2024 Lawsuit Against Kansas City, MO HOA

In April of 2023, teen Ralph Yarl rang a doorbell by mistake (looking for his siblings) and was shot by the resident. Mr. Yarl survived but suffered severe injuries. The home in question is in a subdivision of single family homes with a HOA. Yarl through his attorney has named the homeowner and the HOA as defendants.

The lawsuit alleges that the HOA failed to communicate regulations on discharging firearms within the neighborhood and that the association failed to render aid to Yarl after he was shot.

Of course going to drag the HOA into it. People think it has big pockets.

The sad part about it is that the Plaintiffs attorney and the judge assigned to the case aren't sanctioned
for allowing such foolery. The lawyer needs to be disciplined for bringing a frivolous lawsuit against a
defendant that had absolutely no involvement in the action. The Judge should've immediately dismissed the HOA
with prejudice and ordered the plaintiffs attorney to cover all legal expenses and the increase to the HOA's
D&O insurance premium hike.

A good (if there is such a thing) lawyer will list everyone and everything remotely related to a case. The more crap you throw against the wall, the more crap that sticks.

Of course they do John, I read the complaint, it's 100% bat guano hogwash bull caca. No HOA in the USA is responsible
for the criminal action of another individual. No amount of rules and laws can or will compel an individual to follow said
rules and laws. If this was the case, people would be lined up around the block suing their HOA or other HOAs for every nit pickin thing.
HOA's would go bankrupt and homeowners would lose their homes.

If there wasn't an HOA, just a normal neighborhood. who would the family sue, the neighbors??

Whether the HOA really has any responsibility or not, their insurer might decide to settle rather than fight. This could be what the lawyers are counting on.

You can sue for anything at any time. Again they threw the HOA into the mix just as a money grab. Lawyers will do that
We do not know all the details just the surface.

Unfortunately the HOA will have to hire a lawyer on retainer for this case. It is not clear if the victim was a HOA member? Sounds like could be if suing them.

Knowing the criminal side and the corporate side of how this works in court. The HOA will need a lawyer to represent itself in court. That will raise expenses and possible dues for the HOA. It will be an insurance claim for any damages. It puts HOA at risk of losing insurance or higher rates. We will not mention this can effect loans and refinance...

Most likely they are throwing stuff out to see what sticks. The HOA most likely will be dismissed. It just an expensive process to get there ...this is Not just board being sued. It is the entire membership.

This is out of the HOA control and rhealm. I had a member after they passed a live grenade was found during cleanup. The bomb squad was called in.

Now how is it the HOA scope to have weapons rules inside a home? Our HOA is is spelled out we only responsible for lawn are. We just have restrictions on use of common area and appearances.

Unless the HOA this happened on common property with signs or notices about weapons, the HOA or MC just being sued for money grab.

I suspect the HOA will either settle or it’ll get dismissed from the case, depending on what’s negotiated or what comes up during discovery, but until we see how this evolves, it may be premature to call this a money grab. Not because they don’t happen (everyone goes for whoever has the deepest pockets), but there ARE instances where a resident refuses to comply with HOA rules and arguments ensure. These days, some of these disagreements can end badly – in fact in 2022, a HOA president and her husband were shot by a neighbor, and she was killed.

(See https://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article269613311.html - you may run into a pay wall)

The president and husband were 81 and the shooter was 75 - what IS it with some older people and guns???? Then again, America has turned into a gigantic gun range, with people buying all sorts of firepower “for protection,” and yet, we can’t seem to stick with an old fashioned cussing out or fistfight where there’s a chance you can get out in one piece. Better a bruised ego than a black eye – and that’s better than walking into a hospital, which is better than being carried to the morgue.
For some reason, I seem to recall another story when someone tried to bust a cap during a board meeting or annual meetings in Kentucky or California (maybe both?) Anyway, back to the subject at hand – there appear to be several articles on guns and HOAs lately – look at a few of these and ponder:

https://vinteum.io/security/qas-about-guns-in-your-hoa/

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/11/01/condo-wars-disputes-explode-into-violence-arson-and-even-murder/ (unfortunately, this one has a paywall)

https://www.mulcahylawfirm.com/can-a-hoa-prohibit-firearms-in-common-areas/

https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/whether-an-hoa-can-prohibit-the-possession-of-firearms-in-common-areas-of-an-hoa/

Sure you can, at least initially. It is a common phrase in initial court filings. On the other hand, as we saw in some of the suits thrown out c. 2020, alleging fraud in the election, there has to be some basis for the allegations. Else yes, I agree the court could sanction the attorneys for frivolity.

