Reed v. CHDB Law LLP: FDCPA Judgment-Renewal Allegations

FDCPA / Judgment Renewal Allegations

Reed is a settlement record, not a liability finding. The complaint alleged time-barred HOA judgment-collection conduct by CHDB Law LLP and Charlene Cruz; defendants denied wrongdoing, asserted defenses, and the case settled.

Federal court | D. Ariz. No. 2:25-cv-04355-MTL | Settlement notice filed 2026-05-14

Current-status note: This page is published as a litigation record based on the source files available through 2026-05-14. Later filings, appeals, mandates, settlements, or dismissal orders may change the posture; the linked court records control.

Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This page summarizes a federal settlement record and distinguishes allegations from court findings. The downloaded record does not show a merits ruling that CHDB or any defendant violated the FDCPA. This page is educational and is not legal advice.

The takeaway

Reed is allegation-only public-interest evidence: the complaint accused CHDB Law LLP and Charlene Cruz of time-barred HOA judgment-collection conduct, defendants denied liability, and the downloaded record shows settlement without a merits finding.

Public-interest record: serious allegations, no adjudicated wrongdoing

What Reed alleged

The complaint alleged FDCPA and related violations tied to judgment-renewal, recording, and collection activity Reed characterized as time-barred.

What CHDB answered

CHDB and Cruz denied liability and asserted affirmative defenses. That denial must appear beside the allegations in any fair public summary.

How it ended

The downloaded record contains a settlement notice. It does not contain a court finding that CHDB or Cruz did anything unlawful.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

  • Sara M. Reed (Plaintiff)
    Filed the FDCPA/judgment-renewal complaint.

Respondent Side

  • CHDB Law LLP (Defendant)
    Formerly Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen, LLP; denied liability in the answer.
  • Charlene Cruz (Defendant)
    CHDB partner named in the complaint; denied liability in the answer.
  • John Doe Cruz / Paul Colin Rambeau (Defendant spouse / marital community allegation)
    The answer identified Paul Colin Rambeau as Charlene Cruz's spouse and denied marital-community liability.
  • Does I-X (Unidentified defendants)
    Placeholder defendants named in the complaint.

Neutral Parties

  • Michael T. Liburdi (Judge)
    U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona.

What happened

Sara M. Reed alleged that CHDB Law LLP and Charlene Cruz pursued or preserved an HOA-related judgment that Reed characterized as no longer enforceable. The complaint framed the dispute around FDCPA collection conduct, abuse of process, and wrongful-recording theories.

The defendants answered by denying liability. Their answer asserted, among other defenses, bona fide error and a disputed judgment-expiration theory tied to when the ten-year enforcement period began.

The downloaded record then shows a notice of settlement. The fair public conclusion is narrow: Reed documents negative allegations and a settlement, not judicial exoneration and not judicial liability.

Video overview of the case record

AI-generated video overview of Reed v. CHDB Law LLP et al.. This is an allegation-and-settlement record. Defendants denied liability, and no merits ruling appears in the downloaded record.

The written case page and linked court records are the controlling source for legal posture and accuracy.

Listen: audio deep dive on the case record

AI-generated audio deep dive for Reed v. CHDB Law LLP et al.. This is an allegation-and-settlement record. Defendants denied liability, and no merits ruling appears in the downloaded record.

Use the linked court records and written page for the exact legal posture.

Audio overview generated from the case record; verify against the linked court records.

Litigation record

Step 2 2026-02-02

Answer filed denying liability and asserting defenses.

Filed by: CHDB

Shows the defense posture that must be included for fair, non-defamatory framing.

Step 3 2026-05-14

Notice of settlement filed.

Filed by: Parties

Confirms settlement rather than a merits ruling in the downloaded record.

Complete source-document index

This index contains 3 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 3 2026-05-14

Notice Of Settlement

Type: Procedural/service filing

Notice stating the parties reached settlement; no merits ruling appears in the downloaded record.

FAQ

Did the court find CHDB liable in Reed?

No. The downloaded record shows allegations, an answer denying liability, and settlement. It does not show a merits ruling finding CHDB liable.

Why publish a settled allegation case?

Because the complaint and answer are public federal records involving HOA collection counsel. The page is useful only if it keeps allegations, denials, and settlement posture clear.

Can this page say CHDB acted unlawfully?

No. It can say Reed alleged unlawful conduct and CHDB denied it. It cannot present those allegations as proven.

What should homeowners learn from it?

Judgment-renewal and stale-collection issues can become FDCPA disputes, but the enforceability and liability questions depend on specific facts and court rulings.

Primary sources

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citationD. Ariz. No. 2:25-cv-04355-MTL
Court / tribunalFederal Court
Decision / key dateJuly 7, 2026
Judge / panelMichael T. Liburdi
PartiesSara M. Reed (plaintiff) v. CHDB Law LLP, Charlene Cruz and John Doe Cruz, and Does I-X.
Governing law
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (FDCPA)
  • A.R.S. § 12-1551 (judgment renewal / enforcement timing, alleged)
Topics
FDCPAAssessmentsAttorney FeesProcedure
Outcome / holding

No merits holding appears in the downloaded record. The case settled after defendants denied liability, so the public record supports allegation-and-settlement framing only.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package3 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap3 roadmap entries
Video overviewReed v. CHDB Law LLP et al. – D. Ariz. No. 2:25-cv-04355-MTL
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions4 questions
Featured download links3 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Sara M. Reed sued CHDB Law LLP and Charlene Cruz in the District of Arizona. The complaint alleged FDCPA and related claims based on alleged judgment-renewal, recording, and collection activity that Reed characterized as time-barred. CHDB and Cruz answered and denied liability, asserting defenses including bona fide error and a disputed judgment-expiration theory. The downloaded record shows a notice of settlement, but does not include a dismissal order or merits ruling. Reed should therefore be treated as an allegation-and-settlement record, not proof that a court found wrongdoing.

Key Issues & Findings

The complaint framed the dispute as FDCPA, abuse-of-process, and wrongful-recording claims arising from an allegedly untimely judgment-renewal affidavit. The answer denied liability and asserted affirmative defenses, including a disputed calculation of the judgment-renewal deadline. The notice of settlement states that the parties resolved the matter. Without a dismissal order, judgment, or merits findings in the source set, the fair conclusion is narrow: the allegations are serious public-interest allegations, but they were not adjudicated in the downloaded record.

Why It Matters

Reed is useful for understanding the kinds of time-barred-collection and judgment-renewal allegations homeowners may raise against HOA collection counsel. It should not be used as proof of corruption or liability. Any public summary must put the complaint allegations beside the defendants' denial, the bona-fide-error defense, and the settlement/no-merits posture.

← Back to Federal Court cases

Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association v. DeFine: Arizona HOA Superior Court Case Guide

HOA Collection | FDCPA | Counsel Disqualification | CV2020-092936

The court set aside default, denied later default, and allowed several third-party claims against HOA collection participants to survive pleading motions.

Last updated July 2, 2026. Case: Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Janet DeFine, Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2020-092936.

Current-status note: This page is published as a litigation record based on the source files available through 2023-10-06. Later filings, appeals, mandates, settlements, or dismissal orders may change the posture; the linked court records control.

Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This page covers Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association, Inc. v. Janet DeFine (Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2020-092936) as a public Arizona superior-court HOA case guide. It is built from 21 filed minute entries, especially the November 20, 2020 default set-aside entry, the July 30, 2021 Maxwell & Morgan ruling, the November 4, 2021 Direct Access ruling, and the December 1, 2021 disqualification ruling. Currency caveat: the collected record ends with the October 6, 2023 order reinstating the case by stipulation after a dismissal-calendar dismissal. Any later settlement performance, judgment, trial setting, or appeal is outside these records. Superior-court rulings bind only the parties and are not precedent. This page is educational and is not legal advice.

The takeaway

An HOA collection case can become procedurally complex after default is set aside and the homeowner asserts counterclaims or third-party claims against collection participants. At the pleading stage here, the court allowed FDCPA, abuse-of-process, and slander-of-title theories against the association’s law firm or vendor to proceed, while also refusing to disqualify the association’s counsel without a stronger showing.

Case Participants

Neutral Parties

  • Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association, Inc. (Plaintiff)
    Association that brought the collection/default case and later appeared in counterclaim-related proceedings.
  • Janet DeFine (Defendant / third-party plaintiff)
    Homeowner defendant who obtained set-aside of default judgment and asserted third-party claims.
  • FirstService Residential Arizona LLC (Third-party defendant)
    Management company named as a third-party defendant in the expanded litigation.
  • Maxwell & Morgan, P.C. (Third-party defendant / counsel)
    Association collection law firm whose motion to dismiss third-party claims was denied and whose continued representation of the association was challenged.
  • Direct Access Legal Services (Third-party defendant)
    Legal-services vendor whose motion for judgment on the pleadings on abuse of process was denied.
  • Mark W. Waldron (Counsel)
    Counsel listed for the association in the original caption.
  • Chad M. Gallacher (Counsel)
    Counsel who appeared for the association in later proceedings.
  • Scott B. Humble (Counsel)
    Counsel listed for FirstService Residential Arizona LLC.
  • Haven Lee Dove (Counsel)
    Counsel listed for Direct Access Legal Services.
  • Michael S. DeFine (Counsel)
    Counsel listed for Janet DeFine in several entries.
  • Hon. Rodrick Coffey (Judge)
    Judge who issued the third-party pleading and counsel-disqualification rulings.

What happened

Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association filed a collection-related action that initially moved through default proceedings. The commissioner continued the default hearing, denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion on the record, and held evidentiary proceedings. On November 20, 2020, the court granted the homeowner’s motion to set aside default judgment and ordered a timely answer.

After an answer or responsive pleading was filed, the court denied a later application for default. The litigation then expanded to include counterclaims and third-party claims involving the association, FirstService Residential Arizona, Direct Access Legal Services, and Maxwell & Morgan.

The July 30, 2021 ruling denied Maxwell & Morgan’s motion to dismiss the third-party complaint. The court extended the Rule 4(i) service deadline to the date of actual service, declined to dismiss the FDCPA claim on limitations grounds at the pleading stage, and held that abuse-of-process and slander-of-title theories involved factual issues that could not be resolved on a motion to dismiss.

The November 4, 2021 ruling denied Direct Access Legal Services’ motion for judgment on the pleadings. The court accepted the pleading allegations as true at that stage and concluded that whether the vendor used process for an improper purpose was a factual issue. The court later denied Direct Access’s motion for reconsideration.

The December 1, 2021 ruling denied the homeowner’s motion to disqualify Maxwell & Morgan as counsel for the association. The court noted confusion over whether a counterclaim named the correct association entity, but concluded that the homeowner had not met the burden for disqualification and that disqualification would prejudice the association. The court also noted that because Maxwell & Morgan was itself a party, its lawyers would participate in the case regardless.

The collected record later shows notice of settlement, dismissal without prejudice after the dismissal-calendar deadline passed, and then a stipulated order reinstating the case in October 2023.

Video overview of the case record

An AI-generated video overview of Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association v. DeFine (CV2020-092936 (Maricopa County Superior Court)). HOA collection case expanded into third-party FDCPA and abuse-of-process claims that survived pleading attacks. This plain-language summary was generated from the court’s filings; the court’s own ruling controls.

Listen: audio deep dive on the case record

An AI-generated audio deep dive walking through the court record and procedural posture in Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association v. DeFine. Generated from the case filings; verify against the linked case records below.

Audio overview generated with Google NotebookLM from the case’s court filings.

Procedural timeline

2020-08-31

The court denies the homeowner’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion on the record and sets an evidentiary hearing.

Download source
2020-11-20

The court grants the homeowner’s motion to set aside default judgment and orders a timely answer.

Download source
2020-12-18

The court denies the application for default because defendants filed an answer or responsive pleading.

Download 2 sources
2021-07-23

The court grants consolidation of CV2020-092936 and CV2021-090259.

Download source
2021-07-30

The court denies Maxwell & Morgan’s motion to dismiss third-party FDCPA, abuse-of-process, and slander-of-title theories.

Download source
2021-11-04

The court denies Direct Access Legal Services’ motion for judgment on the pleadings on abuse of process.

Download source
2021-12-01

The court denies the motion to disqualify Maxwell & Morgan as association counsel.

Download source
2023-08-30

After notice of settlement and no further filing, the court dismisses the matter without prejudice.

Download source
2023-10-06

The court signs an order reinstating the case by stipulation.

Download source

Complete source-document index

This index contains 21 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 1 2020-06-11

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 2 2020-08-05

Default Judgment

Type: Decision or judgment

Shows the filer trying to move the case forward because the opposing party had not timely appeared.

Source 3 2020-08-31

Oral Argument

Type: Court/source PDF

Continued default-hearing minute entry denying the homeowner’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion on the record and setting an evidentiary hearing.

Download source file
Source 4 2020-09-22

Oral Argument

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Download source file
Source 5 2020-10-28

Oral Argument

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Download source file
Source 6 2020-11-20

Under Advisement Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Evidentiary-hearing minute entry granting the homeowner’s motion to set aside default judgment and ordering a timely answer.

Source 7 2020-12-18

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 8 2020-12-18

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Minute entry rescinding an earlier default-related entry and denying default because defendants had filed an answer or responsive pleading.

Download source file
Source 9 2020-12-21

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 10 2021-06-02

Default Judgment

Type: Decision or judgment

Shows the filer trying to move the case forward because the opposing party had not timely appeared.

Source 11 2021-06-02

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 12 2021-06-09

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 13 2021-06-10

Oral Argument Set

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 14 2021-07-23

Oral Argument

Type: Court/source PDF

Oral-argument minute entry granting consolidation of CV2020-092936 and CV2021-090259 for all further proceedings.

Download source file
Source 15 2021-07-30

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Maxwell & Morgan’s motion to dismiss third-party claims, including FDCPA, abuse-of-process, and slander-of-title theories, at the pleading stage.

Download source file
Source 16 2021-11-04

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Direct Access Legal Services’ motion for judgment on the pleadings because abuse of process presented factual issues not resolvable on the pleadings.

Download source file
Source 17 2021-11-22

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Minute entry denying Direct Access Legal Services’ motion for reconsideration of the abuse-of-process pleading ruling.

Download source file
Source 18 2021-12-01

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying the homeowner’s motion to disqualify Maxwell & Morgan as association counsel, finding the burden for disqualification was not met and disqualification would prejudice the association.

Download source file
Source 19 2023-04-10

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 20 2023-08-30

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Dismissal-calendar order dismissing the matter without prejudice after notice of settlement and no further filing.

