchase.

 

Yes - its a legit operation - they are national developers on a large scale - they can enforce dues but they are not enforcing their own rules as set down and we will bring that back to bite them in time ...........

The sale is completed but no lien or debt were reflected on title and that is a failure on the developers part as the debt was two years in arrears.