AZNH Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village HOA: Administrative Appeal and Limited Remand

Posted on May 21, 2026 by

Arizona HOA Records | Superior Court Administrative Appeal | LC2025-000025

This page separates the Superior Court administrative-review case from the larger OAH 24F-H047 record. The core court order dismissed the broader appeal, sent the matter back for a limited evidentiary hearing, and later denied a motion to enforce the remand as a broader subpoena dispute.

Last updated May 21, 2026. Case: AZNH Revocable Trust v. Arizona Department of Real Estate and Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association, Maricopa County Superior Court No. LC2025-000025; minute entries in the uploaded record use LC2025-000025-001 DT; related OAH No. 24F-H047-REL; Hon. Joseph P. Mikitish.

Download remand order Download enforcement denial Filing roadmap Watch video overview Related OAH page Homeowner guide Procedure checklist FAQ Primary sources

Scope note: This is the Superior Court administrative-appeal page for LC2025-000025. It should be read with the related OAH page for 24F-H047-REL and the later CV2025-036466 special-action page. AI-generated briefing material in the upload was reviewed only as orientation; the published analysis relies on court minute entries, OAH orders, and the normalized source-file roadmap.

The posture in one sentence

The Superior Court did not decide the electronic-ballot records dispute outright; it dismissed the broader administrative appeal, remanded for a limited evidentiary hearing on specified additional evidence, and later denied an enforcement motion over the scope of that remand.

Case snapshot

Case number

Maricopa County Superior Court No. LC2025-000025; uploaded minute entries use LC2025-000025-001 DT.

Administrative source

OAH No. 24F-H047-REL, the Sunland Springs electronic-ballot records petition.

Core Superior Court result

The April 17, 2025 minute entry dismissed the appeal and remanded only for a limited evidentiary hearing.

Later enforcement result

On September 17, 2025, the court denied the motion to enforce judgment and order to show cause.

Case Dossier

This generated dossier mirrors the structured data surfaced on the OAH/ADRE case pages. It is added from the curated court-case record and the custom page source package, while the hand-authored analysis below remains intact.

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	LC2025-000025 / OAH 24F-H047-REL
Court / tribunal	Superior Court
Decision / key date	April 17, 2025
Judge / panel	Hon. Joseph P. Mikitish
Parties	AZNH sought Superior Court administrative review after the OAH/ADRE electronic-ballot records decision involving Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.
Governing law	A.R.S. 33-1812 A.R.S. 32-2199.01
Topics	administrative-appealsrecords-requestselectionsprocedure
Outcome / holding	The Superior Court dismissed the broader administrative appeal, remanded for a limited evidentiary hearing on specified additional evidence, and later denied the requested enforcement/order-to-show-cause relief.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	37 PDFs, 3 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	18 roadmap entries
Video overview	AZ HOA Election Records Fight: AZNH Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village HOA
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	4 questions
Curated download aliases	11 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

CURRENT STATUS (June 2026): NOT FINAL / PENDING — this is one stage of an active, multi-track dispute; the controlling published appellate decision in this family is AZNH Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village HOA, 1 CA-CV 25-0424 (2026). AZNH filed a Maricopa County Superior Court administrative appeal after the OAH decision and ADRE rehearing denial in the Sunland Springs electronic-ballot records dispute. The key April 17, 2025 minute entry did not decide the broader merits of the ballot-retention claim. Instead, the court dismissed the appeal and remanded the matter to ADRE/OAH for a limited evidentiary hearing addressing specific additional evidence proposed by AZNH. Later, when the parties disputed whether OAH was following that remand correctly, the court denied a motion to enforce judgment and order to show cause.

Key Issues & Findings

The record shows a narrow judicial-review ruling rather than a full merits reversal. The court treated the proposed additional evidence as the issue requiring further administrative handling, so it sent the matter back to ADRE/OAH for that limited purpose. Later OAH subpoena and hearing-scope orders, and the Superior Court’s September 17, 2025 enforcement-denial minute entry, show the practical consequences of that limited-remand framing.

Why It Matters

This administrative appeal is a useful Arizona HOA procedure map. It shows how an ADRE/OAH records case can move into Superior Court, return to OAH on a limited evidentiary remand, and then generate later disputes over remand scope, subpoena authority, and enforcement. For homeowners and boards, the case is a reminder to quote remand language precisely and keep merits issues separate from procedural enforcement issues.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

AZNH Revocable Trust (Plaintiff/Appellant)
Trust party seeking administrative review.
John F. Sullivan (Trustee/Counsel)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and counsel for the administrative-review appellant.
Susan Sullivan (Trustee)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and real party in interest for AZNH Revocable Trust.

Respondent Side

Arizona Department of Real Estate (Agency/Appellee)
Agency party in the administrative-review action.
Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association (Respondent/Appellee)
Association party in the administrative-review action.
Megan E. Ritenour (Counsel)
Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP
Counsel for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.
Téhaura R. Henning (Counsel)
Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP
Entered an appearance for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.

Neutral Parties

Joseph P. Mikitish (Judge)
Superior Court judge assigned to the administrative review.

What the administrative appeal was about

AZNH appealed after the OAH decision and ADRE rehearing denial in the Sunland Springs electronic-ballot records dispute. The appeal focused on whether additional evidence about the electronic voting interface and vendor video should be considered after the original administrative decision.

The April 17, 2025 order is the turning point. The court did not hold a broad new merits trial. Instead, it sent the matter back to ADRE/OAH to address the additional evidence proposed by AZNH. That narrow remand is why the later OAH subpoena and enforcement filings matter.

The September 17, 2025 minute entry is the second Superior Court checkpoint. After disputes over whether OAH was treating the remand as too narrow, the court denied the motion to enforce judgment and order to show cause.

What the key court orders do

1. The appeal moved into judicial review

The administrative-review orders set the service and record-transmission mechanics after the January 14, 2025 notice of appeal.

2. The remand was limited

The April 17, 2025 minute entry dismissed the appeal and remanded for an evidentiary hearing to address the additional evidence proposed by AZNH.

3. The subpoena fight followed from remand scope

OAH orders after remand treated additional subpoena relief as constrained by the court’s limited-remand framing.

4. The enforcement motion did not expand relief

The September 17, 2025 minute entry denied the requested enforcement and order-to-show-cause relief.

Video overview: administrative appeal, limited remand, and ALJ reassignment

This overview explains how the electronic-ballot records dispute moved from OAH into Superior Court, back to OAH on limited remand, and then into the separate ALJ-change special action.

The video is embedded here because LC2025-000025 is part of the same 24F-H047 procedural chain.

For homeowners: how to use this administrative-review record

This page is most useful as a map of what happens after an ADRE/OAH HOA case is appealed to Superior Court. A homeowner can ask for judicial review, but the court may send the case back only for a specific task rather than reopening every discovery and evidence question.

If a remand order is narrow, track the exact wording. Later subpoena requests, hearing notices, and enforcement motions should be measured against the court’s actual remand language, not against what either side wishes the remand had said.

The record also shows why procedural issues should be separated. The electronic-ballot merits dispute, the evidentiary-hearing request, the subpoena/remand-scope fight, and the later ALJ-change issue each have different source documents and different legal consequences.

Suggested judicial-review workflow

Start with the final agency action. Identify the OAH decision and the ADRE rehearing order before filing or reviewing a Superior Court administrative appeal.
Separate new-evidence requests from the merits. If the issue is additional evidence, identify the specific evidence and why the existing agency record is incomplete.
Read the remand order literally. A limited evidentiary remand is not the same as a full restart of the administrative case.
Document every post-remand order. Hearing notices, subpoena rulings, and OAH orders become the record for any later enforcement or special-action request.
Keep related court cases linked but distinct. LC2025-000025 explains the limited remand. CV2025-036466 separately addresses the peremptory ALJ-change issue.

Procedure checklist for ADRE/OAH administrative appeals

Do this

Keep the OAH decision, rehearing order, notice of appeal, and administrative-review orders together.
Quote the remand language when asking OAH or the court for later action.
Preserve proof of what additional evidence the court was asked to consider.
Use a source-file roadmap so readers can follow the procedural chain without guessing.

Avoid this

Do not treat a limited remand as authority for unlimited discovery.
Do not bury a remand-scope issue inside a general merits argument.
Do not assume an enforcement motion will broaden the original remand order.
Do not merge the LC administrative appeal with later special actions when explaining the posture.

What LC2025-000025 does not decide

This Superior Court record does not itself create a final appellate ruling on whether the HOA violated the electronic-ballot retention requirements. The court order sent a limited issue back to the administrative process.

It also does not decide the later peremptory-change-of-ALJ question. That issue is handled in the separate CV2025-036466 special action, which is linked below and included in the case-family timeline for context.

Timeline highlights

Date	Event	Why it mattered
November 5, 2024	OAH issued the initial decision denying the electronic-ballot records petition.	This was the administrative decision that led to rehearing and judicial review.
January 14, 2025	AZNH filed the Superior Court administrative appeal.	LC2025-000025 opened the judicial-review phase.
April 17, 2025	Superior Court entered the dismissal/remand minute entry.	The court sent the case back for a limited evidentiary hearing on specified additional evidence.
August 15, 2025	OAH denied expanded subpoena relief.	The ALJ applied a narrow view of the remand scope.
September 17, 2025	Superior Court denied the motion to enforce judgment and order to show cause.	The court did not grant additional enforcement relief over the remand-scope dispute.
March 25, 2026	In CV2025-036466, the Superior Court ordered ALJ reassignment.	That later special action changed the administrative posture but did not rewrite the LC remand order.

Filing roadmap and source PDFs

This roadmap focuses on the LC2025-000025 administrative-review chain while preserving the connection to the larger OAH case family. Rows without a direct PDF button are still accounted for in the downloadable source-file roadmap CSV.

Step 10 June 27, 2025

Notice of hearing after remand

Filed by: ADRE

ADRE/OAH restarted proceedings after the remand and set a new hearing track.

Step 11 August 13, 2025

Motion for subpoena duces tecum and OAH order

Filed by: AZNH Revocable Trust / OAH

AZNH sought additional ballot/vendor material; the resulting OAH order shows how the tribunal framed the remand.

Filed by: AZNH Revocable Trust / OAH

This later procedural issue became a separate Superior Court special action rather than part of the LC administrative appeal itself.

Download source

Related CV2025-036466 roadmap

Step 18 March 25, 2026

Special-action ruling on ALJ reassignment

Filed by: Superior Court

Judge Blaney vacated later ALJ orders and required reassignment in CV2025-036466; that ruling explains the later procedural posture of the same OAH case family.

Type: Source roadmap CSV

Upload/source spreadsheet that helps cross-check filing order, source names, or AI review notes.

Download source file

source-file-roadmap.csv

Complete source set

Oversized and roadmap files

Two source PDFs exceeded the normal WordPress media upload limit when the OAH page was rebuilt, so they are preserved here as static downloads. The roadmap CSV is the best index for every source item in the administrative-review chain.

Download roadmap CSV

Additional preserved source downloads

Oversized source PDF

Download oversized source PDF
Preserved as a static download because the regular WordPress media upload limit rejected it.

Administrative Appeal Anatomy PDF

Download Administrative Appeal Anatomy PDF
Included as reviewed orientation material, not as an independent court source.

Frequently asked questions

Is LC2025-000025 the same as OAH 24F-H047-REL?

No. OAH 24F-H047-REL is the administrative case. LC2025-000025 is the Superior Court administrative appeal from that agency record.

Did the Superior Court rule that AZNH won the electronic-ballot records claim?

No. The key April 17, 2025 order dismissed the broader appeal and remanded for a limited evidentiary hearing on specified additional evidence.

Why is the September 17, 2025 minute entry important?

It shows that the court later denied the motion to enforce judgment and order to show cause after the remand-scope dispute returned to Superior Court.

Why does this page link CV2025-036466?

The later special action did not replace LC2025-000025, but it changed the same OAH case family’s posture by requiring ALJ reassignment.

Review note and disclaimer

Reviewed against the local OAH 24F-H047 source folder, the normalized source-file roadmap, and the Superior Court minute entries preserved in the uploaded record. This page is educational information for Arizona HOA homeowners, boards, managers, and advocates. It is not legal advice for any specific dispute.

Primary sources

← Back to Superior Court cases

AZNH Revocable Trust v. Arizona Department of Real Estate: Peremptory ALJ Change Special Action

Posted on May 15, 2026 by

Arizona HOA Administrative Appeals | A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) | Superior Court Special Action

This page organizes the Superior Court special-action record over whether AZNH could invoke the new statutory right to one peremptory change of administrative law judge in the Sunland Springs election-records OAH case.

Last updated May 16, 2026. Case: AZNH Revocable Trust v. Kay Abramsohn, et al., Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2025-036466; related OAH No. 24F-H047-REL-RMD; Hon. Scott A. Blaney.

Download Blaney ruling Download complaint Filing roadmap Related OAH page Homeowner guide Procedure checklist FAQ Primary sources

Scope note: This page is an educational guide to the uploaded court record. AI-generated briefing and media files in the upload were reviewed only as orientation; the published analysis relies on court filings, orders, and agency records.

The posture in one sentence

When a new procedural statute gave parties one peremptory change of ALJ, AZNH could invoke it in the pending OAH case, and later orders by the challenged ALJ were vacated.

Case snapshot

Core issue

Whether the revised A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) gave AZNH one peremptory change of administrative law judge in an already-pending OAH case.

Administrative backdrop

The special action grew out of OAH No. 24F-H047-REL-RMD, part of the Sunland Springs electronic-ballot records dispute.

Superior Court result

Judge Blaney vacated OAH orders issued on or after September 26, 2025 and ordered reassignment to another ALJ.