Download source file
Source 21 2023-10-06

Judgment Entered

Type: Decision or judgment

Order adopting the parties’ stipulation to reinstate the case after the prior dismissal-calendar dismissal.

FAQ

Did the association obtain default judgment in the collected record?

The collected entries show that default judgment was set aside on November 20, 2020 and that a later application for default was denied because an answer or responsive pleading had been filed.

Why did the court let the claims against Maxwell & Morgan proceed?

At the pleading stage, the court extended the service deadline, found the FDCPA limitations issue unresolved on the record, and held that abuse of process and slander of title raised factual issues.

What happened to the Direct Access Legal Services motion?

The court denied judgment on the pleadings because the abuse-of-process allegations, if true, could support relief and whether process was misused was a factual issue.

Did the court disqualify Maxwell & Morgan as association counsel?

No. The court held that the homeowner had not met the burden for disqualification and that disqualification would prejudice the association.

Did the case end with a final merits judgment?

No final merits judgment appears in the collected entries. The case was dismissed without prejudice after a settlement notice, then reinstated by stipulated order.

Why is this case classified as standard?

The rulings contain useful collection-litigation and pleading analysis, but they are superior-court, mostly procedural/pleading-stage rulings and do not create precedent.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citationCV2020-092936 (Maricopa County Superior Court)
Court / tribunalSuperior Court
Decision / key dateDecember 1, 2021
Judge / panelHon. Steven P. Lynch, Hon. Janice Crawford, Hon. Rodrick Coffey, Hon. Brian D. Kaiser
PartiesSilverton Deer Village Homeowners Association, Inc. (Plaintiff) v. Janet DeFine (Defendant)
Governing law
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692
Topics
AssessmentsForeclosureLiensFDCPAProcedure
Outcome / holding

The court set aside the default judgment and later denied default after defendants filed an answer or responsive pleading. On the third-party claims, it refused to dismiss claims against Maxwell & Morgan at the pleading stage, including FDCPA limitations, abuse of process, and slander of title theories. It also denied Direct Access Legal Services’ motion for judgment on the pleadings on abuse of process and denied a motion to disqualify Maxwell & Morgan from representing the association.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package21 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap9 roadmap entries
Video overviewSilverton Deer Village Homeowners Association v. DeFine
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links1 download link

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Silverton Deer Village Homeowners Association pursued default-related relief against a homeowner. The default judgment was set aside, default was later denied after an answer, and the case expanded into counterclaims and third-party claims involving the association, its law firm, its management company, and a legal-services vendor. The court denied Maxwell & Morgan’s motion to dismiss FDCPA, abuse-of-process, and slander-of-title theories, denied Direct Access Legal Services’ motion for judgment on the pleadings on abuse of process, and denied a motion to disqualify Maxwell & Morgan as association counsel.

Key Issues & Findings

The early default-related entries show that the court first continued default proceedings, denied a Rule 12(b)(6) motion on the record, held evidentiary proceedings, and then granted the homeowner’s motion to set aside the default judgment while requiring a timely answer. When the court later reviewed another application for default, it denied the application because an answer or responsive pleading had been filed.

The July 2021 Maxwell & Morgan ruling applied Arizona pleading standards and Rule 4(i). Although service occurred more than 90 days after the third-party complaint was filed, the court exercised discretion under Sholem to extend the service deadline to the date of actual service. It declined to dismiss the FDCPA claim on limitations grounds because the pleading record did not establish when the third-party plaintiff knew of the lawsuit or whether alleged events fell within one year. It also held that abuse of process and slander of title involved factual issues that could not be resolved on a motion to dismiss.

The November 2021 Direct Access ruling similarly held that the abuse-of-process claim alleged enough facts to proceed at the pleadings stage. The December 2021 disqualification ruling denied the homeowner’s request to disqualify Maxwell & Morgan as association counsel, reasoning that disqualification of opposing counsel requires sufficient reason, that disqualification would prejudice the association, and that Maxwell & Morgan was itself a party whose lawyers would participate regardless.

Why It Matters

This case is useful for HOA collection litigation because it shows several procedural pressure points after a default-driven association case expands into counterclaims and third-party claims against collection counsel, management, and vendors. The rulings are especially useful on pleading-stage survival of FDCPA, abuse-of-process, and slander-of-title theories arising from HOA collection litigation, and on the high burden to disqualify association counsel.

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Pandi v. Crown Point Homeowners Association: Arizona HOA Superior Court Case Guide

Assessment Litigation | Mandatory Counterclaims | CV2025-060700

This case shows the procedural risk of filing a separate lawsuit over HOA foreclosure and assessment issues while another case about the same property and assessments is already pending: the court dismissed the separate action because the subject matter belonged as a mandatory counterclaim in the earlier assessment case.

Last updated July 2, 2026. Case: Steve Pandi v. Crown Point Homeowners Association, et al., Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2025-060700.

Current-status note: This page is published as a litigation record based on the source files available through 2026-02-10. Later filings, appeals, mandates, settlements, or dismissal orders may change the posture; the linked court records control.

Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This page covers Steve Pandi v. Crown Point Homeowners Association, et al. (Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2025-060700) as a public Arizona superior-court HOA case guide. It is built from the court’s own filed minute entries, including the December 16, 2025 litigation-privilege ruling and the February 2, 2026 dismissal ruling; the complete set of collected minute entries is available in the source-document index below. Currency caveat: the collected entries end with denial of a motion to vacate dismissal; they also note a separate pending case, CV2023-013780, involving the same property and assessments. Superior-court rulings bind only the parties and are not precedent. This page is educational and is not legal advice.

The takeaway

A homeowner who is already litigating unpaid assessments cannot safely split related foreclosure, fraud, bankruptcy, or de-annexation theories into a new lawsuit. The court dismissed this separate case because the subject matter was a mandatory counterclaim in the pending assessment case involving the same property and assessments. The court also protected the association’s lawyers with the litigation privilege for acts in the course and scope of representing the HOA.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

  • Steve Pandi (Plaintiff)
    Self-represented homeowner plaintiff who filed the separate action and multiple emergency, sanctions, and post-dismissal motions.

Respondent Side

  • Crown Point Homeowners Association (Defendant)
    Homeowners association defendant. The dismissal ruling states that a separate case was already pending in which the association sought to recover unpaid assessments involving the same property and assessments.
  • Beth Mulcahy (Defendant / Counsel)
    Attorney defendant; the court held the claims against the Mulcahy defendants were barred by the litigation privilege because they acted in the course and scope of representing Crown Point Homeowners Association.
  • Mulcahy Law P.C. (Defendant)
    Law firm defendant dismissed under the litigation privilege.
  • Joseph A. Brophy (Counsel)
    Counsel appearing for Crown Point Homeowners Association in later minute entries.
  • Wm Michael Yohler (Counsel)
    Counsel name appearing for defendants in earlier minute entries.

Neutral Parties

  • Michael J. Herrod (Judge)
    Maricopa County Superior Court judge who issued the TRO, sanctions, litigation-privilege, dismissal, and post-dismissal rulings.
  • Richard Albrecht (Commissioner)
    Commissioner identified for any Rule 55(b) default-judgment proceedings after the plaintiff sought default against the association.

What happened

Steve Pandi sued Crown Point Homeowners Association, Beth Mulcahy, and Mulcahy Law P.C. The January 22, 2026 minute entry identifies the attempted amended pleading as asserting fraud, fraudulent foreclosure, bankruptcy violations, and permanent de-annexation from the association. The court later stated that another case, CV2023-013780, already involved the same property and the same assessments, with the association seeking to recover unpaid assessments there.

The first ruling denied Pandi’s emergency request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction. Judge Michael J. Herrod wrote that the request was based on a damages complaint, asked the court to order the defendants to stop doing things the plaintiff said were bad, and did not seek equitable relief. The court later quashed the related order to show cause and denied another emergency TRO request.

The court dismissed Beth Mulcahy and Mulcahy Law P.C. on December 16, 2025. It held that Pandi’s claims against the Mulcahy defendants were barred by the litigation privilege because they were acting in the course and scope of representing Crown Point Homeowners Association. The court also found the fraud claims were not pleaded with specificity and that bankruptcy-violation claims were outside the superior court’s jurisdiction. Crown Point’s joinder in that motion was denied because many defenses did not apply to the association, but the court gave Crown Point leave to file its own dismissal motion.

January 2026 brought several procedural rulings. The court denied sanctions motions against Mulcahy, the firm, Crown Point, and a nonparty; denied a motion to strike bankruptcy assertions; denied a third TRO application because Pandi could not identify an actor for the alleged vandalism; denied a motion to strike or file a sur-reply; struck a first amended complaint filed without leave; and denied discovery and deadline motions while Crown Point’s dismissal motion was pending.

On February 2, 2026, the court granted Crown Point Homeowners Association’s Rule 12(b)(1) and Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss. The court found that Pandi had a pending case involving the same property and same assessments, that the association was seeking to recover unpaid assessments in that case, and that the subject matter of this separate action was a mandatory counterclaim that should have been raised there. Because no defendants remained, the court dismissed the matter in its entirety and deemed all pending motions moot. It later denied a sanctions motion and a motion to vacate the dismissal.

Video overview of the ruling

An AI-generated video overview of Steve Pandi v. Crown Point Homeowners Association, et al. (CV2025-060700 (Maricopa County Superior Court)). Separate HOA foreclosure claims were dismissed as mandatory counterclaims in a pending assessment case. This plain-language summary was generated from the court’s filings; the court’s own ruling controls.

Listen: audio deep dive on the ruling

An AI-generated audio deep dive walking through the court’s reasoning and disposition in Steve Pandi v. Crown Point Homeowners Association, et al.. Generated from the case filings; verify against the linked ruling below.

Audio overview generated with Google NotebookLM from the case’s court filings.

Procedural timeline

2025-12-01

The court summarily denies Pandi's emergency TRO/preliminary-injunction motion because it does not seek equitable relief.

Download source
2025-12-16

The court dismisses Beth Mulcahy and Mulcahy Law P.C. under the litigation privilege and allows Crown Point to file its own dismissal motion.

Download source
2026-01-13

The court denies sanctions against Crown Point, noting no substantive ruling yet supported sanctions and service was improper.

Download source
2026-01-22

The court denies a third TRO request, denies a strike/sur-reply motion, and strikes the first amended complaint filed without leave.

Download source
2026-02-02

The court grants Crown Point's motion to dismiss because the claims were mandatory counterclaims in pending case CV2023-013780 involving the same property and assessments.

Download source
2026-02-10

The court denies Pandi's motion to vacate the dismissal order and for relief from judgment.

Download source

Complete source-document index

This index contains 14 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 1 2025-12-01

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling summarily denying Steve Pandi's emergency motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction because the motion did not seek equitable relief.

Download source file
Source 2 2025-12-11

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 3 2025-12-16

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling dismissing the claims against Beth Mulcahy and Mulcahy Law P.C. under the litigation privilege while denying Crown Point Homeowners Association's joinder and allowing it to file its own motion to dismiss.

Download source file
Source 4 2026-01-02

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling quashing the order to show cause and denying Steve Pandi's December 10, 2025 emergency motion for temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.

Download source file
Source 5 2026-01-05

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's motion for sanctions against Beth Mulcahy and Mulcahy Law P.C. as procedurally improper, unsupported, and legally deficient.

Download source file
Source 6 2026-01-13

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's sanctions motion against Crown Point Homeowners Association because no substantive ruling supported sanctions and service was improper.

Download source file
Source 7 2026-01-16

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's motion to strike Crown Point Homeowners Association's bankruptcy assertions for the reasons stated in the association's response.

Download source file
Source 8 2026-01-21

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's motion to deem a nonparty's nonresponse consent to sanctions because the sanctions motion was not properly served and the person was not a party.

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Source 9 2026-01-22

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's third application for temporary restraining order, denying his motion to strike or seek leave for a sur-reply, and striking his first amended complaint filed without leave.

Download source file
Source 10 2026-01-23

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's motion to compel as premature while Crown Point Homeowners Association's motion to dismiss was pending and denying his request to maintain existing deadlines.

Download source file
Source 11 2026-01-23

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 12 2026-02-02

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling granting Crown Point Homeowners Association's Rule 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss because the claims were mandatory counterclaims in the pending unpaid-assessments case involving the same property and assessments.

Download source file
Source 13 2026-02-03

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's post-dismissal sanctions motion against the defendants and defense counsel because the matter had been dismissed.

Download source file
Source 14 2026-02-10

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying Steve Pandi's motion to vacate the dismissal order and for relief from judgment.

Download source file

FAQ

Why did the court dismiss the claims against the HOA lawyers?

The court held the claims against Beth Mulcahy and Mulcahy Law P.C. were barred by the litigation privilege because the Mulcahy defendants were acting in the course and scope of representing Crown Point Homeowners Association. It also found the fraud allegations lacked specificity and bankruptcy-violation claims were outside superior-court jurisdiction.

Why did the court dismiss the claims against Crown Point Homeowners Association?

The court found that another case, CV2023-013780, already involved the same property and the same assessments, with the association seeking unpaid assessments there. The subject matter of this separate lawsuit was a mandatory counterclaim that should have been raised in that pending case.

Did the court decide whether the HOA foreclosure or assessment allegations were true?

No. The January 13, 2026 sanctions ruling expressly said no motion for summary judgment had been filed by the plaintiff or granted on any factual issue, and the February 2 dismissal rested on the mandatory-counterclaim problem rather than merits findings on foreclosure or assessment liability.

What happened to the TRO requests?

The court denied repeated emergency TRO or preliminary-injunction requests. It said the first request did not seek equitable relief, later quashed an order to show cause, and denied the third TRO request because the plaintiff could not identify an actor who committed the alleged vandalism.

What is the practical lesson for homeowners?

If an HOA has an active lawsuit over unpaid assessments involving the same property, related claims about foreclosure, fraud, or association status may need to be raised as counterclaims in that case. Filing a separate lawsuit can lead to dismissal without a merits ruling.

Is this ruling precedent for other Arizona HOA disputes?

