Association sells woman's home without her knowledge

08:38 AM CDT on Thursday, April 28, 2005

By Vicente Arenas / 11 News

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Another homeowner is living a horror story after battles with her homeowners' association.

Pam Bernhardt went to what she thought was her home at the corner of Forest Home and Swallowfield in southwest Houston.

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Pamela Berhardt's $275,000 was sold by the homeowners' assocation without her knowledge.

On the front door was a note, " I read it and it just said 'I bought your home in a foreclosure auction last September and I have taken possession', " says Bernhardt.

Initially, she thought it was a mistake, then she saw somebody else's furniture inside her house.

"I felt sick to my stomach the first time I walked up here and realized that this wasn't' my house anymore," she says.

Turns out the Briarhills homeowners association had foreclosed on her property in September of last year, saying she hadn't paid her dues.

It's an absolute last resort," says association attorney Terry Sears.

Sears says he sent Bernhardt three notices through both regular and certified mail. The notices said she'd lose her $275,000 home if she didn't pay the $420 she owed the association.

"Again, the goal is that these homeowners keep their homes. And these letters are sent with the intent that they respond, pay the assessment and keep their home," says Sears.

But Bernhardt, who was renting out home and living somewhere else, says she never received any notice. She says not making the payment was an oversight.

"It's scary because it seems like sometimes the homeowners don't have any …they have all the responsibility, but they don't have any rights and they can just pull it out from under you anytime they want to," says neighbor Joe Trainer.

Bernhardt is suing the homeowners' association, saying it wrongfully took her home. Now the courts must decide if her home is really hers.

Her case has gotten the attention of state Senator John Lindsay, who says it's wrong for a home to be foreclosed on without a court hearing - which is what happened in this case.

Senator Lindsay is considering trying to pass a law that would require a judge to decide when foreclosures are acceptable.