It’s one thing to file a lawsuit and another thing to lose the lawsuit. Many things constitute to someone or an organization losing a lawsuit at any point in time, and most times it can be as a result of not being able to convince the jury with your facts, witnesses or being unable to follow the right and due processes in the law court.
Whatever the case is, in this particular article, we would be dealing extensively with what happens when an HOA eventually loses a lawsuit.
Generally, when an HOA loses a lawsuit, the members of the HOA bear the financial cost that was incurred in the process of the legal action. The HOA will end up increasing the fees or introducing something that will make people pay for the financial cost of everything that was spent in the lawsuit.
This is exactly what is seen in most HOA’s when they lose out of a lawsuit against anyone or any member of the HOA.
Can HOA be Sued?
Yes, homeowners have the legal right to sue HOA at any point in time. This is because they are legally approved residents of the HOA, and they happen to be financial members of the HOA as well.
The constitution of the HOA also allows for them to participate in anything happening in the HOA, as well as giving them rights and privileges to express their anger and any other form of dissatisfaction against the HOA at any time.
This is so important, and it means from the side of the HOA, they can be sued.
Most importantly, all federal laws allow its citizen the right to go to court and the right to settle out of court as well, so with this backing, it is evident that an HOA can be sued if any member of the union is aggrieved about anything happening in the HOA.
Can HOA Lose a Lawsuit?
Certainly yes, an HOA can lose a lawsuit outrightly on certain grounds. There is no law that states or gives an HOA the right or privilege to have victory in court over any form of a lawsuit brought up against them.
Every court has its processes and procedures that must be taken into cognizance whenever a lawsuit comes against them and such must be dully and fully obeyed because they are part of court processes and procedures.
In order words, an HOA can lose a lawsuit which will be based on different grounds or different reasons seen by the court that may have been as a result of breaching the rules of the court, as a result of the HOA breaching their own rules or most times as a result of the HOA breaching any part of the fundamental human rights of its own members.
What Happens When an HOA Loses a Lawsuit?
When an HOA loses a lawsuit, certain things come to play at this point. It is clear that when either someone or an organization is not happy with the judgment of a lower court, they have the right to file an appeal in a higher court if there is any room for them to do so.
In this case, the HOA can decide to file an appeal in another court demanding and requesting that their case be revisited, and all these would end up costing a whole lot of funds on the side of the HOA.
It has also been seen in most cases that after all forms of legal suits against an HOA and they end up losing, they would devise a means to make the residents of the HOA pay for all the financial costs of the said lawsuit.
They would really not introduce new levies, but in most cases, they would end up increasing the existing levies in the HOA. These are what happens when an HOA loses a lawsuit.
HOA Lawsuit Settlement Amounts
Different cases call for different settlements. There have been various instances where an HOA has been seen settling huge sums of money as a result of their acts when they are found guilty.
This is to say that the gravity of the case would determine the amount the HOA would be made to pay as a settlement after everything.
Another thing that is important here is the jury handling the case, some juries can make an HOA pay a whopping sum of money just as a punishment to prevent them from repeating such actions against anyone at any point in time.
An HOA lawsuit settlement amounts to $20,000, $35,000,000, $20,000,000 and so much more. And all is dependent on the gravity of such offense filed against the HOA and the jury handling the case at that time.
For more information about HOA losing lawsuits against a homeowner and the settlement that follows, read the article we published about 3 different cases where the homeowner wins a lawsuit against HOA and the settlement.
Class Action Lawsuit Against HOA
Class action lawsuits are types of lawsuits anyone in conjunction with other groups of people going through similar issues like him/her can decide to file against an HOA for diverse reasons.
It can happen as a result of the HOA charging exuberant fees on its residents, it can happen as a result of wrong disputes resolution in the HOA, and most times it can also happen as a result of management.
It can also happen when the HOA goes against the laws of a state or against the federal laws of a country. These are instances that can warrant class-action lawsuits against an HOA at any given point in time.
How Do I Start an HOA Class Action Lawsuit?
The process to follow to start a class-action lawsuit against an HOA are:
- Get your facts right and ready
- Get other people who are suffering from similar or same cases as you
- Write to the HOA
- Contact an attorney who knows what it takes to handle a class lawsuit
- Go to court
- Have everything documented
These are some of the ways to start filing a class lawsuit against an HOA.
Final Thoughts
Being a member of an HOA can be tasking as many issues must arise when people of different classes, backgrounds, religions, ideologies, and educational statuses stay or live in a secluded environment. Issues are inevitable and unavoidable. When such issues arise, there are certain ways to handle them and if taken properly you and the group championing the cause would go home excited.
