Alan Meltzer, a West Palm Beach condominium association president understands irony. In July, Meltzer foreclosed on a condo unit owned by none other than the largest mortgage lender in the U.S. — Wells Fargo, the Palm Beach Post reported. Meltzer is the president of the Forest Condominium Association, a building hit especially hard by the housing bubble. Prices in the 140-unit building averaged $45,000 back in 2001, but by 2005 they had risen to more than $150,000. Now they are selling for just $28,000. Many of Forest’s residents lost their homes to Wells Fargo during the recession, but the bank wasn’t a good neighbor. The bank refused to pay the $260 monthly maintenance fee and make repairs. One neglected unit was even lost to mold, costing the association a total of $23,210.
“They let the place go to hell, and then when we asked for the money, we didn’t hear anything more from them,” Meltzer said. Meltzer successfully foreclosed on the neglected unit and plans to pursue a deficiency judgment against the bank for repairs. [Palm Beach Post] – Christopher Cameron