“We are going to attempt a short sale. We have almost no money and can’t pay the mortgage and probably can’t keep paying the HOA fees either. Will not paying the HOA fees hurt our chances of doing a short sale?”
Answer:
Back HOA fees have to be paid in full in order to do a short sale.
The good news is banks will often pay back HOA fees on a short sale. If the bank refuses, since you don’t have the money, then the buyer would be asked to pay them in order to buy your home.
If the bank and buyer won’t, you might need to find the money to pay them in order to complete the short sale. (We advise our clients who are not paying HOA fees to try to put that money aside if needed.)
The bottom line is that you likely won’t need to pay them.
