Thousands of residents who live in the southwest Miami-Dade community of The Hammocks say they were blindsided by a massive hike in HOA fees and will now have to pay hundreds more a month.
“I got really upset, I got mad. We paid $88 dollars a month and now this month we have to pay $355,” said resident Eliana Sanchez.
Earlier in February, neighbors gathered to sign a petition to oppose the increase. This was after residents say they weren’t allowed to vote in board elections. On Thursday, dozens of Hammocks residents gathered to find a solution.
“It’s absurd, we’ve got to fight. I want to do something about it,” said Alfred Santamaria.
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Santamaria said he’s leading a group to fight this on behalf of the community. He’s partnering with an attorney to eventually file an emergency injunction. He is hopeful a judge will halt the increase until an investigation is complete.
“These people can’t wait, some of them are single mothers or elderly people. Think about this, 400% in my research, there’s not another association in the state of Florida that had such a big increase in dues, it’s absurd,” he said.
The attorney representing the board spoke to NBC 6 earlier this month about the increase.
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“They didn’t raise the association fees for seven years, so they’re basically catching up to where they should have already been,” said Hilton Napoleon.
Other groups were being formed to find alternate solutions to push back while some are raising money from residents so they can battle this in court.
The increase is set to take place on March 1.
Napoleon says the fees take care of maintaining the association and the recreational facilities.
