Calamity Kris Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 We have found out there is a household in our neighborhood that are continual litigants. We have heard they have sued the HOA several times because of lax enforcement of the covenants, sued several neighbors for everything from not cutting their lawn often enough, trees encroaching on their view or kids leaving toys in the yard. They even sued one neighbor for hosting a holiday gathering that had too many vehicles parked on the street, restricting access to their home. They also threatened to sue the city for putting decorative planters in the middle of the road to slow traffic down, claiming it caused too much wear on their cars swerving to avoid them. Another neighbor tells us these people are literally making a living off of litigation. We have now found out our HOA dues will be going up again because of threatened litigation from these people. My question is, as innocent parties in this mess, do we have the right to file a suit against them for causing our dues to go up? In essence, fight fire with fire? If enough of us neighbors collectively sue them like in a class action suit, do we have a leg to stand on? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruff Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Howdy Miz Calamity Kris, Not a legal professional but I remember a story from the news when I was in CA, some guy that went around suing small business, for ADA violations was issued an injunction from a judge requireing his approval before he could file a suit in the state, Might be a better way to go. But as I said I am not a legal professional, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Last night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 As a participant in over 14 civil suits in my life, as both plaintiff and defendant. What I have learned is anydangbody, can sue anydangbody for anydangthing. Wonder how many of those suits were 'tossed'. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackwater 53393 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Don't file suit jointly!! Each of you should file a separate suit. You can bury them in litigation by forcing their lawyers to respond separately to each suit. Most of it should get thrown out of court, but they still have to respond to get the dismissals. The HOA should also nit pick every thing in the home owners agreement and file suit every time the find any variation from or deviation from the agreement. I'm not a lawyer, but I know a couple who have steered me right and one of them may just chime in here later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 I would say, no. I'm a lawyer, but I'm not your lawyer and not in your state, no don't take my word for it. I personally wouldn't live in a place with covenants. They are not only often hotbeds of litigation, but they are full of busybodies who get on the homeowners' boards and stick their noses into everything. I live in a regular old neighborhood in a city. Nobody to tell me how to paint my house, what to plant, who to have over, etc. ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Kris: I'm a lawyer, and I sympathize with your dilemma...but I would never suggest that you use the courts or your hard-earned income to try to bully these folks into submission. There are no winners in baseless litigation. And class actions are not used for what you describe. As a non-legal opinion....most judges detest rampant petty litigation, and the folks who bring it. One of the defendants in these cases should make sure that the judge is informed of the full history. If you and your neighbors need a strategy, maybe you should pool your money, hire one good lawyer to defend all of the cases, and go after them with vigor. Or shun them out of the neighborhood. I'm with Red; you could not pay me to live in a development or a condo with restrictive covenants. Too many little dictators. LL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Brules Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Howdy Miz Calamity Kris, Not a legal professional but I remember a story from the news when I was in CA, some guy that went around suing small business, for ADA violations was issued an injunction from a judge requireing his approval before he could file a suit in the state, Might be a better way to go. But as I said I am not a legal professional, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Last night. I remember that slime weasel. He was in a wheelchair and he and his lawyer went up and down the coast finding small restaurants (usually) with marginal handicapped access. They'd file suit, then extort a cash settlement. Hey Kris.......as they say, you can sue a ham sandwich, as far as CAN you sue them for any given issue, winning is something else again. So yeah, you can sue them alright, but it sounds like they have this process wired, so they probably know a great deal more than you do, probably do most of the legwork themselves and have a deal with an attorney to be the front man doing appearances and other dirty work. If I were you and wanted to explore this, I'd tred lightly. Do you have neighbors that you can trust to discuss this? Maybe your best option is to purchase a $1million umbrella insurance policy, making sure it covers you for this type of litigation. You can research this online and I suggest you don't discuss with your insurance guy, either but just purchase the policy from him if you find it will cover you adequately. Bums like that are with us always....bad juju will catch up with them in one form or another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Mark Flint #31954 LIFE Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 bars of soap and tube socks would be my recommendation, but as I am not licensed there, you probably don't want to follow my advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Kris Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 Thanks, Pards. The emergency HOA meeting tonight was very enlightening, to say the least. Apparently these people are roundly disliked throughout the subdivision. The horror stories were plenty. We may have found a way to take at least some of the wind out of their sails. Binding Arbitration. The residents attending the meeting tonight overwhelmingly voted to have a binding arbitration clause added to the indentures to slow down or stop this expensive nonsense. We'll see what happens. BTW - we didn't want a house with an HOA either. This is the most relaxed HOA we've ever seen. There are no rules on what color your house must be. There are no busy bodies who run around with rulers measuring the height of your grass. We really love the house and the neighbors, with one exception......