[ROHA] Re: Fwd: RE: River Oaks Homeowners Association

From: "Paul Amarendran" <amarendran@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <roha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 17:04:05 -0400

Good job Darrel! Finally some news!

Paul Amarendran

Cell: 843 343 3986

<mailto:amarendran@xxxxxxxxxxx> amarendran@xxxxxxxxxxx

3232 Landing Parkway

Charleston, SC 29420

From: roha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:roha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Darrel McKeown
Sent: Friday, October 16, 2020 2:41 PM
To: roha list; mitta622@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [ROHA] Fwd: RE: River Oaks Homeowners Association

I request an update from the lawyer concerning the lawsuit and this is his
response.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ford Thrift <Ford.Thrift@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Oct 16, 2020 2:31 PM
Subject: RE: River Oaks Homeowners Association
To: Darrel McKeown <darrel@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Charlene Falls <Charlene.Falls@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Darrel,

Thanks for the email and congratulations on your election as president.  As you
know, this case involves claims that Jennifer and Joseph Davis (“Plaintiffs”)
have made against the River Oaks Homeowners’ Association (“ROHA”) and their
property management companies arising out of association dues, fees, and
penalties concerning charged to them.  The primary dispute concerns liens filed
on the Plaintiffs’ home in 2014 and 2016, which they allege were unwarranted;
however, the Plaintiffs also allege that ROHA lacks the authority to enforce
the covenants and restrictions governing their home and, therefore, should not
exist.  In addition to their own claims, the Plaintiffs have asserted a class
action claim on behalf of other similarly situated plaintiffs (i.e., other
River Oaks homeowners).  We allege that ROHA does in fact have authority as a
properly formed organization and also intend to allege that the Plaintiffs’
claims are time-barred by the statute of limitations (i.e., that they waited
too long to bring them).

Procedurally, the case is still in the discovery phase, specifically the
deposition portion.  Discovery is the phase when the parties to a lawsuit
gather evidence and develop the facts of the case.  Depositions usually follow
written discovery but come before court hearings and legal determinations.  In
this case, that means that depositions must take place before a court can
determine whether the class may be certified or whether ROHA is a properly
formed entity.  For a few varying reasons, only the Plaintiffs’ depositions
have taken place so far.  The Plaintiffs requested in late 2019 that this case
be removed from what is called the active case roster.  This was done in order
to allow for additional discovery before the case must move forward to trial.
Since the order was entered, however, there has generally not been a
significant effort to conduct discovery by the other parties.  In fact, we have
attempted to seek additional court orders to keep discovery going but with
little success.  As you can imagine, Covid-19 has also been a factor.  For
example, the first attempt to conduct depositions following the order removing
the case from the docket was made in February of this year with planned
deposition dates in March.  The order the Plaintiffs’ sought to remove the case
from the docket is known as a “Rule 40(j)” order in reference to the Rule of
Civil Procedure that allows for it to be made.  Under that rule, the case must
be placed back on the active roster in November of this year.  That has helped
us get the attention of the other parties.  It allowed for us to depose the
Plaintiffs recently and also allowed for us to finally schedule the depositions
of Darcia Hicks, Jeff Morey, and Kevin Bruch.  Those depositions will all take
place in the next two weeks.

Once those depositions take place, we expect the Plaintiffs to seek to have the
case placed back on the active docket and move forward with their claims.  The
most likely matter that will come before the Court will be the Plaintiffs’
motion to certify their case as a class action.  We have prepared a memorandum
in opposition of that motion based on the Plaintiffs’ deposition testimony.
While there is no definite timeline for a hearing, we expect to have that
motion decided before the end of the year.

I know that you may have some questions about the case or its effect on the
Board’s day-to-day operation.  If you’d like to set up a call, I’d be more than
happy to go over the case and any questions you do have.  Just let me know.

Sincerely,

Ford

Ford H. Thrift

Attorney
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Telephone:           (843) 329-9500
Facsimile:             (843) 329-9501

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Wall Templeton & Haldrup, P.A.

145 King Street, Suite 300 (29401)

Post Office Box 1200

Charleston, South Carolina 29402

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From: Darrel McKeown <darrel@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2020 2:16 PM
To: Ford Thrift <Ford.Thrift@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: River Oaks Homeowners Association

I am now the president of the River Oaks Homeowners Association and have been
getting questions about the status of the lawsuit. Can you give me an update on
the lawsuit.

Thank you

Darrel McKeown

President

River Oaks Homeowners Association

References:
- [ROHA] Fwd: RE: River Oaks Homeowners Association
  - From: Darrel McKeown

[ROHA] Re: Fwd: RE: River Oaks Homeowners Association

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