Why is the Litigation Section in the CC&Rs?

Why did the authors of the CC&Rs put in Art. XIII, Section 10 Litigation?

They put it in the CC&Rs to keep the HOA from doing exactly what Danny Trapp did on December 30, 2024. The authors knew the cost of litigation and that many lawsuits are started without merit when people can spend OPM - Other People's Money.

The authors knew that lawsuits could cost homeowners thousands of dollars, and they put in a safeguard. The authors set it up so that homeowners would have to approve and that the homeowners' representatives - Voting Members - would have to approve.

Hence, Art. XIII, Section 10 Litigation. Look it up. It's in your copy of the CC&Rs. Or read it online.

And look what happened. First, Board President Danny Trapp went trotting off to the lawyer he had found to represent the HOA and had them send me a Cease and Desist Letter on August 28, 2024. That was less than four months after the Board voted on May 7, 2024 to retain the law firm of Turner Padget. The lawyer threatened me with legal action for "false accusations and continual harassment."

I quickly contacted him and asked what it was all about. What did he reply? That he didn't have to communicate with me because I'm not a Member of the Association. He meant it, too, because he repeated it a few days later; also, in writing.

On December 30, 2024 the HOA filed a lawsuit against me. That's a judicial proceeding. And it's one that is prohibited by Art. XIII, §10 Litigation. 

Before a lawsuit can be filed, 75% of the Voting Members must approve. And, before the Voting Members can approve, 75% of their respective homeowners have to approve. 

The Board never sought or obtain those approvals.

And the Board of Directors itself never approved the lawsuit. No vote is recorded in the Minutes of any Board Meeting. And the Board never authorized Danny Trapp to tell the lawyer to file it.

So it looks to me like Danny Trapp did it on his own. That puts him way out on a limb, and he keeps sawing away between the trunk and where he is perched.

At the August 5th Board Meeting a member of the Covenants Committee addressed the Board. The Minutes of the August 5th meeting put it this way:

"Jamie Burke, committee member, stated that the board initiated litigation against a Summit resident in December 2024, which violates the CC&R's [sic] Article 13, Section 10. This action would need to be approved with a vote of 75% of the voting members."

I'm pretty sure that Jamie Burke and the other Covenants Committee members (Jeff Lummel, chair; Cynthia Berry; Michael Bryant; Roger Longenecker, and Dennis Rybicki) know that the Voting Members would have had to approve the lawsuit before the Board voted on whether or not to file it. And before the Voting Members could vote, 75% of their respective homeowners had to approve the lawsuit.

To me, it looks like the lawyer filed a lawsuit in the name of The Summit's HOA that Board never authorized. Danny Trapp exceeded his authority as Board President. He was never authorized to tell the lawyer to file the lawsuit. The fact is that the lawsuit was and is prohibited by the CC&Rs. 

Friends are asking me why I am not suing the HOA.

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