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trailrider #896 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I'm no lawyer, but I'd check to see if there might be a statute in your state against frivilous lawsuits. Even if there is one, it might not help, but it wouldn't hurt to check, i guess... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Harrison Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 To Quote Jamie from Myth Busters "When in doubt C-4 " Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Kris-Vote to dis-ban the HOA. ALL issues are solved. OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Brules Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Kris-Vote to dis-ban the HOA. ALL issues are solved. OLG Disbanding a HOA may be impossible or very difficult. The HOA is generally tied to your deed/CC&R's and may be restrictions that wet required as a condition for issuing the development permit....etc...... Just have to do a thorough review; might just be very simple, as you suggest, OLG. In this case, like most vermin, this toxic neighbor might find a different crack to slither into and cause a different brand of trouble. My experience with people like this is to cause them enough passive aggressive grief (the Ghandi approach) that they drown in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Cat-I was just mess'n with CK. She and her hubby are old shoot'n pals of mine from when they lived out here in PRK. ME-I refuse to live under ANY form of a HOA. Never seen one worth a c'it! OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boon Doggle Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Howdy Miz Calamity Kris, Not a legal professional but I remember a story from the news when I was in CA, some guy that went around suing small business, for ADA violations was issued an injunction from a judge requireing his approval before he could file a suit in the state, Might be a better way to go. But as I said I am not a legal professional, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Last night. Sounds like the guy that is doing the same thing here in Austin. Got him a shill in a wheel chair and they are going around suing a lot of small restaurants and other local independent small businesses for ADA violations. What we need is a couple of ol' pillows and a bucket of hot tar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Hand Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Sounds like the guy that is doing the same thing here in Austin. Got him a shill in a wheel chair and they are going around suing a lot of small restaurants and other local independent small businesses for ADA violations. What we need is a couple of ol' pillows and a bucket of hot tar. Well Boone, either the business is ADA compliant or it isn't, calling someone in a wheelchair a "shill" isn't the "cowboy way", I'm disappointed with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Kris Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 Kris: I'm a lawyer, and I sympathize with your dilemma...but I would never suggest that you use the courts or your hard-earned income to try to bully these folks into submission. There are no winners in baseless litigation. And class actions are not used for what you describe. As a non-legal opinion....most judges detest rampant petty litigation, and the folks who bring it. One of the defendants in these cases should make sure that the judge is informed of the full history. If you and your neighbors need a strategy, maybe you should pool your money, hire one good lawyer to defend all of the cases, and go after them with vigor. Or shun them out of the neighborhood. I'm with Red; you could not pay me to live in a development or a condo with restrictive covenants. Too many little dictators. LL Thank you for being the voice of reason, LL. I am not a proponent of baseless litigation either. {Some things just get my dander up.......} I hope the HOA can get the amendments to the covenants passed in short order to slow down or stop all this nonsense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calamity Kris Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 In this case, like most vermin, this toxic neighbor might find a different crack to slither into and cause a different brand of trouble. My experience with people like this is to cause them enough passive aggressive grief (the Ghandi approach) that they drown in it. I understand they were chased out of the town they lived in prior to this place for the same dang thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Brules Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Cat-I was just mess'n with CK. She and her hubby are old shoot'n pals of mine from when they lived out here in PRK. ME-I refuse to live under ANY form of a HOA. Never seen one worth a c'it! OLG :-) :-) OLG, Yeah, I agree with the "NO HOA" thinking. I bailed on a home purchase a while back because the seller did not disclose a "dormant" HOA; escrow disclosures revealed its existence. It was a convoluted mess I didn't want to wade through. My antennae go up when I hear "HOA." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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