Land Use, Restrictive Covenants and HOA Disputes

Unlike most “HOA lawyers,” Trey Wilson is able to reconcile the legitimate purposes of community associations with the sacred rights of private property owners to freely use and enjoy their properties.  He operates from a philosophy that “enhancing, preserving  and protecting the value, attractiveness and desirability” of restricted properties does not necessitate overreaching by HOA boards, or substantial deprivation of private property rights.  He is also largely skeptical of professional association management firms, and their revenue-driven relationships with community associations. Accordingly, he prefers to represent self-managed associations.

During his 20 year legal career, Trey Wilson has litigated numerous restrictive covenant enforcement, violation and interpretation cases on behalf of both HOAs and individuals. Additionally, he has resolved conflicts between HOAs and their members through negotiation, mediation and arbitration.  Trey’s court victories and representation relate to a broad category of  HOA/POA issues, including the following:

• Architectural Control (ACC) non-approval of owner improvements and modifications;
• Deed Restriction enforcement related to land use and parking;
• HOA/POA Board and Membership elections;
• The conduct and legitimacy of HOA/POA Board and Membership meetings, including notice provisions;
• Solar and Rainwater Harvesting Devices;
• Modular and Manufactured homes;
• Assessments, fines, attorneys’ fees and other collections;
• Minimum lot and improvement sizes;
• Barking dogs and other obnoxious animals (which category of cases will almost certainly be rejected in the future);
• Termination of Deed Restrictions;
• Waiver of Deed Restrictions;
• Representation of HOA in connection with termination of certain restrictions in consideration of developer contributions;
• Sale and transfer of HOA/POA common area property;
• Developer Control and transfer of common areas and funds by developer to HOA;
• HOA/POA Board member misconduct and theft;
• HOA/POA liability for personal injury, criminal conduct and casualty loss;
• Increases in assessments and imposition of special assessments.

Trey is also well-versed in the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act, the mandatory “loser pays” attorneys’ fee scheme of Section 5.006 of the Texas Property Code, and has given lectures on the Texas Legislature’s comprehensive HOA Reform Legislation enacted in 2011.

Although he generally finds it undesirable, Trey Wilson occasionally represents his HOA clients in assessment collection, and has handled numerous expedited foreclosure cases arising from unresolved assessment liens. He is intimately familiar with the expedited process for obtaining court permission to foreclose HOA liens, and recognizes this process as a legitimate collection mechanism.