He Owed $977 in HOA Dues. His HOA Auctioned Off His $475,000 House.

Toby Newton bought his four-bedroom home in Mesa, Arizona in 2022. After losing his sales job and being diagnosed with diabetes — while his partner was separately being treated for breast cancer — he fell roughly a year and a half behind on his quarterly dues to the Superstition Springs Community Master Association, landing at $977 owed.

Newton says he tried twice to work out a payment plan: first offering an extra $50 a month toward the balance, then $200 a month. Both offers were turned down, and the association directed him to its attorney instead of negotiating directly. From there, legal fees took over — the underlying $977 debt grew to nearly $10,000, almost entirely attorney's costs billed to enforce collection.

The association foreclosed and sold the home at a public auction in November 2025 for $8,172. Newton says he wasn't told about the sale until two days beforehand, and as of this writing he was still living in the house, raising money through an online fundraiser in hopes of buying it back.

This is exactly the kind of outcome that makes it worth knowing your state's HOA foreclosure rules before a dispute ever starts — most states set specific notice-and-payment-plan requirements before an association can move to collect through foreclosure. See our HOA Law by State page for what your state actually requires.