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Can I sue my hoa for selective enforcement?
Anonymous2 views2 answers
I purchased my home for significantly less than any other homes in the community. Since moving in I noticed some neighbors were not to happy with the deal I got. While living here for the past few years, I over heard one of the board members state "when the property values were down some people purchased in here that shouldn't have" this was while they were talking about a request to make some changes to my yard. I ended up with a conditional approval, without ample time to add the things the conditional approval called for; they are harassing me about it. There are dozens of homes with the same thing as mine in there back and side yards more visible than mine who have not been asked to add the same items and are not dealing with the same harassment. The difference is my income is lower.
Go to the next HOA meeting and ask the Board the reason you are not allowed to have what these other neighbors have. Then get the minutes as official proof of what was said. They are not allowed to selectively enforce, but do have discretion they can use reasonably. Without seeing what the actual reason is in the minutes, it is hard to assess.
The HOA legally cannot selectively enforce, but the problem is always how do you prove selective enforcement and what remedy do you have. The first place you look is the covenants to find out if the HOA is following its own rules. Frequently, they do not. If they are following the rules, proving selective enforcement is quite difficult as the board has a level of discretion, and you may have to show they abused their discretion - not an easy task. Filing suit against the Association is an expensive, time consuming, and often fruitless task, and they probably have more money to sustain the litigation than you do.
At this point, you probably need to sit down with a community association lawyer and review all the documents, your application, the similar situation s in the neighborhood, and your options. A suit may end up being your only option, but be aware of the risks and the costs of filing a suit before you do so.
