Residents of a Kansas City-area neighborhood successfully fought back after liens were placed on their homes by a phony homeowners association.

According to news reports, the Summerfield Homeowners Association had put a lien on more than two dozen homes in the Northland, Missouri, subdivision for not paying dues. Yet, the alleged HOA had no board and provided no services other than mailing invoices to residents demanding payment to an HOA that did not exist. And then, liens were filed.

An investigation by FOX4 Problem Solvers revealed that the HOA may have been fake, but the liens were real. In fact, the filing of fake liens has become such a big problem, and big business, in Missouri, that Missouri State Representative Kirk Mathews is trying to resolve the issue through legislation that makes filing fake documents a felony.

"They [recorder of deeds] are just stamping it, stamping it and it's filed and done," said Mathews. "Hopefully this bill will provide some real teeth for law enforcement to go after the people who are doing this."

News reports indicate that the company that had placed the liens on the Summerfield properties was formed by a gentleman named Al Roberts, who is serving time in federal prison for mortgage fraud. Although the Summerfield neighbors have been successful in getting the liens dismissed, they worry that there's nothing preventing it from happening again.
 
—Source: Fox4kc.com