(OT) The Lawyer Won't take my case

On Nov 8, 2:53*pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Winnie" wrote in message

...









On Nov 8, 12:34 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
I'm very upset. *They won't take my case against the HOA, not even to
make a
simple phone call. *Looks like I'm going to have to present the case
before
the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. *Present a strong case and win them
over. *I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. *Because I don't
want to have to move again. *Where would I go? *There's no place I can
actually call "home". *Being a military brat has left me with nothing.
Dammit! *I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. *I can't sleep. *I can't eat. *I'm very upset.

Jill

Did the lawyer say why he won't take your case? Is he too busy or he
thinks you don't have much of a case?
I feel for you.

Winnie

Lawyers are greedy, just like everyone else. *I met with a junior associate.
His boss is the lead counsel and he said if I'm not willing to take the
associaition through a court battle (at the cost of potentially thousands of
dollars) then he isn't interested. *I can't afford that. *I have a case, I
just can't afford to have them drag this thing out until I die.

So... I may put the house on the market anyway. *And if so, I'll seriously
underprice it. *Anyone want to buy a house for $70,000? LOL *That will drive
all the property way down. *There are tons of houses for sale here. *I
really don't think they want the property values to go down like that.
Maybe they'll be willing to negotiate a deal over this stupid club
membership.

Jill

You got a point there. They probably will be willing to do anything to
protect
their property value.

I have no complaints with lawyers that I dealt with for various
reasons over the
years..
They are pn the whole quite helpful and upfront with me about my case.

I'm very upset. *They won't take my case against the HOA, not even
to make a simple phone call. *Looks like I'm going to have to present
the case before the board myself.
looks to me like perhaps the one you got already has tangled with
your HOA previously with dubious outcome. Toothless tigers maybe?

Or perhaps the HOA is one of the institutions of the local power
elite and the lawyer is too entangled with them in other ways to
want to offend them. (Rotary Club, golf club, the Masons, Opus
Dei, who knows).

My preferred solution would involve a machete, a couple of chainsaws
and a pump-action shotgun.

We used to have something like that in Scotland - the institution of
"feudal superiority" where somebody could have inherited the status
of a feudal landlord, which entitled them to a substantial say in
planning decisions (albeit not at the micro-managerial level you've
got) and a small annual payment of "feu duty" (which added up to
quite a lot, given the number of people who paid it). This setup
was abolished by the Scottish Parliament a few years ago, as soon
as they got the legal authority to do it.

Some of the conditions on title deeds may still be operational.
I haven't tested whether I can now get away with operating a
stationary steam engine on our land (the only constraint we had
in our deeds 13 years ago, while the feu system was still alive,
was that we couldn't do that).

But feudalism was never as extreme as the American HOA system.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k
Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland
mobile 07800 739 557 http://www.campin.me.uk Twitter: JackCampin

"jmcquown" wrote in
:


"Winnie" wrote in message
.
..
On Nov 8, 12:34 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
I'm very upset. They won't take my case against the HOA, not even
to make a
simple phone call. Looks like I'm going to have to present the case
before
the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. Present a strong case and win
them over. I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. Because I
don't want to have to move again. Where would I go? There's no
place I can actually call "home". Being a military brat has left me
with nothing. Dammit! I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm very
upset.

Jill

Did the lawyer say why he won't take your case? Is he too busy or he
thinks you don't have much of a case?
I feel for you.

Winnie

Lawyers are greedy, just like everyone else. I met with a junior
associate. His boss is the lead counsel and he said if I'm not willing
to take the associaition through a court battle (at the cost of
potentially thousands of dollars) then he isn't interested. I can't
afford that. I have a case, I just can't afford to have them drag
this thing out until I die.

So... I may put the house on the market anyway. And if so, I'll
seriously underprice it. Anyone want to buy a house for $70,000? LOL
That will drive all the property way down. There are tons of houses
for sale here. I really don't think they want the property values to
go down like that. Maybe they'll be willing to negotiate a deal over
this stupid club membership.