No. Superior-court rulings bind only the parties and are not precedent. This case is useful primarily as a procedural example of litigation privilege and mandatory-counterclaim treatment in an HOA assessment dispute.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citationCV2025-060700 (Maricopa County Superior Court)
Court / tribunalSuperior Court
Decision / key dateFebruary 2, 2026
Judge / panelHon. Michael J. Herrod
PartiesSteve Pandi (Plaintiff, homeowner) v. Crown Point Homeowners Association, Beth Mulcahy, and Mulcahy Law P.C. (Defendants)
Topics
AssessmentsForeclosureLiensProcedureFDCPABankruptcy
Outcome / holding

The superior court dismissed the separate lawsuit against Crown Point Homeowners Association because the claims were mandatory counterclaims in a pending case involving the same property and assessments, and it dismissed the association's lawyers under the litigation privilege for acts within the course and scope of representing the HOA.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package14 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap6 roadmap entries
Video overviewSteve Pandi v. Crown Point Homeowners Association, et al.
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links1 download link

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Steve Pandi sued Crown Point Homeowners Association, Beth Mulcahy, and Mulcahy Law P.C. over alleged fraud, fraudulent foreclosure, bankruptcy violations, and permanent de-annexation from the association. The court denied repeated emergency TRO requests and sanctions motions. It dismissed the Mulcahy defendants because the litigation privilege protected acts taken in the course and scope of representing Crown Point, because fraud was not pleaded with specificity, and because bankruptcy-violation claims were outside superior-court jurisdiction. The court then granted Crown Point's Rule 12(b)(1) and Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss because Pandi already had a pending case involving the same property and assessments, so the subject matter belonged as a mandatory counterclaim in that assessment case.

Key Issues & Findings

For the lawyer defendants, the court held that the litigation privilege barred claims against Beth Mulcahy and Mulcahy Law P.C. because they were acting in the course and scope of their representation of Crown Point Homeowners Association. The court added that fraud claims were not pleaded with specificity and that bankruptcy-violation claims were not within superior-court jurisdiction.

For the association, the court focused on claim splitting. It found that Pandi already had a pending case involving the same property and the same assessments, CV2023-013780, where the association was seeking to recover unpaid assessments. The subject matter of the new case therefore was a mandatory counterclaim that should have been raised in the pending assessment case. The court granted Crown Point's Rule 12(b)(1) and Rule 12(b)(6) motion, dismissed the matter in its entirety because no defendants remained, and later denied post-dismissal sanctions and relief-from-judgment motions.

Why It Matters

This case is a procedural caution for HOA assessment litigation. When an association has already sued over unpaid assessments involving the same property, related homeowner theories about foreclosure, fraud, bankruptcy effects, or association status may have to be raised in that action as counterclaims. A separate lawsuit can be dismissed before the court reaches the merits.

The case also illustrates how the litigation privilege can protect HOA collection counsel for conduct within the representation, even when the homeowner names the lawyer and law firm as defendants. It is standard rather than must-read because it does not interpret Title 33 or a declaration provision on the merits; as a superior-court ruling, it binds only the parties and is not precedent.

← Back to Superior Court cases

Kuhn v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association: Arizona HOA Superior Court Case Guide

Assessment Collection | Water Shutoff | CV2012-018443

The court refused to decide on summary judgment whether water shutoff was a reasonable collection rule, but dismissed the FDCPA claim against the management company.

Last updated July 2, 2026. Case: Andrew Kuhn v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association, et al., Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2012-018443.

Current-status note: Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This page covers Andrew Kuhn v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association, et al. (Maricopa County Superior Court No. CV2012-018443) as a public Arizona superior-court HOA case guide. It is built from the court’s own filed minute entries, especially the July 2, 2014 ruling on water shutoff and the November 25, 2014 summary-judgment ruling on the FDCPA claim; the complete set of collected minute entries is available in the source-document index below. Currency caveat: the last collected minute entry is the March 19, 2015 order dismissing the entire action with prejudice after the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss. The water-shutoff issue was not finally decided on summary judgment; it was left for the factfinder before the later settlement and stipulated dismissal. Superior-court rulings bind only the parties and are not precedent. This page is educational and is not legal advice.

The takeaway

A condominium association may have authority under A.R.S. § 33-1242 to adopt reasonable rules, but this court would not decide as a matter of law that a water-shutoff assessment-collection rule was valid or invalid when the Declaration and Bylaws were silent. Separately, the manager was not an FDCPA debt collector where it had responsibility for regular assessment collection before the owner’s account became delinquent.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

  • Andrew Kuhn (Plaintiff)
    Southern Village Estates condominium owner who challenged water shutoff or restriction and brought an FDCPA claim against Pride.
  • Jonathan A. Dessaules (Counsel)
    Counsel for Kuhn in the minute entries.

Respondent Side

  • Southern Village Estates Condominium Association (Defendant)
    Condominium association that obtained a judgment for unpaid and accruing assessments and used water shutoff or restriction as part of collection efforts.
  • Pride Asset Management, Inc. (Defendant)
    Property-management company retained by the association to manage the development and collect maintenance assessments and related charges from members.
  • Nikita V. Patel (Counsel)
    Counsel for Southern Village Estates Condominium Association and Pride in many of the minute entries.
  • Diana J. Elston (Counsel)
    Counsel appearing for Pride at the November 13, 2014 pretrial/status conference.

Neutral Parties

  • Hon. J. Richard Gama (Judge)
    Judge who issued the water-shutoff, discovery-sanctions, fee, and FDCPA rulings.

What happened

Andrew Kuhn owned a condominium unit at Southern Village Estates and was a member of the condominium association. The July 2, 2014 ruling states that he failed to pay past assessments, and the association obtained a judgment against him for all past-due and accruing assessments. The association retained Pride Asset Management for collection efforts.

The association paid a utility for water delivered to each condominium unit from monthly assessments. When Kuhn did not pay, defendants either shut off or significantly restricted water flow to his unit. Kuhn said the action made his home uninhabitable and argued that the association had no express statutory or governing-document authority to use water shutoff as a collection remedy.

Defendants relied on A.R.S. § 33-1242 and a rule adopted by the association’s board. The court noted defendants conceded that the Declaration did not expressly authorize water shutoff and that no statute expressly authorized it. The rule itself stated that the association had the right to turn off water to a unit for nonpayment of monthly assessment.

The court denied both sides summary judgment. It agreed that the association had authority to adopt rules if the rules were reasonable, but it held that reasonableness was a fact question on this record. The key issue was whether the rule bore a relationship to the health, happiness, and enjoyment of life of the unit owners, or instead was arbitrary or capricious.

The case also included a separate FDCPA claim against Pride. The November 25, 2014 ruling states that Pride became the HOA’s managing agent on July 1, 2008, that Kuhn did not become delinquent until 2010, and that the challenged collection activity occurred in 2012. Because Pride was responsible for collecting assessments before the debt went into default, the court held Pride fell within the statutory exception to the FDCPA definition of debt collector and granted Pride summary judgment.

Earlier discovery rulings also mattered procedurally. The court sanctioned Pride for failing to provide a knowledgeable Rule 30(b)(6) witness, compelled a new deposition, and awarded Kuhn $4,500 in fees and $12 in costs. The case later settled, Pride withdrew a proposed form of judgment, and the court dismissed the action with prejudice on March 19, 2015.

Video overview of the ruling

An AI-generated video overview of Andrew Kuhn v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association (CV2012-018443 (Maricopa County Superior Court)). Water shutoff collection rule went to factfinder; Pride was not an FDCPA debt collector for pre-default HOA dues. This plain-language summary was generated from the court’s filings; the court’s own ruling controls.

Listen: audio deep dive on the ruling

An AI-generated audio deep dive walking through the court’s reasoning and disposition in Andrew Kuhn v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association. Generated from the case filings; verify against the linked ruling below.

Audio overview generated with Google NotebookLM from the case’s court filings.

Procedural timeline

2013-01-11

The court restrains Southern Village Estates from turning off Kuhn's water and orders the water turned back on pending an evidentiary hearing after counsel avowed that fees had been paid.

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2013-07-29

The court grants Rule 37 sanctions in part, compels Pride to provide an adequate Rule 30(b)(6) witness, and awards costs and reasonable attorney fees for the motion.

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2013-08-22

The court denies defendants' motion for reconsideration of the July 29, 2013 discovery-sanctions ruling.

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2014-06-17

The court awards Kuhn $4,500 in fees and $12 in costs as Rule 37 sanctions, reducing the requested amount as duplicative and excessive.

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2014-07-02

The court denies both sides summary judgment on whether the association's water-shutoff rule was lawful and reasonable.

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2014-11-25

The court grants Pride summary judgment and dismisses the FDCPA claim because Pride handled assessment collection before the debt went into default.

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2015-03-19

After settlement, the court dismisses the entire action with prejudice, with each party bearing its own fees and costs.

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Complete source-document index

This index contains 21 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 1 2013-01-11

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Preliminary-restraint minute entry ordering Southern Village Estates not to turn off Kuhn's water and ordering the water turned back on pending the evidentiary hearing after counsel avowed that fees had been paid.

Download source file
Source 2 2013-02-04

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 3 2013-03-13

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 4 2013-04-10

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 5 2013-07-12

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 6 2013-07-29

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Discovery-sanctions ruling granting Kuhn relief in part, compelling Pride to provide an adequate Rule 30(b)(6) witness, and awarding costs and reasonable attorney fees for the motion.

Download source file
Source 7 2013-08-20

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 8 2013-08-22

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying defendants' motion for reconsideration of the July 29, 2013 Rule 30(b)(6) discovery-sanctions order.

Download source file
Source 9 2013-09-19

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 10 2013-10-15

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 11 2013-11-19

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 12 2014-05-15

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 13 2014-06-17

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Fee ruling awarding Kuhn $4,500 in attorney fees and $12 in costs as Rule 37 sanctions while reducing the requested fees as duplicative and excessive.

Download source file
Source 14 2014-07-02

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling denying both Kuhn's and defendants' summary-judgment motions on whether the association's water-shutoff rule was lawful and reasonable under A.R.S. § 33-1242 and the governing documents.

Download source file
Source 15 2014-09-08

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 16 2014-09-23

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 17 2014-11-13

Status Conference

Type: Court/source PDF

Uploaded source file in the case record; read it in sequence with the surrounding filings to follow the procedure.

Source 18 2014-11-25

Ruling

Type: Court order/minute entry

Ruling granting Pride Asset Management summary judgment and dismissing Kuhn's FDCPA claim because Pride collected assessments before Kuhn's assessments became overdue.

Download source file
Source 19 2015-02-23

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 20 2015-03-04

Minute Entry

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

Download source file
Source 21 2015-03-19

Judgment Entered

Type: Decision or judgment

Dismissal order dismissing the entire action with prejudice after the parties filed a stipulation to dismiss following settlement.

FAQ

Did the court decide the association could shut off water for unpaid assessments?

No. The court denied both sides summary judgment. It held that whether the water-shutoff rule was reasonable under the circumstances was a factual issue for the factfinder.

What role did A.R.S. § 33-1242 play?

Defendants relied on A.R.S. § 33-1242 as authority for the association to adopt rules. The court agreed an association may adopt reasonable rules, but said the reasonableness of this water-shutoff rule could not be decided as a matter of law on summary judgment.

Why did Pride win summary judgment on the FDCPA claim?

The court found that Pride was responsible for collecting monthly assessments before Kuhn’s assessments became overdue. Under the FDCPA exception discussed in the ruling, Pride was not a debt collector for that debt because the debt was not in default when Pride obtained collection responsibility.

Did the governing documents expressly authorize water shutoff?

The court stated that the parties agreed the Declaration and Bylaws did not expressly provide a right to shut off water as a way to collect unpaid assessments.

What discovery sanction did the court impose?

The court found Pride failed to provide a knowledgeable Rule 30(b)(6) corporate witness, ordered a new deposition, and later awarded Kuhn $4,500 in attorney fees and $12 in costs as Rule 37 sanctions.

Is this ruling precedential?

No. It is a Maricopa County Superior Court ruling, so it binds only the parties. It is still useful as an example of one trial court’s analysis of condominium water shutoff, assessment collection, and FDCPA manager liability.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citationCV2012-018443 (Maricopa County Superior Court)
Court / tribunalSuperior Court
Decision / key dateNovember 25, 2014
Judge / panelHon. J. Richard Gama
PartiesAndrew Kuhn (Plaintiff) v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association and Pride Asset Management, Inc. (Defendants)
Governing law
Topics
AssessmentsFDCPACC&RsProcedure
Outcome / holding

The court held that neither side was entitled to summary judgment on the water-shutoff issue because the association could adopt reasonable rules under A.R.S. § 33-1242, but whether this rule reasonably related to the health, happiness, and enjoyment of the unit owners presented a fact question. The court later held that Pride was not an FDCPA debt collector because it obtained responsibility for collecting the assessments before Kuhn's assessments became overdue.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package21 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap7 roadmap entries
Video overviewAndrew Kuhn v. Southern Village Estates Condominium Association
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links1 download link

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

A condominium owner challenged Southern Village Estates' use of water shutoff or restriction to collect unpaid assessments and asserted an FDCPA claim against Pride Asset Management. The court denied both sides summary judgment on whether the association's water-restriction rule was reasonable under A.R.S. § 33-1242 and the governing documents, but later granted Pride summary judgment on the FDCPA claim because Pride was responsible for collecting assessments before the owner's account went into default.

Key Issues & Findings

On the water-shutoff motions, the court began with undisputed facts: Kuhn owned a condominium unit, was a member of the association, failed to pay past assessments, and the association obtained a judgment for unpaid and accruing assessments. The association and Pride then used water shutoff or water restriction as a collection method, and Kuhn argued that neither Arizona statute nor the governing documents expressly authorized that remedy.

The court agreed with the association that A.R.S. § 33-1242 gave the association authority to promulgate reasonable rules, but it did not treat that authority as unlimited. Because the Declaration and Bylaws did not expressly provide a water-shutoff remedy, and because the rule's reasonableness depended on whether it related to the general welfare of condominium residents, the court found a factual dispute and denied summary judgment to both sides.

On the FDCPA claim, the court focused on Pride's timing and role. Pride was the association's property manager and was responsible for collecting monthly assessments beginning July 1, 2008; Kuhn did not become delinquent until 2010; and the challenged collection activity occurred in 2012. Because the FDCPA excludes collectors whose collection activity concerns debt that was not in default when obtained, the court granted Pride summary judgment and dismissed the FDCPA claim.

Why It Matters

The case is useful for Arizona condominium readers because it shows one trial court refusing to decide on summary judgment whether an association may restrict water service as an assessment-collection rule when the declaration and bylaws are silent. It also shows how a management company may defeat an FDCPA claim when it was already responsible for assessment collection before the owner's account went into default.

← Back to Superior Court cases

Six v. IQ Data International, Inc.: HOA Court Case Guide

FDCPA / Article III Standing

The Ninth Circuit held that one direct debt-collection letter to a represented consumer can create FDCPA standing. The deeper District of Arizona record also includes a sanctions order against IQ Data and CHDB counsel for bad-faith litigation tactics.

