Attempting to Understand a Struggling Homeowner

[Melody Kushi]

Hi BP Mates!!

So, I've been education myself for quite some time, and I've put together a list of properties I will like to target to get my REI career started! I've been trying to put myself in a struggling homeowner's shoes in order to understand their logic (or non thereof) and maybe I can have an educated conversation with them (since we call ourselves problem solvers, right?)

For example: If I'm struggling to pay my HOA and they file a lien against me, yet I have 20-30 % equity...why wouldn't I take out that equity to pay the balance?

I'm assuming, the bank won't give me the positive equity to pay late mortgage payments, but would they do so in order to pay the lien against me?

I just want to understand when does a cash offer make sense to a homeowner who has positive equity?

Hope this is not a silly question but I do not want to start a conversation that I am not completely un-educated on. 

Any feedback is appreciated.