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Resident Pursues
Legality
of
Sun City Anthem
Construction Defect Litigation
Long time resident Nelson Orth, a Homeowner consumer advocate, took the matter
into his own hands and contacted the Nevada Real Estate Division regarding the
legality of the Sun City Anthem civil action against Pulte Homes of Nevada in
light of NOT achieving the legally
required association vote total to go forth with the
litigation....
...and the answer will surprise you
!
He reported this to the Board of Directors
by way of an email , and with his permission, we have reprinted it
below.
As you read his email,
note:
(Ms. Sharon Jackson is
the Ombudsman for the State of Nevada who verified this with Ms. Michelle
Briggs, the Nevada Senior Deputy Attorney General for the Nevada Real Estate
Division)
We hope Mr. Orth will share the response he
is entitled to receive BY LAW.
Here is the
email.
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- - - - - -
Members of the
Board:
On Friday January 27, I attended the monthly Q&A session at the Nevada Real Estate Division.
On Friday January 27, I attended the monthly Q&A session at the Nevada Real Estate Division.
At this meeting I asked
the Ombudsman which set of requirements took precedent - NRS 116 which requires
50% of the vote to proceed to litigation or those of our CC&Rs which
requires 75% of homeowner vote.
Very quickly and very
decisively Ms. Jackson answered -
the CC&Rs.
I was somewhat stunned by
this answer so I repeated the question.
Again the answer was a
definitive CC&Rs.
It is rather astonishing
that none of our lawyers, management, or any member of the board knew this
information.
Today I will be asking
for a copy of our lawyer's written opinion on this subject, but I am certain
that I will be denied this information due to client/attorney privilege.
I could be wrong, but it
is my opinion that no such written opinion exists.
Our lawyer tells you what
you want to hear.
Have you ever considered
that our general counsel is not as smart as you believe?
How many hours of work,
how much energy, and how many dollars could have been saved if one of you had
just made one phone call to (NRED)The Nevada Real Estate Division?
But it is your belief in
your superior knowledge, your total disrespect for the law, and belief in the
stupidity of homeowners that drives the policy of this
association.
As you know I have
already started the I.A. (Intervention Affidavit) process.
You acknowledged this on
January 24.
Hence you have 21 days
from that date to cancel the litigation process.
If you do not, I will
then proceed by submitting the formal Intervention Affidavit to
NRED.
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Our kudos go to Nelson Orth in pursuing the correct legal solution to this
issue.
Have a comment ?
Send it to us
at:
My sincere thanks to Mr. Orth for pursuing this....much to the chagrin of other Bloggers I have long held that the attorney is an over-paid buffoon that makes My Cousin Vinny look like Clarence Darrow.
And, of course, the Board will hide behind the attorney's recommendation (e,g, "Well, the Lawyer said...")
Or worse, they knew about it and proceeded anyway..
Big Trouble ahead..
We will now see..
Mr. Peterson,
If the BOD does not cancel the litigation, the process that I will follow is the submission of an Intervention Affidavit (IA) to the Nevada Real Estate Division.
This is a complaint, not a lawsuit, and NRED has a number of options they can exercise after review of the complaint.
The direct answer to your question is - unfortunately no.
But I sincerely appreciate your interest and offer.
From Tim Stebbins...to...Anthem Opinions
All government bureaucracies have policies and procedures and rules and forms.
Filing a complaint against the board of directors in an HOA to the Nevada Real Estate Division is no exception.
A homeowner who wishes to file a complaint against the board does so by using a special form called an Intervention Affidavit (how they came up with that term I have no idea).
And there is a process to properly file that form involving certified letters, notarized forms, etc.
It is not very difficult but it just has various rules.
It is not a law suit but it is an action defined by the Nevada Real Estate Division and is normally done by a single homeowner.
Multiple homeowners can each their own complaint.
The proper form is available on-line along with instructions and rules about the process.
If you or anyone else wants the information about how to file such a complaint just let me know.
TStebbins1@cox.net
The Office of the Ombudsman actually has a training course to inform homeowners about this.
FINALLY, someone with enough smarts and enough "b_lls" to go after these liars.
Good for you.
I hope Mr. Orth has submitted his name to run for Association Board membership.
Sounds like he has more common sense and intelligence than all the current Board members put together!
In that so many people voted on this issue and approximately 90% of those that voted were in favor of the litigation I believe we should proceed with the litigation.
The people that didn’t vote are simply sitting on the sidelines and have no interest while those that took the time to educate themselves on the issue voted overwhelmingly in favor of the litigation.
Since it won’t cost us to pursue the litigation if we fail, where is the downside to the community?
What could possibly be the upside to the association to not pursue this?
Many people did not vote believing that would be considered a "no" vote.
The Association President specifically stated that 3,573 votes were needed in order to proceed. Nothing was said to the contrary, and in the minds of many, when the vote was tallied, his voting to go ahead with the litigation constituted LYING to his community.
The "upside" should never substitute for the LAW.
There was a good reason as to why the law was passed requiring such a substantial percentage...namely to provide protection to a community against legal action that affects everyone.
All that the people wanted were the full facts prior to casting a vote. They did not get them, and as a result, many believe the entire matter did little other than DECEIVE in order to proceed.