Source: Christine Haughney, NY Times ( Free Registration )

Barbara Sanz has never missed a mortgage payment, but the plunge in real estate is punishing condominium owners like her anyway.

Evidence of hard times in a condo in Miami: top, multiple brokers’ lock boxes for vacant apartments; and foreclosure notices on apartment doors.

Four years ago, she bought her first condo in a glassy new Miami tower when the building was filling up. Now nearly one in six residents in the 43-story building is battling foreclosure and their contributions to the building association are shrinking. Each of the remaining owners has had to chip in an extra $1,000 assessment and $50 more a month for cable and Internet. That is on top of Ms. Sanz’s $450 monthly maintenance fee. 

Read Full Article: Collateral foreclosure damage for condo owners