Question: I stopped paying my Home Owner’s Association (HOA) fees for my condo due to them not doing the yards, cleaning the pool, and taking forever to repair a broken fence, etc. They had me served from the county court to make me pay, I answered to the courts within the allotted time saying I didn’t owe and was looking forward to a court date to have a judge decide the matter. While expecting to receive notice from the court house with a court date, my wages were garnished by the HOA! I went to the court house to see if I had missed the court date and they told me that my HOA never responded to my answer, so there was no court date notification issued. Can I sue them for bypassing my response and garnishing my wages?

The Judge’s Answer: Check your condominium documents to see what, if any rights you granted the association in collecting association fees. In order to garnish your wages, your association would have to obtain a judgment. If the association is garnishing your wages without a judgment, go to the court and file a motion to revoke the order of garnishment.