List of court cases lost by HOAs

Does anyone know how to search for court cases where HOAs have lost and owners have won?

Searchable "case law" is online but reflects only appeals court and state supreme court opinions. It does not reflect trial court victories and losses.

The case law reflects courts' thinking mostly on law (to be distinguished from rulings on what the facts are). On issues of fact, appeals and higher courts defer to the findings of the trial court, for the greater part.

Much of the case law represents a result where the dispute is sent back to the trial court, for refinement.

Some rulings by a court in any given dispute may represent a partial victory for one side, even if the party in the lawsuit ends up losing the larger case.

Settlements are common. Much "splitting of the baby" goes on, either via mediation, the judge's ruling, or settlements.

In my opinion there is no generalizing about which faction (HOA or owners) wins more and who loses more.

Based on reading a lot of case law, I would not even guess at which (owner or HOA) is more likely to be the plaintiff in a suit. Both can be frivolous. Both can be tenacious.

What are you looking for?

not really. the CIC in NC version II book I have is constantly referencing out of state HOA cases.

what blogs do you read about NC law? I've only found one charlotte NC based one, but their blogs are not that indepth, probably on purpose to get you to call and ask for business.

You will only be able to find and read appellate court decisions. Once you find one case they will site within the opinion about 5 or 6 other related cases and just take the citation and put it in google to read about that one. Here are 19 Arkansas Court of Appeals opinions on HOA cases:

https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/en/d/s/index.do?chomeowners+ass%27n&iframe=false&col=143

Hope you find what you're looking for. I'm being sued by my HOA for Attorneys fees. Just attorney's fees. I was late on some assesments that totaled a measly $300. THey filed suit, it hasn't even happened yet, I of course paid the assesments + interest, but no way am I paying $4,000 in attorneys fees when they did nothing to collect the money except file a suit. Now I have to hire a lawyer who will cost about $5,000, the HOA bill will be $7,000 at trial. And the prevailing party wins attorneys fees. Why my neighbors simply didn't knock on the door and say hey can you pay your assesment I of course would have. It's a small 13 unit hoa first time board and the 3 person board now has all this money at risk over a stupid $300. No other member even knows this is going on. And the board has no problem gambling a years budget because their attorney says they will win. Make sure you attend every board meeting is all I can say

You will only be able to find and read appellate court decisions. Once you find one case they will site within the opinion about 5 or 6 other related cases and just take the citation and put it in google to read about that one. Here are 19 Arkansas Court of Appeals opinions on HOA cases:

https://opinions.arcourts.gov/ark/en/d/s/index.do?chomeowners+ass%27n&iframe=false&col=143

Hope you find what you're looking for. I'm being sued by my HOA for Attorneys fees. Just attorney's fees. I was late on some assesments that totaled a measly $300. THey filed suit, it hasn't even happened yet, I of course paid the assesments + interest, but no way am I paying $4,000 in attorneys fees when they did nothing to collect the money except file a suit. Now I have to hire a lawyer who will cost about $5,000, the HOA bill will be $7,000 at trial. And the prevailing party wins attorneys fees. Why my neighbors simply didn't knock on the door and say hey can you pay your assesment I of course would have. It's a small 13 unit hoa first time board and the 3 person board now has all this money at risk over a stupid $300. No other member even knows this is going on. And the board has no problem gambling a years budget because their attorney says they will win. Make sure you attend every board meeting is all I can say

Suing your HOA is suing yourself and your neighbors. So I am not sure there really is a case where the owner or owners "win". Everyone pays...

https://vf-law.com/product/the-official-hoa-handbook/

here is a legal book that is likely to have many references to hoa court cases in washington.

LOL, Bylaws or CCR's were not designed to listen to the majority, they were designed to keep the people in power to remain in power. Why else would our CCRs require a 90%+ vote to change them? It's a fact you keep on reporting this sueing yourself narrative because you think those in power should stay in power. You can't even accept the historical fact that suing hoa's and governments often brings about change. that's a fact that is much more important.