Federal court | 129 F.4th 630 (9th Cir. 2025) | Decided 2025-02-24

Current-status note: This page is published as a litigation record based on the source files available through 2026-07-01. Later filings, appeals, mandates, settlements, or dismissal orders may change the posture; the linked court records control.

Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Video/audio is held or de-promoted until its title and description clearly carry the same non-final/current-status posture as this page.

Scope note: This educational page summarizes Six v. IQ Data International, Inc., a Federal court HOA-related authority. It is not legal advice.

The Ninth Circuit opinion involved Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen as counsel for IQ Data, in a federal FDCPA standing dispute.

Finality note: The downloaded record includes a July 1, 2026 post-remand summary-judgment order for IQ Data. As of July 8, 2026, the appeal window may not have expired, so this page does not treat the case as appellate-final beyond the source-backed order.

The takeaway

The Ninth Circuit held that receipt of a debt-collection communication sent in violation of FDCPA § 1692c(a)(2) can be a concrete privacy injury sufficient for Article III standing. The later district-court record separately includes a sanctions fee order against IQ Data and CHDB counsel, and a July 1, 2026 post-remand summary-judgment order for IQ Data on liability.

Public-interest record: sanctions against IQ Data and CHDB counsel

Court finding, not allegation

The District of Arizona sanctioned IQ Data and its counsel, Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP, after finding the Rule 11 motion frivolous, reckless, made in bad faith, and used to leverage settlement.

Misrepresentation to the court

The same order found counsel misrepresented the reason for modifying the scheduling order and that the court relied on that representation when granting relief.

Keep the posture straight

The sanctions order concerns litigation conduct by IQ Data and CHDB counsel. It is separate from the later merits question, where the court eventually entered summary judgment for IQ Data after remand.

Case Participants

Petitioner Side

  • Ryan Six (Plaintiff-Appellant)
    Consumer who received the debt-collection letter after notifying IQ Data that he was represented by counsel; prevailed on standing and obtained reversal and remand.
  • Russell S. Thompson IV (Counsel)
    Thompson Consumer Law Group PC
    Argued for Plaintiff-Appellant Ryan Six (Scottsdale, Arizona).

Respondent Side

  • IQ Data International, Inc. (Defendant-Appellee)
    Debt collector that acquired the residential-lease debt and mailed the verification letter directly to Six despite notice of representation.
  • Erin M. McManis (Counsel)
    Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP
    Argued for Defendant-Appellee IQ Data International, Inc.; Carpenter Hazlewood is a prominent Arizona HOA/community-association firm (now CHDB Law), Tempe, Arizona.
  • Ember A. Van Vranken (Counsel)
    Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP
    Argued for Defendant-Appellee IQ Data International, Inc.; Carpenter Hazlewood (now CHDB Law), Tempe, Arizona.
  • Joshua M. Bolen (Counsel)
    Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP
    On the briefs for Defendant-Appellee IQ Data International, Inc.; name partner at Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP (now CHDB Law), Tempe, Arizona.

Neutral Parties

  • Roopali H. Desai (Judge)
    Circuit Judge; authored the panel opinion.
  • Susan P. Graber (Judge)
    Circuit Judge; member of the panel.
  • Ana de Alba (Judge)
    Circuit Judge; member of the panel.
  • Michael T. Liburdi (Judge)
    U.S. District Judge, District of Arizona; presided below and dismissed the action for lack of Article III standing (reversed on appeal).

What happened

IQ Data International, Inc. acquired a debt obligation stemming from Ryan Six’s purported breach of a residential lease. The dispute that reached the Ninth Circuit was not about whether Six owed the money, but about how IQ, as a debt collector, communicated with him after he retained a lawyer.

On August 18, 2021, Six mailed a letter to Equifax disputing the debt and requesting documentation. The same day, Six’s counsel mailed a letter directly to IQ, giving notice that Six was represented and that all correspondence should be sent to counsel rather than to Six.

On September 2, 2021, IQ received Six’s dispute letter and generated an internal request to produce and send the requested verification documentation to Six’s own mailing address. The next day, September 3, IQ updated its records to reflect that it had processed counsel’s letter and that direct communication with Six should cease — yet on that same day IQ mailed the debt-verification letter directly to Six.

After receiving the letter, Six sued IQ in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona under 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2), which prohibits a debt collector from communicating directly with a consumer it knows is represented by an attorney. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment.

The district court (Judge Michael T. Liburdi) dismissed the action for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, ruling that Six lacked Article III standing because he had not shown an injury in fact. The court reasoned that receiving a single unwanted letter was neither akin to a traditionally recognized harm nor the type of abusive practice the FDCPA was designed to prevent, and it denied the remaining summary-judgment arguments as moot.

On de novo review, the Ninth Circuit (Judge Desai, joined by Judges Graber and de Alba) reversed. It held that receipt of a letter sent in violation of § 1692c(a)(2) is a concrete, particularized, and actual injury — an invasion of privacy — sufficient for standing, and it rejected the Seventh Circuit’s contrary Pucillo reasoning as focused on degree rather than kind of harm.

The panel remanded for the district court to address the parties’ summary-judgment arguments in the first instance, expressly leaving open the affirmative defenses and a possible bona fide mistake defense. It noted that the short time between IQ processing counsel’s letter and mailing the disputed letter, together with Six’s own request that information be sent to him, raised serious questions about IQ’s ultimate liability. A separately filed memorandum disposition affirmed the district court’s discovery ruling and its modified attorneys’-fee award.

Six resolves an important standing question for consumer-protection litigation in the Ninth Circuit: a single unwanted written communication sent to a represented consumer can, by itself, be a concrete injury sufficient to sue in federal court. By anchoring the injury in Congress’s privacy findings and the common-law tort of intrusion upon seclusion, and by expressly declining to follow the Seventh Circuit’s mail-versus-text distinction from Pucillo, the panel makes clear that the relevant inquiry is the kind of harm, not its degree or the medium of delivery. That lowers the jurisdictional threshold for FDCPA plaintiffs and creates a circuit split that could draw further review. For Arizona community-association practitioners, the case is notable less for its subject matter — the underlying debt came from a residential lease, not an assessment lien, and no HOA is a party — than for who litigated it. The debt collector was represented on appeal by Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP (now CHDB Law), a leading Arizona HOA/community-association firm. Because associations and their managing agents routinely collect delinquent assessments and often qualify as debt collectors, the decision is a practical reminder that once a homeowner is known to be represented by counsel, direct written contact — even a single verification letter — can expose a collector to FDCPA liability and confer standing to sue.

HOA relevance: the defendant was represented by Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen, a community-association law firm, and the decision affects FDCPA standing in collection communications.

The downloaded record also includes a July 1, 2026 post-remand summary-judgment order for IQ Data on liability. As of July 8, 2026, that order was recent enough that the appeal window may not have expired, so the page treats the sanctions order and the Ninth Circuit standing holding as fixed source-backed events while avoiding any claim that the entire case is appellate-final.

Litigation record

Step 1 2021-08-18

Six disputes the debt and counsel notifies IQ Data that all correspondence should go through counsel.

Filed by: Six / counsel

Sets up the FDCPA represented-consumer claim.

Step 2 2021-09-03

IQ Data records the representation notice but mails a verification letter directly to Six the same day.

Filed by: IQ Data

This direct contact is the alleged FDCPA violation.

Step 6 2025-02-24

Published opinion reverses dismissal for lack of standing and remands.

Filed by: Ninth Circuit

Holds that one direct letter to a represented consumer can create concrete FDCPA injury.

Download source

Complete source-document index

This index contains 8 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 2 2022-08-18

Order Denying Rule 11 Sanctions Motion

Type: Court order/minute entry

Order denying IQ Data's Rule 11 motion and motion to stay; the court said the standing arguments belonged in a dispositive motion and rejected the sanctions theory.

Source 3 2022-10-11

Motion To Strike Expert

Type: Motion/application

A request for a specific ruling or procedural action; the next document is often a response or order.

Source 4 2023-04-17

Fee Motion After Sanctions Order

Type: Court order/minute entry

A request for a specific ruling or procedural action; the next document is often a response or order.

Source 6 2023-05-18

Judgment

Type: Decision or judgment

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

Download source file
Source 7 2026-07-01

Opinion

Type: Decision or judgment

Opinion holding that a consumer who receives a debt-collection communication sent in violation of FDCPA § 1692c(a)(2) — direct contact with a consumer the collector knows is represented by counsel — suffers a concrete, particularized, and actual injury (an invasion of privacy analogous to intrusion upon seclusion) that satisfies Article III standing.

Download source file

FAQ

What did the Ninth Circuit actually decide in Six v. IQ Data International?

The court held that a consumer who receives a letter sent in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act’s prohibition on contacting a represented consumer (15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2)) suffers a concrete, particularized, and actual injury — an invasion of privacy — that is sufficient for Article III standing. It reversed the District of Arizona’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction and sent the case back for further proceedings.

Why did the district court dismiss the case, and why was that wrong?

The district court found that receiving one unwanted letter was not an injury in fact — not similar to a traditional legal harm and not the abusive practice the FDCPA targets. The Ninth Circuit disagreed, holding that both Congress’s judgment in enacting the FDCPA and a close analogy to the common-law tort of intrusion upon seclusion show that an unwanted, unlawful communication is itself a concrete privacy harm, regardless of how few letters were sent.

Does a single letter really create standing, or do you need repeated contacts?

Under this decision, a single letter can be enough at the standing stage. The court explained that the number of communications goes to the degree of harm, not its kind, and that even one unwanted letter intrudes on the recipient’s privacy. It cautioned, however, that establishing standing to sue is different from ultimately proving liability, which remained for the district court on remand.

How is this case relevant to Arizona HOAs and community associations?

The dispute itself is not an HOA case — the debt came from a residential lease and no association is a party. Its relevance is twofold: the debt collector was represented by Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP (now CHDB Law), a major Arizona community-association firm, and the ruling underscores that entities collecting debts — including associations and managers pursuing delinquent assessments — can face FDCPA exposure for contacting a homeowner directly once they know the homeowner is represented by counsel.

Does this ruling create a split with other federal courts of appeals?

Yes. The panel expressly declined to follow the Seventh Circuit’s decision in Pucillo v. National Credit Systems, which had distinguished unwanted mail from unwanted texts and calls. The Ninth Circuit found that distinction improperly focused on the degree of intrusion rather than the kind of harm, creating a circuit split on whether an unwanted collection letter is a concrete injury.

What happened after remand?

After remand, the District of Arizona entered a July 1, 2026 summary-judgment order for IQ Data on liability. That later merits ruling does not erase the earlier sanctions order against IQ Data and CHDB counsel, but it must be kept separate from the Ninth Circuit standing holding. Because the order was recent as of July 8, 2026, final appellate posture should be rechecked before treating the case as fully final for media.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citation129 F.4th 630 (9th Cir. 2025)
Court / tribunalFederal Court
Decision / key dateFebruary 24, 2025
Judge / panelSusan P. Graber, Roopali H. Desai, Ana de Alba
PartiesConsumer Ryan Six (Plaintiff-Appellant) v. debt collector IQ Data International, Inc. (Defendant-Appellee), which was defended by the Arizona community-association law firm Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP.
Governing law
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692c(a)(2) (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — direct contact with a represented consumer)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692(a) (FDCPA congressional findings on invasions of privacy)
  • U.S. Const. art. III (standing / injury in fact)
Topics
FDCPAProcedureAttorney Fees
Outcome / holding

A consumer who receives a debt-collection communication sent in violation of FDCPA § 1692c(a)(2) — direct contact with a consumer the collector knows is represented by counsel — suffers a concrete, particularized, and actual injury (an invasion of privacy analogous to intrusion upon seclusion) that satisfies Article III standing. Receipt of even a single unwanted letter is sufficient at the pleading/jurisdiction stage. The district court's dismissal for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction is reversed and remanded.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package8 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap7 roadmap entries
Video overviewTemporarily unavailable while the expanded case record is reviewed
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links6 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Ryan Six sued IQ Data International under the FDCPA after IQ Data mailed him a debt-verification letter directly even though his lawyer had notified IQ Data that Six was represented. Judge Michael T. Liburdi dismissed the case for lack of Article III standing, but the Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that direct contact with a represented consumer is a concrete privacy injury. The public record also contains a separate and more severe district-court sanctions order: before the appeal, the court sanctioned IQ Data and its counsel, Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP, after finding their Rule 11 sanctions motion frivolous, reckless, made in bad faith, and used to leverage settlement. The court also found counsel misrepresented the reason for a scheduling request and imposed $17,520 in fees jointly and severally against IQ Data and CHDB counsel. After remand, the district court later entered summary judgment for IQ Data on liability, so the final merits outcome and the sanctions order must be kept distinct. The downloaded record also includes a July 1, 2026 post-remand summary-judgment order for IQ Data on liability. As of July 8, 2026, that order was recent enough that the appeal window may not have expired, so the page treats the sanctions order and the Ninth Circuit standing holding as fixed source-backed events while avoiding any claim that the entire case is appellate-final.

Key Issues & Findings

Applying Spokeo and TransUnion, the panel asked whether Six's alleged injury was concrete by weighing two factors: Congress's judgment and a comparison to harms traditionally recognized at common law. On the first, Congress found in enacting the FDCPA that abusive debt-collection practices contribute to invasions of individual privacy (15 U.S.C. § 1692(a)) and specifically barred contacting a consumer known to be represented by counsel, so receipt of such a letter is exactly the privacy infringement Congress contemplated. On the second, unwanted communications bear a close relationship in kind to the tort of intrusion upon seclusion; following Ward and Van Patten, the court saw no meaningful difference between an unwanted phone call and an unwanted letter, and it rejected the Seventh Circuit's Pucillo distinction as improperly turning on degree rather than kind. Because the letter was delivered directly to Six, the harm was particularized and actual — not conjectural or a bare procedural violation — and causation and redressability were undisputed, so Six had Article III standing.

Why It Matters

Six matters in two ways. First, the published Ninth Circuit opinion gives Arizona consumers a concrete standing rule: one unwanted debt-collection letter to a represented consumer can be enough injury to sue under the FDCPA. Second, the district-court record shows a rare public rebuke of collection-defense litigation tactics by CHDB counsel, including a sanctions fee award for bad-faith Rule 11 and scheduling conduct. That sanctions order is a court finding, not merely an allegation, but it concerns counsel conduct in defending IQ Data; it is not a finding that CHDB was the underlying debt collector or that CHDB violated the FDCPA as a party. The July 1, 2026 post-remand summary-judgment order for IQ Data must be kept separate from the sanctions finding, and final appellate posture should be rechecked before creating public media.

