Help Us Move

Hi, my name is Alec Blake. My husband Jay and I are fundraising to pay down our mortgage and leave our current home by this summer.

 

At the beginning of the year, and with no prior notice, our condominium’s new management company informed us that our building is in dire need of repairs that will initially cost approximately one million dollars, in addition to other more expensive structural work to be performed in the years to come. Due to the condo association’s insufficient financial reserves, management has seen fit to increase our monthly fees by over 200% starting July 1st, 2022, with potential for greater increases within the next five years.

 

This increase comes on the heels of a 10% increase to our existing condo fee, and would bring our monthly payment to a total of $1,500, (not including our mortgage payment). We both work full time and would not have been able to afford this before COVID-19, and since Jay’s hours were decreased due to the pandemic, we definitely can’t afford it now.

 

The state of the building and the association finances have made our home a challenge to sell, and with a mortgage balance, we can’t just walk away. We are also unable to fight these new charges, because the Maryland Condominium act allows for them due to the risk of public safety that the building defects present.

 

We are hoping to receive enough donations to pay down our mortgage so that we can leave this housing situation without losing the home to HOA foreclosure, or going bankrupt trying to stay afloat above our means. We are heartbroken over this turn of events and wish it hadn’t come to the point of having to leave the place that has been our home for over 8 years, but funding these repairs over the given timeframe is well beyond our budget, and would ultimately cost more than what we owe on our home loan. It would mean everything to us to be able to get clear of this, move on with our lives, and have the financial breathing room to begin looking for a new home.