Jill



i think that presenting your case to the board yourself is your only
option here. given the circumstances, i would have to think that they
would waver the club membership just from a point of decency.
make sure to tell them that you're one of the 99%.

i think that presenting your case to the board yourself is your only
option here. given the circumstances, i would have to think that they
would waver the club membership just from a point of decency.
make sure to tell them that you're one of the 99%.

Or more importantly, that you'll sell the house for $45K if they force
your hand, lowering all of their property values.

"Judith Latham" wrote in message
...
In article , jmcquown
wrote:
I'm very upset. They won't take my case against the HOA, not even to
make a simple phone call. Looks like I'm going to have to present the
case before the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. Present a strong case and win them
over. I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. Because I don't
want to have to move again. Where would I go? There's no place I can
actually call "home". Being a military brat has left me with nothing.
Dammit! I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm very upset.

Jill

I'm so sorry that you're in this situation and dealing with such
unreasonable bullies. I'm sure Judge Judy would sort them out.

You could try another Lawyer but I expect you've already considered that.

You are more than capable of presenting your own case. You are probably
more intelligent than they are and will work out a good angle to pursue.
Ask John to give you some input, the more brains on it the better.

I wish I could come up with something useful. I could say don't let it
upset you but I know that just isn't possible. This is your home we're
talking about.

Purrs and prayers that it sorts out well.

Judith

The only advice I can give is to present the case in as unemotional a way as
possible.

Joy

"Winnie" wrote in message
...
On Nov 8, 2:53 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Winnie" wrote in message

...









On Nov 8, 12:34 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
I'm very upset. They won't take my case against the HOA, not even to
make a
simple phone call. Looks like I'm going to have to present the case
before
the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. Present a strong case and win them
over. I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. Because I don't
want to have to move again. Where would I go? There's no place I can
actually call "home". Being a military brat has left me with nothing.
Dammit! I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm very upset.

Jill

Did the lawyer say why he won't take your case? Is he too busy or he
thinks you don't have much of a case?
I feel for you.

Winnie

Lawyers are greedy, just like everyone else. I met with a junior
associate.
His boss is the lead counsel and he said if I'm not willing to take the
associaition through a court battle (at the cost of potentially thousands
of
dollars) then he isn't interested. I can't afford that. I have a case, I
just can't afford to have them drag this thing out until I die.

So... I may put the house on the market anyway. And if so, I'll seriously
underprice it. Anyone want to buy a house for $70,000? LOL That will drive
all the property way down. There are tons of houses for sale here. I
really don't think they want the property values to go down like that.
Maybe they'll be willing to negotiate a deal over this stupid club
membership.

Jill

You got a point there. They probably will be willing to do anything to
protect
their property value.

***

This is true, especially if you can state your position in a very matter of
fact way, without losing your temper and, if possible (I know this isn't
always controllable), without tears.

Joy

Jack Campin wrote:

But feudalism was never as extreme as the American HOA system.

LOL!!

--
Joyce

Hi, this is the Sylvia stress reduction hotline. At the sound of
the beep, repeat after me: "This week, let someone else strive for
excellence." -- Nicole Hollander

jmcquown wrote:
I'm very upset. They won't take my case against the HOA, not even to
make a simple phone call. Looks like I'm going to have to present
the case before the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. Present a strong case and win
them over. I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. Because I
don't want to have to move again. Where would I go? There's no
place I can actually call "home". Being a military brat has left me
with nothing. Dammit! I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm very
upset.

IMHO, your strongest proof against your liability to these people is the
deeds of sale of the membership that your parents had.

You would have to read that deed of sale carefully though.

Also, be careful trying to "threaten" them with a low sale price. There may
be something else in the deeds that stipulate minimum sale price, or that
the HOA can set the minimum sales price.

Find the deeds, and read them *very* carefully. Use Google to explain any
legal terms you don't understand.