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Janis Wolf, Plaintiff, v. Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP, Defendant.: HOA Court Case Guide

FCRA & HOA Assessments | 15 U.S.C. § 1681b | CV-20-00957-PHX-DLR

Carpenter Hazlewood won the FCRA credit-report case, but the Ninth Circuit affirmed on no-willfulness grounds after assuming a possible violation, and a concurrence questioned HOA credit-report access.

Last updated July 1, 2026. Case: Janis Wolf, Plaintiff, v. Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP, Defendant.; No. CV-20-00957-PHX-DLR.

Media note: Video/audio is held until release QA confirms the generated media is accurate and current.

Scope note: This educational case page summarizes a court ruling for Arizona HOA homeowners, boards, and counsel. It is not legal advice.

Appellate posture note: CHDB won Wolf, but the Ninth Circuit affirmed on no-willfulness grounds after assuming without deciding that a FCRA violation may have occurred.

The rule in one sentence

The District of Arizona granted summary judgment to Carpenter Hazlewood on the theory that the HOA assessment arrangement was a voluntary FCRA credit transaction and that the firm had a permissible purpose to obtain Wolf’s credit report for collection litigation. The Ninth Circuit affirmed on a narrower ground: it assumed without deciding that a FCRA violation may have occurred, but held any violation was not willful because the firm’s reading of the statute was not objectively unreasonable.

Public-interest record: defense win with a consumer-privacy caveat

CHDB won the case

The district court granted summary judgment to Carpenter Hazlewood and the Ninth Circuit affirmed. It would be false to frame Wolf as a liability finding against CHDB.

But the appellate panel did not bless everything

The Ninth Circuit assumed without deciding that there may have been a FCRA violation and affirmed because any violation was not willful.

Concurrence flagged HOA credit pulls

Judge Christen questioned whether ordinary HOA assessments should qualify as credit transactions that permit a collection law firm to pull a homeowner’s report.

Case Participants

Neutral Parties

  • Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP (Defendant)
    HOA collection law firm retained by the Neely Farms HOA to collect Wolf's unpaid assessments; prevailing party on summary judgment.
  • Janis Wolf (Plaintiff)
    Homeowner in the Neely Farms subdivision who stopped paying HOA assessments; sued the firm under the FCRA individually and on behalf of a putative class.
  • Neely Farms HOA (Non-party (underlying HOA client))
    The Neely Farms subdivision homeowners' association that imposed the annual assessment under its CC&Rs and retained the defendant law firm to collect Wolf's unpaid assessments; not a named party in this suit.
  • Jonathan A. Dessaules (Counsel)
    Dessaules Law Group
    Counsel of record for Plaintiff Janis Wolf. (The D. Ariz. order contains no counsel block; counsel sourced from public filings per record metadata.)
  • Thomas E. Raccuia (Counsel)
    Dessaules Law Group
    Counsel for Plaintiff Janis Wolf. (Sourced from public filings; not listed in the D. Ariz. order.)
  • Ashley C. Hill (Counsel)
    Dessaules Law Group
    Counsel for Plaintiff Janis Wolf. (Sourced from public filings; not listed in the D. Ariz. order.)
  • David M. Schultz (Counsel)
    Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
    Counsel for Defendant Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP. (Sourced from public filings; not listed in the D. Ariz. order.)
  • Brett J. Larsen (Counsel)
    Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
    Counsel for Defendant Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP. (Sourced from public filings; not listed in the D. Ariz. order.)
  • Douglas L. Rayes (Judge)
    United States District Judge, District of Arizona; authored the summary judgment order.

What happened and why it matters

Janis Wolf bought a home in the Neely Farms subdivision, which was subject to CC&Rs requiring homeowners to pay annual HOA assessments in installments. In 2017 she stopped paying, and the Neely Farms HOA hired Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP to collect the unpaid assessments. Before filing a justice-court collection action, the firm obtained Wolf’s credit report without her consent to confirm her current address. Wolf then sued the firm under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), arguing the firm lacked a permissible purpose under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b.

The District of Arizona granted summary judgment to CHDB. Judge Douglas L. Rayes held that the assessment arrangement was a voluntary credit transaction because the annual assessment was payable in installments and Wolf bought the home knowing it was bound by the CC&Rs. The court also found a direct link because the firm pulled the report to locate Wolf for the assessment-collection lawsuit.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed, but on a narrower ground. The panel assumed without deciding that Wolf could show a FCRA violation and held that any violation was not willful because CHDB’s statutory reading was not objectively unreasonable. Judge Christen concurred separately and questioned whether ordinary HOA assessments really fit the credit-transaction concept.

The fair public takeaway is therefore narrow: CHDB won and Wolf is not a liability finding against the firm. At the same time, Wolf should not be presented as blanket appellate approval for HOA collection credit pulls. The appellate court avoided the merits question and left a consumer-privacy caveat in the concurrence.

Step-by-step litigation record

Step 1 Before 2020

Firm obtains Wolf's consumer credit report while locating her for HOA assessment collection litigation.

Filed by: Carpenter Hazlewood

This credit-report access is the conduct challenged under the FCRA.

Step 4 2023-05-12

Panel affirms CHDB, assuming without deciding a possible violation but holding any violation was not willful; concurrence questions HOA credit-report access.

Filed by: Ninth Circuit

This is the fair framing: defense win, but with an appellate caveat.

Complete source-document index

This index contains 6 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 2 2022-01-18

Opinion

Type: Decision or judgment

Opinion holding that an HOA assessment payable in installments is a credit transaction and that the HOA’s law firm had a permissible purpose to obtain the homeowner’s credit report for collection litigation.

Download source file
Source 4 2022-02-15

Clerks Judgment

Type: Decision or judgment

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

Download source file
Source 5 2023-05-12

Ninth Circuit Mandate

Type: Decision or judgment

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

Source 6 2023-05-12

Ninth Circuit Memorandum And Concurrence

Type: Court/source PDF

Ninth Circuit memorandum affirming on no-willfulness grounds, with a concurrence questioning the HOA credit-transaction premise.

FAQ

Who won Wolf v. Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP?

The defendant law firm won. The district court granted summary judgment to CHDB, and the Ninth Circuit affirmed on no-willfulness grounds. The appellate panel assumed without deciding that there may have been a FCRA violation, so the win should not be overstated as a full appellate merits endorsement of credit-report access.

What was the case about?

The homeowner, Janis Wolf, sued under the Fair Credit Reporting Act after the HOA’s collection law firm obtained her credit report without her consent to locate her before filing a collection action for unpaid Neely Farms HOA assessments. The core dispute was whether the firm had a permissible purpose under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b to pull the report.

What did the district court say about the HOA assessment as a credit transaction?

The district court applied Brothers v. First Leasing and concluded the assessment involved deferred payment because it was imposed annually but payable in installments. It also treated the transaction as voluntary because Wolf bought a home she knew was subject to CC&Rs. The Ninth Circuit did not decide whether that merits analysis was correct.

Was the firm allowed to pull the credit report without consent?

The district court said yes. The Ninth Circuit did not decide the permissible-purpose issue; it assumed a possible violation and affirmed because any violation was not willful under the FCRA standard.

Is this an FDCPA case?

No. Although the dispute arises from HOA assessment debt collection by the HOA’s law firm, the claim was brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. § 1681b, not the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The opinion never mentions the FDCPA.

Is this decision binding precedent?

The district-court summary-judgment order is persuasive, not binding precedent. The Ninth Circuit memorandum disposition is also nonprecedential, but it matters because it is the appellate posture of this case: CHDB won on no-willfulness while the panel avoided deciding the underlying permissible-purpose merits.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citationNo. CV-20-00957-PHX-DLR
Court / tribunalFederal Court
Decision / key dateJanuary 18, 2022
Judge / panelDouglas L. Rayes
PartiesJanis Wolf (Plaintiff) v. Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP (Defendant)
Governing law
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1681b (FCRA permissible purpose)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1681a(r)(5) (FCRA definition of 'credit')
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1691a(d) (ECOA definition of 'credit')
  • Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a)
Topics
AssessmentsCC&RsProcedureFDCPA
Outcome / holding

The District of Arizona granted summary judgment to Carpenter Hazlewood on the theory that the HOA assessment arrangement was a voluntary FCRA credit transaction and that the firm had a permissible purpose to obtain Wolf's credit report for collection litigation. The Ninth Circuit affirmed on a narrower ground: it assumed without deciding that a FCRA violation may have occurred, but held any violation was not willful because the firm's reading of the statute was not objectively unreasonable.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package6 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap4 roadmap entries
Video overviewTemporarily unavailable while the expanded case record is reviewed
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links5 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Janis Wolf sued Carpenter Hazlewood Delgado & Bolen LLP under the Fair Credit Reporting Act after the firm obtained her consumer credit report while trying to locate her for an HOA assessment-collection action. The District of Arizona granted summary judgment to the firm on a broad permissible-purpose theory. The Ninth Circuit affirmed, but only on no-willfulness grounds after assuming without deciding that a FCRA violation may have occurred. Judge Christen concurred separately and questioned whether ordinary HOA assessments should be treated as credit transactions authorizing credit-report access. The result is a defense win for CHDB, but not a clean appellate endorsement of the broader credit-pull theory.

Key Issues & Findings

The district court treated the case as a first-impression FCRA permissible-purpose question. It reasoned that the Neely Farms annual assessment, payable in installments, could qualify as a voluntary credit transaction and that CHDB pulled the report to locate Wolf for collection litigation, creating the required direct link.

The appellate disposition is narrower and controls the public framing. The Ninth Circuit did not decide whether CHDB actually had a permissible purpose. Instead, it assumed for purposes of appeal that Wolf could show a violation, then affirmed because the FCRA willfulness standard requires an objectively unreasonable statutory reading and CHDB's interpretation was not unreasonable in light of the unsettled law. Judge Christen concurred separately to note that ordinary HOA assessments may not fit comfortably within FCRA credit-transaction doctrine. Wolf is therefore a defense win, not a liability finding, but it is also not a blanket appellate endorsement of HOA collection credit pulls.

Why It Matters

Wolf is important because it shows both the protection CHDB won and the consumer-privacy concern that remains unresolved. Homeowners should not read Wolf as a finding that CHDB violated the FCRA; the firm won. But boards, managers, and collection firms should also not overread it as blanket permission for every HOA credit-report pull. The Ninth Circuit avoided deciding whether there was a violation, and one judge wrote separately to warn that HOA assessments may not fit comfortably within consumer-credit-reporting doctrine.

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McNair v. Maxwell & Morgan, PC: HOA Court Case Guide

FDCPA | 15 U.S.C. § 1692e | 9th Cir. No. 15-17383 (893 F.3d 680)

A published Ninth Circuit opinion held Maxwell & Morgan’s HOA judicial-foreclosure collection activity was covered by the FDCPA and that the firm falsely represented unapproved attorneys’ fees as legally owed.

Last updated July 1, 2026. Case: McNair v. Maxwell & Morgan, PC; 893 F.3d 680 (9th Cir. 2018) (No. 15-17383); D. Ariz. No. 2:14-cv-00869-PHX-DGC (David G. Campbell, District Judge).

Current-status note: Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This educational case page summarizes a court ruling for Arizona HOA homeowners, boards, and counsel. It is not legal advice.

The rule in one sentence

Collecting delinquent homeowner-association assessments through a judicial foreclosure that permits deficiency judgments constitutes “debt collection” under the FDCPA, distinguishing Ho v. ReconTrust Co.; and a debt collector’s filing of a writ of special execution that implicitly represents unapproved “accruing” attorneys’ fees as already court-approved falsely states the legal status of the debt in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A). The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the defendants on that claim and remanded for a determination of damages, while affirming the remaining claims in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.

Public-interest record: appellate finding against Maxwell & Morgan

False fee-status representation

The Ninth Circuit held Maxwell & Morgan falsely represented the legal status of $1,597.50 in accruing attorneys’ fees by presenting them as owed before court approval.

FDCPA applies to the foreclosure tactic

The panel held HOA judicial foreclosure activity that can produce a deficiency judgment is debt collection under the FDCPA, rejecting the defense framing that it was outside the statute.

Settlement limits the conclusion

The case settled after remand. The source-backed statement is the appellate holding; do not claim a later trial verdict or damages award unless a later source proves it.

Case Participants

Neutral Parties

  • Martha A. McNair (Appellant)
    Homeowner in Gilbert, Arizona within the Neely Commons Community Association; plaintiff who sued the collection law firm under the FDCPA.
  • Maxwell & Morgan PC (Appellee)
    Arizona professional corporation; the HOA collection law firm that represented the Neely Commons Community Association in collecting McNair's assessment debt.
  • Charles E. Maxwell (Appellee)
    Principal of Maxwell & Morgan PC; named defendant-appellee (husband).
  • Lisa Maxwell (Appellee)
    Named defendant-appellee (wife of Charles E. Maxwell), joined for marital-community purposes.
  • W. William Nikolaus (Appellee)
    Principal of Maxwell & Morgan PC; named defendant-appellee (husband).
  • Leslie Nikolaus (Appellee)
    Named defendant-appellee (wife of W. William Nikolaus), joined for marital-community purposes.
  • Neely Commons Community Association (Party)
    The homeowners association whose delinquent assessments were at issue; the firm's client, not a named party to the appeal.
  • Douglas C. Wigley (Counsel)
    Dessaules Law Group
    Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellant Martha McNair (argued); Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Jonathan A. Dessaules (Counsel)
    Dessaules Law Group
    Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellant Martha McNair; Phoenix, Arizona.
  • Robert Travis Campbell (Counsel)
    Simmonds & Narita LLP
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees (argued); San Francisco, California.
  • Jeffrey A. Topor (Counsel)
    Simmonds & Narita LLP
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees; San Francisco, California.
  • Tomio B. Narita (Counsel)
    Simmonds & Narita LLP
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees; San Francisco, California.
  • Janet Bond Arterton (Judge)
    U.S. District Judge for the District of Connecticut, sitting by designation; authored the opinion.
  • Jay S. Bybee (Judge)
    U.S. Circuit Judge, Ninth Circuit; randomly drawn to the panel and joined the opinion.
  • Michelle T. Friedland (Judge)
    U.S. Circuit Judge, Ninth Circuit; joined the opinion.
  • David G. Campbell (Judge)
    U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona who granted summary judgment to the defendants below.

