Dade City HOA loses suit, can’t charge for legal fees: The association’s legal bills reached “upwards of $70,000,” according to a letter signed by all three board members. The board passed a special assessment, charging property owners thousands of dollars to pay the legal bills.
DiCiollo said he paid the first two assessments, but when the board passed a third special assessment, he asked for documentation of the expenses. “We can’t get our hands on these billings,” he said. “Every time I ask to see them, the board members say it’s attorney-client privilege.”
That’s when he and two other homeowners sought to have the community association disbanded by the court.
In his final order, Sestak wrote that he could find “no genuine issues to any material fact” that Bayhead Landings used an improper method to extend its deed restrictions, as alleged, before they were set to expire on Jan. 1, 2011. “Thus the deed restrictions were not properly extended and have expired.”
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Sorry, the judge rules. You're on your own for attorneys fees. The CC&Rs have reached their "use by" date.
1 comment:
absolutely wonderful result.
Obviously some "board members" wanted to preserve their position of authority and control and were operating in an underhanded manner (is there any other way that HOA boards operate?) to try to re-institute the restrictive covenants that created the regime. Now the place is free and people don't have to be involuntary members of an organization that always operated against them. See how long the "voluntary" HOA lasts when it threatens homeowners, sues them, and refuses to allow them to inspect the books and records. Not long I suspect!
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