Believe it or not, the ACLU may be able to help, AFAIK, they don't like the
idea of forced membership, goes against the idea of civil liberty.

And, you might be able to find a lawyer who can at least give you advice for
a set fee. Or, maybe a final year law student who could help you for
"practice".

If you are going to argue you own case, you need to be VERY well prepared.
Do you research. Stay calm. Stay reasonable and rational. You can do it.

Yowie

"jmcquown" wrote in message ...

I'm very upset. They won't take my case against the HOA, not even to make a
simple phone call. Looks like I'm going to have to present the case before
the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. Present a strong case and win them
over. I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. Because I don't
want to have to move again. Where would I go? There's no place I can
actually call "home". Being a military brat has left me with nothing.
Dammit! I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm very upset.

Jill

- - - - - - - - - - - -

What about the lawyer who handled your mother's estate? Your previous
messages sounded like you had a good relationship with him. If so, you
might approach him and see if he would be willing to draft a letter on your
behalf.

When you represent yourself, I think it would be a mistake to threaten to
sell your house for a ridiculously low price. For one thing, they probably
would not believe you and that course of action could simply alienate
members of the board who will be voting on your presentation. For another,
you would be "cutting off your nose to spite your face" if you really
followed through on that threat. It would probably be reasonable to set a
lower price than your competition, but you would be bringing in far less
money for *yourself* if you went as low as you mentioned.

I would point out that your parents sold the contract for membership, and
take all documentation with you (with separate copies for each of the board
members). Mention that you have been operating in good faith because this
document would seem to absolve you of any responsibility for some of the
fees. If you are willing (and able) to pay for future fees, you might try
to negotiate an agreement whereby you would only be responsible for fees
from this point on. I don't think the fact that you inherited the property
would have any legal value in saying that you should not be responsible, but
it might be a good bargaining point if you are willing to pay future fees.
If you take that tack, it might be a good idea to talk about the "lovely"
area and how much you had looked forward to spending your life in that home
instead of taking a confrontational approach.

MaryL

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
"Winnie" wrote in message
...
On Nov 8, 2:53 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
"Winnie" wrote in message

...









On Nov 8, 12:34 pm, "jmcquown" wrote:
I'm very upset. They won't take my case against the HOA, not even to
make a
simple phone call. Looks like I'm going to have to present the case
before
the board myself.

John keeps telling me I can do this. Present a strong case and win
them
over. I'm not as confident in myself as he is.

Meanwhile I have to figure out where to get this money. Because I
don't
want to have to move again. Where would I go? There's no place I can
actually call "home". Being a military brat has left me with nothing.
Dammit! I thought I'd never have to move again.

This is driving me crazy. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I'm very upset.

Jill

Did the lawyer say why he won't take your case? Is he too busy or he
thinks you don't have much of a case?
I feel for you.

Winnie

Lawyers are greedy, just like everyone else. I met with a junior
associate.
His boss is the lead counsel and he said if I'm not willing to take the
associaition through a court battle (at the cost of potentially thousands
of
dollars) then he isn't interested. I can't afford that. I have a case, I
just can't afford to have them drag this thing out until I die.

So... I may put the house on the market anyway. And if so, I'll seriously
underprice it. Anyone want to buy a house for $70,000? LOL That will
drive
all the property way down. There are tons of houses for sale here. I
really don't think they want the property values to go down like that.
Maybe they'll be willing to negotiate a deal over this stupid club
membership.

Jill

You got a point there. They probably will be willing to do anything to
protect
their property value.

***

This is true, especially if you can state your position in a very matter
of fact way, without losing your temper and, if possible (I know this
isn't always controllable), without tears.

Joy

It's a sad fact that when I get angry I tend to cry. (People often mistake
this as a sign of weakness. What they don't understand is it means is I'm
extremely angry.) I'll try to contain myself. I was always a good student
so what I'll do is have notes to read from. I'll pretend it's a
Toastmasters meeting.

Jill