Reading through court cases should at least show you how nitpicky and incredibly specific rulings can be, meaning you may not be able to draw any general conclusion from them. Or you may. It depends.

While some rulings depend on the exact language of a restriction, others rely on concepts such as "reasonable" and "the commonly understood meaning of the word". You can't apply different standards to the same set of facts and come up with consistent outcomes.

One truism of court cases: there is justice, and then there is the law. You would hope that they would coincide, but they don't always. Ya pays yer money, and ya takes yer chances.

I agree $4K is rather pricey, but you admit you were late on paying fees - why didn't you contact tge board at the start and explain yourself? In my HOA, homeowners know their account will go to the attorney if they don't pay after 60 days. We pay monthly, so at that point, you'll have late fees and an acceleration of all unpaid assessments for the year, and tge management company fee for sending the letters and monitoring the account. We send the collection policy every year with the upcoming years budget, so no one can say they didn't know.

And why should anyone come to your door and say you're late - the water company and mortgage company don't do this. If there are only 13 units, you already know who's on the board so YOU could have walked over to the treasurer's house with a check. Then again, how does anyone know 69u won't answer the door with a 45 or Glock in your hand? In fact, why do I get the feeling there's more to this than $300?

Anyway, grown men and women know how to wipe their behind. Reread that letter- did it say a lawsuit has been filed in X court or one will be filed very soon if you don't pony up? You may still have to e to head this off- start by looking at the $4k and see how thats broken down, and then call the attorney to see if you can settle this before you get a court summons.

I was board treasurer for 5 years and I might have asked the board to settle for the $300, late fees abd the cost of the attorney's letter. That's more than $300 but probably a lot less than $4K.that's probably a lot less than $4K. Hopefully you'd learn your lesson.

To keep this from happening again, ask your bank if you can put the assessment on its bill pay program - you set the date when the payment comes out of your account so the association gets it in time.

I suggest you read your covenants carefully. Every set of covenants I have seen says the HOA has the right to bill the owner for the costs of collection, expressly including attorney fees. Legally, the dispute over late assessments does not have to go to court for the attorney fees clause to be enforceable.

The courts say covenants are contractual terms.

Pay what you owe. Write it off as a lesson in how covenants work.

I've read them quite carefully. If you like I can post them. The reader's digest is Article:8 Right to charge assesments and 30 days late = deliquient trigerring 12% interest. The board cannot increase assements by 150% of last year. The board can charge a special assesment with 67% of member vote except if the the special assesment is deemed a sanction. All sanctions such as title liens, attorneys fees, fines, or legal remedys require a majority vote of the board.

Article 11: Enforcement. Board must enforce all rules and will not selectively enforce and or discriminate. In addition to late fees for deliquency of assesments the HOA and memmbers are offered the following rememdies. These remedies are only valid if the following procedure is followed.

1.) Notice - letter service by certified mail stating nature of violation, how to cure without sanction, date it must be cured by which cannot be within 30 days of Notice. letter must explain they are acting as a debt collector. . etc. Letter must include offer to demand hearing for ruling by the board.
2.) Demand - if violation continues a letter by certified mail must be sent stating that a special hearing of the board where they will hear the member's arguement and reason for not curing the violation by date in notice. Letter must clearly describe nature regarding the continued and uncure violation, how to cure without sanction, date of special agreed meeting with the board to be heard. Date of hearing cannot be within 10 days of letter. Board'd decision will be final and member will be responsible to cure violation by x date. This is the final date to cure and abate any fines or sanctions.
3) Hearing to take place at residents home or other agreed upon location. Member will be heard and allowed to present evidence and witnesses. Board will meet privately. Decision is final and Binding. A members attendace at this meeting in minutes of meeging will service as proof of attendane. Vote mush be recoded in minutes of meeting. Along with sanctions agreed upon

4) if member has bot cured date [ froissued at hearing) THe board may seek legal remmedies such as a judement or folelcose on home.

