Arizona man loses home worth half a million due to unpaid HOA fees of $977; it’s then sold for just $8k

An Arizona man who purchased his home for a little under half a million back in 2022 says his home was foreclosed by the Homeowners Association after he fell behind on HOA fees. The amount by which he had fallen behind? Just $977.

Toby Newton had purchased the property four years ago for $450,000. However, two years after buying the four-bedroom home, Newton claimed he ran into financial troubles after being diagnosed with diabetes and losing his job. “I bought the house, and then I got sick,” Newton told the Mesa Tribune (via The New York Post). “I got diabetes, and I was out of work.”

Due to his illness, the homeowner fell behind on his quarterly HOA payments, which cost him about $170 each time. Eventually, after all fees and interest were accounted for, Newton owed a total of $977 to his HOA.

HOAs often get criticized by homeowners; Newton quickly found out why as he claims he contacted the Superstition Springs Community Master Association and attempted to work out a plan to repay the accumulated debt. Initially, he offered to pay $50 a month on top of the regular assessments, but his offer was rejected. He increased the proposed monthly payments to $200, but the HOA rejected that too.

Newton’s home was foreclosed before he could pay the money

In November of 2024, the HOA initiated foreclosure proceedings, and the case went to court. As the case dragged on, Newton’s debt to the HOA continued to increase, now with plaintiff fees of $1,042.09 and attorney fees of $3,345, bringing his total debt up to well over $5k.

In October 2025, the home was sold for just $8,172. By that time, Newton’s accumulated debt had reached $6,579.

At the time Newton’s case unfolded, Arizona lawmakers had been working to give homeowners more protection from HOAs. In April of 2025, a bill was enacted that could have prevented the HOA from initiating a foreclosure on his property. The new law saw the threshold for homeowner delinquency increase from one year to 18 months. The previous number for unpaid assessments was also raised from $1,200 to $10,000.

The law also required HOAs to make an effort to communicate with homeowners and try their best to work out a plan for repayment before they could file a foreclosure action.

Unfortunately, the law change came too late for Newton, who, by that point, had already lost his home and was battling the case in court. Newton’s partner, Sherrie Patten, has since launched a GoFundMe in an attempt to help “recover from one heartbreaking setback.”

(Featured image: Sherrie Patten, GoFundMe)

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