Janor Farthing, a 68-year-old retiree living in the Carriage Hills condominium in West Hollywood, Broward County, is facing foreclosure for failing to pay nearly $18,000 in special assessments that her association is charging to fund mandatory renovations in the 50-year-old building.
Farthing lives on a monthly Social Security check of approximately 1,700 dollars, but her association demands 2,300 dollars a month in maintenance fees, an amount that far exceeds her income and has brought her to the brink.
"There are days when I'm lucky if I can feed my dog. I can't get out of bed. I can't handle this," Farthing told CBS Miami.
The situation is worsened by his health problems: he suffers from diabetes, post-traumatic stress, and an autoimmune disease, and he had to retire early due to the pandemic.
"I fear I might end up living in my car. I've thought about giving my dog up for adoption; he's the only thing I have in my life right now," he said.
United Way Broward intervened and provided nearly 10,000 dollars from a unique fund of 200,000 dollars allocated for homeowners' association debts and taxes, benefiting around 20 homeowners in the county.
However, the assistance did not solve the problem: the outstanding debt remains at nearly 18,000 dollars, and the association's lawyer has already sent a letter threatening to initiate the foreclosure process.
"It was a one-time grant of $200,000 for HOA fees and taxes. I don't know if we will receive it again," warned Rebecca McGuire, Vice President of Housing at United Way Broward.
A judge will decide this month whether to grant Farthing more time to settle the debt.
The case is not isolated. According to a report by Moneywise, Florida recorded 34,336 foreclosures initiated in 2025, making it one of the states with the highest rate in the country. In Broward, inquiries from seniors at risk of foreclosure increased from 14% of housing cases handled by Coast to Coast Legal Aid in 2022 to 25% in 2024.
The root of the problem lies in the state law approved after the collapse of the Champlain Towers South building in Surfside in 2021, which resulted in 98 deaths. The regulation mandates that condominiums of three or more stories undergo structural inspections at 30 years of age and finance reserve studies every 10 years, leading to increased assessments in older buildings throughout the region.
What many property owners do not know is that these debts with the association are particularly dangerous: under Chapter 718 of the Florida Statutes, an association can place a legal lien on any unit and foreclose on it even if the owner has no mortgage and holds full ownership of the apartment. Interest on unpaid debts can reach 18% annually.
This crisis hits particularly hard in communities with a high concentration of older Cuban-Americans, such as Hialeah, Westchester, Kendall, and parts of Broward. In Hialeah alone, there are more than 21,000 units in condominiums with at least 10 apartments, and half of the condominium declarations were recorded in 1985 or earlier.
The case of the Coral Gate East condominium in Hialeah, with a predominantly Cuban community, illustrates the risk: it was declared unsafe by Miami-Dade and fined $42,000 for failing to complete the structural recertification.
The condominium market reflects the weight of the crisis: in September 2026, there were almost four sellers for every buyer in the Miami metropolitan area, the third largest imbalance among the 50 major metropolitan areas in the country.
For those facing a similar situation, the options include negotiating a payment plan with the association, applying for loans from the Miami-Dade program (up to $50,000 at 0% interest over 40 years, with priority given to those over 62), exploring a reverse mortgage, or opting for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which temporarily halts the foreclosure process.
McGuire was straightforward about the consequences of not acting on a legislative level: "If we simply ignore it, people will end up homeless. They will leave the condos where they invested their life savings, and those apartments will be left empty."
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