Condo owners were told to keep paying Homeowners Association fees or face foreclosure after one of the Le Chateau Condominium buildings in Southfield burned down.
The Nov. 4, 2024, fire killed a 73-year-old woman, sent three people to a hospital, and displace dozens.
The building still hasn’t been rebuilt and condo owner David Henry said he’s been threatened with foreclosure if he doesn’t keep paying the HOA -- which is currently costing him $849 each month.
Henry said he’s not asking for dues to be waived. He just wants the HOA to reassess the budget since there is an entire building that no longer needs things like heat, water, trash, or maintenance.
Henry reached out to the Investigators at Local 4 wanting to share his story and introduced us to Lance Slater, another condo owner.
Slater had two units that he was renting out. Henry’s son was living in his condo when the fire happened. Henry’s son lost everything when the fire happened and they’re still working to rebuild.
“We had just do all of this running around, but slowly but surely with my help, he’s getting back on its feet,” Henry said.
Henry has continued paying each month, because even though the condo burned down, he doesn’t want to risk losing it. His mother owned the condo before he did and there’s still a connection there.
“I inherited this place from my mom. She was one of the oldest residents here. She wanted me to have it for my son to live here,” Henry said.
Slater stopped paying and the HOA is foreclosing on the two units he said he had for over 15 years.
“The treatment that we’re getting, we don’t understand it,” Lance Slater said.
Both men said they want transparency from the HOA board. Henry said the board has been carrying over the pre-fire budget, even though an entire building is gone.
“There are no expenses for this, at least operating expenses. I’m not asking for zero. I’m asking for the assessment,” Henry said.
Slater is working with an attorney and said they’re considering legal options.
“We reached out to the board to see if they would be willing to agree to abate some of the fees or allow my client to pay the fees after the unit was reconstructed. Basically, they thumbed their nose at us and then foreclosed on the unit,” Slater’s attorney, Richard Shulman, said.
The Investigators at Local 4 made multiple attempts to contact the HOA board, including calling Encompass Management Group. The management group told us to send an email -- so we did. We also reached out to the HOA president via email. We have not heard back.
---> Read more: ‘The financial burden is real’: 85-year-old pays $770 monthly for condo destroyed in Oakland County blast