Sometimes the plaintiffs do not want to show too much of their hand. It's more productive to get into discovery and see if people can be caught in a lie, for example.

Among other things, I'd like to know

Assuming Lester waved his gun(s) around a lot, when did this start?
Did the person(s) who were the object of his discontent call police? What was their response?
Did this happen in fron of his home or part of the common area (e.g. the clubhouse)?
If Lester's done this more than once, was anyon targeted in particular (e.g. people of color trying to live while black/Hispanic/Asian, etc. and doing things like delivering mail)?
Did all these people live in the community?
Anyone tell the board - if so, when?
Anyone try talking to him?
anyone talk to Lester's family in hopes they could talk to him?
What do the documents say about establishing or maintaining a nuisance, interfering with a person's right to quiet enjoyment of his/hers/their property (or whatever legalese the lawyers stuck in the CCRs?)
Could the guy be on APS' radar ?
Did he display other signs of trouble (e.g. hoarding)?
Did anyone keep a record of Lester's behavior? (If you were going to try and sue the guy, you need documentation to show it's an ongoing problem, what you did to try and resolve it, ad what the board did or didn't do.)

And so on.

It’s an insurance shake down by the plaintiff attorney will full knowledge the HOA has no liability. The HOA’s insurance will probably settle vs spending funds defending.

I hope not, this will only encourage more shakedowns and lead insurance carriers to just roll over. We badly need tort reform in the USA.

From Plaintiff Ralph Yarl's attorney, Lee Merritt:

"When Ralph was shot, he ran into the community," Merritt said. "The community went into a lock down system. I wanna know what led to that lock down. Was it related to the HOA policies and practices that led to the delay of Ralph getting the care he needed?"

We also had an active shooter situation in my area a number of years ago. Police everywhere, including helicopters circling and trying to spot the shooter. People who were in stores were prohibited from leaving, people who were on the streets were sent home or into the nearest store, people who were at home were told to stay there and lock their doors. And of course the media were present at the police staging area down the street, which was in the parking lot of the store where I do my groceries.

What was different in this case is that the shooting victim had already received help - it was the shooter who was trying to get away.

Anyway, as I said, if I hear gunfire and someone comes to my door, I'm thinking that my own life is in danger. I'm not thinking that the victim is looking for help. It's awful that people who need help of any sort often make their situations worse by knocking on a stranger's door. But it's the world we live in now.

A few years ago my co-worker got a call from his wife. She said she had heard someone pounding on their door at later in night. (10 PM). She was home alone and would not answer the door. It turns out this person had gotten stabbed 25 - 30 times! Crawled up to their doorstep to get help. Did not get anyone at the door and went to the neighbors house. I did hear the person survived. Do not know if they caught the stabber.

I don't think a HOA would or could have a policy in place. The general rule of thumb the police will tell you is "Call 911 and WAIT till they come". This isn't a "HOA" rule. This is just a "life" responses. All the HOA could do is tell people to do what the police say to do.

It should be noted that I ran a Neighborhood watch. The police came in to educate us. Which involved the fact that you do NOT use guns or violence if there is a crime. What you use is your phone to call, take pictures, and write down any information. (Description/tag number/tattoos). They in no means request anyone to get involved but to do so from a distance.

Again think they are reaching for straws in this case as it should not be the policy of any HOA to have rules outside of the police requests. Even in our training they tell us do NOT engage with an active shooter. Run and hide. Even when the swat team came and got us out of the office area, we were hiding. My co-worker did pick up something to "fight" with but told her to put it down. It clearly was the swat team...