Court ordered payment due me from HOA
Hello Dennis,
My HOA was ordered to refund the filing fee for the complaint I lodged with ADRE. The time for appeal has passed and I have heard nothing from the HOA about when I can expect the funds (despite having hand delivered a request for payment). The HOA not responding to me is nothing new but I am wondering if there is some time frame that is reasonable to wait before I file for contempt of a court order in Superior Court?
Thanks, Lisa
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Lisa,
If the HOA has not provided the court ordered payment by the end of the time frame for which they can appeal that ruling, they are in contempt of court. They were ordered to make the repayment effect on the date of the decision, they needed to make that payment but could have appealed that ruling in a timely fashion. The payment comes first the appeal comes later.
Dennis
Thanks. So good to be able to ask someone with your knowledge.
The HOA issued the refund. Thanks.
Glad to help. That is why I created this coalition and this web site.
Dennis
Update- after finally refunding my filing fee, the HOA Board issued a page long screed relitigating the issue, calling me out(not by name in the email ,but the Board President has made previous statements in open meetings calling me out by name for “disheartening her for my challenge to the Boards decision.”). I can deal with that kind of bullying, what troubles me is that the email blamed me for the cost of defending the complaint. They do not explicitly admit that they were told by the Court 1. They can not use contingency funds to pay for maintenance on a private business, not served by the HOA. 2. They need to follow the CC&Rs in the future. This is the same Board that is now trying to limit political speech. I guess I should know better than to expect reasonable, truthful behavior.
Typical response from any association, the truth is totally irrelevant. They are found in violation of their own governing documents, and they blame the individual that enforced those documents. The blame for the cost of violating the law by the board is not because anyone challenged the actions of the board but rather totally on the illegal actions of the board in the first place. If the board actually cared about the finances of the community, they would conduct their business in compliance with the law and the governing documents. Until these board members are personally held liable for the cost of their illegal activities this will never change. The HOA industry argues that if the board are held liable for their illegal actions no-one would ever volunteer to serve on the board. This is simply a continuation of those that want to be soft on crime to protect the rights of the criminals with no consideration of the rights of the victims of those crimes.
I have no doubt that any legislation to hold board members personally liable for their actions will have a dampening effect of board candidates, but if anyone volunteers to run for the board, based only on their protection from illegal activities they should never be considered for the board in the first place. There are people that truly want to serve their communities and can do that while complying fully with the law and the governing documents. Those are the people we want on the boards and every community has some of these people.
Dennis