Whom Does the HOA's Lawyer Represent?

A big question for the Members (homeowners) of The Summit's HOA should be

"Whom Does the HOA's Lawyer Represent?"

Does the lawyer represent the HOA? the Board of Directors? the President of the Board?

The Minutes of the May 7, 2024 BOD meeting read, in part,

"2. Linda Potter made a motion to hire [sic] Turner Padget firm [sic] as our new attorney. Discussion was had [sic], Dennis (Rybicki) 2nd [sic] the motion, all in favor, none opposed." (That short sentence is definitely not a literary masterpiece.)

I'd say that is pretty clear that Turner Padget was "hired" (retained) to represent the HOA.

The law firm is not the attorney for the Board. It is not the President's law firm. It is the law firm for the Association.

And it should represent the Association! It should represent the 2,480 Members whose money pays them.

So, when Danny went to them and asked them to send a Cease & Desist Letter to Gus Philpott (me) in August, they should have said, "No."

And when Danny wanted them to file a lawsuit against Gus Philpott (me) in December, they should have said, "No. The CC&Rs prohibit it, if you don't have the approval of 75% of the Voting Members." They should have explained Art. XIII, §10 to him.

Upon information and belief, the HOA has been paying invoices from Turner Padget for this legal action.

Those payments are illegal disbursements of Association money, because the Board of Directors never approved the lawsuit. When you read the Minutes of past meetings, none contains any reference at all to the lawsuit.

The HOA should recover the money from Turner Padget. 

Why aren't the other Board Members standing up for the Members of the Association? Why isn't the Finance Committee standing up for the Members? Why aren't the :Voting Members" standing up for their neighborhoods? Why isn't CAMS objecting? Will the CPA who did the 2024 Annual Audit flag those 2024 expenses?

Are they all liable for their silence?

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