TomR4 (Indiana)
Posts: 6
Posts: 6
Posted:
Homeowners have just recently taken over control of our HOA from the developer (who went belly up during the current business downturn.) The developer apparently made no attempt to enforce the covenants while he was in control of the HOA. The current board seems to desire to start enforcing the various covenants and rules.
The covenants contain the following clause:
"In addition to any other remedies herein provided, present or future Owners or the Association shall be entitled to injunctive relief against any violation or attempted violation of any such covenants and restrictions, and shall, in addition, be entitled to damages for any injuries or losses resulting from
any violations thereof including reasonable attorney fees, but there shall be no right or reversion or forfeiture resulting from such violation."
From an enforcement standpoint, what is the effect of this clause? To me, it would seem to say that the HOA can charge the offending homeowner with fines and legal fees----but is prohibited from collecting these "penalties" by obtaining a lien and/or foreclosing on the offenders property.
As a related question, what are "typical" legal costs when a HOA is forced to sue an offending homeowner for covenant violations? A search on the internet only seems to show highly contested cases where the legal fees were in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The covenants contain the following clause:
"In addition to any other remedies herein provided, present or future Owners or the Association shall be entitled to injunctive relief against any violation or attempted violation of any such covenants and restrictions, and shall, in addition, be entitled to damages for any injuries or losses resulting from
any violations thereof including reasonable attorney fees, but there shall be no right or reversion or forfeiture resulting from such violation."
From an enforcement standpoint, what is the effect of this clause? To me, it would seem to say that the HOA can charge the offending homeowner with fines and legal fees----but is prohibited from collecting these "penalties" by obtaining a lien and/or foreclosing on the offenders property.
As a related question, what are "typical" legal costs when a HOA is forced to sue an offending homeowner for covenant violations? A search on the internet only seems to show highly contested cases where the legal fees were in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.