Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida
Our HOA has been sued by a homeowner 1 time, and then she sued each individual board members and now she is suing them again. The first was dismissed for on the basis of no merit to the claim. The Board spent over $10,000 in lawyer expenses fighting this homeowner. I am concerned as an ex-board member and a member of this HOA about our HOA Fees being wasted to fight such unecessary claims that this homeowner keeps pursuing. She has no merit to her claims and seems to be on a mission to clean our HOA of any funds they have. How do we stop this person from wasting our communities hard earned money?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Your attorneys are probably already aware of the provisions of Florida Statutes, sec. 57.105(1). If a claim has no merit in law or fact, attorneys fees can be assessed against her and her attorneys. There may be provisions allowing attorneys fees to a prevailing party under the statutes governing homeowners associations, but I doubt it. Finally, the offer of judgment rule can sometimes be used to set up an attorneys fee award. In any case, she should be liable for court costs.
In any lawsuit between the homeowners' association and a homeowner, the prevailing party in court is entitled to have the losing side pay its' attorney's fees. If the homeowner filed a lawsuit and it was dismissed, then the association's attorneys should have asked the judge to order the homeowner to reimburse the association for all of its attorney's fees. That should be a deterrent to her continuing to file cases against the association.
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