Small Claim vs ADR to remove lien

Jason, I don't know CA statutes. I presume you would have prior to starting your actions without an attorney. If so, why are you now asking for advise? My advice is to try to resolve this outside of court. I would be very concerned about going court as the cost could easily be much greater than the amount of the lien.

My first thoughts were "Does Jason owe the money claimed by the lien? If he did owe why didn't he try to establish a payment schedule which was acceptable with the Board? If he does owe the amount of the lien why didn't he provide proof of what he had paid? If the Board denigned this then why didn't he ask for an HOA Hearing?"

It seems to me many people and Boards have ego problems and put up "a wall" instead of trying to work out a solution. In this case it might be the Board, Jason, or both parties.

RogerB,

I didn't want to set up a schedule of payments because I have a case I could win in ADR. I was resolved to paying the back assessments and pursue ADR which is my right. When I asked the HOA for certain HOA documents for use in my ADR case they refused to allow me to have them. I went to small claims to sue them for not allowing me to have the documents. It was then, that the HOA decided to pursue the ADR case through a countersuit. I didn't want to pursue the ADR case in small claims. They(at least the judge) forced me to do that.

In doing so, do they have to take away the lien, since the case has be tried(if they win the can get a judicial lien instead).

Jason your not understanding the situation you just put yourself in. Any way your splitting your "hairs" your putting yourself deeper in debt and still subject in paying ALL amounts owed plus possibly ALL the HOA's legal bills.
A lien is a legal instrument the HOA can use to force a homeowner into paying the dues the owner is legally bound to pay. A foreclosure is the NEXT step beyond the lien if the lien is NOT honored in a timely manner or the board votes to NOT keep waiting on payment. It sounds like your trying to fight a foreclosure that hasn't happened yet and may not. If your so scared of a foreclosure, there is simply ONLY ONE way to stop it. Simply pay the money owed!!! A foreclosure STOPS as soon as the amount owed is paid even up to the minute of auction. In some states, the owner is even allowed to purchase the property back within 1 year of the foreclosure if they pay ANY expenses/improvements the new owner's incurred including the original auction price. This is information you may need to know and understand before putting the horse before your cart here.
Another clarification. The ONLY difference between a "Lien" and a "Small Claims court Judgement" is that with a lien you can NOT sell the property until the lien is paid off. With a small claim judgement you can sell the home but still OWE the money. It can be on your credit report. This is why HOA's should NOT and do NOT go to small claims court if they are smart. Why would they want the homeowner to be able to move out without paying? A lien and a small claims court judgements are considered "JUDGEMENTS". They don't necessarily mean the amount owed is going to be paid, just that legally money is owed.
WHEN YOU SUE YOUR HOA, YOU ARE SUING YOURSELF AND YOUR NEIGHBORS. You are a member of the HOA. (Homeowner' Association ring a bell?) That means when you bring a case against the HOA, your forcing the HOA to pay for legal costs. Most HOA's are corporations and MUST hire an attorney to even represent them in small claims court. Where do you think the HOA gets the money for their legal costs? Your DUES and your neighbors!!! A HOA IS ONLY FUNDED BY IT'S MEMBERS FOR IT'S MEMBERS. So with ALL your legal fighting, not only are you paying for your own legal costs your paying for the HOA's. You can't get out of it either! Even if you win, who pays? The money yet again comes out of the DUES money you and your neighbor pay in. Hence, if it is too large for the budget, a special assessment MUST be made to cover the bill. If you don't pay this special assessment, you could be subject for a lien yet again.
Don't blame the board and say it's "them". The board is only a group of homeowner's like yourself who were voted in by the other members to represent the overall needs of ALL the homeowners. They are VOLUNTEERS willing to put up with this garbage and make decisions.
My best and ONLY advice to give you, is to pay off the lien. If you do, you avoid ALL and ANY threats of foreclosure or paying additional legal costs. Mediation isn't going to help much here. Except what you can do on your own and agree to a payment plan. Even if it is simply agreeing to add an additional $50 a month to your dues.
By the way, liens are NOT free to place in most states. Hence, when you pay one back you must also pay back whatever amount the HOA had to spend to place it plus the money you owe. Don't be surprised if you find that out. Your really NOT going to like what your just put yourself through after all of this. I'd step back and take a breath. Next time, don't knee jerk react.

I'd like to thank everyone for their responses.

I don't like to go out without a fight. Everyone is telling me to roll over and play dead. I can't do that. I'd rather fight and make new laws, if necessary. Here is what everyone is missing(but maybe it is me that is missing something), I wanted to pay the back assessments and go to ADR to dispute the claim made against me. I wanted an attorney to represent me(I have a bad speech problem). I requested some HOA documents, they didn't give them to me. I went to small claims. I think everyone agrees I have a right to do that. They counter sued for the back assessments. I wanted an attorney to fight this case for me. I didn't want to present this case to a small claims judge myself. Because of the way small claims works, I didn't know what evidence they had till I got there, AGAIN, I DIDN'T HAVE ACCESS TO THE DOCUMENTS(WHICH IS THE REASON FOR THE SMALL CLAIMS CASE!!!). Is it correct that the HOA can have the judicial and nonjudicial liens again my property? I am trying to sell my property and having this lien against my property is raising a red flag to potential buyers but I am not going to pay the lien if I don't have to.

Please forgive my inability to communicate affectively,

Let's take my example: The lien on my property for back assessments is $8500. The HOA went to small claims instead of ADR and filed a suit for $5000 to get the back assessments. Which should I pay? What would be the reason to pay $8500. If I paid the $5000 what would happen to the $3500 balance. Shouldn't they remove the nonjudicial lien altogether because of the small claims judgement? Neither of us can go to ADR to retry the case. This is my question.

If, for instance, I don't pay the $3500, can they sue me again for not paying the same assessment? Didn't the court already rule that I owed $5000 not $8500. To answer the question as to why I didn't pay the assessment, I was going to pay it, the HOA decided to go to small claims and fight for a smaller value.

I have a feeling that the $5000 is in ADDITION to the $8500 you already owe. The $5000 may be for the legal costs in filing the lien and going to court. You live in california right? Liens don't cost money to place in California (I was told) but the legalities of filing do. The HOA had to hire a lawyer and pay the court costs. They are going to want that money back somehow and suing you in small claims is how they get it.
My view on the situation is that the HOA is still wanting their back dues in addition to their legal costs. (Which they have a right too plus interest). If they did just sue you for $5000, then it was a way of giving you a "break".
Now if this lien is for a violation or a culmination of JUST late fees, then you may have a way to get out of the lien. They can't lien you for FINES and Late fees. They CAN lien you for NOT paying dues or if they paid for work to be done on your property to make it "up to par" and you didn't pay the bill. Otherwise, your putting yourself at great risk of foreclosure at this point. I'd work on paying the back dues ASAP. The backdues is waay more important to concentrate paying the the civil case. They can't take your house away in the civil case but they can with the lien!