Practical use

The case is a roadmap for preserving and reviewing procedural rights in HOA administrative hearings.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	CV2025-036466 / OAH 24F-H047-REL-RMD
Court / tribunal	Superior Court
Decision / key date	March 25, 2026
Judge / panel	Hon. Scott A. Blaney
Parties	AZNH sought special-action relief after an ALJ and OAH leadership refused to honor a peremptory change request filed minutes after A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) became effective.
Governing law	A.R.S. 41-1092.07 A.R.S. 32-2199.01 A.R.S. 33-1812
Topics	administrative-appealsprocedurerecords-requestselections
Outcome / holding	The Superior Court granted special-action relief in part, vacated OAH orders issued on or after September 26, 2025, and ordered reassignment to a different administrative law judge.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	26 PDFs, 3 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	23 roadmap entries
Video overview	No video embed currently configured
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	4 questions
Curated download aliases	4 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

CURRENT STATUS (June 2026): NOT FINAL / PENDING — this is one stage of an active, multi-track dispute; the controlling published appellate decision in this family is AZNH Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village HOA, 1 CA-CV 25-0424 (2026). AZNH filed a Maricopa County Superior Court special action after the Office of Administrative Hearings refused to honor a peremptory change of administrative law judge filed minutes after the revised A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) became effective. The dispute arose from the Sunland Springs electronic-ballot records case. Judge Scott A. Blaney ruled on March 25, 2026 that AZNH was entitled to exercise the new procedural right, that the challenged ALJ acted in excess of authority by issuing later rulings, and that OAH had to reassign the case to another ALJ.

Key Issues & Findings

The ruling treated A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) as a procedural statute that could be applied to the pending administrative proceeding. Because the statutory right came into existence only hours before the scheduled hearing, AZNH could not have invoked it sooner. Once AZNH filed the peremptory change request, later rulings by the challenged ALJ were without effect.

Why It Matters

This case is useful for Arizona HOA administrative disputes because it shows how the new peremptory ALJ-change language can operate in a pending OAH case. It also gives homeowners and associations a concrete example of special-action review when an administrative tribunal refuses to honor a claimed procedural right.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

AZNH Revocable Trust (Plaintiff)
Trust party bringing the special action.
John F. Sullivan (Trustee/Counsel)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and counsel for the plaintiff trust.
Susan Sullivan (Trustee)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and real party in interest for the plaintiff trust.

Respondent Side

Arizona Department of Real Estate (Defendant/Agency)
Agency defendant in the special-action caption.
Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings (Defendant/Agency)
Agency defendant in the special-action caption.
Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association (Defendant)
Association party named in the special-action caption.
Tammy Eigenheer (Official-Capacity Defendant)
Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings
OAH official named as an official-capacity defendant in the special-action caption.
Deanie Reh (Counsel)
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
Assistant Attorney General listed for ADRE.
Raya Gardner (Counsel)
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
Assistant Attorney General listed for ADRE.
Kara Karlson (Counsel)
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
Counsel listed for Abramsohn and Eigenheer.
Chad Gallacher (Counsel)
Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association
Counsel listed for the HOA.

Neutral Parties

Kay Abramsohn (Administrative Law Judge)
Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings
Named administrative law judge in the special-action caption.
Scott A. Blaney (Judge)
Superior Court judge who issued the special-action ruling.

What the record shows

The case turned on timing: A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) became effective on September 26, 2025, and AZNH filed its peremptory-change request minutes later before the scheduled hearing.

The ALJ treated the request as a motion and denied it. The Superior Court later held that the Trust properly invoked the statutory right under the circumstances.

The uploaded folder contained the opening and briefing-stage Superior Court filings through December 29, 2025. The local OAH override set supplies the related March 25, 2026 under-advisement ruling, so this page includes the actual Superior Court outcome.

What Judge Blaney decided

1. The new ALJ-change statute applied procedurally

The ruling treated A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) as a procedural statute that could be applied to the still-pending OAH matter.

2. Timing mattered

The statutory right became effective on September 26, 2025, and AZNH filed its request that same morning before the scheduled hearing.

3. Later ALJ orders were vacated

Orders entered by the challenged ALJ on or after September 26, 2025 were vacated because the peremptory-change request should have been honored.

4. Reassignment was required

The Superior Court ordered the administrative case reassigned to a different ALJ for the remaining OAH proceedings.

What this ruling does not decide

The special-action ruling does not decide the merits of the underlying electronic-ballot records dispute. It decides who may preside over the remaining administrative proceedings after the statutory peremptory-change request.

It also does not mean every disagreement with an ALJ becomes an immediate special action. The useful lesson is narrower: preserve the procedural right promptly, build a clear record of the request and denial, and identify why ordinary appeal would not give adequate relief.

For homeowners: how to use this procedural ruling

If an Arizona HOA dispute is already in ADRE/OAH and a procedural right becomes available, timing and documentation are everything. A homeowner should preserve the request in writing, identify the statute, keep the filing timestamp, and ask for a clear order if the request is denied.

The ruling is especially useful as a record-building example. AZNH did not ask the Superior Court to retry the records case. It isolated the procedural issue, tied it to A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A), and asked for reassignment before the challenged ALJ could continue issuing orders.

Suggested administrative-procedure workflow

Identify the procedural right. Write down the exact statute or rule you are invoking, such as A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A).
File before the contested event when possible. The cleaner record is a request filed before the hearing, ruling, or deadline the request affects.
Keep proof of filing and service. Preserve the timestamp, email confirmation, portal receipt, and service list.
Ask for an order, not informal silence. A written denial makes the issue easier to review than an oral or unexplained refusal.
Separate procedure from merits. Do not bury the procedural issue inside every factual dispute about the HOA. Keep the review question focused.

Procedure checklist for ADRE/OAH disputes

Do this

Track effective dates of new procedural statutes or rule changes.
File requests in writing and cite the specific authority.
Preserve every OAH order entered after the disputed procedural request.
Keep the Superior Court request limited to the procedural relief needed.

Avoid this

Do not wait until after the hearing if the right can be invoked before it.
Do not rely on an oral objection without a filed document.
Do not mix the ALJ-change issue with every disagreement about evidence or discovery.
Do not assume reassignment decides the underlying HOA records claim.

Timeline highlights

Date	Event	Why it mattered
2025-09-26	A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A) became effective and AZNH requested a peremptory ALJ change.	This created the timing issue that drove the special action.
2025-10-08	AZNH filed the special-action complaint.	The Superior Court case focused on whether OAH had to honor the peremptory-change request.
2025-12-21	AZNH filed a motion for judgment on the case filings.	The case moved toward decision on the written record.
2026-03-25	Judge Blaney issued the under-advisement ruling.	The court vacated later ALJ orders and required reassignment.

Frequently asked questions

Did this case decide who wins the electronic-ballot records dispute?

No. The ruling addressed the peremptory ALJ-change issue and reassignment, not the final merits of the underlying records petition.

Why is September 26, 2025 important?

That is the effective date of the revised A.R.S. 41-1092.07(A), and the request was filed that morning before the scheduled OAH hearing.

What practical lesson should homeowners take from it?

Preserve procedural rights immediately, file them clearly, keep proof of timing, and separate the procedural review issue from the broader HOA dispute.

Why are the source PDFs still included?

The page is designed as a source-document guide. The filing roadmap lets readers check the court record rather than relying on a summary alone.

Review note and disclaimer

Plaintiff argues the HOA failed to timely answer and that statutory changes for peremptory ALJ removal apply to the case. Original upload name: 50982a51-7fba-46b3-ae73-210bb07af9e5.pdf.

Download source

2025-12-29_022_reply-untimely-answer-statute-application.pdf

Step 23 2026-03-25

Under Advisement Ruling

Filed by: Record filing

Judge Scott A. Blaney grants special-action relief in part, vacates OAH orders issued on or after September 26, 2025, and orders reassignment to a different administrative law judge. Original upload name: m11714084.pdf.

Type: AI-generated media review asset

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-audio-the-midnight-ambush-over-hoa-ballots.m4a

Source 29 No docket date in filename

AI Legal Briefing AZNH V Abramsohn

Type: AI-generated review PDF

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-legal-briefing-aznh-v-abramsohn.pdf

Additional uploaded court PDFs

These court PDFs were present in the upload but were not separate rows in the AI-generated chronology. They are preserved in the raw source folder for completeness.

Date	Download	Note
2025-12-22	`2025-12-22_018b_unlisted-response.pdf`	Additional December 22, 2025 response PDF present in the upload but not listed in the chronology CSV.

Primary sources

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AZNH Revocable Trust v. Nicolson, Eigenheer, and Sunland Springs: Corporate Authority and HOA Default Theory

Posted on May 15, 2026 by

Arizona HOA Elections | Corporate Authority | ADRE/OAH Special Action

This page organizes the pending Superior Court special-action record over whether Sunland Springs had a valid authorized response to an ADRE petition and whether the Commissioner had to treat the allegations as admitted.

Last updated May 16, 2026. Case: AZNH Revocable Trust v. Susan Nicolson, Tammy Eigenheer, and Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association, Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2026-008484; Hon. Adele Ponce.

Download complaint Download motion for judgment Watch video overview Filing roadmap Related AZNH pages Homeowner guide Board/counsel guide FAQ Primary sources

The posture in one sentence

The uploaded record presents a pending fight over whether an HOA response filed without an identified board vote can still defeat default treatment in an ADRE homeowner petition.

Case snapshot

Core issue

Whether an allegedly unauthorized HOA response to an ADRE petition can be treated as no response for default purposes.

Procedural posture

The uploaded record is pending-stage litigation through April 29, 2026, not a final merits ruling.

Next setting in file set

The April 27, 2026 order reset oral argument to June 26, 2026.

Practical use

The record is useful for tracking board authorization, apparent authority, and ADRE/OAH default procedure arguments.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	CV2026-008484
Court / tribunal	Superior Court
Decision / key date	February 26, 2026
Judge / panel	Hon. Adele Ponce
Parties	AZNH brought a special action against the ADRE Commissioner, the OAH Interim Director, and Sunland Springs over a disputed HOA response in an administrative election-materials petition.
Governing law	A.R.S. 32-2199.01 A.R.S. 10-3304 A.R.S. 10-3801
Topics	administrative-appealsboard-governanceprocedureelections
Outcome / holding	No final merits ruling appears in the uploaded file set. As of the April 29, 2026 filings, motions to dismiss and a motion for judgment on the case filings were pending, with oral argument reset to June 26, 2026.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	37 PDFs, 4 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	35 roadmap entries
Video overview	AZNH v. Nicolson: Anatomy of an Arizona HOA Special Action
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	4 questions
Curated download aliases	5 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

CURRENT STATUS (June 2026): NOT FINAL / PENDING — this is one stage of an active, multi-track dispute; the controlling published appellate decision in this family is AZNH Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village HOA, 1 CA-CV 25-0424 (2026). AZNH filed CV2026-008484 as a special action after a later ADRE/OAH election-materials petition involving Sunland Springs. The Trust argues that the HOA response was not authorized by the board and should be treated as no response, triggering default treatment under A.R.S. 32-2199.01(E). The Commissioner and the association dispute that theory, arguing that ADRE received a response and that internal corporate authority questions do not require the Commissioner to enter default. The uploaded record runs through April 29, 2026 and shows oral argument continued to June 26, 2026.

Key Issues & Findings

The pending briefing frames a conflict between corporate-governance authority and ADRE/OAH procedure. AZNH relies on nonprofit-corporation statutes and the HOA board-vote record to argue that an unauthorized response is legally no response. The Commissioner and the HOA argue that ADRE is a neutral conduit, that a filed response prevents default, and that any apparent-authority or internal-corporate dispute should not be resolved through mandatory administrative default.

Why It Matters

This case is worth tracking because it tests how far a homeowner can push corporate-authorization defects inside the Arizona HOA petition process. It also links board meeting records, attorney authority, ADRE default procedure, and OAH hearing authority in one pending Superior Court record.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

AZNH Revocable Trust (Plaintiff)
Trust party bringing the special-action complaint.
John F. Sullivan (Trustee/Counsel)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and counsel for the plaintiff trust.
Susan Sullivan (Trustee)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and real party in interest for the plaintiff trust.

Respondent Side

Arizona Department of Real Estate (Agency/Defendant)
Agency associated with the ADRE Commissioner defendant.
Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings (Agency/Defendant)
Agency associated with the OAH director defendant.
Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association (Defendant)
Association party named in the special-action caption.
Tammy Eigenheer (Official-Capacity Defendant)
Arizona Office of Administrative Hearings
OAH director named as an official-capacity defendant in the special-action caption.
Raya A. Gardner (Counsel)
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
Counsel for Susan Nicolson and ADRE.
Deanie Reh (Counsel)
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
Counsel for Susan Nicolson and ADRE.
Kara Marie Karlson (Counsel)
Arizona Attorney General’s Office
Counsel for Tammy Eigenheer.
Chad M. Gallacher (Counsel)
Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association
Counsel for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.
Brian Crowe (Board President)
Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association
Present at the March 27, 2026 status conference.

Neutral Parties

Susan Nicolson (Commissioner)
Arizona Department of Real Estate
Named official-capacity defendant in the special-action caption.
Adele Ponce (Judge)
Superior Court judge assigned to the special-action case.

What the record shows

AZNH ties its default theory to corporate-governance statutes and board meeting records, arguing that the association did not authorize the petition response or counsel involvement.

The Commissioner and Sunland Springs take the opposite view: ADRE received a response, the Commissioner is not required to investigate internal corporate authorization, and apparent authority can bind the corporation.

No final ruling is in the uploaded file set. The page therefore treats this as a pending litigation record and uses exact dates from the filings rather than implying an outcome.

What this pending record is testing

1. Corporate authorization

AZNH argues the HOA response was not authorized by the board and therefore should not count as a response.

2. ADRE default procedure

The dispute asks whether an allegedly unauthorized response can trigger default treatment under the HOA petition process.

3. Agency role versus internal governance

The Commissioner and HOA argue that ADRE received a response and need not resolve internal corporate-authority disputes before moving the case forward.

4. No final merits ruling yet

The uploaded record ends with motions pending and oral argument reset to June 26, 2026.

What this case does not yet decide

This page should be read as a pending-record guide, not as a final rule. The uploaded file set does not contain a final ruling on whether Sunland Springs defaulted, whether counsel lacked authority, or whether ADRE had to treat the response as void.

That limitation matters. The current value of the page is the way it organizes the filings, arguments, hearing settings, and source documents so readers can follow the pending dispute without confusing allegations with holdings.

For homeowners: preserving an authorization/default theory

A homeowner trying to raise an authorization defect should focus first on the record: board meeting notices, agendas, minutes, written consents, engagement letters, response filings, and correspondence showing who acted for the association and when.

