The unfounded fears of massed Office of Administrative Hearings, OAH, complaints by disgruntled homeowners that resulted in the legislature imposing a $550 filing fee, raised to $2,000 5 months later and then lowered for a single case back to $550 in April, have been proven just that — completely unfounded. The results after the first year “in business” reveals:
HOA cases: 38
decisions: 32
Homeowners won: 10
HOAs won: 14
split decisions: 4
vacated decisions: 4
The homeowners won not 5% of the cases, as would be expected if the wild claims that “95% of the HOAs are good”, as alleged by HOA attorneys and lobbyists over the years were indeed true, but 42% of the cases. The first year statistics revealed that in most cases the homeowner was a Pro Per facing an HOA attorney, and that ALL cases were filed by homeowners and not one by an HOA. Bear in mind that the decisions are based on the adhesion contract nature of the HOA governing documents, the general lack of legal knowledge by the homeowner petitioner, and the HOA supportive state laws – all serving to create a “playing field” that is not level.
The miniscule HOA cases that were filed, in contrast to some 7,360 cases heard by OAH in 2006 (that’s a mere 1.7%), does not warrant the imposition of a $550 or $2,000 fee. The legislature must remove this requirement that treats homeowners in HOAs as second class citizens. Research into OAH fees for agency filings shows that over 78% (top 4 agencies) paid no fee whatsoever.
A group of homeowners in Apaache Wells in Mesa have learned the hard way that a win from the OAH is not what they thought it would be. In January 2007 they took the purchase of a $723,000 former Bank Building without homeowner approval and a transfer fee increase on home sales to pay for it before an Administrative Law Judge. The purchase of the Bank Building was ruled OK, but the ALJ rolled the transfer fee back to $300 from $950. The AWHOA appealed the transfer fee decision in Superior Court and won in early September. They are now seeking over $12,000 in attorney fees and costs from the homeowners along with the refunding of the $550 OAH filing fee paid to them by the AWHOA in the lower court’s order. The Superior Court Judge who granted the appeal cited the fact that the ALJ had exceeded his jurisdiction. It appears that the OAH is a great place to take a complaint on what color you can paint your house or whether you can leave your car on the street overnight, but forget anything more serious. We are to say the least very disappointed in this turn of events and would say to other homeowners seeking justice with the OAH, “Don’t waste you time and money!”
Comment by Bob & Judi Teague — November 27, 2007 @ 6:45 am |
Bob,
This is just how the courts work. CAI knows this and filed an appeal. It’s strategy is to get homeowners to give up, and it appears that it worked here.
You need to file an appeal, or a motion to reconsider with strong authoritative support that ALJ’s can make such determinations.
You need a lawyer to file an appeal, if not too late.
Comment by pvtgov — December 5, 2007 @ 4:34 am |
[...] This result is consistent with the results found in September 2007 by this writer based on the first-year cases (32 decisions), which showed a 42% win percentage by homeowners. (See http://azhoaoah.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/first-year-oah-statistics-on-hoa-cases/). [...]
Pingback by Year 2 AZ OAH statistics on HOA cases — homeowners still win 43% of the cases! « HOA Constitutional Government — September 1, 2008 @ 7:01 pm |
[...] This result is consistent with the results found in September 2007 by this writer based on the first-year cases (32 decisions), which showed a 42% win percentage by homeowners. (See http://azhoaoah.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/first-year-oah-statistics-on-hoa-cases/). [...]
Pingback by Year 2 AZ OAH cases on HOA disputes - homeowners still win 43% « Arizona HOA Case Reviews — September 1, 2008 @ 7:03 pm |