Hard-Pressed Homeowners Facing Another Financial Threat

Estrella Bryant's town house, second from right, in the Potrero Hill district of San Francisco was nearly foreclosed on.
Photo credit: Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

By Ngoc Nguyen

Published: April 14, 2011

Estrella Bryant was at risk of losing her San Francisco town house last year. Ms. Bryant, 70, had not fallen behind on her mortgage payments. Instead, she owed $560 in dues to the Parkview Heights Homeowners Association. The association turned over the case to a collection agency and threatened to foreclose unless Ms. Bryant paid off her debt, which increased tenfold because of fees and interest. “It’s been a nightmare,” said Ms. Bryant, a Filipina immigrant who lives on Social Security and occasional bookkeeping jobs. She said she repeatedly asked Parkview Heights representatives why she was dealing with a debt collector instead of the association.

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