What happened and why it matters

Martha McNair bought a home in Gilbert, Arizona in 2004 that was part of the Neely Commons Community Association, obligating her under a recorded declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) to pay an annual assessment in monthly installments. After she fell behind, the law firm Maxwell & Morgan P.C. — retained by the Association — pursued her through a series of collection lawsuits, a stipulated judgment, and ultimately a judicial foreclosure that sold her home. McNair then sued the firm and its principals under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), alleging they misrepresented the amount she owed and sought attorneys’ fees to which they were not entitled. The district court granted summary judgment to the defendants, holding most claims time-barred and rejecting the timely claims — reasoning in part that pursuing a foreclosure was not “debt collection” and that the state court had implicitly approved the fees. The Ninth Circuit affirmed in part and reversed in part. Distinguishing Ho v. ReconTrust Co. (a non-judicial foreclosure case), the panel held that collecting HOA assessments through a judicial foreclosure that allows deficiency judgments is “debt collection” subject to the FDCPA. It further held that the firm’s writ of special execution violated 15 U.S.C. § 1692e by falsely representing the legal status of $1,597.50 in “accruing” attorneys’ fees as court-approved when no court had yet approved them. The panel remanded for a determination of statutory and any actual damages, and a concurrently filed memorandum disposition affirmed the remaining, largely untimely claims.

The panel addressed the two independent grounds on which the district court had granted summary judgment. First, the district court had held that the defendants were not engaged in “debt collection” because the writ was filed to foreclose on a lien. The Ninth Circuit rejected that reasoning as irreconcilable with the statutory text. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5), a “debt” is an obligation to pay money arising out of a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and under § 1692a(6) a “debt collector” is anyone who regularly collects debts owed to another. McNair’s obligation arose from unpaid homeowner-association assessments on her residence, so it plainly qualified as consumer debt, and the firm plainly qualified as a debt collector. The court cited Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell, 845 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2017), and Heintz v. Jenkins, 514 U.S. 291 (1995), for the settled rule that attorneys who regularly engage in consumer-debt collection are covered by the Act even when that activity consists of litigation.

The court then distinguished Ho v. ReconTrust Co., NA, 858 F.3d 568 (9th Cir. 2017), on which the defendants relied. Ho held that a trustee facilitating a non-judicial foreclosure was not collecting a “debt” because, under California law, such a foreclosure cannot yield a deficiency judgment and thus extinguishes the entire debt regardless of the sale price — the object being to retake and resell the security, not to collect money from the borrower. Here, by contrast, the defendants pursued a judicial foreclosure under a scheme that, in many cases, permits deficiency judgments, citing A.R.S. §§ 33-727(A) and 33-729(B)-(C). That difference placed the firm’s conduct squarely within the FDCPA’s definition of debt collection.

Second, the district court had held, in the alternative, that the writ did not violate the Act because the Maricopa County Superior Court had implicitly approved the claimed fees by issuing the writ and later rejecting McNair’s challenges. The panel found this analysis failed to ask the right question: whether the defendants were legally entitled to claim the fees at the time they applied for the writ. The FDCPA bars any false or misleading representation of the character, amount, or legal status of a debt, 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A). Under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 54(g), post-judgment attorneys’ fees must be requested by motion, and when the November 5, 2013 writ was filed, no court had yet approved the quantification of the $1,597.50 in “accruing” fees. By listing those fees as “now … due,” the writ falsely represented that they had already been judicially approved. The court cited Woliansky v. Miller and Costa v. Maxwell & Morgan PC for the point that fee amounts are set by the court’s discretion. Because the district court had not reached damages, the panel remanded for a determination of statutory and, if applicable, actual damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k, noting McNair might have suffered no actual damages given the Superior Court’s later approval of the fees.

This published Ninth Circuit decision is significant for homeowners, associations, and the law firms that collect HOA debt because it confirms that the FDCPA applies to judicial-foreclosure collection of delinquent assessments. Many collectors had read Ho v. ReconTrust to mean that any foreclosure is outside the Act. McNair narrows Ho to its facts: the exemption turns on whether the foreclosure scheme can produce a deficiency judgment. Because Arizona’s judicial-foreclosure process can, a firm that collects assessments through it is a “debt collector” pursuing a “debt” and must comply with the FDCPA’s prohibitions on false or misleading representations.

The decision also draws a practical line for how collectors may present attorneys’ fees in enforcement papers. Listing “accruing” fees as presently due in a writ of special execution — before any court has approved that amount under Arizona Rule 54(g) — can be an actionable misrepresentation of the debt’s legal status, even if a court later blesses the same fees. For homeowners, McNair confirms a federal remedy (including statutory damages) against overreaching collection conduct; for associations and their counsel, it is a reminder to secure judicial approval before characterizing post-judgment fees as owed. The Supreme Court denied certiorari in 2019, leaving the ruling in force within the Ninth Circuit.

Video overview of the case record

AI-generated video overview of McNair v. Maxwell & Morgan, PC. The Ninth Circuit appellate holding is the adverse source-backed point; the case settled after remand and no damages judgment should be implied.

The written case page and linked court records are the controlling source for legal posture and accuracy.

Listen: audio deep dive on the case record

AI-generated audio deep dive for McNair v. Maxwell & Morgan, PC. The Ninth Circuit appellate holding is the adverse source-backed point; the case settled after remand and no damages judgment should be implied.

Use the linked court records and written page for the exact legal posture.

Audio overview generated from the case record; verify against the linked court records.

Step-by-step litigation record

Step 1 2004

Martha McNair buys a Gilbert home subject to Neely Commons HOA assessments.

Filed by: McNair

Creates the assessment obligation later collected through litigation and foreclosure.

Step 2 Before 2014

The firm pursues collection litigation, a stipulated judgment, and judicial foreclosure that sells McNair's home.

Filed by: Maxwell & Morgan

This is the conduct later challenged under the FDCPA.

Step 5 2018-06-25

Panel reverses in part and holds the foreclosure enforcement was FDCPA debt collection and the unapproved-fee representation was false.

Filed by: Ninth Circuit

This is the core adverse finding against Maxwell & Morgan.

Complete source-document index

This index contains 8 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 4 2015-11-04

Clerks Judgment

Type: Decision or judgment

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

Download source file
Source 5 2018-06-25

Opinion

Type: Decision or judgment

Opinion holding that collecting delinquent homeowner-association assessments through a judicial foreclosure that permits deficiency judgments constitutes "debt collection" under the FDCPA, distinguishing Ho v.

Download source file
Source 6 2018-06-25

Ninth Circuit Published Opinion Reversal

Type: Decision or judgment

Published Ninth Circuit opinion holding judicial foreclosure was FDCPA debt collection and that unapproved accruing fees were falsely represented as legally owed.

Source 7 2018-08-07

Ninth Circuit Rehearing Order

Type: Court order/minute entry

Court or agency order; this is usually the document that tells readers what changed next.

FAQ

What was McNair v. Maxwell & Morgan, PC about?

Martha McNair, a Gilbert, Arizona homeowner, sued the law firm Maxwell & Morgan P.C. and its principals under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The firm had collected delinquent homeowner-association assessments she owed the Neely Commons Community Association, ultimately foreclosing on and selling her home. McNair alleged the firm misrepresented the amount of her debt and sought attorneys’ fees to which it was not entitled.

Does the FDCPA apply to collecting HOA assessments through foreclosure?

Yes, when the foreclosure is judicial and can allow a deficiency judgment. The Ninth Circuit held that the firm’s effort to collect HOA fees through Arizona’s judicial-foreclosure process was “debt collection” under the FDCPA. It distinguished Ho v. ReconTrust Co., which had exempted non-judicial foreclosures because, under the law there, such foreclosures extinguish the entire debt and cannot produce a deficiency judgment.

Why did the firm's writ of special execution violate the FDCPA?

The November 2013 writ listed $1,597.50 in “accruing” attorneys’ fees as “now … due,” implying a court had already approved that amount. Under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 54(g), post-judgment fees must be requested by motion, and no court had yet approved those fees when the writ was filed. That falsely represented the legal status of the debt in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A).

What did the Ninth Circuit ultimately decide?

The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part. In a concurrent memorandum disposition it affirmed that most of McNair’s claims were untimely and rejected one timely claim. In the published opinion it reversed summary judgment on her claim about the misrepresented fees, held the FDCPA applied, and remanded to the district court to determine statutory and any actual damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k.

Was McNair still liable for the fees, and did she win money?

The Superior Court later approved the attorneys’ fees, so McNair may not have suffered actual damages from the misrepresentation. The Ninth Circuit did not award damages itself; it remanded so the district court could determine what statutory and, if applicable, actual damages she is entitled to. The FDCPA allows statutory damages even without proven actual loss.

Is this decision binding, and what happened after?

Yes. The opinion was published (“FOR PUBLICATION,” 893 F.3d 680), making it precedential within the Ninth Circuit. The defendants sought U.S. Supreme Court review, but certiorari was denied in 2019 (139 S. Ct. 1375), leaving the ruling intact. It is a leading authority on the FDCPA’s reach over judicial-foreclosure collection of HOA debt.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citation893 F.3d 680 (9th Cir. 2018) (No. 15-17383)
Court / tribunalFederal Court
Decision / key dateJune 25, 2018
Judge / panelJanet Bond Arterton (opinion author, D. Conn., sitting by designation), Jay S. Bybee, Michelle T. Friedland
PartiesMartha A. McNair (Plaintiff-Appellant, a Gilbert homeowner) v. Maxwell & Morgan PC and its principals Charles E. Maxwell and W. William Nikolaus (Defendants-Appellees, the HOA collection law firm for the Neely Commons Community Association).
Governing law
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692e (FDCPA — false or misleading representations)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A) (false representation of the character, amount, or legal status of a debt)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5)-(6) (FDCPA definitions of 'debt' and 'debt collector')
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692k (FDCPA civil liability and damages)
  • A.R.S. § 12-1551(A) (writ of execution to enforce a judgment)
  • A.R.S. §§ 33-727, 33-729 (judgment liens, foreclosure, and deficiency judgments)
  • Ariz. R. Civ. P. 54(g) (post-judgment attorneys' fees by motion)
Topics
FDCPAAssessmentsForeclosureAttorney FeesLiensCC&Rs
Outcome / holding

Collecting delinquent homeowner-association assessments through a judicial foreclosure that permits deficiency judgments constitutes "debt collection" under the FDCPA, distinguishing Ho v. ReconTrust Co.; and a debt collector's filing of a writ of special execution that implicitly represents unapproved "accruing" attorneys' fees as already court-approved falsely states the legal status of the debt in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A). The Ninth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the defendants on that claim and remanded for a determination of damages, while affirming the remaining claims in a concurrently filed memorandum disposition.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package8 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap6 roadmap entries
Video overviewMcNair v. Maxwell & Morgan, PC – 893 F.3d 680
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links6 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Martha McNair sued Maxwell & Morgan, P.C. and its principals after the firm used Arizona judicial-foreclosure proceedings to collect delinquent HOA assessments and related fees for Neely Commons Community Association. The district court largely sided with the firm, but the Ninth Circuit reversed in part. The panel held that judicial foreclosure of HOA assessments that can lead to a deficiency judgment is debt collection under the FDCPA. More importantly for public accountability, the court held that defendants falsely represented the legal status of $1,597.50 in accruing attorneys' fees by treating those fees as presently owed in a writ of special execution before a court had approved them. The case was remanded for statutory and possible actual damages and later settled.

Key Issues & Findings

The panel addressed the two independent grounds on which the district court had granted summary judgment. First, the district court had held that the defendants were not engaged in "debt collection" because the writ was filed to foreclose on a lien. The Ninth Circuit rejected that reasoning as irreconcilable with the statutory text. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5), a "debt" is an obligation to pay money arising out of a transaction primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and under § 1692a(6) a "debt collector" is anyone who regularly collects debts owed to another. McNair's obligation arose from unpaid homeowner-association assessments on her residence, so it plainly qualified as consumer debt, and the firm plainly qualified as a debt collector. The court cited Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell, 845 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2017), and Heintz v. Jenkins, 514 U.S. 291 (1995), for the settled rule that attorneys who regularly engage in consumer-debt collection are covered by the Act even when that activity consists of litigation.

The court then distinguished Ho v. ReconTrust Co., NA, 858 F.3d 568 (9th Cir. 2017), on which the defendants relied. Ho held that a trustee facilitating a non-judicial foreclosure was not collecting a "debt" because, under California law, such a foreclosure cannot yield a deficiency judgment and thus extinguishes the entire debt regardless of the sale price — the object being to retake and resell the security, not to collect money from the borrower. Here, by contrast, the defendants pursued a judicial foreclosure under a scheme that, in many cases, permits deficiency judgments, citing A.R.S. §§ 33-727(A) and 33-729(B)-(C). That difference placed the firm's conduct squarely within the FDCPA's definition of debt collection.

Second, the district court had held, in the alternative, that the writ did not violate the Act because the Maricopa County Superior Court had implicitly approved the claimed fees by issuing the writ and later rejecting McNair's challenges. The panel found this analysis failed to ask the right question: whether the defendants were legally entitled to claim the fees at the time they applied for the writ. The FDCPA bars any false or misleading representation of the character, amount, or legal status of a debt, 15 U.S.C. § 1692e(2)(A). Under Arizona Rule of Civil Procedure 54(g), post-judgment attorneys' fees must be requested by motion, and when the November 5, 2013 writ was filed, no court had yet approved the quantification of the $1,597.50 in "accruing" fees. By listing those fees as "now … due," the writ falsely represented that they had already been judicially approved. The court cited Woliansky v. Miller and Costa v. Maxwell & Morgan PC for the point that fee amounts are set by the court's discretion. Because the district court had not reached damages, the panel remanded for a determination of statutory and, if applicable, actual damages under 15 U.S.C. § 1692k, noting McNair might have suffered no actual damages given the Superior Court's later approval of the fees.

Why It Matters

McNair is the strongest federal record against Maxwell & Morgan in this batch because the adverse point is an appellate holding, not just a homeowner allegation. The Ninth Circuit did not merely revive a procedural claim; it held that the firm's foreclosure enforcement activity was FDCPA debt collection and that the challenged writ misrepresented the legal status of unapproved fees. Because the case settled after remand, the page should not claim a final damages judgment beyond the appellate holding and settlement record.

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Zakia Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell; Debora M. Zumwalt; Does 1-25: HOA Court Case Guide

FDCPA & HOA Assessments | 15 U.S.C. § 1692g | 845 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2017)

A San Diego homeowner sued her HOA’s collection law firm after it demanded an overdue assessment and threatened a lien. The Ninth Circuit held she stated a plausible FDCPA claim because the letter’s payment deadline and lien threat overshadowed her federal right to dispute the debt, and that the firm was a debt collector subject to the full statute.

Last updated July 1, 2026. Case: Zakia Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell; Debora M. Zumwalt; Does 1-25; 845 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2017) (No. 14-56927); 3:14-cv-00839-JLS-RBB (S.D. Cal.).