The tighter the record, the easier it is to separate a corporate-governance argument from a general complaint about the association. This page gives readers a roadmap for the kind of filings and exhibits that matter when default, authority, and agency procedure collide.

Suggested record-building workflow

Get the response document. Start with the actual ADRE/OAH response and identify who signed, filed, or authorized it.
Request board authorization records. Look for minutes, written consents, resolutions, engagement letters, or emails showing board approval.
Match dates carefully. Compare the response deadline, board-meeting dates, attorney-appearance dates, and any later ratification attempt.
Keep allegations separate from proof. A missing authorization record is different from a court finding that no authority existed.
Track pending rulings. Because this file set ends before final merits decision, later court orders should be added when available.

For boards, managers, and counsel: avoid the dispute

Do this

Document who is authorized to respond to ADRE/OAH petitions.
Make attorney engagement and litigation-response authority clear in minutes or written consents.
Preserve response-deadline communications and proof of filing.
Keep board authorization records accessible if authority is later challenged.

Avoid this

Do not assume a response filing will end all questions about authority.
Do not leave counsel or management authority undocumented when statutory deadlines are running.
Do not mix privileged legal advice with the nonprivileged fact of who authorized action.
Do not treat pending allegations as final rulings.

Timeline highlights

Date	Event	Why it mattered
2026-02-26	AZNH filed the verified complaint and special-action materials.	The case opened with the default and corporate-authority theory.
2026-03-25	Sunland Springs filed its motion to dismiss and AZNH filed a response.	The briefing began framing whether the response could be treated as legally effective.
2026-04-21	The Commissioner filed a motion to dismiss and response to the motion for judgment.	The agency-position filing put the ADRE/OAH procedural view into the Superior Court record.
2026-04-27	The court continued oral argument to June 26, 2026.	The uploaded record remains pending-stage, so final outcome should not be inferred from the pleadings.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a final ruling in this uploaded record?

No. The file set is pending-stage litigation through April 29, 2026, with oral argument reset to June 26, 2026.

What is AZNH arguing?

AZNH argues that the HOA response was not properly authorized and should be treated as no response for ADRE default purposes.

What are the opposing arguments?

The Commissioner and HOA argue that ADRE received a response, that internal authority disputes do not require mandatory default, and that apparent authority can matter.

Why include the full filing roadmap?

The page lets readers distinguish filings, allegations, motions, and court settings instead of treating a pending complaint as a decided rule.

Review note and disclaimer

Reviewed against the uploaded Superior Court filings through April 29, 2026 and the source-file roadmap. Because no final merits ruling appears in the file set, this page labels the dispute as pending and distinguishes allegations from holdings. It is educational information, not legal advice.

Video overview: anatomy of this special action

Watch this visual explainer for the procedural path in CV2026-008484: filing the special action, serving the defendants, briefing motions to dismiss and for judgment, and tracking the next Superior Court hearing setting.

Download source

2026-04-29_033_response-commissioner-motion-dismiss.pdf

Step 35 2026-04-29

Reply

Filed by: AZNH Revocable Trust

Plaintiff’s reply to the Commissioner’s response on motion for judgment. Original upload name: f85ae622-5cc5-4b56-8546-e3a17dbdb9dd.pdf.

Type: AI-generated review PDF

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-briefing-document-aznh-v-nicolson.pdf

Source 41 No docket date in filename

AI Video Anatomy Of A Civil Lawsuit

Type: AI-generated media review asset

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-video-anatomy-of-a-civil-lawsuit.mp4

Additional uploaded court PDFs

These court PDFs were present in the upload but were not separate rows in the AI-generated chronology. They are preserved in the raw source folder for completeness.

Date	Download	Note
2026-02-26	`2026-02-26_005_civil-cover-sheet.pdf`	Civil cover sheet filed with the complaint package.
2026-02-26	`2026-02-26_006_summons-susan-nicolson.pdf`	Summons issued for Susan Nicolson.
2026-02-26	`2026-02-26_007_summons-tammy-eigenheer.pdf`	Summons issued for Tammy Eigenheer.
2026-02-26	`2026-02-26_008_summons-sunland-springs-village-hoa.pdf`	Summons issued for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.
2026-03-23	`2026-03-23_016a_declaration-service-tammy-eigenheer-copy.pdf`	Second uploaded copy of the Tammy Eigenheer declaration of service.
2026-03-23	`2026-03-23_017_declaration-service-sunland-springs.pdf`	Declaration of service for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.
2026-03-25	`2026-03-25_019_declaration-service-susan-nicolson-scanned.pdf`	Scanned declaration of service for Susan Nicolson.
2026-03-25	`2026-03-25_020_declaration-service-tammy-eigenheer-scanned.pdf`	Scanned declaration of service for Tammy Eigenheer.
2026-03-25	`2026-03-25_021_declaration-service-sunland-springs-scanned.pdf`	Scanned declaration of service for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.

Primary sources

← Back to Superior Court cases

R. L. Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas CV2021-050888: Statutory HOA Claims and Fee Awards

Posted on May 15, 2026 by

Arizona Condominium Act • Budget/Audit Claims • Attorney Fees

CV2021-050888 shows how a statutory HOA enforcement case can be dismissed on the merits while still producing an important fee issue: the Court of Appeals vacated fee awards because the claims did not arise out of contract.

Last updated May 16, 2026. Case: R. L. Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association, Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2021-050888; Arizona Court of Appeals No. 1 CA-CV 22-0202.

Download appellate memorandum decision Download dismissal order Download 2021 judgment Case family map Filing roadmap + 82 PDFs Primary sources Homeowner guide Association guide FAQ

Scope note: This page covers a Superior Court case and a nonprecedential Court of Appeals memorandum decision. The memorandum decision is not published precedent under Arizona Rule of the Supreme Court 111(c), but it explains the fee ruling in this case record. AI-generated briefing/audio files in the upload were reviewed only as orientation and are not treated as source authority on this page.

The rule in one sentence

A statutory HOA enforcement suit is not automatically an action arising out of contract for A.R.S. § 12-341.01 fee purposes merely because the association is governed by recorded condominium documents.

Case snapshot

Case name

R. L. Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.

Court and dockets

Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2021-050888; Arizona Court of Appeals No. 1 CA-CV 22-0202.

Superior Court result

The complaint was dismissed with prejudice and the trial court awarded fees and costs to the association.

Appeal result

The Court of Appeals vacated the attorney-fee awards, holding the lawsuit did not arise out of contract under A.R.S. § 12-341.01.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	CV2021-050888 / 1 CA-CV 22-0202
Court / tribunal	Superior Court
Decision / key date	January 19, 2023
Judge / panel	Hon. Sara J. Agne, Judge Michael J. Brown, Presiding Judge Jennifer M. Perkins, Judge James B. Morse Jr.
Parties	A condominium owner brought statutory budget, assessment, audit, and administrative-order enforcement claims against Hilton Casitas; the Superior Court dismissed the claims and the Court of Appeals later vacated contract-based fee awards.
Governing law	A.R.S. § 33-1243 A.R.S. § 33-1255 A.R.S. § 12-341.01
Topics	procedureattorneys-feesboard-governance
Outcome / holding	The Superior Court dismissed the statutory enforcement claims, but the Court of Appeals vacated the contract-based attorney-fee awards because the case did not arise out of contract under A.R.S. § 12-341.01.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	65 PDFs, 2 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	82 roadmap entries
Video overview	No video embed currently configured
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	4 questions
Curated download aliases	3 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

R. L. Whitmer filed a 2021 Maricopa County Superior Court action against Hilton Casitas over alleged failures tied to Arizona condominium budgeting, assessments, audits, and a prior administrative order. The Superior Court dismissed the case with prejudice and awarded fees to the association. In a nonprecedential memorandum decision, the Court of Appeals vacated the attorney-fee awards because the lawsuit did not arise out of contract for purposes of A.R.S. § 12-341.01; its essential basis was statutory enforcement, not breach or enforcement of the condominium declaration.

Key Issues & Findings

The Superior Court concluded the pleaded claims did not support contempt, prospective injunction, or audit relief. The later appellate fee ruling focused on the source of the dispute. Although the declaration was part of the condominium relationship, the claims were framed as statutory enforcement under the Arizona Condominium Act and a prior administrative order, so the declaration was not the cause or origin of the dispute for § 12-341.01 fee purposes.

Why It Matters

This docket is useful for separating merits loss from fee exposure. A homeowner can lose statutory HOA claims, but that does not automatically make the case a contract action for attorney-fee purposes. The memorandum decision is not published precedent, but the case record is a practical warning about pleading theory and fee motions in HOA litigation.

Appellate outcome: On appeal (1 CA-CV 22-0202, mem. dec. filed Jan. 19, 2023), the Court of Appeals VACATED the superior court’s attorneys’-fee award, holding the dispute did not “arise out of contract” under A.R.S. § 12-341.01; the dismissal of the underlying claims was not disturbed.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

R. L. Whitmer (Plaintiff)
Homeowner plaintiff in the 2021 Hilton Casitas case.

Respondent Side

Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association (Defendant)
Association party defending Whitmer’s statutory HOA claims.
Edith I. Rudder (Counsel)
Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP
Counsel for Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.
Timothy D. Butterfield (Counsel)
Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP
Entered an appearance for Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.

Neutral Parties

Sara J. Agne (Judge)
Superior Court judge assigned to the case.
Michael J. Brown (Judge)
Court of Appeals judge listed in the case record.
Jennifer M. Perkins (Presiding Judge)
Court of Appeals judge listed in the case record.
James B. Morse Jr. (Judge)
Court of Appeals judge listed in the case record.

Why this case matters

The case began as a budget, assessment, audit, and administrative-order enforcement dispute under Arizona condominium statutes. The Superior Court dismissed the claims, including requested contempt and injunctive relief.

The important appellate issue was fees. The Superior Court treated the dispute as contract-based because the condominium declaration was part of the setting. The Court of Appeals disagreed, explaining that the essential basis of the suit was statutory enforcement, not breach or enforcement of the declaration.

For homeowners and associations, this case separates losing a statutory enforcement claim from automatically owing contract-based attorney fees. That distinction can matter as much as the merits in HOA litigation.

What the courts decided

Claims dismissed with prejudice

The Superior Court granted Hilton Casitas motion to dismiss and concluded the pleaded claims did not support contempt, prospective injunction, or audit relief.

Trial court awarded fees

The October 2021 judgment awarded fees and costs under A.R.S. § 12-341.01.

Fee award vacated on appeal

The Court of Appeals vacated the fee awards because Whitmers suit did not arise out of contract.

Memo decision is nonprecedential

The appellate decision is useful record context but is not published precedent except as Arizona rules allow.

For homeowners: using the fee ruling carefully

The useful point in this docket is not that the homeowner won the case. He did not. The useful point is that a statutory HOA enforcement case is not automatically a contract action for A.R.S. § 12-341.01 fee purposes.

For homeowners, that means the way a claim is framed matters. If the essential basis is statutory enforcement or enforcement of an administrative order, the fee analysis may be different from a declaration-based contract dispute. The result still depends on the pleadings, record, and fee statute invoked.

Suggested statutory-claim workflow

Separate merits risk from fee risk. A dismissed statutory claim can still generate a fight over what fee statute applies.
Identify the source of each claim. Label whether the claim arises from statute, administrative order, declaration, contract, or some combination.
Preserve fee objections early. If the association seeks contract fees, respond with the essential-basis analysis before judgment is entered.
Remember the memorandum-decision limits. The appellate fee ruling is useful record context but is not a published precedential opinion.

For associations and managers: fee motions still need the right source

Do this

Tie any fee request to the actual source of the claims and the statute authorizing fees.
Distinguish contract claims from statutory enforcement claims in the fee application.
Preserve the dismissal record and the basis for the fee request separately.
Account for nonprecedential limits when relying on memorandum decisions.

Avoid this

Do not assume every condominium dispute arises out of contract.
Do not treat recorded CC&Rs as the automatic origin of every statutory claim.
Do not overlook fee exposure just because the merits claims were dismissed.
Do not cite this page as legal advice or as a substitute for the actual appellate memorandum decision.

What this memorandum decision does not do

The memorandum decision does not revive the dismissed statutory claims. It vacated contract-based fee awards because the action did not arise out of contract for A.R.S. § 12-341.01 purposes.

It is also not published precedent. Its value on this site is practical: it shows how fee framing can become a separate appellate issue after the merits case is lost.

Frequently asked questions

Did Whitmer win the 2021 Superior Court case?

No. The Superior Court dismissed the claims with prejudice.

What did the Court of Appeals change?

It vacated the contract-based attorney-fee awards because the case did not arise out of contract under A.R.S. § 12-341.01.

Is the appellate memorandum decision published precedent?

No. The page treats it as useful record context, subject to Arizona rules governing memorandum decisions.

Why does this matter for HOA cases?

Fee exposure can turn on whether the essential basis of a lawsuit is statutory, contractual, or something else.

Review note and disclaimer

Reviewed against the Superior Court docket materials and the Court of Appeals memorandum decision in No. 1 CA-CV 22-0202. This page is educational information and is not legal advice.

Whitmer / Hilton Casitas case family

These pages separate the three court dockets while keeping the shared administrative-order background visible.

Related page	Role in the case family	Connection
Published 2018 Whitmer case	Related docket	Earlier published jurisdiction decision about Superior Court enforcement of HOA administrative orders.
CV2022-014709	Related docket	Later contempt petition over the scope of the 2015 ALJ budget order.

Type: AI-generated source table

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-document-summary-cv2021-050888.csv

Source 67 No docket date in filename

AI The Brutal Machinery Of Civil Procedure

Type: AI-generated media review asset

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-the-brutal-machinery-of-civil-procedure.m4a

Primary sources

Core source documents used for this page.

← Back to Superior Court cases

R. L. Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas CV2022-014709: Limits on Enforcing an Old HOA ALJ Order

Posted on May 15, 2026 by

Arizona HOA Contempt • Administrative Orders • Budget Ratification

CV2022-014709 is the later Whitmer contempt case. The courts treated the 2015 ALJ order as tied to the 2013-2014 budget dispute, not as an indefinite contempt hook for later budget years.

Last updated May 16, 2026. Case: R. L. Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association, Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2022-014709; Arizona Court of Appeals No. 1 CA-CV 23-0350; Arizona Supreme Court No. CV-24-0047-PR.

