Cancer Patient Says HOA Emptied Her Bank Account After She Fell Behind On Dues
While it's horrible behavior, it's not surprising for an HOA.
ChameleonsEye | Shutterstock Homeowners' associations often have ridiculous rules and demands that leave the people who live in their communities with very few options. Typically, all they can do is comply or, quite literally, get kicked out.
One woman discovered just how difficult it can be to deal with an HOA when she faced an unfortunate cancer diagnosis and was unable to pay her dues. Instead of giving the woman some grace and understanding that things happen in life that are out of our control, her HOA decided to take every cent she had.
Ayanna Fuller never could have imagined the challenges of living in an HOA neighborhood.
In 2007, Ayanna Fuller, a resident of Fairburn, Georgia, purchased her first home in the Lester Point community, which is not far from Atlanta and overseen by HOA management company Sentry Management, according to Illinois news station WIFR. In 2022, she was diagnosed with stage three multiple myeloma, a blood cancer. Her doctor estimated Fuller had about three years to live.
To make ends meet, Fuller worked two jobs. This is not uncommon. Newsweek reported that a 2024 survey revealed 36% of Americans work more than one job. For Fuller, she was a bus driver for Atlanta Public Schools by day and a Delta Airlines employee by night. Not long after she was diagnosed with cancer, her doctor informed her she would need to cut back to just one job to preserve her health. She chose to remain a bus driver, saying, “As long as I’m around these kids, I feel alive.”
As Fuller’s condition worsened, most of her loan providers deferred payment — but not her HOA.
After living with multiple myeloma for almost three years, Fuller’s doctor insisted she stop working at all and apply for disability. Fuller contacted her loan providers and gave them proof of her diagnosis, and they were happy to defer payments on things like her house and car during this time of hardship for her.
She tried to do the same with her HOA, but Sentry Management refused to allow her to defer payments and insisted she still pay her $350 annual dues. Fuller tried to negotiate with them and pay her dues in part for the time being.
Sentry Management showed her no compassion or leniency. Instead, they handed her case over to the Dunlap Gardiner law firm, the firm the company uses. Dunlap Gardiner took $828.54 from her bank account, with a $125 legal fee to top it all off. This not only emptied Fuller’s account, but actually meant it was overdrawn by $855.
When Fuller received notice about what had happened, she was recovering from her cancer treatment in the hospital. “I was in bed sick,” she said. “I had just come from chemo, matter of fact. It made me feel empty.”
As unfortunate as Fuller’s situation is, it is far from unique when it comes to HOAs.
What Sentry Management did to Fuller while she was sick and recovering from cancer treatment is really unthinkable, but it actually could have been worse. Instead of taking several hundred dollars from her, they could have foreclosed on her house. Cedar Management Group, a company that manages homeowners' associations, said this is not uncommon when someone fails to pay their dues.
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“Generally speaking, an HOA can foreclose on your house, provided state laws and your HOA’s governing documents permit foreclosures,” they stated. “HOA foreclosures are usually triggered by a homeowner’s failure to pay assessments and fees.”
Fuller acknowledged that she agreed to the HOA’s terms as laid out in their contract, but she had no idea she would be diagnosed with cancer. As she said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I did sign the contract, but people can’t help stuff that happens in life. We just can’t.” Fuller has started a GoFundMe in an effort to help her pay these dues.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
