Condo Association May Collect On Fees that Accrue After Owners Redeem Foreclosed-Upon Property

In Citimortgage, Inc. v. Dusablon and Horizon Heights Condominium Association, 2015 VT 68 (April 17, 2015), the Vermont Supreme Court held that a condominium association (“Association”) may recover from condominium owners (“Owners”) who have redeemed their properties from foreclosure any as that accrue between the deadlines stated in a stipulation to a foreclosure judgment and the actual date of entry of judgment, where each of those documents is silent as to the Association’s fees.

Issue: Condominium association appealed the denial of its request to reconsider an order that stated, in enforcing a foreclosure judgment, that the Association was precluded from pursuing any claim for assessments made before the date of the judgment.

Holding: The Court reversed, and vacated the order granting the Owners’ motion to enforce the judgment order and decree of foreclosure. The Court found that the trial court misread the foreclosure judgment as barring claims for any assessments made before the final date of judgment, and therefore misapplied the doctrine of res judicata in denying the Association’s motion for reconsideration.