Download appellate mandate/memo decision Download dismissal minute entry Download final fee judgment Watch video overview Case family map Filing roadmap + 42 PDFs Primary sources Homeowner guide Association guide FAQ

Scope note: This page covers a Superior Court contempt petition and a nonprecedential Court of Appeals memorandum decision. It is educational and is not legal advice. AI-generated briefing/audio/video files in the upload were reviewed only as orientation and are not treated as source authority on this page.

The rule in one sentence

A contempt petition based on an administrative HOA order must tie the later conduct to a clear enforceable command; a broad instruction to comply with a statute in the future may be too limited or too vague to support later contempt.

Case snapshot

Case name

R. L. Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.

Court and dockets

Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2022-014709; Arizona Court of Appeals No. 1 CA-CV 23-0350.

Core dispute

Whether the 2015 ALJ budget order could support contempt claims over alleged 2021 and 2022 legal-budget overages.

Final outcome

Dismissal affirmed on appeal; later judgment awarded Hilton Casitas $16,506.63 in appellate and trial-level fees/costs.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	CV2022-014709 / 1 CA-CV 23-0350
Court / tribunal	Superior Court
Decision / key date	January 30, 2024
Judge / panel	Hon. John C. Rea, Presiding Judge Daniel J. Kiley, Judge Kent E. Cattani, Judge D. Steven Williams, Hon. Susanna C. Pineda
Parties	A condominium owner sought contempt enforcement of a 2015 administrative budget order against Hilton Casitas based on alleged 2021 and 2022 legal-budget overages.
Governing law	A.R.S. § 33-1243 A.R.S. § 32-2199.02 A.R.S. § 12-341.01
Topics	procedureboard-governanceattorneys-fees
Outcome / holding	The courts rejected contempt enforcement against Hilton Casitas because the 2015 administrative budget order did not clearly impose an indefinite future directive covering the later 2021 and 2022 budget allegations.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	44 PDFs, 3 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	42 roadmap entries
Video overview	Whitmer v. Hilton Casitas: Enforcing Arizona HOA ALJ Orders
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	4 questions
Curated download aliases	3 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

In CV2022-014709, R. L. Whitmer asked the Superior Court to hold Hilton Casitas in contempt based on a 2015 administrative decision requiring future compliance with A.R.S. § 33-1243(D). The petition alleged later 2021 and 2022 legal-budget overages. The Superior Court dismissed the amended petition, reading the 2015 administrative order as tied to the specific 2013-2014 budget dispute and anticipated ratification, not as an indefinite command governing later years. The Court of Appeals affirmed in a nonprecedential memorandum decision, and the Arizona Supreme Court denied review. A final 2024 judgment awarded Hilton Casitas fees and costs after appeal.

Key Issues & Findings

The Superior Court read the 2015 ALJ decision in context. The decision addressed specific 2013 and 2014 legal-budget issues and an anticipated meeting to ratify increased legal costs. The court concluded that the phrase requiring compliance in the future did not create an open-ended contempt command for future budget years. It also stated that if the order were intended to apply indefinitely, it was too vague to enforce by contempt. The appellate memorandum decision affirmed the dismissal.

Why It Matters

This later Whitmer docket is the limiting companion to the 2018 published jurisdiction decision. It shows that a homeowner may have a Superior Court forum to enforce a final administrative HOA order, but contempt still requires a clear, specific, enforceable command tied to the alleged later violation.

Appellate outcome: On appeal (1 CA-CV 23-0350, mem. dec. filed Jan. 30, 2024), the Court of Appeals AFFIRMED the dismissal.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

R. L. Whitmer (Plaintiff/Petitioner)
Homeowner who filed the contempt show-cause petition.
Ross Meyer (Counsel)
Meyer & Partners, PLLC
Counsel for Whitmer in the contempt-enforcement case.

Respondent Side

Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association (Defendant/Respondent)
Association party opposing Whitmer’s contempt-enforcement petition.
Edith I. Rudder (Counsel)
Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP
Entered an appearance for Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.
Maria G. McKee (Counsel)
Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP
Entered an appearance for Hilton Casitas Homeowners Association.

Neutral Parties

John C. Rea (Commissioner)
Senior Commissioner referenced in the minute-entry record.
Joseph P. Mikitish (Judge)
Judicial officer referenced in the Superior Court docket.
Daniel J. Kiley (Presiding Judge)
Former assigned judicial officer referenced in the case record.
Kent E. Cattani (Judge)
Court of Appeals judge listed in the case record.
D. Steven Williams (Judge)
Court of Appeals judge listed in the case record.
Susanna C. Pineda (Judge)
Judicial officer listed in the case record.

Why this case matters

This case is the limiting companion to the 2018 published Whitmer decision. The earlier appeal confirmed that Superior Court can enforce a final HOA administrative decision. This later case asks how far an old administrative order reaches.

The Superior Court read the 2015 ALJ order as addressing the specific 2013-2014 budget dispute and anticipated ratification, not as an open-ended command governing every future budget year. The court also stated that if the order were meant to operate indefinitely, it would be too vague to enforce by contempt.

The Court of Appeals affirmed in a 2024 memorandum decision, and the Arizona Supreme Court denied review. The final 2024 judgment awarded fees and costs to Hilton Casitas after the appellate process.

Video overview: enforcing Arizona HOA ALJ orders

Watch this overview for the larger Whitmer/Hilton Casitas enforcement problem. The video explains why Superior Court jurisdiction matters after an OAH win and why later contempt enforcement still depends on a clear order and proof of violation.

What the courts decided

Dismissal of amended petition

The Superior Court granted the associations motion to dismiss the amended contempt petition.

Old ALJ order read narrowly

The court construed the 2015 ALJ decision as focused on the 2013-2014 budget context and an anticipated ratification meeting.

Vagueness problem for contempt

The court stated that if the ALJ intended an indefinite future directive, the order was too vague to enforce by contempt.

Appeal affirmed dismissal

The Court of Appeals affirmed in No. 1 CA-CV 23-0350, and the Supreme Court denied review.

For homeowners: contempt needs a precise order

This later Whitmer case is the limiting companion to the published 2018 enforcement decision. It shows that a homeowner may have a Superior Court forum but still lose if the old administrative order does not clearly command the later conduct at issue.

For homeowners, the practical takeaway is to build the contempt record around the exact order language, the exact later conduct, and why the order clearly applies to that later conduct. A broad instruction to comply with a statute in the future may not be enough.

Suggested contempt-enforcement workflow

Quote the command. Start with the precise words of the administrative order you want enforced.
Identify the later act. State the later budget, assessment, meeting, record, or other conduct alleged to violate that command.
Explain the bridge. Show why the old order clearly applies to the later act instead of only the original dispute.
Anticipate vagueness arguments. If the order is broad or indefinite, explain why contempt is still a proper remedy.

For associations and managers: keep administrative orders narrow and documented

Do this

Read old administrative orders in context before assuming they apply to later years.
Keep budget, ratification, and assessment records by fiscal year.
Document how the association complied with the specific order entered.
Address vague or overbroad enforcement demands with the order language and timeline.

Avoid this

Do not ignore a final administrative order simply because it is old.
Do not treat every later statutory dispute as contempt of an earlier order.
Do not rely on generic compliance statements without budget-year records.
Do not assume the 2018 jurisdiction ruling guarantees contempt relief.

What this later Whitmer case does not do

This case does not erase the published Whitmer enforcement rule. The Superior Court still had an enforcement forum. The problem was the reach and clarity of the older ALJ order as applied to later 2021 and 2022 budget allegations.

It also does not say future administrative HOA orders can never be enforced. It says contempt requires a clear, specific, enforceable command tied to the alleged violation.

Frequently asked questions

How does this case relate to the 2018 published Whitmer decision?

The 2018 decision confirms jurisdiction to enforce final administrative HOA orders. This later case shows the limits of contempt when the old order does not clearly cover later conduct.

Why did the contempt theory fail?

The courts read the 2015 ALJ order as tied to the original 2013-2014 budget dispute and too limited or vague to support later contempt over 2021 and 2022 allegations.

Does this mean administrative orders are useless?

No. It means enforcement depends on the wording of the order and proof that the later conduct violated a clear command.

Why include fee and mandate documents?

The later fee and appellate documents show the full consequence of the enforcement attempt, not just the dismissal order.

Review note and disclaimer

Reviewed against the Superior Court contempt docket, the Court of Appeals memorandum decision, and the mandate/fee materials. This page is educational information and is not legal advice.

Whitmer / Hilton Casitas case family

These pages separate the three court dockets while keeping the shared administrative-order background visible.

Related page	Role in the case family	Connection
Published 2018 Whitmer case	Related docket	The earlier published decision confirmed Superior Court jurisdiction to enforce final HOA administrative decisions.
CV2021-050888	Related docket	Related statutory budget/audit enforcement case with a fee-award appeal.

Type: AI-generated source table

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-uploaded-chronology-cv2016-summary-stale-for-cv2022.csv

Source 47 No docket date in filename

AI Whitmer V

Type: AI-generated media review asset

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-whitmer-v.mp4

Primary sources

Core source documents used for this page.

← Back to Superior Court cases

William M. Brown v. Terravita Country Club: When an Arizona HOA Records Win Moves to Superior Court

Posted on May 15, 2026 by

Arizona HOA Records • A.R.S. § 33-1805 • Superior Court Enforcement

Brown shows what can happen after a homeowner wins an Arizona HOA records case at ADRE/OAH and then asks the Superior Court to enforce the order: the court can narrow the dispute to exactly what remains missing, treat later production as compliance, and still deny the association fees.

Last updated May 16, 2026. Case: William M. Brown v. Terravita Country Club, Inc., et al., Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2017-055475; final minute entry June 4, 2018; Hon. John R. Hannah Jr.

Download final minute entry Download verified complaint How the case got there Related OAH records Filing roadmap + 50 PDFs Primary sources Homeowner guide Association guide FAQ

Scope note: This page covers a Maricopa County Superior Court enforcement case tied to Arizona planned-community records requests under A.R.S. § 33-1805. It is a trial-court record, not a published appellate precedent. It is educational and is not legal advice.

The rule in one sentence

Winning an Arizona HOA records order at ADRE/OAH may create a path to Superior Court enforcement, but the court can require a precise missing-records showing and may dismiss the enforcement request if later productions satisfy the administrative order.

Case snapshot

Case name

William M. Brown v. Terravita Country Club, Inc., et al.

Court and docket

Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2017-055475.

Final order

June 4, 2018 minute entry by Hon. John R. Hannah Jr.

Core statute

A.R.S. § 33-1805, Arizona planned-community association records.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	CV2017-055475
Court / tribunal	Superior Court
Decision / key date	June 4, 2018
Judge / panel	Hon. John R. Hannah Jr.
Parties	A homeowner asked the Maricopa County Superior Court to enforce an ADRE/OAH records-order win against Terravita Country Club, Inc. and related defendants.
Governing law	A.R.S. § 33-1805 A.R.S. § 33-1803 A.R.S. § 12-341 A.R.S. § 12-341.01
Topics	records-requestsprocedureboard-governanceattorneys-fees
Outcome / holding	The superior court found Terravita had complied with the administrative records order, dismissed the application for an order to show cause with prejudice, and denied the defendants’ request for fees and costs.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	51 PDFs, 3 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	21 roadmap entries
Video overview	No video embed currently configured
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	5 questions
Curated download aliases	3 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

William M. Brown filed a Maricopa County Superior Court action after winning an administrative records-request order against Terravita Country Club, Inc. The case asked the court to force compliance with an ADRE/OAH order arising from A.R.S. § 33-1805. The court first required Brown to identify exactly what remained unproduced, then reviewed the later production history. On January 31, 2018, the court dismissed the individual board-director defendants and the attorney defendants, and denied transfer of a related civil case. On June 4, 2018, the court found Terravita had complied with the administrative order, dismissed the order-to-show-cause application with prejudice, and denied defendants’ fees and costs.

Key Issues & Findings

Judge Hannah focused the enforcement case on what the administrative order required and what remained missing. After the October 27, 2017 status conference, Brown was ordered to specify precisely which records he still claimed had not been produced and why the omission violated the administrative law judge’s order. The court later concluded that the October 27 production, earlier production at the time of the July ALJ order, and information forwarded through Terravita’s attorney together supplied a complete and coherent response. The court also ruled that the director defendants did not owe fiduciary duties directly to Brown individually, and that the attorney defendants were not liable where the complaint did not allege wrongdoing or a duty to Brown as an opposing party.

Why It Matters

The case is a practical example of both the power and limits of taking an Arizona HOA records win from ADRE/OAH into superior court. A homeowner can seek judicial enforcement after an association loses an A.R.S. § 33-1805 records case, but the court may require a precise missing-records showing and may treat later production as compliance. The case also warns against overnaming individual directors and opposing counsel unless the pleadings identify a viable duty and conduct. For boards, the fee ruling is also notable: even after dismissal, the court declined fees because some responsive documents may have been produced only after suit was filed.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

William M. Brown (Plaintiff)
Homeowner who sought Superior Court enforcement of the records order.

Respondent Side

Terravita Country Club, Inc. (Defendant)
Association party in Brown’s Superior Court enforcement action.
Joshua M. Bolen (Counsel)
Terravita Country Club
Appeared for Terravita at the order-to-show-cause hearing.

Neutral Parties

John R. Hannah Jr. (Judge)
Superior Court judge presiding over the enforcement case.

Why this case matters

Brown is useful because it shows the second stage of an Arizona HOA records fight. The homeowner had already won administrative relief in an ADRE/OAH records case. The Superior Court case was about enforcing that win after Brown alleged Terravita had not fully complied.

The case did not end with new penalties against the association. It ended with a compliance finding for Terravita, dismissal of the order-to-show-cause application with prejudice, and denial of the defendants’ request for fees and costs.

That mix is the practical lesson. A records requester may be able to use court enforcement, but the court will focus on the exact production gap, the actual production history, and whether later disclosure cured the alleged noncompliance.

What Judge Hannah decided

1. Terravita complied with the administrative order

The court found the October 27, 2017 production, earlier production around the July ALJ order, and information forwarded through defense counsel together provided a complete and coherent response.

