One of my unspoken goals in creating this blogsite is to gradually build a list of lawyers in each and every state who are not beholden to such dismal anti-homeowner organizations as the Community Associations Institute. Other bloggers and I have been assembling a list of attorneys who truly represent homeowners against HOA bullies and management companies. So I solicit your input on lawyers you think deserve to be recommended by our network. You can privately email me at ward@NeighborsAtWar.com. Ultimately, our vetted list will be made available on all sorts of homeowners rights blogs.
On the subject of homeowner’s rights lawyers, I love the blogs put up by Florida attorney Barbara Billiot Stage. I know nothing about her, but I love some of her posts.
(link to Attorney Barbara Billiot Stage)
A very good idea, by Ward Lucas. However, we also need a list of the deplorable, law ignorant and criminal attorneys, management companies and HOA, (including COA, POA, CID, CIC, PUD, etc.) board members who are, or have been, involved in these intentional and willful violations of the law, violations of “the contracts of the HOA,” violating their fiduciary duties, violation of FDCPA, the intentional frauds upon the courts, intentional and selective discrimination and the range of injustices and crimes that have been a part of the targeting of innocent and unsuspectingly vulnerable HOA homeowners for these crimes and injustices. Any judges, or magistrates and other accomplices who have been involved in the HOA criminality should be known to all Americans as well, no matter where they are in America!
Thanks, Cynthia. Your idea won’t work, though. That list would run into the tens of millions. Not even Ma Bell could keep track of that one!
Didn’t think of that complication, Ward. Sorry about that. I am happy to see though, some have responded with HOA homeowner attorneys they feel are worth referring from some states! Very good news! I know of at least 1, or 2 in the states commented about! We need many, many more!
A problem we’ve encountered is a rogue committee refusing to address complaints. They purchased Insurance for legal liability defense for directors and officers. Their attitude is if you don’t like it sue us.
I have found, in paying attorneys you are taking money from your retirement, money which you need for food and living costs at a time when you are at an age when you are no longer able to be employed.
I have informed the California Senate Sergeant at Arms of such terrible lack of Fiduciary Responsibility, to create Legislation to require the ” Licensed Fiduciary” definition to be expanded to be a REQUIREMENT prior to obtaining D&O insurance.
My phone calls to Jim Tisch, ultimate benefactor of the CNA Insurance company have been ignored, his office at Loews corporation has not conveyed my request to speak with Tisch directly.
This message is to Jim Tisch: Your business model has destroyed our retirement capacity.
You can man up, Jim. You firm knows we were sued under false claims, and then our lawyer was Disbarred. We didn’t have enough money to sue every attorney for malpractice!
Our inheritance and home equity is lost.
My family, and I have high likelihood of early death due to your business model to insure Rogue HOA who act to get it over on their members.
Mr Tisch, your firm HAS UNLIMITED RISK CAPACITY, yet our risk, is beyond a few thousand dollars, our risk is in facing loss of retirement capacity, which translates to EARLY DEATH.
WE NEVER HAD A RELIABLE ROAD, CNA KNEW OF THE DANGER. Their underwriters knew the danger, and non-renewed due to the risk. CNA terminated their risk. CNA lost money in defending their insured, and CNA got out of the situation.
I WISH THIS TO BE READ BY THE LEGISLATION OF EVERY STATE IN THE COUNTRY!
CNA’s business model has interfered with my compliance with request by The Assistant Surgeon General of the United States Army, for PTSD Therapy. Abreaction, Desensitization and Emotional Reframing.
Mr. Tisch, please call me. My family has been terrorized.
I am emailing you now. My HOA lawyer in Florida is very pro-homeowner and has collaborated on cases with Barbara Stage, as well.
Likewise, I am sending via email the name of a California/Texas attorney that guided condo homeowners here (Southern California) through successful mediation with our board a couple of years ago.
Thank you very much, Michael.
I am involved in a lawsuit now with out BOD . Barbara Stage is my attorney , and I would highly recommend her firm. You got a problem with HOA …. Call Barbara.
It would be nice to be able to get an honest attorney who truly wants to work and represent you, but the real power these HOA’s have is their economic power against you. They use the money from others or their insurance to to sue you or circumvent the HOA laws.
Even if you had a good attorney, in many cases, you are looking at 50k or more to even address a problem. The other issue is people don’t have the ability to make standing up to their HOA a part time job. The other great problem is the groups who are associations, like road maintenance committees, do not fall under the HOA laws like many in California. These groups end up being able to do anything they want with no real laws to protect owners or even balance their power. As you know, when corrupt or abusive people find themselves in a position of power or being able to take advantage of others, they are going to do it. This has not changed for thousands of years and maybe we as a county have come a long way, but we still have this problem and unbalance.
A good lawyer is a start, but in my County, a good lawyer would not be able to stay in business because the court/legal system of business does not allow him to stay in business. Somebody want to deal with that problem? Some kind of balance must be achieved and I am afraid that is not going to be done with lawyers. It’s just not in their nature, in fact, keeping a wise balance is the problem we all face when going through life. When we reach outside of ourselves for the answer or balance, we will always have difficulty because we are extending.
We the people could change some of our laws and make some new ones to help those being abused by HOA or any associations taking unjust advantage. Most lawyers, or people for that matter keep the conflict going with no real resolution. When one party always wants to control with whatever means given to them, there will never be real resolution. What this generates is lack of community and resentment.
There is a reason why this is a growing problem in this country, its because most of the time, there is no true resolution of the conflict. The conflict cannot be resolved because of lack of honesty and desire. Let me leave with the challenge to change of few of our laws to give the people to power to go to court themselves without lawyers and be heard by a system that would be forced to use the rule of law to rule on conflicts and not their rule that is not supported by open and stated reference.
Think of how referees run football games, they make decisions on issues, but they use a set of open rules we can all learn from as we experience the game. I guess we have not learned much from sports when dealing with legal issues. Open and honest true dealing under a set of fair rules or methods may be a start. If you don’t solve the economic unbalance, nothing will change. Kind of like the drug problem, if you want to change something, get people to stop buying drugs.