It’s long been the opinion of this blogger, that the American Homeowners Association Movement is destined to collapse under the weight of its own corruption, deceit and abuse of power. That day is still in the future. In the meantime, an amazing lawsuit against illegal activity among that state’s HOAs has been filed in court. What a relief! There may be some lawyers admitted into Heaven after all! The law firm’s press release is below:
The Law Offices of J. Roger Wood, PLLC 1628 East Southern Avenue, Suite 9-310 – Tempe, Arizona 85282, (602) 324-7126 –
For Immediate Release:
Class Action Lawsuit Filed by Arizona Homeowners Against
Arizona HOA Management Companies Alleging Millions of Dollars of Damages for Violations of Federal Debt Collection Laws and Arizona Law
(Phoenix, Arizona – September 20, 2012)
– Two Arizona homeowners, have filed a class action lawsuit against twenty-seven Arizona community association management companies (“CAMs”).
There are thousands of Homeowners Associations and Condominium Associations in Arizona. A majority of those HOAs contract with management companies to assist the HOA and its Board with the day to day operations of the Association. In addition to the every day tasks, some Arizona CAMs also have made agreements to assist HOAs in collecting past due homeowner assessments.
The complaint alleges that these CAMs, acting as third-party debt collectors, have engaged in unlawful activities in their attempts to collect past due assessments from Arizona homeowners. The plaintiffs allege that the CAMs have and continue to pursue Arizona homeowners by charging collection costs and related fees that are not authorized by law. Public court and county property records show that CAMs have wrongfully filed and recorded thousands of liens, lawsuits and judgments in violation of the federal Arizona Court Rules, the federal Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, the Arizona Constitution and Arizona’s wrongful lien laws.
The plaintiffs allege that the CAMs’ collection activities violate Arizona’s rules regarding the unauthorized practice of law. The public record shows that CAMs sign and record liens, file lawsuits, negotiate the legal rights of third parties, appear in Court and collect fees for these services. Arizona law does not allow non-lawyers to act on behalf of a third parties in legal matters. Such activities require a law license and these violations trigger liability under federal debt collection laws. The CAMs’ unlawful fees for these activities have cost Arizona homeowners millions of dollars.
The lawsuit seeks to end these unlawful practices and also seeks an award of damages for the named homeowners and the thousands of other Arizona homeowners who have been victimized by these CAMs and their unlawful collections activities.
The Law Offices of J. Roger Wood represents Arizona homeowners who have disputes with their Homeowners Associations or Condominium. Watters and Watters are trial lawyers representing Arizonans in civil litigation, including employment issues or toxic tort exposures. The firms are working together on this case, seeking to right these serious wrongs. They can be contacted at
info@jrogerwoodlaw.com or legalhelp@watterslaw.com or at the telephone numbers listed above.
Watters & Watters, PLLC P.O. Box 65147 – Tucson, Arizona 85728
Since this suit only applies to Arizona, homeowners in other states should join the bandwagon and file in their state, because the management firms are no better. They all follow the CAI mantra, or standby and allow the abuse to go on, avoiding their corporate citizenship.
George, you would know better than I. But I think there’s a similar lawsuit in California. That leaves just 48 states to go.
Mr. Lucas,
Thanks for your post and your kind words.
You are absolutely welcome. Now, a public challenge: Will you help me build a list of lawyers in each state who have successfully defended homeowners against the CAI? I don’t mind increasing the business of honest lawyers who’ll take on the fundamentally corrupt Homeowners Association Movement. Such a list would get a ton of national distribution, I promise you.