Don’t beat me up! I know there are other good, honest HOA lawyers out there someplace. Well, at least one or two. But I haven’t met them yet.
But this lawyer actually ‘gets it!’ He understands about the kind of fascism found in many of America’s Homeowners Associations. He understands that HOAs are often a rat trap that ruin targeted homeowners at will. He gets the fact that once a bully board is in control of the HOA they can unleash unbelievable racism, discrimination and abuse. He understands that HOA lawyers are a corrupt layer of infection that can quickly contaminate the atmosphere of a neighborhood. He understands that HOA lawyers have little or nothing to do with ‘justice,’ it’s all about how much money can be pocketed from homeowners who find themselves in a hopeless situation.
I’m linking this lawyer’s short blog below, mainly because he says all of the above but with a lot more diplomacy. But it’s really worth printing out and saving. If you’re a homeowner living in Texas, this connection could someday be very valuable to you.
(link to J. Patrick Sutton Law in Austin, Texas)
A legal firm is PRIVATE and a very PROFITABLE business. How does a junior lawyer get recognized by their employers (firm’s partner lawyers)? Annual billable hours!!!!!!!
Unfortunately, it is the 95% of lawyers that give the 5% of good lawyers such a bad reputation 🙂 Patrick Sutton appears to be one of the 5%.
And if you’re in Colorado I can highly recommend Terry Murray of Murray & Damschen. I had to sue my HOA and found Terry through a neighbor (who also had to sue our HOA — and Terry won for him!). Here’s the link to their firm: http://www.madlawfirm.com/
Just let me know who anyone knows who is good to great in California. I have a stunning paper trail … and I am a great client. If they want media exposure, I’ll make sure we have a lot of it and if they don’t, I’m on board with what they want. But this HOB is criminal and even their friend spilled posts saying they were self serving when he, a total of three of thei buddies withdrew from being associated with them .. they knew it was going one day to a lawsuit. Now I want someone to represent me but I intend to show some crimes so intentional .. people are up in arms against them … all but the ones who don’t want us to rent our homes as vacation rentals, when it’s been a common interest over 60 years without a single complaint … and we always had a normal board … the freak who took it over with his buddies are sensitive to their demands. Threats of fines they’ve hired in advance a selected management company and lawyer, when there’s a dumb lawyer on the board. He authored 2 newsletters to have people stalk rental homes and count all the people in them, take pictures, and more… and by the way, the second attorney elected to the board, in a bad election where the lawyer pres picked a person to be on the board instead of allowing the Asian female who is brilliant and with a large company in a high position, the few votes behind his to occupy her place on that BOD. He wrote it on the Op Ed section as he does most lies of his .. he knows people will lose homes without the income they have always gotten from short term rentals. We need help and I am swimming in a paper trail that will bite them. I come with excellent references.
Mary Starr,
You might want to contact Donie Vanitzian through the LA Times. She has a column about HOAs and real estate issues. She might be able to recommend some law firms to you.
Good Luck!