HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - August 29, 2025
Published: Fri, 08/29/25
Updated: Thu, 09/04/25
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HOAleader.com - Tip of the Week - August 29, 2025
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It's rare for a condo president to be held personally liable for a judgment against the association. But it happens. And it just did in California.
Doug Ridley and Sherry Shen were recently awarded $1.8 million in their lawsuit against their condo association, Rancho Palma Grande Homeowners Association in Santa Clara, and its president, Steve Moritz. Quite a punch in the gut over a repair that initially would have cost the condo a reported $7,104.
In this week's tip, we share five lessons from this case that's become international news.
The dispute began with the 2018 discovery by Ridley and Shen that there was water in their condo's crawlspace. Ridley installed a sump pump, but that didn't fix the problem, which caused mold and fungus and, frankly, reportedly stunk to high heaven.
Ridley and Shen tried to get their condo to investigate and help. They claimed in their lawsuit that neither was forthcoming. In 2019, the ground under their condo became a sinkhole.
Long story short, during the case, it was revealed that a repair totaling about $7,100 could have solved the problem. But the condo board refused to take action claiming that the trouble wasn't from a well but from rain. It also insisted the home was habitable.
A bigger problem for the condo and president was that it appears the condo's lawyer advised the board against taking this stand. The board reportedly ignored warnings from their attorney that they needed to immediately address the water because it could cause “exponential costs.”
Instead, the board hired a new attorney, who went even further. That new lawyer wrote a letter to the city that the condo president knew was “replete with falsehoods,” according to the court. The court held the HOA's conduct “involved gross negligence, deception and a breach of the duties they owed to them.” It even found the HOA and president liable for elder abuse.
This isn't some isolated case from California to dismiss and move on from. Read five important lessons from it that you should always remember as you operate in our new article: https://www.hoaleader.com/members/5160.cfm
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President
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It’s rare for a condo president to be held personally liable for a judgment against the association. But it happens. And it just did in California. Doug Ridley and Sherry Shen were recently awarded $1.8 million in their lawsuit against their condo association, Rancho Palma Grande Homeowners Association in Santa Clara, and its president, Steve Moritz. Quite a punch in the gut over a repair that initially would have cost the condo a reported $7,104...
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