2. The order-to-show-cause application was dismissed

The court dismissed Brown’s application for an order to show cause with prejudice and entered judgment under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 54(c).

3. Director defendants were dismissed

The court ruled that fiduciary duties of HOA directors are owed to the HOA, not directly to an individual member such as Brown.

4. Attorney defendants were dismissed

The court ruled the complaint did not state a claim against the law firm or lawyers, and noted that lawyers ordinarily owe no duty to an opposing party.

5. Transfer of a related case was denied

The court denied Brown’s request to transfer related civil case CV2017-013317 to Judge Hannah.

6. Defendants did not recover fees

Even though the case was dismissed, the court denied fees and costs, noting the association arguably did not produce some responsive documents until after suit was filed.

For homeowners: using a records-order win in court

Brown shows that a homeowner can move from an ADRE/OAH records win into Superior Court enforcement, but the court may narrow the case to a document-by-document compliance question.

The strongest enforcement record identifies the administrative order, lists each still-missing record, explains why the order required that record, and tracks later production. Broad frustration with the association is less useful than a precise missing-records chart.

Suggested records-enforcement workflow

Start with the ADRE/OAH order. Identify exactly what the administrative decision required the association to produce or do.
Build a missing-records chart. List each requested record, what was produced, what remains missing, and why it matters under A.R.S. § 33-1805.
Track later production. If the association produces records after suit is filed, update the chart rather than relying on the original gap alone.
Name defendants carefully. Brown shows risk in naming individual directors or opposing counsel without a viable duty and conduct theory.

For associations and managers: compliance proof matters

Do this

Track each records request against each production batch.
Document when records were sent, by whom, and in what form.
Preserve explanations when a requested record does not exist or is withheld under a claimed exception.
Resolve compliance gaps early instead of waiting for an enforcement hearing.

Avoid this

Do not rely on general statements that all records were produced.
Do not ignore an ADRE/OAH records order after a homeowner wins administratively.
Do not assume late production eliminates all fee or litigation risk.
Do not let attorney communications obscure the basic production timeline.

How the case got to Superior Court

The Superior Court case grew out of Brown’s earlier ADRE/OAH records disputes against Terravita. In 17F-H1716005-REL, the administrative tribunal found Terravita failed to timely fulfill a records request under A.R.S. § 33-1805 and ordered compliance plus a $500 filing-fee refund. In 17F-H1717032-REL, Brown won another records-access ruling after Terravita argued the pending-litigation exception barred disclosure.

Brown then filed this Superior Court case to enforce the administrative order. The complaint named Terravita, several directors, the association law firm, and individual lawyers. The case quickly narrowed into two tracks: whether Terravita had complied with the records order, and whether the individual defendants belonged in the case at all.

At the October 27, 2017 status conference, Judge Hannah required Brown to specify precisely what records were still missing and why the failure to produce them violated the administrative order. That order became the organizing point for the rest of the case.

Related ADRE/OAH records

These administrative cases supply the background for the Superior Court enforcement fight. The first two are the records-request wins tied to the court case; the third shows the separate penalty/notice dispute pending in the same general Terravita conflict.

Administrative matter	Date	Result	Why it matters here
17F-H1716005-REL	July 10, 2017	Homeowner win under A.R.S. § 33-1805; compliance ordered and $500 filing-fee refund.	This is the administrative records order Brown sought to enforce in Superior Court.
17F-H1717032-REL	July 14, 2017	Homeowner win under A.R.S. § 33-1805; pending-litigation exception rejected on the available record.	Shows the broader records-access dispute between Brown and Terravita.
18F-H1717041-REL	October 11, 2017	Association win on A.R.S. § 33-1803(B) notice/penalty issue.	Separate administrative matter involving penalties and notice, not the final enforcement ruling in CV2017-055475.

The records issue the court narrowed

By late October 2017, the court was no longer treating the dispute as a broad grievance about Terravita’s conduct. Judge Hannah required a document-by-document showing of what remained missing from the administrative order.

The later briefing focused on specific insurance and billing-related information tied to prior litigation, including whether certain legal fees and related expenses were covered by insurance and whether insurer communications or payments existed. Terravita responded that the responsive documents and information had been provided through the October 27 production, prior production, and counsel communications.

The final minute entry accepted Terravita’s compliance position. The court did not make a broad finding that every earlier response had been ideal; instead, it found Brown had not made a colorable showing that additional responsive information was likely to exist.

Practical lessons from the case

For homeowners enforcing records orders

Preserve the administrative order. The court will want to know exactly what the ALJ or agency ordered the association to produce.
Build a missing-records chart. Track each requested record, what was produced, when it was produced, and why anything still missing falls within the order.
Expect later production to matter. If the association produces records after suit is filed, the court may treat that production as compliance even if the timing was disputed.
Be cautious about individual defendants. Claims against directors or opposing counsel need a specific duty and specific conduct, not just their involvement in the association dispute.

For boards, managers, and counsel

Respond within the A.R.S. § 33-1805 deadline. The statute gives ten business days to fulfill examination requests and ten business days to provide requested copies.
Document every production. Keep a clean production log showing date, records produced, withheld categories, redactions, and transmission method.
Do not rely on vague compliance claims. A later court may need to see how each records category was answered.
Fee recovery is not automatic. Even after dismissal, the court denied fees where some production arguably came only after the lawsuit began.

What this case does not mean

Brown does not eliminate the administrative records remedy. The related OAH cases still show that a homeowner can prevail when an association fails to timely provide records under A.R.S. § 33-1805.

It also does not say an association may wait until a lawsuit is filed to produce records without consequence. The court denied Terravita’s fee request partly because some responsive documents arguably came after suit was filed. The narrower point is that by the time of the final ruling, the court believed the administrative order had been satisfied.

Finally, this is not a published appellate rule. It is a useful trial-court roadmap for how one Superior Court judge handled enforcement of an HOA records order on a developed production record.

Filing roadmap and PDF downloads

The raw docket package below was renamed from opaque court-download filenames into date-and-title filenames. Duplicate docket downloads are preserved and labeled rather than deleted.

Step 1 September 5, 2017

Complaint and opening order-to-show-cause package

Filed by: William M. Brown

Brown opened the superior-court enforcement case, asking the court to enforce the ADRE/OAH records order.

Download 5 sources

2017-09-05_001_verified-complaint-application-order-show-cause.pdf
2017-09-05_002_request-to-schedule-order-to-show-cause-hearing.pdf
2017-09-05_003_civil-cover-sheet.pdf
2017-09-05_004_certificate-of-compulsory-arbitration.pdf
2017-09-05_005_order-to-appear-september-15-hearing.pdf

Step 2 September 6, 2017

Change of judge request

Filed by: William M. Brown

The early file includes duplicate copies of the Rule 42.1 change-of-judge paperwork.

Download 2 sources

2017-09-06_006_rule-42-1-change-of-judge.pdf
2017-09-06_006b_rule-42-1-change-of-judge-duplicate.pdf

Step 3 September 8, 2017

Case reassigned to Judge Hannah

Filed by: Court

The civil presiding judge reassigned the matter to Hon. John R. Hannah Jr.

Download 3 sources

2017-09-08_007_case-reassignment-to-judge-hannah.pdf
2017-09-08_007b_case-reassignment-to-judge-hannah-duplicate.pdf
2017-09-08_007c_case-reassignment-to-judge-hannah-duplicate.pdf

Step 4 October 2, 2017

Application for provisional remedy with notice

Filed by: William M. Brown

Brown renewed the request for court action after the opening filing package.

Download 2 sources

2017-10-02_008_application-for-provisional-remedy-with-notice.pdf
2017-10-02_008b_application-for-provisional-remedy-with-notice-duplicate.pdf

Step 5 October 6-16, 2017

Service and non-service returns

Filed by: William M. Brown / Process server

The docket shows extensive service activity on Terravita, directors, and attorney defendants.

Download 8 sources

2017-10-06_009_return-of-service-sterling-laaveg.pdf
2017-10-06_009b_return-of-service-sterling-laaveg-duplicate.pdf
2017-10-06_010_return-of-service-paul-tolk.pdf
2017-10-06_011_return-of-service-william-greig.pdf
2017-10-11_012_return-of-service-terravita-registered-agent.pdf
2017-10-11_013_return-of-service-carpenter-hazlewood-delgado-bolen.pdf
2017-10-11_014_return-of-service-anjali-patel.pdf
2017-10-16_015_return-of-non-service-michael-ellington.pdf

Step 6 October 11, 2017

Motion to transfer related civil case

Filed by: William M. Brown

Brown asked to move a related civil case to the same judge; that request was later denied.

Download source

2017-10-11_016_motion-to-transfer-related-civil-case.pdf

Step 7 October 13, 2017

Motion to dismiss board-director defendants

Filed by: Board-director defendants

The individual directors challenged whether Brown had stated claims against them personally.

Download source

2017-10-13_017_motion-to-dismiss-board-director-defendants.pdf

Step 8 October 16, 2017

Attorney-defendant dismissal motion and filing-fee memo

Filed by: Attorney defendants / Clerk

The attorney defendants challenged personal liability, and the docket recorded the appearance-fee issue.

Download 2 sources

2017-10-16_018_first-appearance-filing-fee-credit-memo.pdf
2017-10-16_019_motion-to-dismiss-attorney-defendants.pdf

Step 9 October 18, 2017

Return hearing and status conference order

Filed by: Court

The court told Brown to advise if Terravita had satisfied the administrative order, otherwise further proceedings would be set.

Download 3 sources

2017-10-18_020_order-to-appear-october-18-hearing.pdf
2017-10-18_020b_order-to-appear-october-18-hearing-duplicate.pdf
2017-10-18_021_status-conference-minute-entry.pdf

Step 10 October 26-27, 2017

Answer and order narrowing the records issue

Filed by: Terravita / Court

The court ordered Brown to identify precisely what remained missing and why that violated the ALJ order.

Download 2 sources

2017-10-26_022_terravita-answer-to-complaint.pdf
2017-10-27_023_order-entered-status-conference.pdf

Step 11 October 30-November 1, 2017

Transfer-motion briefing

Filed by: Defendants / William M. Brown

The parties briefed whether a related case should be moved to Judge Hannah.

Download 2 sources

2017-10-30_024_defendants-objection-to-transfer-related-case.pdf
2017-11-01_025_plaintiff-response-to-objection-transfer-related-case.pdf

Step 12 November 6-8, 2017

Extension request, objection, and denial

Filed by: William M. Brown / Defendants / Court

The court denied Brown’s request for more time to respond to the dismissal motions.

Download 3 sources

2017-11-06_026_plaintiff-motion-for-extension-of-time.pdf
2017-11-08_027_defendants-objection-to-extension-of-time.pdf
2017-11-07_028_ruling-denying-extension-of-time.pdf

Step 13 November 9, 2017

Supplement to the order-to-show-cause application

Filed by: William M. Brown

Brown identified what he believed remained unproduced after the administrative order and later productions.

Download source

2017-11-09_029_plaintiff-supplement-to-order-to-show-cause.pdf

Step 14 November 13, 2017

Responses to dismissal motions

Filed by: William M. Brown

Brown opposed dismissal of the individual director and attorney defendants.

Download 2 sources

2017-11-13_030_plaintiff-response-to-board-director-dismissal-motion.pdf
2017-11-13_031_plaintiff-response-to-attorney-defendant-dismissal-motion.pdf

Step 15 November 22, 2017

Response to supplement and dismissal replies

Filed by: Defendants

Terravita argued it had produced the responsive records or information, while individual defendants pressed for dismissal.

Download 3 sources

2017-11-22_032_defendants-response-to-order-to-show-cause-supplement.pdf
2017-11-22_033_reply-support-motion-dismiss-attorney-defendants.pdf
2017-11-22_034_reply-support-motion-dismiss-board-directors.pdf

Step 16 November 27, 2017

Reply on the order-to-show-cause supplement

Filed by: William M. Brown

Brown replied on whether the administrative records order had been fully satisfied.

Download source

2017-11-27_035_plaintiff-reply-to-defendants-response-to-osc-supplement.pdf

Step 17 December 11-20, 2017

Continuance, address, and motion-to-strike filings

Filed by: William M. Brown / Defendants

The file shifted into continuance and stay-related requests before the final compliance ruling.

Download 5 sources

2017-12-13_036_notice-of-address-change.pdf
2017-12-13_037_plaintiff-motion-to-continue-multi-case.pdf
2017-12-11_037b_plaintiff-motion-to-continue-multi-case-duplicate.pdf
2017-12-11_038_plaintiff-motion-to-continue.pdf
2017-12-20_039_defendants-motion-to-strike-motion-to-continue.pdf

Step 18 January 31, 2018

Board-director defendants dismissed

Filed by: Court

The court ruled HOA directors fiduciary duties are owed to the HOA, not directly to an individual member such as Brown.

Download source

2018-01-31_040_partial-dismissal-board-director-defendants.pdf

Step 19 January 31, 2018

Attorney defendants dismissed

Filed by: Court

The court ruled the complaint did not state a claim against the law firm or lawyers and noted lawyers ordinarily owe no duty to an opposing party.

Download source

2018-01-31_041_partial-dismissal-attorney-defendants.pdf

Step 20 January 31, 2018

Related-case transfer denied

Filed by: Court

Judge Hannah denied transfer of the related civil case.

Download source

2018-01-31_042_ruling-denying-transfer-related-case.pdf

Step 21 June 4, 2018

Final minute entry: order-to-show-cause application dismissed

Filed by: Court

The court found Terravita had complied with the administrative order, dismissed the application with prejudice, denied fees and costs, and entered Rule 54(c) judgment.

Type: Source image/graphic

AI-generated review material from the upload. Use it only for orientation; verify any legal claim against the linked court filings and orders.

Download source file

ai-generated-case-timeline-graphic.png

Frequently asked questions

Did Brown win this Superior Court case?

No. The June 4, 2018 minute entry found Terravita had complied with the administrative order and dismissed the application for an order to show cause with prejudice.

Did Brown win the related administrative records cases?

Yes. The related OAH/ADRE records matters 17F-H1716005-REL and 17F-H1717032-REL were homeowner wins under A.R.S. § 33-1805.

Why were the individual directors dismissed?

The court ruled that fiduciary duties of HOA directors are owed to the HOA, not directly to an individual member such as Brown.

Why were the attorney defendants dismissed?

The court ruled the complaint did not state a claim against the law firm or lawyers and noted that lawyers ordinarily owe no duty to an opposing party.

Did the association recover attorney fees?

No. The court denied the defendants’ request for attorney fees and costs even though it dismissed the application, noting the timing of some responsive document production.

Primary sources

← Back to Superior Court cases

AZNH Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs HOA: Arizona Planned-Community Boards Cannot Vote in Executive Session

Posted on April 30, 2026 by [email protected]

Arizona HOA Open Meetings • A.R.S. § 33-1804 • Court of Appeals Decision

A Z N H Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association is now the central Arizona case on closed planned-community board meetings, executive-session voting, and what an association must disclose on closed-meeting agendas.

Last updated May 5, 2026. Case: A Z N H Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, No. 1 CA-CV 25-0424; Superior Court No. CV2023-096192.

Download the records request PDF Case overview Homeowner guide Board compliance Filing roadmap + 110 PDFs Primary sources

Scope note: This page focuses on Arizona planned communities governed by A.R.S. Title 33, Chapter 16. The decision directly interprets A.R.S. § 33-1804, Arizona’s planned-community open-meeting statute. This page is educational and is not legal advice.

The rule in one sentence

An Arizona planned-community board may privately consider the limited topics allowed by A.R.S. § 33-1804(A), but it must vote and take formal action in an open meeting, and closed-meeting agendas must give members more than a bare statutory paragraph.

Case snapshot

Case name

A Z N H Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.

Appellate docket

Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, No. 1 CA-CV 25-0424.

Decision date

Filed April 28, 2026; affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded.

Statute interpreted

A.R.S. § 33-1804, Arizona’s open-meeting statute for planned communities.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	1 CA-CV 25-0424
Court / tribunal	Court of Appeals
Decision / key date	April 28, 2026
Judge / panel	Judge James B. Morse Jr., Presiding Judge Andrew M. Jacobs, Judge Brian Y. Furuya
Parties	A homeowner trust sued a planned-community association over closed-meeting practices, agendas, and votes taken outside open session.
Governing law	A.R.S. § 33-1804
Topics	meetings-and-recordsboard-governancedisclosure
Outcome / holding	The court held that HOA votes and formal actions must occur in open meetings and that meeting agendas must provide reasonably informative descriptions of the topics to be addressed; it remanded on the sufficiency of the closed-meeting notices.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	110 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap	32 roadmap entries
Video overview	Arizona HOA Boards Can’t Vote in Executive Session \| AZNH v. Sunland Springs; Homeowner guide to AZNH v. Sunland Springs and Arizona HOA executive-session voting; Board guide to AZNH v. Sunland Springs and Arizona HOA open-meeting compliance
Study / briefing material	1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions	6 questions
Curated download aliases	1 download link

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

This recent published opinion is one of the most important Arizona appellate cases on HOA meeting transparency. The homeowner trust challenged Sunland Springs’ practice of conducting formal action and voting in closed sessions while giving members bare-bones agenda references that simply cited statutory closed-session categories. The Court of Appeals held that A.R.S. § 33-1804 requires associations to vote and take formal action in open meetings, not closed ones. It also held that agendas must contain information reasonably necessary to tell members what will be discussed; merely parroting the statutory subsection for a closed session is not enough. The court remanded for factual development on whether the association’s notices adequately identified the reasons for closing meetings. The opinion gives real substance to Arizona’s open-meeting protections for planned communities.

Key Issues & Findings

The court read § 33-1804 as a transparency statute with an explicit state policy favoring open association governance. That policy would be undermined if boards could decide major issues, take formal action, and vote during closed sessions and then later characterize the process as compliant.

The panel also addressed agenda content. It concluded that an agenda is not meaningful if it does no more than cite a statutory paragraph authorizing closure. Members need enough information to understand what kind of business will be taken up. At the same time, the court stopped short of deciding every notice question on the existing record and remanded for further factual development on part of the claim.

Why It Matters

A Z N H is a high-value case for Arizona HOA governance fights. It gives owners a published appellate tool for challenging rubber-stamp secrecy, vague agendas, and closed-door votes.

For boards and managers, it is a real compliance case, not just a technical one. Meeting notices, agendas, and executive-session practice now carry clearer appellate guardrails.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

AZNH Revocable Trust (Plaintiff/Appellant)
Trust party challenging Sunland Springs Village HOA board action.
John F. Sullivan (Trustee/Counsel)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and counsel for AZNH Revocable Trust.
Susan Sullivan (Trustee)
AZNH Revocable Trust
Trustee and real party in interest for the plaintiff trust.

Respondent Side

Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association (Defendant/Appellee)
Association party defending the board-action ruling.
Megan E. Ritenour (Counsel)
Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP
Counsel for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.
Téhaura R. Henning (Counsel)
Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP
Entered an appearance for Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association.

Neutral Parties

Rodrick J. Coffey (Judge)
Superior Court judge listed in the appellate opinion.
James B. Morse Jr. (Judge)
Authored the Court of Appeals opinion.
Andrew M. Jacobs (Presiding Judge)
Joined the Court of Appeals opinion.
Brian Y. Furuya (Judge)
Joined the Court of Appeals opinion.

Why this case matters

For years, some Arizona HOA boards treated executive session as a place where directors could not only discuss confidential subjects, but also approve, authorize, ratify, or direct action away from the membership. This case draws a clean line between private deliberation and public action.

The Court of Appeals focused on the statute’s structure. A.R.S. § 33-1804 lets boards close part of a meeting only for the consideration of five narrow categories. The court held that consideration means thought, reflection, discussion, and formulation. Voting is different because it is the formal expression of a final decision.

The practical effect is significant. A board can still receive legal advice privately, discuss pending litigation privately, handle protected personal or financial information privately, address employment issues privately, and hear a violation appeal privately when the statute allows. But the board cannot hide the vote itself inside executive-session minutes.

What the Arizona Court of Appeals decided

The court also held that Sunland Springs’ meeting notices satisfied the statute when they listed the date, time, place, and paragraph of A.R.S. § 33-1804(A) authorizing closure. The problem was not the basic notice. The problem was the agenda content and the closed-session voting. Opinion ¶¶ 19, 23.

1. Closed-session voting is not allowed

The court affirmed the superior court’s ruling that all voting or formal actions of an association board must occur during open meetings. Opinion ¶¶ 10-14, 23.

2. Consideration does not include the vote

The court rejected the argument that the statutory authority to privately consider a topic also authorizes the final vote on that topic. Opinion ¶¶ 10-14.

3. Closed-meeting agendas need useful information

The court reversed on agenda adequacy because a closed-meeting agenda must provide information reasonably necessary to advise members about the business being addressed. Opinion ¶¶ 18, 21-24.

4. Statutory identification was remanded

The board may delegate the task of identifying the statutory paragraph for closure, but the record was unclear whether Sunland Springs had formally delegated that responsibility. Opinion ¶¶ 15-16, 23.

What this decision does not eliminate

AZNH does not eliminate executive session. Boards may still privately consider the limited topics listed in A.R.S. § 33-1804(A), including legal advice, pending or contemplated litigation, protected personal, health, or financial information, certain employment matters, and violation appeals when the statute allows closure.

The decision also does not require agendas to disclose attorney-client advice, litigation strategy, personally identifying information, or protected private information. The rule is narrower and more practical: the agenda must give enough nonprivileged information to reasonably advise members what business is being addressed, and any vote or formal action must occur in an open meeting. Opinion ¶ 22.

Video overview: Arizona HOA boards cannot vote in executive session

Watch this overview for the central holding in AZNH v. Sunland Springs: Arizona planned-community boards may use executive session for protected statutory consideration, but the vote and formal action must happen in an open meeting.

The facts that made this case impossible to ignore

The published opinion identifies several examples of formal business conducted during closed meetings. Sunland Springs’ board had approved a $917,000 budget item, granted its community manager up to $7,000 in discretionary spending authority, addressed 13 waivers of the minimum-age requirement for residents, and authorized foreclosures against two homeowners.

Those examples show why the open-meeting statute matters. The dispute was not about minor housekeeping. It involved money, enforcement, age-restricted-community eligibility, and foreclosure authority. Those are exactly the kinds of decisions owners have a statutory interest in seeing before the vote is taken.

For homeowners: how to use this decision

If you suspect your Arizona planned-community HOA has been voting in executive session, the cleanest first step is not a speech at a board meeting. It is a targeted records request. You want existing records showing whether a quorum of the board voted, approved, authorized, ratified, delegated, or directed action in a closed meeting, closed portion of a meeting, informal board meeting, workshop, written consent, or action without a meeting.

Video guide for Arizona homeowners

Start here if you suspect your Arizona planned-community HOA has been voting, approving, authorizing, ratifying, or directing action in executive session. This video explains the AZNH v. Sunland Springs decision from the homeowner perspective and pairs with the downloadable records-request template below.

Copy/paste email cover note

Subject: Records Request Under A.R.S. § 33-1805 – Executive-Session Votes and Formal Actions

Dear Board and Community Manager,

Attached is my formal records request under A.R.S. § 33-1805. Please produce the existing responsive records electronically within the statutory ten-business-day period.

Thank you.

Download the records request template

This PDF is drafted for Arizona planned-community homeowners. It requests existing association records showing executive-session votes and formal actions for the two-year period before the request date. It also includes the appellate opinion as Attachment A so the board and management company can see the rule in context.

Use your own name and email. Send it to the association board and community manager. Preserve a copy of the sent email and any response.

Download PDF template

Suggested homeowner workflow

Save the case name and docket number. Use A Z N H Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association, No. 1 CA-CV 25-0424.
Download and send the records request. Keep the request narrow: existing records showing votes or formal actions in closed meetings.
Do not ask the association to create a new spreadsheet. Ask for existing minutes, agenda materials, resolutions, written consents, approvals, authorizations, ratifications, and delegation records.
Expect lawful redactions. The association may redact privileged legal advice, protected personal information, and other protected substance. But the existence of a motion, second, vote tally, approval, authorization, or formal directive is the critical issue.
Compare the records to open-meeting minutes. If the board took action in closed session, check whether that action was later re-voted in open session after members had a chance to speak.
Document the timeline. Preserve notices, agendas, minutes, emails, board packets, and management responses.

For HOA boards and community managers: the compliance reset

The safest operational response is to redesign the executive-session workflow. Treat executive session as a place for protected consideration, not final action. The vote belongs in an open meeting.

Video guide for HOA boards, managers, and counsel

This video explains the compliance reset after AZNH v. Sunland Springs: executive session may be used for protected statutory consideration, but votes, approvals, authorizations, ratifications, directives, and other formal actions must occur in open meetings.

Compliance reset checklist

Do this now

Move every vote, authorization, ratification, approval, directive, and formal action to open session.
Let members speak after board discussion of the agenda item and before formal action.
Use closed session only for the five statutory categories in A.R.S. § 33-1804(A).
Write closed-meeting agendas with enough nonprivileged detail to inform members about the matter.
Preserve privileged and personal details through careful redaction, not through vague agenda descriptions.
If the board delegates statutory-identification duties to a president, manager, or officer, document the delegation formally.

Stop doing this

Do not vote in executive session and later treat the vote as valid because it appears in closed-session minutes.
Do not use legal advice, litigation, or personal information as a catch-all label for unrelated association business.
Do not give closed-meeting agendas that say only A.R.S. § 33-1804(A)(1) or executive session.
Do not assume that a management-company custom is enough. The statute controls.
Do not rely on attorney-client privilege to shield the existence of board action.

A.R.S. § 33-1804 in plain English

A.R.S. § 33-1804 starts from a strong transparency baseline: meetings of the members’ association, the board of directors, and regularly scheduled committees are open to members or their designated representatives. The board may impose reasonable speaking limits, but it must allow a member to speak after discussion of a specific agenda item and before formal action on that item.

A board may close a portion of a meeting only when the closed portion is limited to one or more statutory categories:

Legal advice from an attorney for the board or association.
Pending or contemplated litigation.
Personal, health, or financial information about an individual member, employee, or contractor employee.
Job performance, compensation, health records, or specific complaints concerning an individual employee or contractor employee working under association direction.
A member’s appeal of a violation or penalty, unless the affected member requests an open session.

What a compliant closed-meeting agenda should look like after AZNH

A closed-meeting agenda does not have to reveal attorney-client advice, litigation strategy, personally identifying information, health information, financial information, or protected employment details. But it must do more than cite a paragraph number. The goal is to reasonably advise members about what business is being addressed so they can speak meaningfully before the board takes formal action in open session.

Weak agenda wording	Stronger nonprivileged wording	Why it is better
Executive session – A.R.S. § 33-1804(A)(1)	Attorney consultation regarding proposed settlement structure for pending covenant-enforcement matter; no member names listed.	It identifies the legal-advice category while giving the general business context without revealing privileged advice.
Executive session – A.R.S. § 33-1804(A)(3)	Review of owner financial-hardship request related to assessment payment plan; identifying details withheld.	It tells members what kind of personal or financial matter is being addressed without exposing private owner information.
Executive session – violation appeal	Member appeal of architectural violation fine; affected member requested closed session.	It identifies the type of enforcement issue and keeps the affected owner’s identity protected.

Timeline of the case

Date	Event	Why it mattered
December 2023	Declaratory-judgment complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court.	Started the lawsuit challenging closed-session voting and agenda practices under A.R.S. § 33-1804.
June 9, 2025	Court of Appeals record opened for No. 1 CA-CV 25-0424.	Moved the dispute into the appellate court after the superior-court judgment.
February 18, 2026	Oral argument before the Arizona Court of Appeals.	The panel heard the statutory interpretation dispute.
April 28, 2026	Court of Appeals opinion filed.	Affirmed open voting, reversed on agenda adequacy, and remanded on delegation and identification issues.

Download 6 sources

2025_06_09_05521496-0-0013-part1Of2JointStatementOfDiscov.PDF
2025_06_09_05521497-0-0014-part2Of2JointStatementOfDiscov.PDF
2025_06_09_05521498-0-0015-MeStatusConferenceSet03222024.PDF
2025_06_09_05521499-0-0016-PlaintiffsProposedMinuteEntry.PDF
2025_06_09_05521500-0-0017-MeMatterUnderAdvisement0402202.PDF
2025_06_09_05521501-0-0018-MeUnderAdvisementRuling0403202.PDF

Step 9 2024-04-18 to 2024-07-30

Schedule modifications, appearances, status conferences, and updated discovery record

Filed by: Court / parties / counsel

This was procedural record-building: deadlines, appearances, status conferences, and discovery materials were being set up for dispositive briefing.