Again I missed 3 payments, I am a rule breaker 100% undeniable matter of fact. But the HOA are rule breakers as they cannot prove 1, 2, or 3 were attemped or completed. SO my point is: the issue is not did I breatk the rule I did. The issue is not dow I have to pay the asessments + interest I owed, I did already. The issue before the court is do U owe the attorneys fees that I am incurring after I paid the assementments plus interest or was I denied to due process and cure the violation without sanction.

I really want to hear your honest opinion if you were the judge what would you do?

Are you saying you don't think you owe $4K in attorney fees because you never received a certified letter saying you owed the assessments? Part of me still thinks there's more to this story than what you're saying - how is it you received this letter, but not the others - did you move? If you moved, it was your responsibility to let the association know of your new address.

It is possible tbe letter got lost in the mail - or you tossed it, not realizing what it was. Or perhaps someone in your household tossed it. And yes, the board might not have done its job or someone wants to make a point about something else, which may really be a petty power play.

You didn't answer my question - did this letter say a lawsuit has been filed (there should be a case number and court date) or that one would be filed within the next 10 days or so? Do you have anything else going on with your association like a CCR violation(s) - that could also drive up the price. Even then I would say $4K in attorney's fees is a bit much.

Indiana doesn't have mandatory arbitration for HOA disputes, but you could still suggest it. Generally I think both sides should split the costs and the lower has to reimburse the winner. However, getting one may not be cheap either, so call the bar association or check its website to see you can get a referral..

I also think paying a lawyer $1000 or so for a counseltation on this is excessive - if you feel you need to talk to one, check with the bar association for so m eine who may be more affordable. Some may cost $150 or so and maybe a letter and a phone call or two will resolve this.

what i think is more likely is that your association board adopted a collections policy at some point . All owners would have been sent a copy of the policy.

The policy may have said after 90 days of assessments being unpaid, the management company automatically sends the account over to a lawyer. THAT AUTOMATICALLY triggers fees from the attorney. 4000 seems like way too much.

Some states have limits on what attorney fees can be added in situations where an owners account is sent to collections.

The last phrase should have been "dogs of war."

Thank you guys for all of the great advice, and sorrry Michael for hijacking this forum. I hope you found what you were looking for in the link I sent but also in this back and forth on my issue. As you can see there aren't many instances where a lawsuit vs. and HOA is won.

Maybe the group would be so kind as to answer one more questions for me. And this is the frustrating part. Why is my attorney so confident he can win and theirs so confident they will win? How does one pick a good attorney?

Finally to clear up some questions that where raised in the very thoughtful responses:

1) the HOA does not send bills for assesments. The governing doccuments are a contract, they send a booklet of assesments yearly once the assesment is determined, and it is up to you to pay them. When I changed banks and failed to add the HOA to my online bill pay I made the most costly mistake of my life.

2) The HOA is not required to let me know they have put a lien on my home. And a lien is automatically put on the home when 30 days late per the CCR's. The filing of a lien makes it a "perfect lien" one a teed up for a foreclosure. This generated $225 of the legal fees, and $200 to remove the fee if I ever got current. The other legal feels where to file the lawsuit and prepaid court cost.

3) The HOA is required to notify of violations, and how to abate without sanction. They do not have to notify about the interest on the deliquint assesments.

4) The HOA, is required to notify that you have failed to cure the violation and now a special meeting of the board is to take place and allow you to state your case of why you have not corrected the violation by the date in notification. The board with then have a meeting and issue a decision with the total amount you owe and a date to cure without sanction. If you fail to cure that date the board may pursue legal remedy and the prevailing party will pay all legal fees of the other. Proof of this meeting taking place in the CCRs are the minutes of the meeting and vote recorded by the HOA Board.

5) I became aware of all of this when a sheriff knocked on my door and served me the lawsuit. I should say I do not pay close attention to my mail. Everything I do in terms of bills is on online bill pay. I do remember thinking what is up with all of these solicitations from attorney's? I bet when the liend was filed it triggered every bankruptcy attorney to send me a solicitation.

