Jan. 8, 2002
Says it is improperly using funds to foreclose
By JO ANN ZUÑIGA
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
A Cypress man has filed a lawsuit against
a Houston homeowners association, claiming it is improperly using his maintenance
fees to support its legal efforts to foreclose on his Houston house.
Ancillary Judge Scott Link on Friday granted
a temporary restraining order against the Pine Forest Village Community
Association to prevent any foreclosure on the house owned by Robby Hopkins,
who is paralyzed from the neck down. The case is scheduled for a hearing
today before the 164th state District Judge Martha Hill Jamison.
In his lawsuit, Hopkins said the association
has "misdirected" his maintenance fees to pay association attorneys. Hopkins
said the attorneys have written him letters threatening him with fines
of $200 a day and then a foreclosure notice shortly before Christmas.
Hopkins said the letters incorrectly stated
that his house at 16606 Park Firth in the Pine Forest Village subdivision
has a two-door garage in need of repair when the house only has a one-door
garage, which is in good condition.
Another letter stated his lawn was unmowed.
Hopkins said the tenants who rent his house use a lawn service that regularly
mows and trims the lawn.
The association's lawyer, William G. Gammon,
could not be reached for comment Monday.
The association has two liens against Hopkins'
house because of about $723 in maintenance fees, letters and attorney's
fees so far, said Michael T. McGann, his lawyer.
Hopkins bought the Houston house in 1998
and owns it outright with no mortgage, McGann said. A real estate broker,
Hopkins rents the Houston home to supplement his income. He was in a pickup
truck accident 25 years ago that left him paralyzed.
"He's a fighter," McGann said. "He has
to be because it takes him an hour in the morning just to get out of bed.
He's not going to let anyone run over him."
Hopkins' battle with the association began
with overdue maintenance fees in 1999 after he did not receive notice of
the fees, the lawyer said. Hopkins paid the fees when he was notified in
August 1999, but the association had already filed the first lien in April
1999 and never removed it, McGann said.
Hopkins has also paid the maintenance fees
for years 2000 and 2001, but that money was instead used to pay the legal
fees for attorneys' letters to Hopkins, the lawsuit stated. The association
placed a second lien on Hopkin's property on April 16, 2001, for the supposed
unpaid maintenance fees.
The lawsuit stated the association "has
continued with this course of conduct: more letters, more attorneys fees,
more misapplication of plaintiff's payments, more threats."
Hopkins now faces "threats of a third lien,
$200 per day in fines, foreclosure and forced sale of his home and a personal
judgment against him ... even though he has paid his maintenance fees timely
and has not violated the deed restrictions," the suit said.
The latest letter from the association,
according to the lawsuit, came Dec. 17 and threatened foreclosure without
further notice and sale of the home. That prompted Hopkins to file the
lawsuit , McGann said. |