O
Ostuni
Guest
What is the name of your state? South Carolina
A party that recently bought a property in our community is suing us (the HOA) in Magistrate's Court. The party claims that the HOA took an excessively long time (28 days) to complete and return a project approval questionnaire to their mortgage lender, thus costing them ~$400 in interest and fees and $2k in 'personal problems'...
The HOA took a long time to complete and return the questionnaire for various reason. The HOA was not aware the property in question had been foreclosed (due to an inactive member having been served, who in turn did not inform the Board). The foreclosed property was $700 in arrears on association fees, and the HOA took time to determine if those fees could be recovered after a foreclosure. Before complying, we tried to determine our responsibilities, obligations, and liabilities before we signed the lender's form. The Treasurer was on vacation. The questionnaire required extensive documentation, etc...
Anyway, we eventually got it done, and the party successfully closed. Now they are flipping the property and suing us...
Have searched the South Carolina statutes online and can not find any law or regulation that requires an HOA to complete a mortgage lender's questionnaire at all, much less in a certain period of time. (But did find info about Florida laws which say an HOA is NOT required to do so...)
We intend to answer the complaint ourselves. Would like to know how - short of hiring a lawyer - we could determine if in fact there is a state or local law or regulation on this issue. Again, I have searched the SC statute database, but could have missed it...
Is there any merit to the complaint? We were in no way a party to their transaction with the mortgage company. We only became involved when the morgtgage lender sent us the form for our information and signature.
Granted, we took 28 days, but we did not intentionally drag our feet, and don't see how we can be liable for any losses they may have suffered.
Thanks in advance for any thought, recommendations.
A party that recently bought a property in our community is suing us (the HOA) in Magistrate's Court. The party claims that the HOA took an excessively long time (28 days) to complete and return a project approval questionnaire to their mortgage lender, thus costing them ~$400 in interest and fees and $2k in 'personal problems'...
The HOA took a long time to complete and return the questionnaire for various reason. The HOA was not aware the property in question had been foreclosed (due to an inactive member having been served, who in turn did not inform the Board). The foreclosed property was $700 in arrears on association fees, and the HOA took time to determine if those fees could be recovered after a foreclosure. Before complying, we tried to determine our responsibilities, obligations, and liabilities before we signed the lender's form. The Treasurer was on vacation. The questionnaire required extensive documentation, etc...
Anyway, we eventually got it done, and the party successfully closed. Now they are flipping the property and suing us...
Have searched the South Carolina statutes online and can not find any law or regulation that requires an HOA to complete a mortgage lender's questionnaire at all, much less in a certain period of time. (But did find info about Florida laws which say an HOA is NOT required to do so...)
We intend to answer the complaint ourselves. Would like to know how - short of hiring a lawyer - we could determine if in fact there is a state or local law or regulation on this issue. Again, I have searched the SC statute database, but could have missed it...
Is there any merit to the complaint? We were in no way a party to their transaction with the mortgage company. We only became involved when the morgtgage lender sent us the form for our information and signature.
Granted, we took 28 days, but we did not intentionally drag our feet, and don't see how we can be liable for any losses they may have suffered.
Thanks in advance for any thought, recommendations.