Who do you name is HOA lawsuits

I am suing my HOA in superior. Do I name each member of the HOA, each member of the board, the HOA or a combination. The suit stems for a repair that I had done that the HOA said was my responsibility.

Jason

Jason, if you are suing your attorney has already listed the parties involved. If you have not yet sued I suggest you consider other alternatives which could benefit you. The results of most suits of which I am aware are lose-lose; I prefer win-win outcomes.

Like the other poster stated very wisely, if you sue your HOA you are suing yourself and your neighbors! You ARE a member of the HOA. (Homeowner's Association). Hence when you file your lawsuit, you are forcing the HOA board/members to pay a lawyer to defend themselves in court and pay legal costs. (Corporations must have legal representation in most cases). Where does the HOA board/members get the money? From the dues money EVERYONE is paying. A HOA is ONLY funded by it's members FOR it's members.
So let's say you WIN your lawsuit. That means that the HOA had to pay lawyer fees, court costs, and your settlement claim. However, if your HOA is on a limited budget. (Majority of them are), then they must raise dues or have a special assessment to cover these costs. That means that YOU and your neighbors will then have to pay more monthly dues or pay a high special assessment. You can NOT get out of not paying the dues or the special assessment. If you try, then the HOA can come back to you and lien/foreclose you for NOT paying dues/special assessment.
How do you know the repair was the HOA's responsibility and not yours? Did you submit the repair issue to the board and they deny it? If they denied it by a board vote, then most likely you are responsible for the repair. We don't have enough information on the situation to know for sure who's responsible. Typically a HOA you own your own home and the HOA owns the property around it.

Jason:
Your post states 'the suit stems for a repair that I HAD DONE that the HOA SAID was my responsibility.
For the HOA (Board?) to 'say' its your responsibility must be based on sound and clear directives from your official community documents.
Otherwise, it is not your responsibility, it is the associations' responsibility (or perhaps even the builder's??) for all units with the same problem.
1) Did the Board send you a written note/letter stating it is your responsibility and cite from the documents?
2) If you felt it was not your responsibility why did you agree to have the repair done before working out whose responsibility in really is.

Please post other specifics to assist in giving you more clear advice.
Thanks.

PaulM

I am NOT saying there are NOT valid reasons why you shouldn't sue your HOA. Board members do have liability insurance for their actions. If you do sue them, the association's insurance can cover that to a "Cap" amount. However, that risks losing the HOA's insurance or paying a higher premium if the suit is won.
I did attempt to "sue" my HOA for an illegal special assessment. It never went to court and I did lose by the HOA board using illegal tactics. What it did do is force the HOA to act properly and follow the rules. I did have about 13 homeowner's behind me in bringing in the lawyer.
If you are going to "sue" your HOA NEVER do it on an individual basis. ALWAYS do it in a group and for a purpose that effects the WHOLE group/HOA. Those things are things that violate the By-laws/CC&R's. Such as NOT sending proper notices to residents, not viewing records, and NOT gathering the right amount of votes for an expensive issue.
Even though I technically "lost" my battle with my HOA, I did win the war. After I made everyone aware of the illegal spending of the board, there were more people involved in watching the spending. It's going to be nearly impossible for them to get another special assessment through due to the tactics they used the last time.
Was it expensive for me to do this? Yes, but it didn't cost the rest of the HOA. It would have been less expensive if every 13 members had kicked in some money to pay the lawyer. However, I paid 90% of the bill myself and wrote it off on my taxes!

I probably should have started a new topic, but my question fits in nicely here. Last month, the HOA hired a plumbing company to come and install external water pressure regulators. From cutting a section out of the pipe to install the regulator, and then tightening the regulator on, the PVC pipe was twisted below ground, split, and began shooting out water fast enough to be bubbling up beneath the outside faucet. This wasn't noticed until the BOD director was walking around early morning, and he then shut off my water from the main out on the sidewalk. Long story short, he called the plumber who wasn't available to come back, so I was told to call in somebody else. Another plumbing company came in, made the repair, wrote up their assessment of the damage caused by the installation of the pressure regulator, and gave the broken pipe piece to the BOD director who witnessed the repair. I was told to pay the plumber and the HOA would reimburse me. Well, that hasn't happened. The director first wanted to wait for the plumber to install regulators on all units before the bill for my repair was presented to him. That was a couple weeks ago. Now, the director wants to wait for the general meeting next month for the board members to vote on whether I get reimbursed or not. Seeing where this is headed, I'm trying to plan ahead for what to do when they determine some reason for not paying me back. Any suggestions?

Michelle:

As Lance said be patient, but I would also myself document everything from which board member said what to why the repairs were done the way they were done to what the other plumber said. The only thing I can see in retrospect (hindsight is always 20/20) would have been to get everything in writing. If the board asked you to do something, then they should have put it on letterhead and signed it. Right now I don't see anything to cause dismay, just present your case and your facts at the right time.