Current-status note: This page is published as a litigation record based on the source files available through 2017-01-13. Later filings, appeals, mandates, settlements, or dismissal orders may change the posture; the linked court records control.

Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This educational case page summarizes a court ruling for Arizona HOA homeowners, boards, and counsel. It is not legal advice.

Post-remand note: The source set contains the 2017 published Ninth Circuit opinion, not a final post-remand disposition. This page summarizes the precedential appellate ruling only.

The rule in one sentence

The Ninth Circuit reversed the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, holding that Mashiri stated a plausible FDCPA claim because, judged by the ‘least sophisticated debtor’ standard, the collection letter contained language that overshadowed and conflicted with her 15 U.S.C. § 1692g debt-validation rights. The panel further held that a debt collector who sends such a letter to collect an overdue assessment is subject to the full scope of the FDCPA, not merely the limitations of § 1692f(6), because it was collecting a debt and not merely enforcing an already-existing security interest.

Case Participants

Neutral Parties

  • Zakia Mashiri (Plaintiff)
    Homeowner and member of the Westwood Club homeowners' association in San Diego; Plaintiff-Appellant who brought the FDCPA, Rosenthal Act, and Unfair Competition Law claims.
  • Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC (Defendant)
    Law firm that sent the May 1, 2013 assessment-collection letter on behalf of the Westwood Club HOA; Defendant-Appellee. Held to be a debt collector subject to the full scope of the FDCPA.
  • Debora M. Zumwalt (Defendant)
    Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC
    Attorney named as a defendant; associated with the collection letter sent on behalf of the HOA. Defendant-Appellee.
  • Westwood Club Homeowners' Association (Creditor (non-party))
    The underlying HOA client and creditor on whose behalf Epsten sent the collection letter and recorded the lien; not a named party in the appeal.
  • Asil Marhiri (Counsel)
    Mashiri Law Firm
    Argued the appeal for Plaintiff-Appellant Zakia Mashiri; Mashiri Law Firm, San Diego, California.
  • Anne Lorentzen Rauch (Counsel)
    Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC
    Argued the appeal for Defendants-Appellees; Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC, San Diego, California.
  • Mandy D. Hexom (Counsel)
    Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees; Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC, San Diego, California.
  • Rian W. Jones (Counsel)
    Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees; Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC, San Diego, California.
  • Richard A. Paez (Judge)
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    Circuit Judge; authored the panel's published opinion.
  • Dorothy W. Nelson (Judge)
    U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
    Circuit Judge on the panel.
  • Elaine E. Bucklo (Judge)
    U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (sitting by designation)
    U.S. District Judge sitting by designation on the Ninth Circuit panel.
  • Janis L. Sammartino (Judge)
    U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
    District Judge who presided below and granted the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal that was reversed on appeal.

What happened and why it matters

Zakia Mashiri owns a home in San Diego and is a member of the Westwood Club homeowners’ association, which levies annual assessments. After she failed to timely pay a $385 assessment fee levied in July 2012, the HOA’s collection law firm, Epsten Grinnell & Howell, and attorney Debora M. Zumwalt sent her a May 1, 2013 letter (the ‘May Notice’) demanding $598 in assessments plus late, administrative, and legal fees, and warning that failure to pay within thirty-five days would result in a lien on her property. The same letter also contained federal debt-validation language telling her she had thirty days to dispute the debt. Mashiri sued under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), California’s Rosenthal Act, and California’s Unfair Competition Law, alleging the letter’s payment deadline and lien threat overshadowed and contradicted her right to dispute the debt. The district court dismissed all claims under Rule 12(b)(6). The Ninth Circuit reversed. Applying the ‘least sophisticated debtor’ standard, it held Mashiri stated a plausible 15 U.S.C. § 1692g violation because the letter demanded payment within thirty-five days of its date (inconsistent with the thirty-day dispute window running from receipt) and threatened a lien regardless of any dispute. The panel also rejected Epsten’s argument, raised for the first time on appeal, that it was subject only to § 1692f(6); it held Epsten was a debt collector subject to the full scope of the FDCPA. The court reversed and remanded.

Reviewing the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal de novo, the panel accepted the complaint’s well-pleaded allegations as true and asked whether they stated a claim ‘plausible on its face’ under Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly. It framed the FDCPA’s purpose as eliminating abusive debt-collection practices and subjecting ‘debt collectors’ to civil liability. The court first addressed Epsten’s threshold argument, raised for the first time on appeal, that because it sought only to perfect a security interest it was governed solely by 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6). Although arguments raised for the first time on appeal are ordinarily forfeited, the panel reached this one because it was purely legal, the pertinent facts were undisputed, and Mashiri had responded to it. On the merits, the court held the overdue assessment was a ‘debt’ under § 1692a(5) because it arose from Mashiri’s household membership in the HOA, and the May Notice plainly sought to collect it. Relying on Ho v. ReconTrust, the panel reasoned that entities enforcing security interests are debt collectors when their activities constitute debt collection; unlike the trustee in Ho, who merely sent a notice of default without demanding payment, Epsten demanded payment and there was as yet no recorded lien to enforce. Epsten was therefore subject to the full scope of the FDCPA, including § 1692g and § 1692e. Turning to § 1692g, the court explained that a validation notice must be conveyed effectively (Swanson v. Southern Oregon Credit Service) and must not be overshadowed by or inconsistent with other messages that would confuse the least sophisticated debtor (Terran v. Kaplan). The panel found two plausible violations: first, demanding payment within thirty-five days of the letter’s date conflicted with the debtor’s thirty-day dispute period measured from receipt, because a debtor might receive the letter with fewer than thirty days remaining and would have to forgo her dispute rights to avoid a lien; second, the statement that a lien ‘will’ be recorded upon nonpayment overshadowed the right to dispute, because the least sophisticated debtor would wrongly believe a lien would be recorded on the thirty-fifth day even after disputing the debt. The court distinguished Shimek v. Weissman (governed by Georgia law permitting contemporaneous lien filing) and explained that under California’s Davis-Stirling Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 5660, 5670) an HOA must give thirty days’ notice and participate in dispute resolution before recording a lien, so the FDCPA duty to suspend collection pending verification was fully consistent with state law. Accordingly, the threat to record a lien was a debt-collection activity that had to cease upon a dispute, and the letter’s failure to convey that effectively stated a plausible § 1692g violation. Reversing the § 1692g dismissal required reversing the dependent § 1692e(5), Rosenthal Act, and Unfair Competition Law claims as well.

For homeowners’ associations and the law firms that collect their assessments, this published Ninth Circuit decision confirms that a single letter can be both a Davis-Stirling pre-lien notice and full-blown FDCPA debt collection. A collector cannot escape § 1692g simply by saying it was ‘perfecting a security interest’ when no lien yet exists and the letter demands payment. Practically, collection letters must give the consumer the full thirty-day dispute window measured from receipt, must not set a payment deadline that effectively shortens that window, and must not threaten that a lien ‘will’ be recorded in a way that suggests the threat survives a timely dispute. Because the FDCPA requires collection to cease once the debtor disputes the debt and until verification is mailed, a lien threat that ignores that pause can overshadow the validation notice and expose the firm to liability.

For Arizona homeowners and boards, the decision carries direct weight even though it arose under California’s Davis-Stirling Act. It is a published, precedential opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which includes Arizona, so it binds Arizona’s federal district courts on the FDCPA questions it decides. Arizona HOAs collect assessments under a different state statutory scheme, but the FDCPA is federal law that applies the same way to Arizona assessment-collection letters. An Arizona homeowner who receives a demand letter from an HOA collection firm has the same right to a clear, unobstructed thirty-day validation notice, and firms operating in Arizona should ensure their letters do not let assessment deadlines or lien warnings overshadow that federal right.

The source set for this page is the 2017 published Ninth Circuit opinion. It does not include a post-remand final disposition, damages award, or settlement record, so the page summarizes the precedential appellate ruling and does not claim a final liability judgment after remand.

Video overview of the case record

AI-generated video overview of Zakia Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell; Debora M. Zumwalt; Does 1-25. This is a published appellate precedent guide based on the Ninth Circuit reversal/remand, not a complete post-remand final-disposition record.

The written case page and linked court records are the controlling source for legal posture and accuracy.

Listen: audio deep dive on the case record

AI-generated audio deep dive for Zakia Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell; Debora M. Zumwalt; Does 1-25. This is a published appellate precedent guide based on the Ninth Circuit reversal/remand, not a complete post-remand final-disposition record.

Use the linked court records and written page for the exact legal posture.

Audio overview generated from the case record; verify against the linked court records.

Step-by-step litigation record

2012-07

The Westwood Club HOA levies a $385 annual assessment fee; Mashiri fails to pay it in a timely manner.

2013-05-01

Epsten Grinnell & Howell and attorney Debora M. Zumwalt send the 'May Notice' collection letter on behalf of the HOA, demanding $598 and warning of a lien if unpaid within 35 days.

2013-05-20

Mashiri writes to Epsten disputing the debt, requesting validation, and stating she never received a bill for the July 2012 assessment.

2013-06-05

Epsten responds by sending another copy of Mashiri's account statement.

2013-06-18

Epsten, on behalf of the HOA, records a lien on Mashiri's property for $928 ($598 plus $330 in additional legal fees).

2013-06-21

Mashiri sends the HOA a $385 check with a letter disputing the balance of the debt.

2013-06-24

Epsten notifies Mashiri of the recorded lien, as required by Cal. Civ. Code § 5675(e).

2014

Mashiri files her complaint (D.C. No. 3:14-cv-00839-JLS-RBB, S.D. Cal.); the district court later dismisses it under Rule 12(b)(6).

2016-10-04

The Ninth Circuit hears oral argument in Pasadena, California.

2017-01-13

The Ninth Circuit files its published opinion reversing the dismissal and remanding for further proceedings.

Download source

Complete source-document index

This index contains 1 PDF from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 1 2017-01-13

Opinion

Type: Decision or judgment

Opinion holding that Mashiri stated a plausible FDCPA claim because the collection letter overshadowed and conflicted with her 15 U.S.C. § 1692g debt-validation rights.

Download source file

FAQ

Is Mashiri v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell binding precedent?

Yes. It is a published, precedential opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, reported at 845 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2017). Because Arizona is within the Ninth Circuit, the decision binds Arizona’s federal district courts on the FDCPA questions it decides, even though the case itself arose under California law.

What did the court decide about the HOA collection letter?

The court held that the homeowner stated a plausible violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1692g. Judged by the ‘least sophisticated debtor’ standard, the letter’s demand for payment within thirty-five days of its date, and its warning that a lien ‘will’ be recorded, overshadowed and conflicted with her federal right to dispute the debt within thirty days of receiving the notice.

Can an HOA collection firm avoid the FDCPA by saying it was just perfecting a lien?

Not on these facts. The firm argued for the first time on appeal that it was subject only to 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6) because it was enforcing a security interest. The court rejected that, holding the overdue assessment was a ‘debt,’ the letter demanded payment, and no lien yet existed to enforce, so the firm was subject to the full scope of the FDCPA.

Why was the 35-day payment deadline a problem?

The FDCPA gives a consumer thirty days from receipt of the notice to dispute the debt. Because the letter demanded payment within thirty-five days of its date, a homeowner who received it late might have fewer than thirty days to act, effectively forcing her to give up her dispute rights to avoid a lien. The court found that inconsistent with § 1692g.

How does California's Davis-Stirling Act fit with the FDCPA here?

The court held the two are consistent. Davis-Stirling (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 5660, 5670) already requires an HOA to give at least thirty days’ notice and to participate in dispute resolution before recording a lien, so the FDCPA’s requirement that collection pause once the debtor disputes the debt did not conflict with state law. The lien threat was thus a debt-collection activity that had to cease upon a dispute.

What happened to the homeowner's state-law claims?

The district court had dismissed the Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Unfair Competition Law claims as dependent on the FDCPA claim. Because the Ninth Circuit reversed the § 1692g dismissal, it also reversed the dismissal of the dependent § 1692e(5), Rosenthal Act, and Unfair Competition Law claims and remanded for further proceedings.

Did the downloaded source set show a final result after remand?

No. The source set used for this page contains the published Ninth Circuit reversal and remand. It does not include a post-remand settlement, damages award, or final liability judgment, so the public page should describe the appellate holding rather than claim a final post-remand outcome.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citation845 F.3d 984 (9th Cir. 2017) (No. 14-56927)
Court / tribunalFederal Court
Decision / key dateJanuary 13, 2017
Judge / panelRichard A. Paez (Circuit Judge, author), Dorothy W. Nelson (Circuit Judge), Elaine E. Bucklo (U.S. District Judge, N.D. Ill., sitting by designation)
PartiesZakia Mashiri (Plaintiff-Appellant), a homeowner and member of the Westwood Club homeowners' association, v. Epsten Grinnell & Howell APC and attorney Debora M. Zumwalt (Defendants-Appellees), the law firm and lawyer who sent an assessment-collection letter on the HOA's behalf.
Governing law
  • Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1692 et seq.
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692g (debt validation notice; overshadowing/inconsistency)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6) (nonjudicial enforcement of a security interest)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692e / § 1692e(5) (false or misleading representations)
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5) (definition of 'debt')
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(6) (definition of 'debt collector')
  • Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1788 et seq.
  • California Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200 et seq.
  • Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act, Cal. Civ. Code §§ 5660, 5670, 5675
Topics
FDCPAAssessmentsLiensForeclosureProcedure
Outcome / holding

The Ninth Circuit reversed the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, holding that Mashiri stated a plausible FDCPA claim because, judged by the 'least sophisticated debtor' standard, the collection letter contained language that overshadowed and conflicted with her 15 U.S.C. § 1692g debt-validation rights. The panel further held that a debt collector who sends such a letter to collect an overdue assessment is subject to the full scope of the FDCPA, not merely the limitations of § 1692f(6), because it was collecting a debt and not merely enforcing an already-existing security interest. The ruling was a pleading-stage appellate reversal and remand, not a post-remand damages or liability judgment in the downloaded source set.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package1 PDF
Step-by-step docket roadmap10 roadmap entries
Video overviewMashiri v. Epsten Grinnell – FDCPA HOA Collection Letter
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions7 questions
Featured download links1 download link

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Zakia Mashiri owns a home in San Diego and is a member of the Westwood Club homeowners' association, which levies annual assessments. After she failed to timely pay a $385 assessment fee levied in July 2012, the HOA's collection law firm, Epsten Grinnell & Howell, and attorney Debora M. Zumwalt sent her a May 1, 2013 letter (the 'May Notice') demanding $598 in assessments plus late, administrative, and legal fees, and warning that failure to pay within thirty-five days would result in a lien on her property. The same letter also contained federal debt-validation language telling her she had thirty days to dispute the debt. Mashiri sued under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), California's Rosenthal Act, and California's Unfair Competition Law, alleging the letter's payment deadline and lien threat overshadowed and contradicted her right to dispute the debt. The district court dismissed all claims under Rule 12(b)(6). The Ninth Circuit reversed. Applying the 'least sophisticated debtor' standard, it held Mashiri stated a plausible 15 U.S.C. § 1692g violation because the letter demanded payment within thirty-five days of its date (inconsistent with the thirty-day dispute window running from receipt) and threatened a lien regardless of any dispute. The panel also rejected Epsten's argument, raised for the first time on appeal, that it was subject only to § 1692f(6); it held Epsten was a debt collector subject to the full scope of the FDCPA. The court reversed and remanded. The source set for this page is the 2017 published Ninth Circuit opinion. It does not include a post-remand final disposition, damages award, or settlement record, so the page summarizes the precedential appellate ruling and does not claim a final liability judgment after remand.

