I have a lot in a remote lake subdivision in southern Indiana that was given to me by my parents several years ago. They had bought it as part of a retirement plan but then they moved to Florida instead. After several years of paying property taxes and Homeowner Association Fees, I put it up for sale. Turns out that the whole development has been badly managed and it's mostly empty lots 20 years later so not much sells there. After several years of dropping my price accepting that I am losing money on my "gift", I'm ready to give up the land completely.
One other thing, I found out last year from the HOA that the septic requirements had changed and you cannot actually build a house on it now. This pretty much makes it a worthless piece of dirt that is costing me $50 in taxes and $280 in HOA fees each year!
My question is what typically are my legal responsibilities on the land and what could happen to me if I just quit paying taxes and HOA fees? I don't mind if the state takes it away from me, (actually that would be preferable.) The HOA said they didn't want it (probably have a lot of them already).
I thought about submitting a form with the state challenging the assessment for the taxes but that doesn't resolve the HOA issue.
Since I've pretty much thrown a lot of money away already, I didn't want to hire a lawyer unless there were things the state or HOA could come after me for non payment.
One other thing, I'm about 3 hours away from the property. If I do hire a lawyer, would I be better off with one local to the property or one convenient to me (in Indianapolis).
Thanks for any input!
One other thing, I found out last year from the HOA that the septic requirements had changed and you cannot actually build a house on it now. This pretty much makes it a worthless piece of dirt that is costing me $50 in taxes and $280 in HOA fees each year!
My question is what typically are my legal responsibilities on the land and what could happen to me if I just quit paying taxes and HOA fees? I don't mind if the state takes it away from me, (actually that would be preferable.) The HOA said they didn't want it (probably have a lot of them already).
I thought about submitting a form with the state challenging the assessment for the taxes but that doesn't resolve the HOA issue.
Since I've pretty much thrown a lot of money away already, I didn't want to hire a lawyer unless there were things the state or HOA could come after me for non payment.
One other thing, I'm about 3 hours away from the property. If I do hire a lawyer, would I be better off with one local to the property or one convenient to me (in Indianapolis).
Thanks for any input!
