No one wants to be involved in litigation.  Lawsuits are often time-consuming, costly, and stressful.  Yet sometimes, a community association will exhaust all reasonable efforts to resolve a dispute and filing a lawsuit is necessary to protect its interests, or the association will be sued and need to defend itself.  It is in those times that experienced, diligent and thoughtful legal counsel is crucial. 

Our law firm has been vigorously representing community associations in a wide range of litigation since 1988.   We strive to achieve successful and efficient outcomes by aggressively pursuing our clients’ claims and zealously defending them against the claims of others.   We work closely with association Boards and managers to comprehensively assess all of the facts and legal issues unique to a case, and to devise an appropriate, cost effective strategy aimed at achieving our client’s goals and attaining a favorable outcome.

We have extensive experience in numerous forums — including state and federal court, arbitration, mediation, and appearing before government agencies – and with varied proceedings including emergent applications, actions seeking injunctive relief, and traditional litigation.  While our paramount goal is to seek a prompt resolution of a case that accomplishes our client’s objectives, our litigation attorneys will be meticulously prepared on every aspect of a case if early settlement is not possible.

The legal issues that may confront your condominium association, homeowners’ association or cooperative with the need to file a lawsuit – or to defend against one — are varied and frequently complex, and may include:

  • Construction defect and Transition litigation
  • Enforcement of association governing documents and unit owner obligations
  • Collections
  • Breach of contract by service providers
  • First Amendment and free speech issues
  • Municipal and State code enforcement
  • Board election disputes
  • Contract performance and enforcement
  • Accounting and reserve fund issues
  • Challenges regarding association governance
  • Property line disputes
  • Reasonable accommodation claims
  • Discrimination and ADA issues
  • Breach of fiduciary duty claims
  • Fair Housing Act disputes
  • Unsafe conditions
  • Foreclosure actions
  • Insurance coverage disputes
  • Maintenance of the common areas
  • Municipal Services Acts disputes
  • Water leaks
  • Responding to subpoenas served by third-parties or government agencies

If your community association is considering filing a lawsuit to pursue its own legal claims, or has been threatened with a lawsuit or other adverse proceeding,  we invite you to contact Eric Frizzell (efrizzell@lawnj.com), Donna Shahrabani (dshahrabani@lawnj.com), John Middleton (jmiddleton@lawnj.com),  or Cheryl Siegel (csiegel@lawnj.com) by email or at 201-612-5200 to discuss how BFC may assist you.