Donations help couple keep home threatened by association

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, April 7, 1998 | 10:38 a.m.

A Las Vegas couple's ordeal ended hours before their home was set to be sold Monday when a state senator, and renowned homeowners advocate, delivered a $2,100 cashier's check to a deed company.

A collection of donations from Las Vegas residents contributed to the check, which paid off a year's worth of overdue homeowners association fees accrued by Harry and Lillian Hopkins.

"This is my district; Harry Hopkins is in my district," Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, said. "Harry couldn't make it out of the house today, so I brought the check down. It seemed like the right thing to do."

Schneider authored a significant bill last year that says homeowners associations can fine residents no more than $50 per single infraction. It also says associations can foreclose on homes only when the owner fails to pay dues, not penalty fees.

Schneider said he took an interest in Hopkins when he learned the 73-year-old's home was threatened.

Hopkins has kept up with a $60 monthly master community fee but fell behind on the $56-a-month Desert Fairway West association payments after he was diagnosed with lung cancer.

A notice from American Trust Deed Services Inc. said his $200,000 home would be auctioned off if he didn't pay $820 in dues plus an additional $1,300 in foreclosure fees by today.

After Hopkins' story ran in the Las Vegas SUN on Friday, a dozen people phoned him and the Homeowners Hotline to offer financial help. Schneider said people have continued to call, offering to assist with future dues.

"They got me out of it," a relieved but fatigued Hopkins said Monday.

Directors of the Painted Desert West Homeowners Association have declined to comment on Hopkins' situation, but a member of another Las Vegas association said residents who move into gated communities make a commitment to their neighbors.

Bill Constantine, an El Paseo Homeowners Association board member, said people must pay the fees to maintain the neighborhoods no matter what the circumstances.

"I don't give a darn if a guy is dying, he pays it," Constantine said. "He has relatives to borrow from. If he can't afford it, let them take his house. Otherwise, it's not fair to his neighbors."

Constantine said people shouldn't have helped Hopkins because he made a poor decision when he paid $200,000 cash for his Desert Fairways West home.

But Schneider said paying cash for a home is a dream for many people.

"I can imagine anyone's parents getting in this situation as they start getting older and start to fail," Schneider said. "They had their house free and clear; that's what we all hope we can do when we retire."

The senator said he wasn't surprised at the compassion many residents showed toward Hopkins.

"I've lived in Las Vegas most of my life," he said. "It's a good community. People are always willing to help."