Significant "Common" Tile Roof Damage Ignored by HOA and Property Management

Your CC&Rs should include provisions for Internal Dispute Resolution and for mediation. If not, the Davis Stirling Act requires both, anyway. IDR usually involves the HOA Board appointing one of its members to meet with you, hear your complaint, and try to work something out. Mediation involves an outside third party neutral coming in and trying to negotiate a compromise settlement between the two sides. A mediator does not decide who is right and wrong, but in order to persuade both sides to compromise, a mediator is likely to point out the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. If I were your attorney, I would start by hiring a contractor with special expertise in waterproofing and roofing, have him inspect the problem, take lots of pictures, and prepare a report of what's wrong, what repairs are required, and what it will cost. I would give that to the HOA Board and request that the repairs be approved and implemented immediately. After that, I would invokethe IDR and mediation provisions described above. If that doesn't work, I would not do anything else without having an attorney carefully review the CC&Rs and the report. The Business Judgment Doctrine gives the HOA Board very broad discretion in deciding which repairs to do and how to do them. A judge will not second-guess such a decision unless you can convince the judge that the Board has abused its discretion. Abuse of discretion is a very high standard. Almost all HOA CC&Rs include an attorney fees provision. That means that if you take this dispute to arbitration or a lawsuit and lose, you will be required to reimburse the HOA for all of its attorney fees and expenses. In a recent appeal, the homeowner lost the original case, and in the appeal got the amount he had to pay to reimburse the HOA for its attorney fees reduced from $1.4 million ot $740,000.00. And the HOA can enforce such an award by selling your home, without going to court to do so, and charge you with those attorney fees, too. So be very very sure you are going to win. If you appreciate this free advice, please remember to refer me to any friends or acquaintances who need a lawyer. Referrals are still our best source of new business. Do you have a revocable living trust to protect your heirs against probate? Probate takes forever, is expensive, and is annoying. Do your family a favor. Set up a trust, and put all your property, especially any real property, into the trust. Since it is revocable, you can change it, add to it, take property out of it, or even cancel it completely, at any time. We set up such trusts,  and convey one piece of real property to the trust, usually the family home, for $1500.00. If you would like to hire me to do this, let me know, and I'll send you a list of the information I need. Dana Sack