Whether you live in a 6-unit condominium or a 1000-home gated community, if your building or neighborhood has a homeowners' association (HOA) or condominium association, then the board of directors should hire an attorney to assist in managing the association's legal affairs.

Why hire an attorney? There are several reasons, but the most important is that an attorney can help the association avoid making mistakes that could cause expensive legal problems in the future. A lawyer understands the nuances of the law, and will advise the board on the best legal course of action.

Responsibilities

An attorney for your homeowners' association can have a range of responsibilities. The typical condominium or HOA lawyer may provide the following services:

  • Work with the HOA's board to create and amend the association's bylaws, covenants, conditions and restrictions, rules, amendments and articles of incorporation
  • Help enforce the association's rules
  • Offer legal advice and interpret laws as they apply to the association
  • Prepare and review contracts with vendors and employees
  • Manage and conduct association elections
  • Handle collections issues, including the filing of liens, if necessary, against homeowners
  • Represent the board in dealings with government agencies
  • Bring lawsuits against the developer in the event of construction problems and defects
  • Organize association meetings
  • Review the association's insurance, and recommend areas where additional coverage is necessary
  • Advise on appropriate procedures and processes when the association is conducting board meetings

How to Hire an Attorney

Just as you would get recommendations from friends and family before hiring a doctor or dentist, personal recommendations provide a lot of value when hiring an attorney to represent your condominium or homeowners' association. Seek referrals from attorneys who own property in your development, local bar associations, other homeowners' associations, and the HOA's property management company. You can then use Lawyers.com to identify potential attorneys and check each lawyer's professional and educational qualifications.

It is important to focus on hiring an attorney who concentrates on representing homeowners' associations or condominium associations. This is a fairly specialized area of practice, and a real-estate lawyer or corporate lawyer is probably not well-versed in the applicable laws.

Once you've identified 3 to 5 potential candidates, a few board members and a representative from the property management company should interview each attorney. You'll want to get a feel for the lawyer's personality and style, his experience working with associations and his fees. Once you've found your top candidate, check his references. Talk to other condominium associations or homeowners' associations that have worked with him to find out what they like and dislike about the attorney.

In an effort to save money, associations may be tempted to see if there is a homeowner who is also an attorney, and to ask that individual to serve as the association's legal counsel in a volunteer capacity. This is a bad idea. It presents a possible conflict of interest; you want to hire an attorney who is independent and impartial. Also, you want your lawyer to specialize in homeowners' association law. Just as you wouldn't ask your brother the podiatrist to diagnose and treat your heart problem, you don't want a lawyer who practices another type of law to handling your association's legal problems.

Working with Your Association's Attorney

Once you've hired an attorney to work with your homeowners' association, consider designating one board member as the primary point of contact. Legal fees can quickly add up if every board member is contacting the attorney to answer questions, including questions that have been previously dealt with.

The lawyer's retention letter should spell out the responsibilities that will be handled by the attorney, deadlines or turnaround time, the name of the attorney's primary contact on the board of directors, and the attorney's rate.

When creating the list of responsibilities, give careful thought as to whether the attorney should attend every board meeting. It's inevitable that legal issues will arise at meetings. Since the association is paying for the attorney's time, you need to decide whether it's better to have an immediate answer and a larger legal bill, or an answer within a day or two and a smaller legal bill.

Questions for Your Attorney

  • How much experience do you have in working with homeowners' associations?
  • What types of services do you provide?
  • Can you offer references from other homeowners' associations for which you work?
  • What other staff in your office would also be responsible for handling our legal work?