ChristopherH2 (Alabama)
Posts: 5
Posts: 5
Posted:
I'm not soliciting legal advice only opinion that made he based on experience.
Backstory: for the last 2.5 years I've been an active volunteer with the HOA - 2 years as social committee chair and 6 months as an advisory board member and Vice President. Now we're still a declarant controlled HOA but the Declarant (a joint venture between two individuals) has generally allowed the HOA to govern itself. Recently, one declarant sold his stake in the company that manages the Declarancy and therefore became the sole Declarant.
Unfortunately, shortly after this occurred he decided he wanted to take a more "hands on approach" and disbanded the advisory board. The advisory board has been running the HOA for several years now. Obviously this upset a lot of people but I generally tried refraining from discussing my opinion on social media as much as possible but even then the comments I did make were neither negative or positive towards the Declarant or property manager.
Today I received a cease and desist letter from the new lawyer the Declarant hired. The letter was in regards to a comment I made that on Nextdoor that was taken out of context. The comment is as follows:
"*Declarant* has taken over control of the HOA in its entirety - there is no loner a board."
The letter accused me of spreading misinformation since the Declarant has always had full control. Obviously I was dumbfounded by the absurdity and the fact that it was taken out of context. When taken in context my implication was that in the past the Declarant allowed the hoa, and thererby the advisory board, to mostly govern itself but recently decided to no longer allow it. At no time did I state or imply the advisory board had unilateral authority during its tenure.
Have others received C&D letter and if so what was your response?
Backstory: for the last 2.5 years I've been an active volunteer with the HOA - 2 years as social committee chair and 6 months as an advisory board member and Vice President. Now we're still a declarant controlled HOA but the Declarant (a joint venture between two individuals) has generally allowed the HOA to govern itself. Recently, one declarant sold his stake in the company that manages the Declarancy and therefore became the sole Declarant.
Unfortunately, shortly after this occurred he decided he wanted to take a more "hands on approach" and disbanded the advisory board. The advisory board has been running the HOA for several years now. Obviously this upset a lot of people but I generally tried refraining from discussing my opinion on social media as much as possible but even then the comments I did make were neither negative or positive towards the Declarant or property manager.
Today I received a cease and desist letter from the new lawyer the Declarant hired. The letter was in regards to a comment I made that on Nextdoor that was taken out of context. The comment is as follows:
"*Declarant* has taken over control of the HOA in its entirety - there is no loner a board."
The letter accused me of spreading misinformation since the Declarant has always had full control. Obviously I was dumbfounded by the absurdity and the fact that it was taken out of context. When taken in context my implication was that in the past the Declarant allowed the hoa, and thererby the advisory board, to mostly govern itself but recently decided to no longer allow it. At no time did I state or imply the advisory board had unilateral authority during its tenure.
Have others received C&D letter and if so what was your response?
