Interviewing HOA Attorneys

Sign a short term contract and let her show what she can do. It will probably hinge on how many folks on the Board she can impress. Ther are all sorts of ways to evaluate her, not the less being talking to people that have had dealings with her. Lawyers are like doctors, people tend to judge on whether they like them. What you are asking of her shouldn't be all that difficult. Another thing to watch is her response to phone calls. You absolutely should be prudent about contacting her but when you do call, make it important, and expect the same from her. So, in part the process of selecting a lawyer can be influenced by your demand and has nothing to do with her.

TracyT, request the following...

a. Professional References (from other HOA's she has represented)
b. Collections "SOP's" - standard operating procedures, (while the board does dictate and create them, you need to know if the atty has better methods).
c. Hourly billings or retainer
d. Will atty be a registered agent with local municipality
e. How familiar she is with your state/local laws/codes governing HOA's or CIC's.
f. Any professional/trade affiliations (CAI, Bar Associations, etc)
g. General profiency in Contract law (negotiation, ADR/Mediation)

I agree with most of the posters. However, I don't like to have an attorney representing the HOA full-time. A HOA ONLY needs an attorney technically to represent the HOA in court. Having an attorney draft violation letters is an expense that really adds "intimidation" on the behalf of the HOA's BOD. The BOD should be able to draft simple violation letters on their own or through their MC's office.

An Attorney should be used for notices of liens, foreclosures, legal advice, or drafting CC&R's rule changes. The attorney is to represent the HOA as a group and NOT any individual members. An individual member can't use the attorney's services for their own. Neither can a BOD member.

You have to understand my standard advice: If you sue your HOA, your suing yourself and your neighbors. The HOA board has to hire an attorney to represent them in court. How does the HOA BOD pay for the legal representation? The dues collected by the members. So the member not only has to pay for their own attorney but they are also responsible for paying their dues which the HOA uses to pay their own attorney. I advocate strongly that a HOA only uses an attorney based on need and not just to have one around.

Make sure you have an attorney who specialized in Corporate or business law. The HOA may be Real estate, but the rules are CONTRACTUAL and corporate. Watch the costs of the Retainer fee. Keeping an attorney on retainer can be expensive. Be careful about contacting the attorney as well. They will charge you for each phone call or email. Mine charged $28 to return an email or phone call!!! So make sure you know what the charges are besides hourly. Drafting letters can be quite expensive as well.

I've had up to 3 different attorneys when I was President of my HOA. Each was responsible for different issues. Some specialized more than others. In my case, I did study some legal courses in college. So I basically told my lawyers what to do. I just couldn't legally practice the law, so I paid them to do so. You have to respect that. You can quote and look up as many laws as you want, but an attorney is the ONLY one that is the actual practicioner of the law. That's what your paying for.

I don't believe our association should have an attorney on retainer either. It has to do with how much legal advice you need. I can imagine larger, more complicated associations might need the retainer arrangement. The thing to do is do it without and if you are spending too much on attorney fees, and it would be more economical to have a retainer arrangement -- go with that.

Around here there are attorneys who specialize in association law, plus are full service attorneys. It is hard for me to imagine an association (particularly a small one) needing more than one attorney if you pick the proper one. I also believe that it is false economy not to use your attorney and to do your own "lawyering". Obviously the more knowledgeable you are the less you need them, but boards should feel free to ask questions according to their level of expertise. And, even though I would write the resolutions etc. in draft form I thought it important to always pass them through the attorney. After all, he was to be the one that would have to support them in a court of law. Now our board is so unfamiliar with the law that they should just go straight to the attorney for drafting of such documents. It does depend on your past experience, and inclination. If you get lots of edits on your resolutions, perhaps you need to just outline what you want and let him right it from scratch!

Tracy:

I agree with the last half of the posters, I don't think the HOA should employ a full-time attorney. I think they should have a person that they feel comfortable going to with questions and that person should charge them an appropriate per hour fee. Find out about collection procedures in your state, ours are very simple to file a lien and the board can do that without an attorney. All attorneys do is cause everyone to dig in their heels, jack up prices and cause problems. They should be used for advice and only for litigation if absolutely needed.

Excellent! Thank you all. Tracy