HOA Attorney Sued for Violation of Federal Debt Collection Practices Act

This case involved a dispute between two members of a homeowners’ association (“Owners”) and the law firm for the homeowners association (“Law Firm”) over alleged violations of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”).

The dispute started in April of 2016 when Owners found a letter taped to the door of their home stating that Owners had failed to pay $77.09 in HOA assessments. The letter demanded payment of an amount in excess of $1,000 to satisfy both the unpaid assessments and costs and attorney’s fees that were added. In response to the letter, Owners provided copies of cancelled checks that proved the $77.09 in assessments had been paid. Law Firm thereafter acknowledged that the payments had been received by the homeowners’ association but continued to demand that Owners pays the costs and attorney’s fees that had been added.

On May 18, 2016, Owners delivered a letter to Law Firm that instructed it to stop contacting Owners about the disputed claim and stated that further attempts to collect the disputed debt, including the recording of a lien on Owners’ property would be considered “harassment.” Thereafter, in February of 2017, Law Firm sent another letter to Owners that again claimed the unpaid disputed fees and costs remained outstanding. Owners responded with: