Congratulations to Jennifer Olson and Brian Steffes who received a Declaratory Judgment Order in favor of their client, a homeowners’ association, following a four-day bench trial in Sherburne County. Plaintiffs were requesting exemption from paying fees in relation to an approximately $998,000 reconstruction of the association’s septic system. The Judge agreed with the Defense and found that the HOA was entirely within its rights under the Governing Documents to reconstruct the existing septic system from a peat moss-based system to a Sequence Batch Reactor system. The Judge also agreed with the Defense that the HOA was permitted to charge all lot owners within the HOA an equal share of those costs. The Court found that the Plaintiffs, Phase One lot owners, did not present evidence to support their position that the existing septic system was built to serve only Phase One homes, nor that the cost of the expansion should be borne solely by the Association’s Phase Two lot owners.
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