Download 11 sources

Step 10 2024-08-15

Plaintiff hearing materials and exhibits filed

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan put hearing materials and supporting documents into the record before the summary-judgment phase.

Download 3 sources

2025_06_09_05521509-0-0026-part1Of3PlaintiffsFilingOfHear.PDF
2025_06_09_05521510-0-0027-part2Of3PlaintiffsFilingOfHear.PDF
2025_06_09_05521511-0-0028-part3Of3PlaintiffsFilingOfHear.PDF

Step 11 2024-09-24

Motion for summary judgment

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

This was the major trial-court move. Sullivan argued there were no material factual disputes and the court could decide the open-meeting issues as a matter of law.

Download 6 sources

2025_06_09_05521516-0-0033-MotionForSummaryJudgment.PDF
2025_06_09_05521517-0-0034-part1Of2Plaintiff’sMemorandumS.PDF
2025_06_09_05521518-0-0035-part2Of2Plaintiff’sMemorandumS.PDF
2025_06_09_05521519-0-0036-part1Of3Plaintiff’sStatementOf.PDF
2025_06_09_05521520-0-0037-part2Of3Plaintiff’sStatementOf.PDF
2025_06_09_05521521-0-0038-part3Of3Plaintiff’sStatementOf.PDF

Step 12 2024-10-24

Opposition to summary judgment

Filed by: HOA

The HOA defended its interpretation of the statute and its closed-meeting practices.

Download 3 sources

2025_06_09_05521522-0-0039-part1Of2Defendant’sResponseToP.PDF
2025_06_09_05521523-0-0040-part2Of2Defendant’sResponseToP.PDF
2025_06_09_05521524-0-0041-DefendantSunlandSpringsVillage.PDF

Step 13 2024-10-28

Reply and corrected facts

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan answered the HOA’s opposition and refined the factual record supporting summary judgment.

Download 5 sources

2025_06_09_05521525-0-0042-part1Of2Plaintiff’sReplyBriefO.PDF
2025_06_09_05521526-0-0043-part2Of2Plaintiff’sReplyBriefO.PDF
2025_06_09_05521527-0-0044-part1Of3CorrectedPlaintiffsSta.PDF
2025_06_09_05521528-0-0045-part2Of3CorrectedPlaintiffsSta.PDF
2025_06_09_05521529-0-0046-part3Of3CorrectedPlaintiffsSta.PDF

Step 14 2024-12-12 to 2025-02-11

Oral argument set/reset and taken under advisement

Filed by: Superior Court

The court prepared to hear or decide the summary-judgment dispute and then took the matter under advisement.

Download 3 sources

2025_06_09_05521530-0-0047-MeOralArgumentSet12112024.PDF
2025_06_09_05521531-0-0048-MeOralArgumentReset01032025.PDF
2025_06_09_05521532-0-0049-MeMatterUnderAdvisement0210202.PDF

Step 15 2025-02-24

Summary-judgment ruling

Filed by: Superior Court

Sullivan got a partial win. The court agreed votes and formal action had to occur in open meeting, but rejected or limited other parts of his theory.

Download source

2025_06_09_05521533-0-0050-MeUnderAdvisementRuling0224202.PDF

Step 16 2025-02-26

Motion for reconsideration

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan asked the trial court to reconsider the parts of the ruling he lost.

Download source

2025_06_09_05521534-0-0051-Plaintiff’sMotionForReconsider.PDF

Step 17 2025-03-11

Reconsideration denied

Filed by: Superior Court

The trial court refused to change its ruling. Appeal became the next logical step.

Download source

2025_06_09_05521535-0-0052-MeRuling03112025.PDF

Step 18 2025-03-23 to 2025-04-17

Costs, objection to proposed judgment, and final judgment

Filed by: Sullivan / court

The trial-court case was wrapped into an appealable judgment and Sullivan preserved issues for appeal.

Download 4 sources

2025_06_09_05521536-0-0053-part1Of2PlaintiffsRequestForCo.PDF
2025_06_09_05521537-0-0054-part2Of2PlaintiffsRequestForCo.PDF
2025_06_09_05521538-0-0055-PlaintiffsObjectionToDefendant.PDF
2025_06_09_05521539-0-0056-JudgmentOrder.PDF

Step 19 2025-05-11

Notice of appeal and transcript filings

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan appealed the parts he lost and worked to make sure the appellate court had the needed record.

Download 4 sources

2025_06_09_05521540-0-0057-NoticeOfAppeal.PDF
2025_06_09_05521541-0-0058-part1Of2NoticeOfFilingTranscri.PDF
2025_06_09_05521542-0-0059-part2Of2NoticeOfFilingTranscri.PDF
2025_06_09_05521543-0-0060-NoticeOfFilingNoticeOfAppeal.PDF

Step 20 2025-05-30

Cross-appeal

Filed by: HOA

The HOA appealed the part Sullivan had won: the ruling that votes and formal action must occur in open meetings.

Download 2 sources

2025_06_09_05521544-0-0061-NoticeOfAppeal.PDF
2025_06_09_05521545-0-0062-NoticeOfFilingNoticeOfAppeal.PDF

Step 21 2025-06-09 to 2025-07-14

Appeal opened, case-management statements filed, and appellate appearances handled

Filed by: Court / parties / counsel

The Court of Appeals opened the case, set deadlines, recognized the appeal/cross-appeal structure, and handled early appellate administration.

Download 14 sources

2025_06_09_05521550-0-0000-AppellateClerkNoticefirst.PDF
2025_06_10_05523907-0-0000-CaseManagementStatement.PDF
2025_06_10_05523908-0-0000-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_06_11_05524194-0-0000-AmendedCaseManagementStatement.PDF
2025_06_11_05524195-0-0000-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_06_18_05531435-0-0000-SecondAmendedCaseManagementSta.PDF
2025_06_18_05531436-0-0000-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_06_25_05535536-0-0000-AppellateClerkNoticeXappealsec.PDF
2025_06_30_05540038-0-0000-Div1SettlementConferenceProgra.PDF
2025_07_01_05543577-0-0000-NoticeOfAppearance.PDF
2025_07_01_05543578-0-0001-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_07_11_05550309-0-0000-CaseManagementStatement.PDF
2025_07_11_05550416-0-0000-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_07_14_05553153-0-0000-CertificateOfService.PDF

Step 22 2025-07-11

Opening appellate brief

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan explained to the appellate judges why the trial court should have gone further on open-meeting transparency.

Download 3 sources

2025_07_11_05550438-0-0000-OpeningBriefOfPlaintiffappella.PDF
2025_07_11_05550439-0-0001-CertificateOfCompliance.PDF
2025_07_11_05550440-0-0002-CertificateOfService.PDF

Step 23 2025-08-01

HOA gets more time

Filed by: HOA / Court

The HOA requested and received extra time to file its answering brief and cross-opening brief.

Download 3 sources

2025_08_01_05571065-0-0000-MotionToExtendTimeToFileAppell.PDF
2025_08_01_05571066-0-0001-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_08_01_05571092-0-0000-OrderExtendingTimeToFileAnswer.PDF

Step 24 2025-08-15

Administrative appellate correspondence

Filed by: Court / parties

This is part of the appellate case-administration record around briefing and record handling.

Download source

2025_08_15_05586887-0-0000-LetterDated08152025ToFreemanMa.PDF

Step 25 2025-09-02

Answering brief and opening cross-appeal brief

Filed by: HOA

The HOA defended the parts it won and attacked Sullivan’s open-voting victory.

Download 3 sources

2025_09_02_05602553-0-0000-AppelleecrossappellantSunlandS.PDF
2025_09_02_05602554-0-0001-CertificateOfCompliance.PDF
2025_09_02_05602555-0-0002-CertificateOfService.PDF

Step 26 2025-09-08

Combined reply and answering brief on cross-appeal

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan replied on his own appeal and defended the open-voting win against the HOA’s cross-appeal.

Download 4 sources

2025_09_08_05611488-0-0000-CombinedReplyBriefOnAppealAndA.PDF
2025_09_08_05611489-0-0001-CertificateOfCompliance.PDF
2025_09_08_05611490-0-0002-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_09_08_05611492-0-0000-AppendixA.PDF

Step 27 2025-09-08

Request for oral argument

Filed by: Sullivan / AZNH Trust

Sullivan asked for live oral argument, emphasizing the importance and likely statewide impact of the issues.

Download 2 sources

2025_09_08_05611871-0-0000-RequestForOralArgumentByPlaint.PDF
2025_09_08_05611872-0-0001-CertificateOfService.PDF

Step 28 2025-09-29

Reply brief on cross-appeal

Filed by: HOA

The HOA got the last word on its cross-appeal trying to undo Sullivan’s open-voting win.

Download 3 sources

2025_09_29_05634914-0-0000-CrossappellantSunlandSpringsVi.PDF
2025_09_29_05634915-0-0001-BriefCertificateOfCompliance.PDF
2025_09_29_05634916-0-0002-BriefCertificateOfService.PDF

Step 29 2025-10-28 to 2025-11-07

Oral argument granted and record supplemented

Filed by: Court

The appellate court agreed to hear oral argument and made sure the record was complete enough for decision.

Download 7 sources

2025_10_28_05658617-0-0000-Div1MemorandumRequestingAdditi.PDF
2025_10_28_05658698-0-0000-OrderGrantingRequestForOralArg.PDF
2025_11_07_05679886-0-0063-CourtOfAppealsAppellateClerkNo.PDF
2025_11_07_05679887-0-0064-ElectronicIndexOfRecord.PDF
2025_11_07_05679888-0-0065-CourtOfAppealsReceipt.PDF
2025_11_07_05679889-0-0066-CourtOfAppealsMemorandumDated1.PDF
2025_06_09_05521483-1-0000-IndexOfRecord.PDF

Step 30 2025-12-10 to 2025-12-17

Oral argument continued and reset

Filed by: HOA / Court

The HOA asked to move the hearing date; the court reset oral argument to February 18, 2026.

Download 3 sources

2025_12_10_05712157-0-0000-CrossappellantSunlandSpringsVi.PDF
2025_12_10_05712159-0-0001-CertificateOfService.PDF
2025_12_17_05720197-0-0000-OrderResettingOralArgument.PDF

Step 31 2026-02-02 to 2026-02-18

Oral argument notices and hearing

Filed by: Court / parties

The parties acknowledged the hearing, oral argument occurred, and the panel took the case under advisement.

Download 3 sources

2026_02_02_05776181-0-0000-ReturnReceiptForNoticeOfOralAr.PDF
2026_02_05_05779267-0-0000-ReturnReceiptForNoticeOfOralAr.PDF
2026_02_18_05793831-0-0000-SigninSheetcaseIsUnderAdviseme.PDF

Step 32 2026-04-28

Opinion issued

Filed by: Court of Appeals

Sullivan achieved a meaningful appellate win: open-session voting survived, agenda adequacy was reversed, and one issue was remanded for more factual development.

Type: Decision or judgment

Decision document; read it to understand the controlling result before moving to later filings.

Download source file

2026_04_28_05866077-0-0000-DecisionDistributionNotificati.PDF

Frequently asked questions

Can an Arizona planned-community HOA board vote in executive session?

No. Under this decision, all voting or formal actions of an association board must occur during open meetings. Executive session can be used for statutory consideration of protected matters, not the final vote.

Can a board still meet privately with its attorney?

Yes. A.R.S. § 33-1804(A)(1) still allows a closed portion of a meeting for legal advice from an attorney for the board or association. The legal advice can remain confidential. The formal vote or action following that advice must occur in open session unless another valid legal rule applies.

Does the agenda have to disclose private owner names or privileged legal advice?

No. The court made clear that A.R.S. § 33-1804(F) does not require disclosure of personally identifying information or attorney-client privileged information discussed in closed meetings. The agenda must still give enough nonprivileged information to reasonably advise members what business is being addressed.

Is a notice that cites only A.R.S. § 33-1804(A)(1) enough?

For the basic notice requirement, the court held that a notice with date, time, place, and the paragraph authorizing closure can be sufficient. For the agenda, however, a bare paragraph citation is not enough.

What records should a homeowner request?

Ask for existing portions of minutes, closed-session records, written consents, resolutions, ratifications, approvals, delegations, agenda materials, and other association records showing any motion, second, vote tally, authorization, ratification, approval, directive, or formal action taken by a board quorum outside an open meeting.

What should a board do if it previously voted in executive session?

The board should consult qualified Arizona community-association counsel, identify any closed-session votes or formal actions, preserve the original records, and consider corrective open-meeting action with proper notice, agenda detail, and member speaking opportunities.

Related Arizona HOA resources

Review note and disclaimer

Reviewed against the Arizona Court of Appeals opinion filed April 28, 2026, A Z N H v. Sunland Springs, No. 1 CA-CV 25-0424, and A.R.S. §§ 33-1804 and 33-1805.

This page is educational information for Arizona planned-community homeowners, board members, managers, and advocates. It is not legal advice for any specific dispute.

Primary sources and useful links

← Back to Court of Appeals cases

Gross v. The Shores at Rainbow Lake: Kalway, Rentals, and Occupancy Limits

Posted on April 30, 2026 by [email protected]

Arizona HOA Rental Amendments | Kalway | 1 CA-CV 23-0394

Gross is the cleanest Arizona published rental-amendment roadmap after Kalway. The short-term lease ban was invalid, but the unrelated-person occupancy limit survived because it refined existing single-family use restrictions.

Last updated June 3, 2026. Case: Gordon Gross, et al. v. The Shores at Rainbow Lake Community Association, Arizona Court of Appeals No. 1 CA-CV 23-0394; Navajo County Superior Court No. S0900CV202200042.

