What kind of lawyer do I need to sue my HOA in Texas?
Texas Home Owner Associations (HOA): Are You in For Problems?
A HOA has the power to make every neighbor’s’ life a little easier by establishing restrictions that keep the neighborhood clean, safe, and accountable. But certain issues, depending on the by-laws of your HOA, such as unjustified forced foreclosures, failure to repair plumbing or foundations, trying to force you to construct or build a fence on your separate property are worth seeking legal advice. An experienced attorney is needed if you are to take on a Texas Home Owner’s Association. Many HOA by-laws are open to interpretation regarding what a Texas HOA must repair and what is not responsible for under the HOA by-laws. To battle a strong HOA organization it takes an experienced real estate lawyer and if you have been a victim of HOA oppression seek an experienced lawyer immediately.
Attorney Mark A. Nacol is board certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
Dallas Divorce Attorneys Julian Nacol and Mark Nacol serve clients throughout Texas, including Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Kaufman, Rockwall and Tarrant counties and the communities of Addison, Allen, Arlington, Carrollton, Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Garland, Grapevine, Highland Park, McKinney, Mesquite, Plano, Prosper, Richardson, Rowlett and University Park, Prosper, Murphy, Wylie, Lewisville, Flower Mound, Irving, along with surrounding DFW areas.
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Can I sue my HOA in South Carolina?
Homeowners associations impose rules and regulations to enhance property values and to promote a vibrant community life. However, it’s important to understand that HOAs themselves are subject to various laws at the federal and state level. These laws outline rights and responsibilities both for Associations themselves as well as for individual homeowners.
If you serve on the Board of a local HOA, it’s critical that you understand all that’s required of you. Covenants and bylaws will outline some of your duties to the community, but these rules must always be kept in check by the law itself.
Likewise, it’s helpful when homeowners have some basic knowledge of laws, as well as HOA covenants. This helps them to develop a clear understanding of where an Association’s powers and responsibilities begin and end. Awareness of this concurrent jurisdiction is a key part of life in an HOA.
With all of that said, keeping track of HOA laws can be challenging, especially since they vary by state (and sometimes even vary between counties). What follows isn’t meant to be an exhaustive list of HOA laws that affect South Carolina homeowners associations, but a synopsis of some of the most major ones.
With any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Kuester Management Group. We proudly offer HOA Management in Myrtle Beach SC and HOA Management in Fort Mill SC.
This is one of the primary laws affecting HOAs, and its main effect is to impose certain disclosure requirements; in other words, it makes it a legal necessity for HOA Boards to communicate candidly and proactively with members and aspiring buyers. Additionally, this statute created a Department of Consumer Affairs Services for Homeowners and Homeowners Associations, providing the state with some investigative and regulatory power to handle complaints from homeowners.
This is an important law for protecting the rights of owners, but is also helpful to Boards themselves, inasmuch as it clarifies expectations for disclosure and communication.
This law includes a lot of stipulations regarding the formation and management of “horizontal property regimes,” which basically means condos. Note that there are also several important amendments associated with this law, including some notable insurance policies. Though not HOA-focused in the strictest sense, this law does have major implications for condominium associations.
In this law, the State of South Carolina provides some legal parameters for creating and structuring a nonprofit organization. Most HOAs are incorporated as nonprofits, making this law very germane.
This South Carolina law functions as a state-level mirror of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), which prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of things like race, color, sex, nation of origin, religion, or family status. It’s exceedingly important for HOAs to know and comply with this law.
This law protects citizens against any debt collection practices that are abusive, manipulative, or dishonest. HOA dues an
Can I sue my HOA in Arizona?
The state of Arizona has a six-year statute of limitations for taking legal action in a breach of contract case. The law also allows insurance companies in the state to shorten the statute of limitations in which a policyholder can file a breach of contract lawsuit in some circumstances, so there is a chance that, depending on the type of claim being filed, the statute of limitations could be as brief as just a year or two.
There are some breach of contract cases that can occasionally arise between homeowners and HOAs, with either side acting as the plaintiff. Let’s take a look at one of the more common examples of such a scenario: a homeowner filing a breach of contract lawsuit against an HOA for failure to follow its CC&R rules (those being covenants, conditions and restrictions).
Here’s some information from our attorneys specializing in HOA law in Arizona.
All homeowners in a homeowners association automatically become members of the HOA upon purchase of their home. In these areas, the purchase of a home acts as a contract to pay the HOA fee and abide by all rules set by the HOA (the aforementioned CC&R rules).
CC&Rs can be broad and wide-ranging, including restrictions such as where you can park (and how many cars you can park), pet ownership, noise limitations, landscaping or exterior improvements and other such restrictions. HOAs also provide amenities such as snow removal, pools, landscaping, common areas (and repairs to those areas) and other recreational areas as a sort of “give back” for the restrictions the community has in place.
Homeowners do have the right to object to CC&R rules if they believe them to be unfair, but if the rule is to be changed, the homeowner must gather support from other members to approach the board of directors and request adjustments to the rules. Individual members of the board of directors can also attempt to make changes to rules from within the organization.
A failure of either party to abide by the rules agreed to in the contract that exists between HOA members and the HOA itself can result in a breach of contract lawsuit. Homeowners can sue the HOA, and vice versa.
HOAs can file lawsuits against homeowners who do not pay their required fees or who do not abide by the CC&R rules. Homeowners, meanwhile, have several grounds on which they can file a lawsuit against an HOA:
For more information about breach of contract lawsuits under HOA law in Arizona, contact Goodman Law Group today.
Who governs the HOAs in Arizona?
State Regulation Many aspects of HOAs are directly governed by Arizona statutes, such as the Planned Communities statutes, the Arizona Condominium Act and the Nonprofit Corporations Act.