Complaint Filing Fee Reimbursement?

Started by JoK2 • 6 replies • 1356 views

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JoK2 (California)
Posts: 198

Posted:

Hello all,

A neighbor filed a formal complaint against the Board, with the County, citing three individual items,
-a fence that his neighbor put up without approval because the board/mgmt. missed the deadline to do anything,
-that he was elected by due process, and then illegally kicked off the board,
-that another board member, whose term was up, filled a seat vacated by a resignation.

Sounds like fun huh?

The two board issues were resolved but the fence issue sent it further to a formal hearing. It was there that he was told that since he was now on the board, he had just as much responsibility to come up with a solution to the fenceFrom which he was told that because he was on the board

He agreed to our settling the fence issue by the hoa purchasing some trees that would "hide the fence", and that would settle the whole complaint, but then...he presented the board with a receipt of the filing fees, just under $200 and asked to be reimbursed.

We could use some guidance,
thanks in advance

KellyM3 (North Carolina)
Posts: 2,239

Posted:

The HOA dues payers should not reimburse the new board member for any filing fees this director paid in filing any complaints. The HOA board and its members are, technically, one population of people as opposed to an "us and them." The board director could've been called upon to craft a solution to the fence complaint without being a sitting director.

Also, the complaint was settled by the planting of trees.....w/ no reimbursement. The dues payers should not subsidize this person's efforts. The filing of complaints resulted in a solution.

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

It should have been agreed to ahead of time of reimbursement not after. Then the plans should have or not gone through.

Former HOA President

LarryB13 (Arizona)
Posts: 4,099

Posted:

I am not sure just what you mean by a "formal complaint." Is this a lawsuit filed in a court or a complaint filed with some county administrative office? Normally when a proceeding goes before a judge or hearing officer, part of that person's decision will address who pays what fees.

In this case, it appears that the matter was settled without a formal decision by a judge or hearing officer. Normally when parties reach an agreement they will also address who pays which costs. Most such settlements require that each party bears his own costs as it expedites resolution of the case. The parties should have addressed the issue during settlement talks and if it was a material matter to the plaintiff he should requested his costs at that time. It is always possible that there might have been no settlement had the plaintiff insisted on recovering his costs earlier or no settlement if the plaintiff knew he was not going to get reimbursed. Either way, though, it was up to the complaining party ask for his costs during settlement.

How you handle this is entirely up to the board. You would be within your rights to play hardball and insist that he bear his own costs because he failed to raise the issue during settlement talks. On the other hand, you could just pay the guy ($200 ought to not kill you) and move on.

If the complaint has not been dismissed, either party could reopen it to address the cost issue. In that case, you could easily incur thousands in costs to avoid paying the guy $200.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

What the individual did and what expenses they incurred while doing it when they were not serving on the Board is not the Associations responsibility.

If they were on the Board and filed those complaints, the individual acted as a member of the Association and not with the authority of the Board. Therefore, the expenses incurred would still be the responsibility of the individual and not the Association.

SteveM9 (Massachusetts)
Posts: 3,699

Posted:

Quote:

He agreed to our settling the fence issue by the hoa purchasing some trees that would "hide the fence", and that would settle the whole complaint, but then...he presented the board with a receipt of the filing fees, just under $200 and asked to be reimbursed.

I would simply say the $200 was not agreed upon in the settlement. Request denied.

JeanneK3 (Maryland)
Posts: 562

Posted:

JoK:
Sounds like you're in Montgomery County (which has an elaborate dispute resolution mechanism.)
No, you don't have to pay although depending on who wins the case, the Common Ownership Community Commission could order the association to pay.

Jeanne

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