6) The Indiana court system sent our case to Online Dispute Resolution I assume because of the small amount and that it could be fixed with a simple stroke of a check. I did the online dispute resolution paid the money due and included a letter of why my payment was for the assesments owed, why they fell behind and why the check was for assesment and interest but not for the sanction of attorneys fees as the online dispute resolution calls for each party to pay their own attorneys fees. Their attorneys claim they were never notified of the online dispute resolution, they never opened by offer, but the HOA did cash the check bringing the account current on assesment but having me still owe for fees.

7) As the other side never logged into the online dispute resolution (everything is now done via email throught the indiana court systems and this service you sign up for to file motions etc) that the matter has again been sent back to the court to be decided on the original court date of 4/6. I had to send their attorneys proof via screen shots that this was referred to what Indiana calls Mediation as they state they were never notified.

8) In between the date that the the mediation failed and the trial date reinstated I emailed the association for doccuments that they would have the attorney send to me along with a nasty gram that I am not to speak to anyone but them.

9) Date of trial comes and they are not prepared as one attorney withdrawls and they ask for a continuence. This is when I learn the thing is now $4,000 in attorneys fees + an estimated $3,500 to prep for the trial now set for May 15. This is when I said what the heck is going on and got my own attorney. They are confident that I will lose and my attorney is confident they will lose. Both attorneys will be paid the same either way. They are the winners and the HOA and I are the losers. The question is will I lose $12,000 or 1/13th or $12,000 as a once healthy HOA has to raise assesments to cover an unexpected expense. We did have $5,000 in savings as we have consistently stayed under budget.

10) The HOA has attempted 3 times to date to settle and all 3 I have asked for more time to settle on an attorney as I have not paid the $5,000 retainer to my guy as I just want a second opinion. I do not like attorneys as I think as to no fault of their own they are incentived to run up fees and bill hours not to do what is in the best interst of their clients. And yes my board is brand new and following their attorneys advice down the rabit whole.

So again maybe you have advice on finding a good attorney. It is quite difficult to get them to even call you back. And I'm not giving any details over the phone except I have a court date coming up and would like to speak to you about retaining your services. Business must be good??

A lawyer I know once commented that if he hears the words "it's the principle of the thing" from a potential client, he firmly suggests that he can't help them and they should find another lawyer.

they say that becuase they want to make money. Then in the fine print you sign it says they wont' guarantee any outcome. They will string you along and the HOA lawyer will string them along till both parties are broke and they are rich.

You want to find a good lawyer? ask them about representing you on a case that you know for a fact you will loose. if they are honest and tell you that you will loose and to not pursue it then at least they have a tiny bit of honesty. I really hope you win.

most hoa's would be much better off with out lawyers and PM's leeching off the membership funds.

My opinion. "Principles" can be quite vague or changeable. Principles are not matter of fact nor matter of law so trying to communicate with this potential client may be challenging regarding the realities of fact and law.

Cathy that is a good lawyer there. There are also certain "moral" values a lawyer has to maintain as well. Similar to the Hyprocatic oathe a Doctor takes. "Do no harm". At some point it is more about the "harm" than the resolution. A court is to make one whole or in rare cases "punished" if necessary. It isn't where you sort out grudges. A lawyer looking for a cash cow can also find themselves at the "butt-end" of that same cow...

There is another option. Counter-sue. This does not require a lawyer. Just simply need to reply to their case with your own case. Which IMO is the excessive charges by the lawyer the HOA is passing down onto you. IF you did pay the late fees, interest, back dues, and collection fees then what legal charges are they adding? They didn't need a lawyer on retainer. So they should not charge you for that fee. That is not an individual charge. That is to retain an attorney for a long term purpose. It is usually for a long term case in court not for collections. That should be set amount like the $700 already paid.

Just thought of this because could not figure out where that extra money they were suing for. The HOA has a right to be made "whole". However, there is also a point where they incurred costs they have to pay outside of that. Example: Getting legal advice on how to collect. The legal advice isn't part of the collecting. It is a cost of doing business more or less.

