Who Can Contact the HOA's Lawyer?

Who can contact the HOA's lawyer, ask questions, complain, get answers - at HOA expense?

Only one board member should be permitted to contact the HOA's lawyer at HOA expense, and that person is the Board President!

If anyone else contacts the HOA's lawyer, it should be at that person's personal expense. For example, if the Board Vice-President, Secretary, or Treasurer, or any of the other three directors, contacts the lawyer, they pay for it. They should not run up the HOA's legal bill with their questions.

What they should do is ask the Board President to get a legal opinion on a specified topic. Then the President might either do that or ask the full Board if they want her to get a legal opinion - at the HOA's expense.

An organization, any organization, cannot afford to have all its directors calling the organization's lawyer and asking questions.

A small town in Illinois ran up a huge legal bill with the contracted Town Attorney, after many members of its Town Council called the attorney to ask the same, or similar, questions.

Directors should submit their written questions to the Board President.

The Board President then decides which questions will be referred to the attorney and emails them to the attorney, with a copy of her email to all the directors. That's transparency.

When the attorney replies, she shares the response with all the directors. A copy of her email and the attorney's response goes into the HOA's records.

This procedure would be effective, efficient, and conserve HOA funds.

It doesn't prevent the directors from asking questions or getting answers. They all get "the" legal answer.

The attorney works for the HOA, not for the Board or any one director.

When the HOA sued Gus Philpott (me) in December 2024, in violation of the CC&Rs and without the approval (vote) of the Board of Directors, did any director complain?

If so, that director should have spoken up at a Regular Board Meeting and had her objection recorded in the Minutes. To my knowledge, none did.

The attorney should be directed by the Board President not to speak with any director at HOA expense. That should be put in writing.

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