Questions owners and residents ask us.

Terrible HOA is a service of Assured Law, a Nevada law firm. We help owners and residents understand and resolve disputes with their homeowners association: fines, violation notices, denied improvements, refused records, and boards that do not follow the rules.

Owners and residents only. We do not represent associations, boards, or management companies under this brand.

Complete the online case review form. It takes about ten minutes. The most important thing you can give us is a copy of your governing documents and the association's notices.

We first check for conflicts of interest with your community. Then we read what you sent. You will receive an email, which may list documents we still need. Once the file is complete, a case manager contacts you to schedule a 30 minute case review.

Yes. The case review is free. If you later hire the firm, the fee and scope are set out in a written agreement first.

Because almost every HOA dispute is decided by what the documents say. Without them, any opinion is a guess. If you do not have them, our guide explains how to get them, usually at no cost.

To check for conflicts of interest before we review anything. If we have a conflict with your community, we will tell you and will not take the matter.

No. An attorney-client relationship is created only when you and the firm sign a written agreement and the firm is retained. Submitting a form, chatting, or calling does not create that relationship.

Four things: what the governing documents actually say, whether the board had authority for the rule, whether the association followed the required procedure, and whether you can prove your side with documents. The amount at stake matters too.

Our fixed-fee service generally makes sense when about $2,500 or more is at stake, or when the issue matters to you for reasons other than money. Below that, our free self-help letters and the state's own process are usually the better route.

Possibly. If the rule is one the board had no authority to make, if the procedure was not followed, or if the rule is enforced against you and not others, there may still be a position to take. If none of those apply, we will tell you so and suggest how to approach the board about correcting the issue and reducing the fines.

Usually not. Disputes that rest on one person's account are very hard to prove. Letters, emails, ledgers, photographs, minutes, and the association's own records are what decide these matters.

We generally do not take matters that are mainly about unpaid assessments or collections, because legal fees usually make that situation worse. Ask the association in writing for the repayment plan and board hearing the law provides. We will take a collections dispute through state mediation on a fixed-fee basis if that is what you want.

Yes, we review matters for residents as well as owners. Some rights under Nevada's HOA law belong only to unit owners, such as reviewing records and attending board meetings, so we may need your landlord's involvement.

Our attorneys are licensed in Nevada. You can still submit your information. With your permission, we may connect you with an independent attorney licensed in your state.

Possibly. Tell us in the case review form that several owners are involved, and name the association. We review group matters the same way, starting with the documents.

Generally no. Nevada law requires written notice and an opportunity for a hearing before a fine, unless you pay the fine first, waive the hearing in writing, or do not appear after proper notice.

It must specify the alleged violation in detail, the proposed action to cure it, the amount of the fine, and the date, time, and place of the hearing. It must include a clear and detailed photograph if the violation relates to the physical condition of the property or to an act that can be photographed.

If there is no imminent threat to health, safety, or welfare, the limit is $100 per violation and $1,000 in total per hearing. A violation not cured within 14 days can become a continuing violation, with an additional fine for each seven-day period after that.

Yes. Nevada law gives a person facing a fine the right to counsel, the right to present witnesses, and the right to present information about a conflict of interest of anyone on the hearing panel.

Yes. Violation hearings are held in closed session unless you request in writing that the hearing be open.

No. Under Nevada law a past-due fine may not bear interest.

Generally not. An association may not foreclose a lien based only on fines, with narrow exceptions. Unpaid assessments are different and can lead to foreclosure.

Sometimes. An owner can be fined for a tenant's or guest's violation in certain circumstances, such as when the owner participated in or authorized it, or had notice and could have stopped it.

The declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions. It is the recorded document that creates the community, sets what owners may and may not do, and gives the association its powers. Board-made rules must be consistent with it.

No. Rules must be consistent with the governing documents, reasonably related to their purpose, clear enough to follow, and uniformly enforced. The board cannot amend the CC&Rs on its own.

Enforcing a rule against some owners and not others in similar circumstances. Nevada law says rules must be uniformly enforced, and that a rule that is not may not be enforced. Proving it takes specific examples and documents.

It depends on whether the streets are public or private and on what the governing documents authorize. In a community that is not gated, an association generally cannot regulate a public street, apart from limited rules for recreational and commercial vehicles.

Nevada law limits an association's power over each of these. It cannot prohibit or unreasonably restrict solar energy systems or drought tolerant landscaping, and it cannot prohibit the United States or Nevada flag. You generally still need to submit a request and follow reasonable placement rules.

They are recorded with the county recorder and are public. You may also have them in your closing documents, on the association's owner portal, or you can request them from the association in writing.

On written request, an owner may review the association's books, records, and other papers, including financial statements, budgets, the reserve study, and contracts. The association may withhold personnel records, records about other owners, and unapproved drafts.

Copies of the financial statement, budgets, and reserve study must be provided within 21 days of a written request. Other records must be made available for review, but the law does not set a number of days.

Yes, if you are a unit owner. Owners may attend board meetings and speak during the comment periods at the beginning and end. Executive sessions are closed.

Yes. A recall begins with a petition signed by at least 10 percent of the voting members. Removal requires votes in favor from at least 35 percent of all voting members and a majority of the votes cast.

No. Nevada law prohibits retaliation against an owner for complaining in good faith, requesting records in good faith, or recommending a change of attorney, manager, or vendor. An owner can bring an action for damages and attorney fees.

For most disputes about the governing documents, yes. Nevada law requires the claim to be submitted to mediation or the referee program through the Real Estate Division first. A lawsuit filed without that step is dismissed.

A claim is filed with the Nevada Real Estate Division with a $50 fee and served on the other side. A mediator is chosen, and the mediation is limited to three hours unless both sides agree to continue. The mediator's fee for those hours is capped at $500, which the Division's materials say is shared by the parties.

The Ombudsman is a state office within the Real Estate Division that assists owners and associations. An Intervention Affidavit is a sworn complaint asking the Division to look into a violation of Nevada's HOA statute. You must first send the association a written notice by certified mail and allow time to correct the problem.

One year from when you discovered, or reasonably should have discovered, the violation.

A complaint to the Division can lead to orders requiring the association to comply and to fines paid to the state. It does not award money damages to an owner. Recovering money generally happens through a negotiated agreement at mediation, the referee program, or a court.

Either side may then file a lawsuit. Many matters end at mediation, by agreement or because the owner has what they need to decide. We will tell you honestly whether your position is strong enough to justify court.

The case review is free. Our core service is a fixed fee of $2,500 as a single payment, three payments of $945, or six payments of $575. It covers the file review, a demand to the association, the state filing, and mediation.

It does not cover a lawsuit after mediation or representation at a board hearing. Those are separate engagements, handled hourly under their own agreements. The state's filing fee and your share of the mediator's fee are also separate.

Possibly, but do not count on it. In a lawsuit under Nevada's HOA statute the court may award attorney fees to the prevailing party. That is discretionary and works in both directions, so an owner who loses can be ordered to pay the association's fees.

We do not quote timelines. Timing depends on the association's response and the state's process.

We guarantee our service, not the outcome. If you are not satisfied with the service we provided under the fixed-fee engagement, we refund the fee you paid us. No one can promise how an association, a mediator, or a court will respond.

It covers our work under the fixed-fee engagement: the file review, the demand to the association, the state filing, and our preparation and attendance at mediation. It does not depend on the result, and it does not cover the state's filing fee or the mediator's fee, which are paid to others. The terms are in the written agreement.