Court Appoints Receiver to Keep Hopelessly Divided Homeowners Association Functional

This case involved a dispute between a group of concerned homeowners (“Concerned Owners”) and their homeowners association, and a particular director who also served as the president of the Association (hereinafter collectively “Association”) over the appointment of a receiver for the Association.

Concerned Owners sought the appointment of a receiver to take control of Association due to alleged mismanagement and discourse between the members that interfered with the operations of Association. The trial court appointed a temporary receiver (“Receiver”) to evaluate the operations of Association. The Receiver reported to the court that the Association was performing basic services such as lawn care, gutter cleaning, and pest control on a regular basis. It found no evidence of self-dealing, dishonesty, or corruption in the conduct of the Association, and that Association’s governance was in constant dispute because the members were “hopelessly divided” into two camps, one that supported the actions of the director / president, and those that did not support him. The Receiver concluded that the Association was “partially paralyzed,” without hope for a quick cure in that the division between the two camps had caused such fear and danger that the Association was unable to properly function. The Receiver further reported: