The mere existence of a homeowners association does not mean that the HOA has limitless power and authority and can do everything and anything it wants. Unfortunately that notion seems to be widely accepted. I’ve heard board members say, “we are the board and can do anything we want” and their attorneys respond, You are not on solid legal foundation but homeowners don’t assert their rights so go ahead….. So what is a homeowner who is caught in this insane web to do?
Bill Davis joins us On The Commons. Bill, a Texas attorney who represents homeowners against their homeowners associations tends to run into some of the strangest cases. Today’s discussion is about one such case and underscores the importance of homeowners doing their own research. We’ll talk about one association that may, or may not have the power and authority to do anything it feels like doing. In this case the homeowner chose to assert his legal rights and in the process uncovered some interesting facts about the association.
“I’ve been talking about the Farran case, how it went from a war zone to a real community. I’m hearing from people saying ‘Shu, how can I do that?’.”
1. There are 350,000 H.O.A. corporations in the United States. 350,000 separate homeowners are simply not going litigate their H.O.A. corporation into bankruptcy.
2. The Farrans were people of means. And, if I recall correctly, one or both of them were lawyers (or at least had law degrees). Most Americans simply do not have the financial means, nor knowledge, connections, etc., to do what they did.
3. Here in Colorado, the power of an H.O.A. corporation to assess fines is statutory, in C.R.S. § 38-33.3-302 “Powers of unit owners’ association”. Also, judges in Colorado tend to be more deferential to H.O.A. corporations than they seem to be in Virginia. The Farran case would have turned out very differently here.
4. Citing the Farran case as an example makes the demonstrably false assumption that if an H.O.A. corporation is driven to bankruptcy – whether by litigation, mismanagement, etc. – the homeowners are going to unite to neuter the power of the H.O.A. corporation. I’ve seen the opposite happen; a near-bankrupt H.O.A. corporation frightens enough homeowners to grant the H.O.A. corporation even more power, while the “dissidents” are scapegoated as the cause of the community’s woes.
5. Since the Farran case, the C.A.I. has figured out that it can lobby state supreme courts to depublish court decisions favorable to homeowners, so that those decisions cannot be used as precedent in future cases.
https://pvtgov.wordpress.com/2018/07/14/turtle-rock-cai-brief-urged-depublication/
https://independentamericancommunities.com/2018/07/16/heres-why-hoa-statutory-power-to-fine-must-be-outlawed/