Homeowners suing Developer/HOA

Started by JeffW6 • 5 replies • 692 views

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JeffW6 (Florida)
Posts: 65

Posted:

Today, I discussed with an attorney the possibility of a group of homeowners suing the Developer controlled HOA over a $502K Due to the Developer amount carried on our financials and about the delay of a turnover process.

My question is the attorney wants me to raise $10K! He requires $275/hour and a $1,000.00 retainer. Does anybody have any suggestions on setting up a separate checking account? I don’t want to run this money through my current personal checking account.

I have a Facebook Group of 236 homeowners and have $1,100.00 in pledges in a few hours.

SueW6 (Michigan)
Posts: 814

Posted:

Generally:
File a DBA with your county clerk.
Take that paper to the bank and set up a checking acct with two signatures.

PaulJ6
Posts: 990

Posted:

$275 per hour and a $1,000 retainer is pretty low. Please be sure that you're clear on the total costs of the litigation. If the HOA and the developer have insurance, they can drag out litigation so that you're spending tens of thousands of dollars and are going nowhere soon. If you can get the lawyer to have even part of the fees payable to him upon a successful conclusion, that will keep your costs down.

Why not just set up a new account at your current bank? That's easy and can be done online.

JeffW6 (Florida)
Posts: 65

Posted:

Thanks for the reply!

MelissaP1 (Alabama)
Posts: 13,836

Posted:

So.... What is the result we want from this whole lawsuit?

Former HOA President

JZ2 (Florida)
Posts: 52

Posted:

I sue developers all the time. It is the favorite part of my practice. Of course, the client must have a strong case in order for me to accept the representation.

Best of luck to you and your fellow homeowners! You might want to explore with the attorney whether he or she may be willing to take the case on a contingency basis. I will do that, on rare occasions, if the case is strong enough.

Developers tend to have deep pockets, and $10,000.00 in legal fees can be chewed up very quickly.... Make sure you have the funds available to see the case to its conclusion. Otherwise, you might simply be throwing good money away....

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