Imagine purchasing a house for $449,328 and losing it over an unpaid $977 debt to your homeowners association. This sounds like the stuff of nightmares, but it’s reality for Toby Newton, a 53-year-old who used to own a home in Mesa’s Superstition Springs community until his HOA foreclosed over a small amount of debt from missed assessments.
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The Mesa Tribune reported on Newton’s tragic situation, which Edward Susolik, CEO & President of Callahan & Blaine, PC, told Moneywise was “pretty extreme.” Here’s how Newton lost his home, along with expert advice on what homeowners should do to avoid the same fate.
How an HOA took a cancer patient’s home for unpaid assessments
According to the Mesa Tribune, Newton bought his home in 2022 but ran into trouble in 2024 when he lost his job. “I missed a year’s worth of assessments,” Newton told the Tribune. “So that’s $171 every quarter – I missed three of those. It might be four.”
Newton’s girlfriend, Sherrie Patten, began paying the bills, and Newton contacted the HOA to work out a payment plan. Unfortunately, on November 15, the Superstition Springs Community Master Association initiated foreclosure proceedings and, a week later, followed up with a demand from the Association’s law firm. Newton would have to pay $3,980 to dismiss the lawsuit. Of this amount, $3,003 was attorney fees.
At this point, Newton was told he could make a payment plan, but the HOA rejected multiple offers and moved forward with foreclosure, which was approved by default because Newton didn’t show up to court to fight it. Newton now owed $6,579 in additional fees, and the HOA sold the home at auction for $8,172 to the Superstition Springs Community Master Association, the highest bidder…