Download appellate opinion Download trial ruling Watch video overview Source-file index FAQ

Scope note: This page covers the published appellate opinion, amended opinion order, mandate, and uploaded trial/appellate record. The complete uploaded source-document index below is generated from the local raw source folder, including court PDFs, court DOC/DOCX notices, and AI/source CSVs where present. AI-generated CSV summaries were reviewed only as orientation and are not treated as court authority.

The rule in one sentence

Under Kalway, an HOA rental amendment can be partly invalid and partly valid: a new short-term rental ban may be unforeseeable while an occupancy limit can survive if it refines an existing single-family-use covenant.

Case snapshot

Court result

Judgment was affirmed.

Invalid part

Thirty-day minimum lease term was stricken.

Valid part

Four-unrelated-person occupancy limit survived.

Fee result

Each side bore its own appellate fees and costs.

Case Dossier

Case Summary

Case ID / citation	1 CA-CV 23-0394
Court / tribunal	Court of Appeals
Decision / key date	October 10, 2024
Judge / panel	Presiding Judge Samuel A. Thumma, Judge Jennifer B. Campbell, Judge Michael J. Brown
Parties	Owners challenged a 2021 amendment that banned short-term rentals and limited occupancy by unrelated renters in a planned community.
Topics	cc-and-rsprocedure
Outcome / holding	The court held that the new short-term rental ban was invalid under Arizona amendment-notice principles, but the cap on unrelated renters was valid because it was reasonably foreseeable from the existing CC&Rs.
Primary public source	View source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Uploaded source package	121 PDFs, 10 other source files
Step-by-step docket roadmap	6 roadmap entries
Video overview	Gross v. The Shores at Rainbow Lake: Kalway, Rentals, and Occupancy Limits
Study / briefing material	2 sections
FAQ / homeowner questions	3 questions
Curated download aliases	5 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Gross applied Kalway in a practical, highly relevant HOA setting: rental restrictions. The community amended its CC&Rs to prohibit rentals shorter than 30 days and to bar more than four unrelated individuals from leasing a property. The Court of Appeals split the amendment. It held the short-term rental ban was invalid because it prohibited conduct the earlier CC&Rs had allowed and was not reasonably foreseeable from the original declaration. But it upheld the unrelated-persons occupancy limit because that restriction was viewed as a clarification and refinement of existing use limits rather than a brand-new burden. The opinion is one of the clearest Arizona appellate examples of how courts separate an impermissible new use restriction from a permissible refinement of an existing one.

Key Issues & Findings

The court framed the dispute as one about owner notice and reasonable expectations. A recorded declaration can be amended, but only within the fair scope of what the original declaration put buyers on notice might later be refined. Under that approach, an amendment cannot simply reverse an existing freedom and call the result a refinement.

Applying that rule, the short-term rental ban was too much because the preexisting documents had not warned owners that leasing could later be cut off in that way. The unrelated-occupants limit came out differently because the original scheme already contained structure about occupancy and residential use, making the later cap a closer fit with the bought-for framework.

Why It Matters

Gross is one of the best Arizona Court of Appeals cases for short-term-rental disputes after Kalway. It gives both sides a usable analytic framework for asking whether an amendment is genuinely foreseeable or instead a new restriction in disguise.

Boards considering rental amendments should read it before drafting. Homeowners challenging new lease limits will cite it often.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

Gordon Gross (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Owner plaintiff named in the appellate caption.
Liliana Gross (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Owner plaintiff named in the appellate caption.
Steven A. Kernagis (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Trustee plaintiff named in the appellate caption.
Sandra K. Kernagis (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Trustee plaintiff named in the appellate caption.
Thomas P. Zehring (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Trustee plaintiff named in the complaint and appellate caption.
Jeannette Rose Zehring (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Trustee plaintiff named in the complaint and appellate caption.
Ronald D. Kyer Jr. (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Owner plaintiff named in the appellate caption.
Desiree Kyer (Plaintiff/Appellee)
Owner plaintiff named in the appellate caption.
Matthew A. Klopp (Counsel)
Dyer Bregman Ferris Wong & Carter PLLC
Counsel for the owner plaintiffs on appeal.
Rick K. Carter (Counsel)
Dyer Bregman Ferris Wong & Carter PLLC
Counsel for the owner plaintiffs on appeal.
Stockton D. Banfield (Counsel)
Dyer Bregman Ferris Wong & Carter PLLC
Counsel for the owner plaintiffs on appeal.
Joseph R. Rainey (Counsel)
Dyer Bregman Ferris Wong & Carter PLLC
Counsel for the owner plaintiffs on appeal.

Respondent Side

The Shores at Rainbow Lake Community Association (Defendant/Appellant)
Association party challenging the judgment over rental and occupancy restrictions.
James L. Csontos (Counsel)
Jennings Haug Keleher McLeod LLP
Counsel for The Shores at Rainbow Lake Community Association.
Jack R. Cunningham (Counsel)
Jennings Haug Keleher McLeod LLP
Counsel for The Shores at Rainbow Lake Community Association.
Lauren Elliott Stine (Counsel)
Quarles & Brady LLP
Later appearance for The Shores at Rainbow Lake Community Association.
Kristin N. Leaptrott (Counsel)
Quarles & Brady LLP
Later appearance for The Shores at Rainbow Lake Community Association.

Neutral Parties

Michala M. Ruechel (Judge)
Superior Court judge listed in the appellate opinion.
Samuel A. Thumma (Presiding Judge)
Authored the Court of Appeals opinion.
Jennifer B. Campbell (Judge)
Joined the Court of Appeals opinion.
Michael J. Brown (Judge)
Joined the Court of Appeals opinion.

Why this case matters

Gross gives Arizona homeowners and boards a detailed framework for rental amendments after Kalway. The court treated the short-term rental ban as a new burden because the original CC&Rs expressly allowed leasing and did not set a minimum lease duration.

At the same time, Gross rejected the idea that every rental-related amendment fails. The unrelated-person cap was upheld because the original CC&Rs already limited use to single-family residential use and defined Single Family. That made the cap a refinement rather than an entirely new covenant.

Video overview: Kalway, rentals, and occupancy limits

Watch this overview for Gross v. The Shores at Rainbow Lake, where the Court of Appeals split a rental amendment into an invalid short-term rental ban and a valid unrelated-person occupancy limit.

Homeowner study guide: Kalway, rentals, and occupancy limits

Homeowner question	Study-guide answer	Case lesson
Can The Shores enforce the 2021 minimum 30-day lease requirement?	No. The court held the short-term rental ban invalid and unenforceable.	A later amendment cannot add an unforeseeable rental-duration restriction where the original CC&Rs allowed leasing without a minimum term.
Why did the 30-day rule fail under Kalway?	The original declaration allowed leasing and did not contain a lease-duration limit.	The court treated the new 30-day minimum as an entirely new burden rather than a foreseeable refinement.
Did earlier Shores litigation matter?	Yes. Horton v. Hartsook had already treated similar community language as permitting short-term rentals.	Prior interpretation of the same or similar covenants can shape what later owners reasonably could foresee.
Can the association limit unrelated occupants?	Yes. The court upheld the four-unrelated-person limit.	That provision refined an existing Single Family residential-use covenant rather than creating a new rental ban.
Does Single Family residential use address only building type?	No. Gross treated the covenant as addressing use and occupancy, not just architecture.	Owners should read use restrictions as controlling how the property is occupied as well as how it is built.
Is a 67 percent amendment vote enough by itself?	No. Procedural approval does not override the common-law reasonable-and-foreseeable requirement.	An amendment can receive enough votes and still be unenforceable if it exceeds the original covenant notice.
What happened to voter-irregularity claims?	Those alternative claims were dismissed with prejudice after the homeowners chose not to pursue them to expedite final judgment.	Gross is mainly useful for the contract-enforceability analysis, not as a voting-process ruling.
Does the Planned Communities Act displace Kalway common law?	No. The court followed Kalway and held A.R.S. 33-1817(A) does not eliminate the reasonable-and-foreseeable amendment limit.	Arizona associations must satisfy both procedural amendment rules and substantive foreseeability limits.

Decision document; read it to understand the controlling result before moving to later filings.

Download source file

2025-03-26_000_civil-mandate.pdf

Source 131 Undated

Legal Case Source Document Summary Table 1

Type: Source roadmap CSV

Upload/source spreadsheet that helps cross-check filing order, source names, or AI review notes.

Download source file

undated_900_legal-case-source-document-summary-table-1.csv

For homeowners

Use Gross when a new amendment restricts rental duration after the original CC&Rs allowed leasing.
Do not assume every rental-related restriction fails; compare each clause separately.
Preserve the original CC&Rs, the amended language, voting materials, and evidence of historical rental use.

For boards and managers

Draft rental amendments around the specific original covenants that already exist.
Separate lease-duration limits from occupancy limits; Gross analyzes them differently.
Expect courts to blue-pencil severable provisions rather than treat a multi-part amendment as all-or-nothing.

FAQ

Did Gross invalidate all rental restrictions?

No. It invalidated the 30-day minimum lease term but upheld the unrelated-person occupancy limit.

Why did the 30-day rental ban fail?

The original CC&Rs allowed leasing and had no minimum lease duration, so owners were not on notice that a majority could later ban shorter rentals.

Why did the occupancy cap survive?

The CC&Rs already contained a single-family residential use covenant and a Single Family definition, so the cap was treated as a permissible refinement.

← Back to Court of Appeals cases

Gallery Community Association v. K. Hovnanian at Gallery, LLC, et al.

Posted on April 30, 2026 by [email protected]

Gallery Community Association v. K. Hovnanian at Gallery, LLC, et al.

1 CA-CV 23-0375 · Court of Appeals · August 6, 2024

At a Glance

Parties	An HOA sued the developer and related entities over construction defects affecting common areas and building components the HOA had to maintain.
Panel	Presiding Judge Andrew M. Jacobs, Judge Jennifer M. Perkins, Judge David D. Weinzweig
Statutes interpreted	A.R.S. § 33-2002

Summary

CURRENT STATUS (June 2026): NOT FINAL — the Arizona Supreme Court GRANTED review of this decision (CV-24-0252-PR; argued April 22, 2025) and a decision is pending; this Court of Appeals opinion may be modified or vacated. Gallery is a major standing case for Arizona HOAs in construction-defect litigation. The association sued over defects in both common areas it owned and in parts of member units that it did not own but was required to maintain, such as roofs and exterior walls. The superior court ruled the HOA could not bring implied-warranty or dwelling-action claims because the homeowners, not the association, lived in the affected dwellings. The Court of Appeals vacated that ruling. It held Arizona law allows an HOA to bring those claims as an HOA dwelling action when the alleged defects affect common areas or parts of the property the HOA must maintain, even if the HOA does not hold title to every damaged component. The case materially strengthens association standing in developer-dispute cases.

Holding

The court held that Arizona law permits an HOA to bring implied-warranty and HOA dwelling-action claims for defects in common areas and in non-owned components the HOA is obligated to maintain.

Reasoning

The court examined the text and purpose of Arizona’s dwelling-action statute and the background law of implied warranty of workmanship and habitability. It rejected the narrow view that only a fee owner or occupant can assert these claims when the association itself bears maintenance obligations and the defects affect the residential project’s functioning.

The opinion treated maintenance responsibility as legally significant. If the HOA must maintain roofs, exterior walls, or similar components, defects in those areas directly affect the association’s statutory and contractual responsibilities. That practical reality supported allowing the HOA to sue in its own name rather than requiring fragmented owner-by-owner litigation.

Why This Matters for HOAs

Gallery is not about everyday rule enforcement, but it is highly relevant to Arizona HOA governance and litigation authority. It broadens what an association can do when pursuing developer or builder claims tied to common-area and common-maintenance obligations.

For boards, it is a strong appellate foundation for centralized defect claims that would otherwise be costly and chaotic if split among many homeowners.

Topics

board-governanceprocedure

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Tortosa Homeowners Association v. Davis Garcia; Maricopoly, LLC, Intervenor/Appellant/Cross-Appellee; Durable Investments, LLC, Assignee/Appellee/Cross-Appellant

Posted on April 30, 2026 by [email protected]

Tortosa Homeowners Association v. Davis Garcia; Maricopoly, LLC, Intervenor/Appellant/Cross-Appellee; Durable Investments, LLC, Assignee/Appellee/Cross-Appellant

2 CA-CV 2021-0114 · Court of Appeals · August 1, 2022

At a Glance

Parties	After an HOA judicial foreclosure sale produced surplus funds, competing claimants disputed who should receive the excess proceeds.
Panel	Judge Espinosa, Presiding Judge Eckerstrom, Chief Judge Vásquez
Statutes interpreted	A.R.S. § 33-727 A.R.S. § 33-1807

Summary

Tortosa foreclosed its HOA lien, the property sold, and the sale generated a large pot of excess proceeds after the HOA judgment was satisfied. The fight then shifted from foreclosure to distribution: did a senior deed-of-trust holder get those proceeds, or did they go elsewhere? The Court of Appeals held that A.R.S. § 33-727(B) does not give a senior lienholder the excess proceeds created by a junior lien foreclosure. That is a significant clarification because HOA foreclosures are often junior to first deeds of trust. The court still affirmed the superior court’s order, but it did so while rejecting the broader legal theory that all lienholders ahead of the owner automatically take the surplus whenever a junior lien is foreclosed.

Holding

The court held that excess proceeds from a junior HOA foreclosure are not automatically payable to a senior lienholder under A.R.S. § 33-727(B), even though it affirmed the superior court’s result on the claims before it.

Reasoning

The court analyzed the statutory foreclosure-distribution scheme in the context of lien priority. A senior deed of trust is not extinguished by a junior HOA foreclosure sale, so its holder generally keeps its separate lien position. Because the senior lien survives, it is not entitled to dip into the junior sale’s surplus on the theory that the foreclosure somehow paid it off.

That functional point drove the statute’s interpretation. The court resisted converting a junior sale into a windfall for a senior lienholder whose security interest remained intact after the sale. The opinion therefore clarifies a recurring mistake in post-HOA-sale surplus disputes.

Why This Matters for HOAs

This is a useful Arizona appellate decision for anyone litigating HOA foreclosure surplus funds. It narrows arguments by senior lenders and helps define where the surplus does and does not go.

For investors and owners, Tortosa is important because surplus disputes often decide whether an HOA sale leaves any real equity value behind.

Topics

foreclosureassessmentsprocedure

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