A 91-year-old Florida man’s $150 false alarm fine ballooned into a $23,100 lien on his home — could a forgotten fee be lurking on your house?
Terri Bashoor thought she had found a buyer for her 91-year-old father’s Florida home.
Then the title search turned up a problem dating back four years: two false-alarm fees totaling just $150 had somehow ballooned to more than $23,000 in liens against the property.
The alarms had gone off in error in August and September 2022, according to local news station WFLA. The original charges were $50 and $100. Bashoor has since paid the $150.
Now Hillsborough County says it will dismiss the lien, but it won’t waive all of the fees.
It’s an unusual situation, but it also serves as a stark reminder that some bills can follow a property for a lot longer than expected — especially when no one realizes there’s money owing.
A $150 bill became a $23,100 problem
The false alarms happened after the home’s security system alerted in error, according to Bashoor.
The county says it mailed a notice of violation to the property owner, but the letter came back marked “unclaimed” and “unable to forward.”
The case eventually went before a special magistrate in May 2023. The magistrate ordered the false-alarm penalty to be paid within 30 days. When the deadline passed without payment, the county began adding $20 a day on June 12, 2023.
That daily penalty continued to pile up, turning the original $150 charge into a lien of more than $23,000 by the time Bashoor was trying to sell the home.
“I’m shocked that anybody can charge $20 a day for a late fee,” Bashoor told WFLA. “That just seems very excessive and abusive.”
Hillsborough County Government has since said the lien will be dismissed. But a county spokesperson said the government would not waive all of the fees because the property has a history of false alarms dating back to 2020.
For Bashoor, the problem is that the original $150 has already been paid, but she says she can’t afford the rest of the amount — and the issue didn’t surface until the home was being sold, catching the entire family off guard.
The small bills homeowners forget
It’s generally easier to keep track of the big bills directly tied to a home — the mortgage, property taxes, and insurance are hard to miss.
The smaller ones are a different story. Depending on where you live and what the debt is for, an unpaid charge can sometimes lead to a lien being placed against the property, which can become a problem when you eventually try to sell or refinance.
That can include certain unpaid municipal charges, code-enforcement fines, utility bills, homeowners association fees, or condo fees and other debts that local or state law allows to be attached to a property. Not every unpaid bill can become a lien, and the rules can be very different from one place to another.
What makes a lien particularly easy to overlook is that it isn’t necessarily something you see when you’re paying your regular household bills. A homeowner might know about the original charge — or might not — without realizing that it has turned into a claim against the property.
A title search is typically part of the process when a home is being sold, and that’s when an old lien can suddenly become a problem. Depending on the circumstances, the debt may need to be paid or otherwise resolved before the sale can go through.
But the Florida case is a good reminder that a small bill isn’t necessarily something you can forget about forever.
Homeowners who have moved, changed mailing addresses, stopped using a service, or simply assumed an old dispute was resolved may want to check their local property records periodically, particularly before putting a home on the market.
It may also be worth making sure the government offices, HOAs, or other organizations that send property-related notices have your current mailing address. In Bashoor’s case, the county says the notice of violation was returned as “unclaimed” and “unable to forward.”
A $50 or $100 bill may not seem like a big deal at the time. But as Bashoor’s family found out, it can be a very different story if the bill is left sitting there and the fees keep adding up.
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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$150 fine became a $23,100 lien on a home
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