An Arizona man who faced repossession of his home due to an original debt of $977 in unpaid homeowners association (HOA) fees was given the opportunity to keep their property after an outpouring of sympathy across the country. The same HOA that had started foreclosure on Toby Newton and his longtime partner Sherrie Patten after the couple had fallen behind on HOA assessments as they navigated health challenges has now reversed course, as reported by Realtor.com. The couple had tried many times to arrange a payment plan with the HOA to avoid repossession, to no avail.
This change of heart has come only after the case sparked a national outcry, fueled in part by frustration over growing HOA fees across the country. Newton, who had been fighting to stay in the property as the couple figured out how to raise the funds required by the HOA to redeem the home, told Realtor.com he was excited the whole thing "is becoming behind me." Newton added: "It’s not behind me yet, but I just want this to be so I can take care of, you know, my medical expenses and get everything back to where it was when I offered them the payment plan." Newton took out a loan of $449,328 to purchase his 1,750-square-foot four-bedroom home in southeast Mesa’s Superstition Springs community in 2022. It is the house where he intended to retire, as the man told The Mesa Tribune.
But, shortly after buying the property, Newton fell sick. In early 2024, he lost his job and was diagnosed with diabetes. Patten, who lives with him, also got sick, and the medical bills started piling up for the couple.
Struggling with mounting medical expenses and with no income coming in, Newton started missing his HOA payments. He told reporters he eventually came to owe $977 in assessments and interest. "I missed a year’s worth of assessments," Newton said to the outlet.
"So that’s $171 every quarter—I missed three of those. It might be four." In November 2024, Newton was informed by the attorney representing the HOA managing his property, the Superstition Springs Community Master Association, that the HOA had initiated foreclosure proceedings in court. The attorney, Augustus Shaw IV, offered Newton a way out: paying $3,980 by December 6, 2024 to avoid foreclosure.
Newton made a counteroffer: paying $50 a month plus the monthly assessment, then $133.70. But, in January of last year, the HOA board denied the request. Newton followed up with another offer to pay $200 a month on top of the monthly assessment, but his request was again denied in April 2025.
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