He frequents the pool at The Venetia condo building. He leaves his Jaguar with the valet. He uses the gym. He's also behind on his mortgage and isn't paying his condo association fees.

Neither is his lender, and the association's board worries the bank is delaying foreclosure to avoid paying dues as well.

Sharon Dodge, president of The Venetia's association, angrily told a crowd of South Florida condo dwellers at a meeting this week that 134 units were not paying maintenance fees in the 382-unit building. Of those, at least 35 are in the hands of lenders who aren't playing fair.

''Something needs to change!'' Dodge said, drawing rowdy applause from the crowd that sat beneath chandeliers in the Loews hotel ballroom in Miami Beach.

The unpaid accounts have resulted in higher association fees for everyone and crippling special assessments to cover large one-time expenses like roof repairs. Less than a year ago, The Venetia had to slap an $8,000 special assessment on homeowners because, at the time, roughly a quarter of them were delinquent.

South Florida's foreclosure crisis might be dealing its toughest blow to the hundreds of thousands of homeowners who live in condos. High foreclosure rates have made it difficult for many associations to make their budgets and provide services like cable, lawn care and pool maintenance.

The higher dues are squeezing homeowners already struggling to stay current on their bills.

`DEATH SPIRAL'

Mortgage lenders are drawing the wrath of condo owners as catalyst and culprit of the fallout.

''We are in a death spiral,'' said Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin, who hosted Wednesday's meeting with state Reps. Julio Robaina and Luis Garcia.

''It's the foreclosures that are not happening, the banks that are not taking the actions that they should be taking that are causing additional assessments to be foisted on good condo unit owners,'' Libbin said.

At the root of the problem, Libbin and the condo boards say, is a state law that seems to give banks incentives not to foreclose on delinquent borrowers in their buildings.

Upon taking title to a unit through foreclosure, a lender must pay condo associations 1 percent of the original mortgage amount or six months of unpaid maintenance fees, whichever is less. After the initial sum, the lender then starts making full monthly payments like other unit owners.

Dodge and others claim lenders are dragging out foreclosures to avoid complying with the law.

IDEAS

The town-hall meeting gave residents a forum to vent and a chance to propose changes to the law. Robaina, chairman of the Select Committee for Condo & Homeowners Association Governance, has vowed to introduce legislation in Tallahassee next spring to address the problem.

One proposal would let boards sell delinquent accounts like counties sell delinquent property taxes by auctioning certificates. That would let them collect past dues immediately.

Others included letting associations collect rent on leased units when fees are unpaid and giving condo liens the same priority as tax liens, meaning an association would be paid from sale proceeds before a lender.

''The association pays to preserve and protect the bank's collateral while they sit on their hands for months or years without taking steps to foreclose,'' said Ken Direktor, an attorney with Becker & Poliakoff, a firm representing condo associations. ``We are providing services for the benefit of the bank. Why shouldn't they pay for it? . . . They are getting a free ride.''

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