Disabled Vet wins lawsuit against Natomas HOA (Sacramento, Campbell: homeowners association, lawyers)

[2sleepy]

Natomas couple settle long, bitter dispute with homeowner association | The Sacramento Bee

The parties signed the settlement earlier this month, two years after Allen and Cynthia Campbell filed a complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing saying the Sonora Springs Homeowners Association had illegally discriminated against Allen Campbell by not fixing the pool’s broken chairlift despite his complaints starting in 2011. The case was a rare instance in which residents successfully challenged a homeowners association, which tend to have inordinate power compared to individual homeowners, experts said. HOA boards can levy fines and assessments, seize property and take other measures against homeowners who don’t pay or disobey the rules. While HOA dues pay for law firms and professional property managers, homeowners who want to fight the board’s authority usually have to hire and pay for their own lawyers, which is prohibitively costly for most. In this instance, state housing officials intervened, and the Campbells won $109,0000 as part of a mediated settlement.

I hate HOA's lived in one for 14 years..never again they pull this kind of crap all the time and usually get away with it.

[Malloric]

Two sides to every story, which I can see and that article doesn't attempt to address as good journalism would. Mostly it's because the HOA put the lift in in the first place, something that I'm sure he was instrumental in getting in when he was on the HOA but that's not really legally relevant. The HOA had the authority and created the mess, now they have to deal with it. They don't really work that well, also as he demonstrated by getting stuck on it. In a pool with a lifeguard on duty, sure, but with something like an HOA pool where there isn't they're problematic. Then you have the power issue. You can't just leave a portable battery sitting next to a pool. If that's how you're going about powering it, yes, it needs to be brought out every time it's used. Otherwise you need to run a conduit under the cement which is how you really should do it which is expensive. And even then you really need someone there which an HOA would not have.

But hey, they went along and installed it and opened up all those doors on themselves. At that point they really did create a duty to have someone there in case wanted to go swimming and got stuck and to keep it operational. You lose all those defenses the moment you put it in proving it isn't burdensome and do expose yourself to that liability of unsafe conditions it poses. All those are reasons HOA pools aren't covered under Title III for good reason, but once you done put the lift in you've waived all that.

[Elliott_CA]

Originally Posted by 2sleepy

Natomas couple settle long, bitter dispute with homeowner association | The Sacramento Bee

I hate HOA's lived in one for 14 years..never again they pull this kind of crap all the time and usually get away with it.

+1

HOA's desperately need to be regulated and their powers restrained. Too many of them vote themselves far too much power; are inequitable, treating some neighbors differently than others; extract punitive fines for very minor infractions; and have little or no accounting of how they spend their dues. Too many HOAs are vindictive, play petty politics, and are control freaks. Why should I pay $100 per month or more to an HOA just so they can tell me I can't have solar panels on my roof? No thanks!

[2sleepy]

Originally Posted by Elliott_CA

+1

HOA's desperately need to be regulated and their powers restrained. Too many of them vote themselves far too much power; are inequitable, treating some neighbors differently than others; extract punitive fines for very minor infractions; and have little or no accounting of how they spend their dues. Too many HOAs are vindictive, play petty politics, and are control freaks. Why should I pay $100 per month or more to an HOA just so they can tell me I can't have solar panels on my roof? No thanks!

You nailed it I lived in one where a group of nasty little older ladies took over the board of directors and stayed there for years because they were the ones who counted the ballots