Again think the HOA has an issue with their lawyer. It sounds like a group of people who don't know much about the legal system. They drinking some "legal Kool-aid". Which can be very dangerous for the membership overall. I would dig more into the relationship of the lawyer with the HOA or PM. Are they a member? Do they work for the PM? Something is up with this legal firm if you ask me.

Respond to their complaint with your counter-suit. Which would be the break down of their expenses they trying to pass onto you. You have the right to know what those expenses are for. If they are not directly related to collections, then you can counter-sue for your own legal expenses. A counter-suit can be for the expenses you incur for their pursuit. Ask your lawyer about this option as well. They may jump onto that angle.

Once a HOA files suit, what the final bill to the owner for the HOA's attorney fees for collection will be is hard to guess at.

I am not denying the possibility that this board may have done you wrong, as a matter of law. But I get the sense that you feel: that you were not in the wrong all that much; and that the HOA deserved any retaliation you thought you could throw at it. Whence the board's hackles really rose, and here we are today.

How come you waited until the HOA filed suit to pay up? I can imagine a lot of volunteer director hours went into the decision-making here. It's not like the board does not have other issues to address.

As soon as suit is filed, HOAs can and should require the owner to speak with only the HOA attorney about the matter under dispute. This is standard. It's something all owners should understand is one of the many downsides to letting a lawsuit get filed against them.

In the event you keep reading at this forum, you will note the many veterans who speak of the many attempts to collect before siccing a collections attorney on the owner (and filing suit) or foreclosing. Your board may fall short of "best practices." But respectfully it's hard to tell using only an internet forum and hearing only one side's version of things.

I had to ponder this a bit, but that's just my dense-ness. I think this is interesting and an important psychological point. What CathyA3 explained (from this attorney she knows) is as well. Perhaps to some extent what CathyA3 posted implicates what JeanneH3 posted?

To best enjoy HOA and condo living, and without serving on the board, is setting aside "principles" important?

I would say, "Yes. Especially for the small stuff. Also do not let the cognitive dissonance take hold and defeat you either."

So, here is what I'm thinking, the attorney I spoke with is very confident I would win. But he has a $5,000 retainer, and no guarantee. THe court of appeals opinions are all over the board. THe HOA has been made whole + 12% interest, a few days after I was served and realized I forgot about them. And I would call that more than whole. In fact I would be willing to pay everyone's assesment for an year provided they pay me back + 12%. I don't think I would ever stop doing that deal. Despite the attorney's confidence the HOA attorneys are just as confident but they have asked to talk about settling on 3 occasions now. The court date is May 17th.

My current thought is to see if it would be agreeable to the attorneys to just go back to their fee's that seemed outragous to me at the time. Roughly $700 on top of the assesments and late charges. They jumped to $4,000 over 7 emails for things like meeting minutes, proof of notice sent certified mail, their contract with the HOA, the management companies contract with the HOA, the budget and our cash standings. They really haven't done anything. I imagine most of the $4,000 was to show up to court and ask for a continuance as one attorney was withdrawing because he was quiting the firm to open his own. THe attorney there was there for an hour meeting with at least 7 people before she was ready for me, all the poor people her firm is suing.

I really wish I could go back to when this was just everything they were asking for but it just didn't smell right. The case was referred to online mediation and they never even opened the offer. Which was everything I owed + interest.

So I'm going to contact their attorney, explain what the attorney I spoke with's reasoning on why he believed they waived their rieht to sanction without prejudice, by not following their rules of enforcement. Provide 2 court of appeals cases that are nearly identical to mine in which the board came very close to following the rules of enforcement, mine made zero effort. Finally I wouldn't mind helping them to follow these rules properly next time. They could even use emails with delivery receipts. So if anyone gets behind again they could start the process the right way. And that memeber can simply pay what they owe without sanction.

I'll be sure to provide you with the result.