I live in a gated condo in Florida. The landlord is in foreclosure told me to not pay the rent in order to get my security deposit back. The condo has cut off my fobs and is telling me I must pay the owner's HOA dues. I never signed anything that said that. I have lived here for nearly 2 years and have a verbal month to month lease. Can they do this?

I assume by fobs you mean an electronic device to activate the gates.

This is actually a very interesting situation. A lot depends on the HOA by laws. If the by-laws permit disabling the fobs if the dues are delinquent, then they are probably within their rights. It doesn't matter that you never signed the by-laws, the condo owner did. However, if the by-laws do not specifically permit this, then it constitutes an illegal lockout and you may have grounds for a suit.

You mention that you only have a month to month verbal lease. So you never signed a lease with the landlord? The by-laws may not allow him to do that. Is the HOA aware you are renting from him?

How much does he owe in dues? The easiest thing may be for you to pay the dues (since you don't have to pay him rent-did you get that in writing by the way?) until you can find a new place to live.