The condo association at Mansfield in Century Village has taken two of its unit owners to court, saying they fell behind on assessments and never caught up, so now it wants to foreclose. The case, filed Dec. 5 in Palm Beach County circuit court under Case No. 502025CA012700XXXAMB, names the association as plaintiff and Michael Russo and Sarah Lavoie as defendants, along with a pair of unnamed tenants who might be living in the place.
The property is Unit 104 in Mansfield C, one of the Boca Raton buildings tucked inside the Century Village complex. According to the complaint, assessments were set under the condo’s declaration and Chapter 718, and the association says the owners stopped paying sometime in the spring. After that, the usual notices went out—first a lien warning in mid-August, then a foreclosure warning in October—each one adding a little more to the running total.
Those letters, logged as Exhibits B and C, show the amount climbing from roughly $2,500 in August to close to $3,900 by early October. Interest at 18 percent a year, late fees, attorney’s fees, collection costs, it all piles on; anyone who has lived in a condo knows how fast those lines add up.
By Oct. 21, the association recorded its Claim of Lien, listing $3,922.27 owed as of Oct. 10. That document appears as Exhibit D, complete with notarization and the statutory language about securing any future unpaid assessments until a final judgment comes down.
The lawsuit itself has two parts. First, the association asks the court to foreclose the lien and, if necessary, sell the unit at auction. Second, it seeks a money judgment for whatever assessments and charges remain. It also asks for the usual assortment of attorney’s fees and costs. Whether a deficiency judgment might follow depends on the sale price, if it gets that far. Since the complaint was just filed, no answer from the owners yet, and no hearing dates posted.
The property does appear to have just been listed for sale with a sale price of $135,000 at the time of this writing.
Everything was filed by Wasserstein, P.A., a Boca Raton firm that regularly appears in condo collection matters. Attorney Daniel Wasserstein signed off on the complaint.
The original document, filed with the Palm Beach County Clerk, can be viewed here.
