HOA continues suit against homeowners with complete disregard for the law

See below for the completely disingenuous statement released by the Orchard's HOA. Sadly, there is a judge in Illinois that fails to understand the intent of the law that bans HOAs from saying no to solar. The case continues against a family trying to do the right thing. The HOA has completely disregarded the law and continues to spend the associations money on a frivolous lawsuit. 

Statement from the Board Regarding Bassler v OHA

The Board is mindful of the need to keep the OHA membership abreast of the current status of pending litigation, however, in order to protect the Attorney/Client privilege, the Board is limited on the information that can be publicly disseminated. With that in mind, the Board would like to give a brief update as to the status of the litigation between the Basslers and the OHA.

The OHA filed a First Amended Complaint against the Basslers on February 22, 2021 for violation of OHA restrictions regarding the placement of solar panels on and around their home. On March 22, 2021, the Basslers, through their attorney, filed a Motion to Dismiss the OHA's complaint. The OHA filed a response to that motion and the Basslers then filed a reply. The Motion to Dismiss was argued on May 11, 2021 at which time the Court granted in part and denied in part the Basslers motion. This means that portions of the OHA's complaint were temporarily dismissed and the OHA was instructed to give the Basslers 60 days to correct the issues. If the issues were not addressed by the Basslers in that time frame, the Court would allow the OHA to reinstate the dismissed counts.

After this ruling, the Basslers were given a 60 day notice in writing to cure the violation. On May 19, 2021, the Basslers filed a Motion to Reconsider the Court's May 11 order requesting the Court revisit the issue and completely dismiss the Complaint. In the meantime, Illinois passed an amendment to the law that governs an HOA's ability to regulate solar panel placement. This law was signed into law by Governor Pritzker on July 26, 2021and revised the standards used by HOA's in reviewing applications for solar arrays. However, even though the law had changed, the OHA had the right to continue on with the litigation under the pre-existing status of the law, since that was the law at the time the OHA denied the Bassler's array design. Because of the law change, even if the OHA were successful in the lawsuit, the Basslers would likely only need to re-apply under the terms of the new law. Normally, at this stage, it would be the advice of our attorneys to dismiss the complaint and stop the litigation as the underlying legal issue has changed due to a change in the current status of the law. However, in this instance, the statue provides that if litigation is a result of any permitting process, the prevailing party to that litigation may be entitled to a recovery of attorneys' fees that are generated in the process. Since a portion of the complaint was still considered temporarily dismissed in July of 2021, the legal process of reinstating the Complaint, per the Court's instruction, was necessary in order for the OHA to be allowed to dismiss the matter without the Court needing to address the issue of the awarding of attorneys' fees.

In August of 2021, the Bassler's Motion to Reconsider the Motion to Dismiss was heard by the Court. The Court denied that motion. The Basslers had not complied with the 60 day written notice to cure, so the OHA has moved to reinstate the dismissed portions of the Complaint. The Court has indicated that the dismissed counts will be reinstated. Once that is done, it is the advice of our attorneys that the OHA dismiss the litigation at that time. It is important for the membership to understand that the Board's decision to undertake this litigation was not due to the issue of solar panels, it was because of the Bassler's construction of the solar array without proper approval. This type of litigation would have been initiated regardless of the type of request. The Board has been and remains committed to supporting green energy and will amend its restrictions to comply with the new state law.

Board of Directors: Sharon Castillo, Felix Losco, and Ed Nowak 

HOA management group:

https://pinnaclehoamanagement.com/

Pinnacle HOA Management, LLC.
Mailing Address:
5343 Belleville Crossing Street #10
Belleville, IL 62226

(618) 381-9185