Foreclosure Situation Comparatively Better Along Alabama Coast

Along the Alabama coast the foreclosure situation is better than what is happening in other parts of the country. About six months ago foreclosures in condominiums had reached its peak. New assessments are being sent out to help in the payment for insurance and that might change the picture.

Attorney Daniel Craven of Gulf Shores says that the financial situation right now is not critical and collective efforts have kept down the number of delinquencies. Craven is the representative of more than 100 condo and housing associations in this region. Nearly 24 million housing units come under the supervision of 300,800 house owner’s associations in the USA. New associations that have come up might be facing shortfalls because they have not had time to store up reserves. But the older associations may also be negatively impacted if they had failed to maintain the reserves.

According to Alabama Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau there are over 12,169 condos ready to be leased. All have formed associations and these are managed by rental agencies of the locality. With foreclosure raging thousands have been evicted. As such foreclosures have led to a high demand for rented accommodation. The average condo rent is $200 per month and might go up to a maximum of $1,500. The amount is related to the age and the size of the unit.

Linda Moore of Kaiser Realty says that they have had “very few foreclosures”. The ones that did suffer were before the market began to stumble. Her firm manages many condo associations. The owners that did have trouble had their units spread out in diverse complexes.

After the devastation of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 many associations assessed owners. This was required for making repairs that were not covered by insurance. In some instances the associations were under-insured. According to Craven the insurance rates had gone down to 60 cents per $1. Approximately this was the rate before the hurricane struck.

Associations are now more alert about disallowing delinquencies to roll into foreclosures. The owners are helped not to lag far behind in their dues and every possible help is given including updating of the liens allowing them time to put their finances in order.

With the exit of many from condos due to the foreclosure crisis those who remain behind have to pay the extra amount to cover common costs. Thus it is to the common interest of all to see that nobody is allowed to fall into foreclosure.