Key Issues & Findings

Reviewing the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal de novo, the panel accepted the complaint's well-pleaded allegations as true and asked whether they stated a claim 'plausible on its face' under Ashcroft v. Iqbal and Bell Atlantic v. Twombly. It framed the FDCPA's purpose as eliminating abusive debt-collection practices and subjecting 'debt collectors' to civil liability. The court first addressed Epsten's threshold argument, raised for the first time on appeal, that because it sought only to perfect a security interest it was governed solely by 15 U.S.C. § 1692f(6). Although arguments raised for the first time on appeal are ordinarily forfeited, the panel reached this one because it was purely legal, the pertinent facts were undisputed, and Mashiri had responded to it. On the merits, the court held the overdue assessment was a 'debt' under § 1692a(5) because it arose from Mashiri's household membership in the HOA, and the May Notice plainly sought to collect it. Relying on Ho v. ReconTrust, the panel reasoned that entities enforcing security interests are debt collectors when their activities constitute debt collection; unlike the trustee in Ho, who merely sent a notice of default without demanding payment, Epsten demanded payment and there was as yet no recorded lien to enforce. Epsten was therefore subject to the full scope of the FDCPA, including § 1692g and § 1692e. Turning to § 1692g, the court explained that a validation notice must be conveyed effectively (Swanson v. Southern Oregon Credit Service) and must not be overshadowed by or inconsistent with other messages that would confuse the least sophisticated debtor (Terran v. Kaplan). The panel found two plausible violations: first, demanding payment within thirty-five days of the letter's date conflicted with the debtor's thirty-day dispute period measured from receipt, because a debtor might receive the letter with fewer than thirty days remaining and would have to forgo her dispute rights to avoid a lien; second, the statement that a lien 'will' be recorded upon nonpayment overshadowed the right to dispute, because the least sophisticated debtor would wrongly believe a lien would be recorded on the thirty-fifth day even after disputing the debt. The court distinguished Shimek v. Weissman (governed by Georgia law permitting contemporaneous lien filing) and explained that under California's Davis-Stirling Act (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 5660, 5670) an HOA must give thirty days' notice and participate in dispute resolution before recording a lien, so the FDCPA duty to suspend collection pending verification was fully consistent with state law. Accordingly, the threat to record a lien was a debt-collection activity that had to cease upon a dispute, and the letter's failure to convey that effectively stated a plausible § 1692g violation. Reversing the § 1692g dismissal required reversing the dependent § 1692e(5), Rosenthal Act, and Unfair Competition Law claims as well.

Why It Matters

For homeowners' associations and the law firms that collect their assessments, this published Ninth Circuit decision confirms that a single letter can be both a Davis-Stirling pre-lien notice and full-blown FDCPA debt collection. A collector cannot escape § 1692g simply by saying it was 'perfecting a security interest' when no lien yet exists and the letter demands payment. Practically, collection letters must give the consumer the full thirty-day dispute window measured from receipt, must not set a payment deadline that effectively shortens that window, and must not threaten that a lien 'will' be recorded in a way that suggests the threat survives a timely dispute. Because the FDCPA requires collection to cease once the debtor disputes the debt and until verification is mailed, a lien threat that ignores that pause can overshadow the validation notice and expose the firm to liability.

For Arizona homeowners and boards, the decision carries direct weight even though it arose under California's Davis-Stirling Act. It is a published, precedential opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which includes Arizona, so it binds Arizona's federal district courts on the FDCPA questions it decides. Arizona HOAs collect assessments under a different state statutory scheme, but the FDCPA is federal law that applies the same way to Arizona assessment-collection letters. An Arizona homeowner who receives a demand letter from an HOA collection firm has the same right to a clear, unobstructed thirty-day validation notice, and firms operating in Arizona should ensure their letters do not let assessment deadlines or lien warnings overshadow that federal right.

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Glawe v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC: HOA Court Case Guide

Ninth Circuit (Unpublished) • FDCPA & HOA Assessments

The Ninth Circuit revived a homeowner FDCPA theory against Carpenter Hazlewood. Later PACER filings show disputed collection-letter and ledger allegations, including a large attorney-fee write-off, but the case settled without a final liability finding.

Last updated July 1, 2026. Case: Glawe v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC; 9th Cir. No. 19-17090 (memorandum disposition); D.C. No. 2:18-cv-01282-JAS (D. Ariz.).

Current-status note: Allegations, settlements, procedural dismissals, and notices are not findings of liability unless a cited court order expressly makes that finding.

Scope note: This educational case page summarizes a court ruling for Arizona HOA homeowners, boards, and counsel. It is not legal advice.

Posture note: The Ninth Circuit remanded the FDCPA debt-status issue and later PACER filings show settlement and judgment after settlement. The page treats the ledger and collection-fee material as disputed allegations and exhibits, not as a court finding that CHDB violated the FDCPA.

The rule in one sentence

The relevant “transaction” under the FDCPA’s definition of “debt” is the purchase of the property that gave rise to the HOA assessment obligation, and whether that obligation is a consumer debt turns on the primary purpose of the purchase measured when the obligation was incurred—not on the owner’s later use of the property as a rental. Because an obligation associated with a rental property is not automatically commercial and a genuine factual dispute existed about the Glawes’ purpose in acquiring the properties, the district court erred in granting summary judgment; the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.

Public-interest record: disputed CHDB collection-fee evidence

Large disputed ledger balance

Plaintiff exhibits show a resident ledger reaching $69,457.70 before a $49,276.27 attorney-fee write-off. That is source-backed exhibit evidence, not a final liability finding.

State-court fee limits matter

The district record notes the state court declined late-fee and collection-fee damages that were not timely and properly invoiced, while the federal FDCPA case later settled.

No subpoena misconduct found

The PACER subpoena/discovery documents reviewed did not show CHDB disobeying subpoenas or records requests. The fair negative story is inflated-fee/ledger allegations, not subpoena noncompliance.

Case Participants

Neutral Parties

  • Curtis G. Glawe (Party)
    Plaintiff-Appellant; homeowner and Sundance HOA member who brought the FDCPA claim. Appeared pro se on appeal.
  • Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC (Party)
    Defendant-Appellee; the law firm that served as collection counsel for the Sundance Residential Homeowners Association. (Spelled 'Carpenter, Hazelwood, Delgado, & Boren PLC' in the body of the memorandum.)
  • Javier Delgado (Party)
    Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC
    Defendant-Appellee; individual attorney named as a defendant.
  • Mark Holmgreen (Party)
    Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC
    Defendant-Appellee; individual attorney named as a defendant.
  • Mark K. Sahl (Party)
    Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC
    Defendant-Appellee; individual attorney named as a defendant.
  • Gregory A. Stein (Party)
    Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC
    Defendant-Appellee; individual attorney named as a defendant.
  • Curtis G. Glawe (Counsel)
    Pro Se
    Appeared pro se (self-represented) for Plaintiff-Appellant.
  • Donald Wilson, Jr. (Counsel)
    Broening Oberg Woods & Wilson PC
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees.
  • Alicyn Marie Freeman (Counsel)
    Broening Oberg Woods & Wilson PC
    Counsel for Defendants-Appellees.
  • Kim McLane Wardlaw (Judge)
    Ninth Circuit Judge on the panel.
  • Ronald M. Gould (Judge)
    Ninth Circuit Judge on the panel.
  • James Donato (Judge)
    U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California, sitting by designation.
  • James Alan Soto (Judge)
    U.S. District Judge who presided over the case below and granted summary judgment.

What happened and why it matters

In 2009, Iowa residents Curtis and Lorri Glawe purchased a home in Buckeye, Arizona (the “Mohave Property”) and a second lot in the same subdivision (the “228th Lane Property”). Ownership made them members of the Sundance Residential Homeowners Association, Inc. and bound them to the community’s CC&Rs and assessment obligations. The Glawes never lived in the homes and consistently rented them to tenants. After they fell behind on assessments, the HOA—through its collection law firm, Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC—twice sued them in Arizona state court for unpaid assessments and late fees and was awarded court costs and attorneys’ fees. Glawe then sued the firm and several of its attorneys in federal court under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). The district court granted summary judgment for the firm, reasoning that because the property was a rental, the assessment obligation was commercial rather than consumer in nature and therefore not a “debt” covered by the FDCPA. On appeal, the Ninth Circuit reversed. It held that the relevant “transaction” was the original 2009 purchase of the property, and that the purpose of that purchase—measured when the obligation was incurred—controls, not the owner’s later rental use. Because an obligation tied to a rental property is not automatically commercial and a genuine factual dispute existed over the Glawes’ purpose in buying the properties, the panel remanded for the district court to determine the true purpose of the acquisition. The decision is an unpublished, non-precedential memorandum.

The panel began with the FDCPA’s threshold limitation: the statute reaches only consumer—as opposed to commercial—debt, citing Bloom v. I.C. Systems, Inc., 972 F.2d 1067, 1068 (9th Cir. 1992). The FDCPA defines “debt” as “any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5). The court read this to require two things: (1) an obligation arising out of a transaction, and (2) that the subject of the transaction be primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

The dispositive question was how to identify the “transaction.” The appellees urged the court to focus on the assessments and attorneys’ fees incurred after the Glawes bought the home and while it was being used as a rental. The panel rejected that framing. It held that the “transaction” at issue is the purchase of the Mohave Property itself. The Glawes bought the property in 2009 and were, at that moment, subject to the HOA’s CC&Rs, which required them to pay assessments. Because the appellees’ efforts to collect the allegedly late assessments, late fees, court costs, and attorneys’ fees are what produced the FDCPA claim, the underlying obligation “ar[ose] out of” the purchase of the property under a plain reading of the statute.

Having fixed the transaction as the purchase, the court framed the real inquiry as whether that purchase was primarily consumer or commercial in nature, and it emphasized timing: courts “determine the debtor’s purpose as of the time the debt was incurred,” quoting In re Cherrett, 873 F.3d 1060, 1067 (9th Cir. 2017). The district court had erred by concluding categorically that an obligation associated with a rental property cannot be primarily consumer in nature. To decide the purpose question, a court must “examine the transaction as a whole, paying particular attention to the purpose for which the credit was extended,” quoting Slenk v. Transworld Systems, Inc., 236 F.3d 1072, 1075 (9th Cir. 2001). That determination can be made as a matter of law, but a genuine dispute of fact relevant to the inquiry can preclude summary judgment. Here, the Glawes’ affidavits and deposition testimony—that they initially intended to use the home as a future retirement residence and only later decided to rent—created such a dispute. The panel therefore reversed and remanded for the district court to make a factual determination of the true purpose of the Glawes’ acquisition of both the Mohave Property and the 228th Lane Property, using whatever procedures it deemed appropriate. Because the reversal resolved the appeal, the panel did not reach Glawe’s challenges to the denial of his motion to amend or his motion for reconsideration.

For Arizona homeowners and community associations, this memorandum illustrates a recurring dividing line in assessment-collection disputes: whether the FDCPA even applies to an HOA’s efforts to collect unpaid dues. The FDCPA governs only “consumer” debt, and the Ninth Circuit’s analysis makes clear that the character of an HOA assessment obligation is judged by the primary purpose of the original property purchase, measured when the obligation was incurred—not by how the owner later uses the home. An owner who buys a residence for personal or family use does not necessarily lose FDCPA protection simply by later renting it out, and a court cannot treat every rental-property assessment as categorically commercial. That has practical stakes for both sides: if the debt is consumer in nature, the collecting law firm must comply with the FDCPA’s disclosure and conduct rules; if it is commercial, those federal protections do not apply.

The decision also underscores that the consumer-versus-commercial question is fact-intensive and can defeat summary judgment. Owner intent at the time of purchase—documented through affidavits, deposition testimony, and the surrounding circumstances of the acquisition—can create a genuine dispute that a court must resolve on a full record. Because the disposition is unpublished and non-precedential under Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3, it does not bind future panels, but it is a useful window into how the court frames the “transaction” and “primary purpose” elements when HOA assessment debt intersects with federal debt-collection law. This page is educational and neutral; it is not legal advice, and anyone facing an assessment or collection dispute should consult a qualified Arizona attorney about their specific facts.

Video overview of the case record

AI-generated video overview of Glawe v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC. The case settled after remand; fee-ledger material is allegation/exhibit evidence, not a final CHDB liability finding.

The written case page and linked court records are the controlling source for legal posture and accuracy.

Listen: audio deep dive on the case record

AI-generated audio deep dive for Glawe v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC. The case settled after remand; fee-ledger material is allegation/exhibit evidence, not a final CHDB liability finding.

Use the linked court records and written page for the exact legal posture.

Audio overview generated from the case record; verify against the linked court records.

Step-by-step litigation record

Step 1 2009

Curtis and Lorri Glawe purchase property in Sundance Residential, creating the HOA assessment obligation later litigated under the FDCPA.

Filed by: Glawe family

The Ninth Circuit held the purchase transaction, not later rental use alone, controls the consumer-debt analysis.

Step 2 After 2009

The HOA, through Carpenter Hazlewood, pursues state collection litigation over unpaid assessments, late fees, costs, and attorneys' fees.

Filed by: Sundance HOA / CHDB

This is the collection setting behind the federal FDCPA lawsuit.

Step 4 2019-07-02

Report and recommendation grants defendants summary judgment on threshold consumer-debt grounds; the district judge later adopts it.

Filed by: District court

Shows the defense win that the Ninth Circuit later reversed.

Step 5 2021-06-08

Panel reverses and remands, holding rental-property use does not automatically make the obligation commercial.

Filed by: Ninth Circuit

The appellate ruling keeps the FDCPA theory alive; it is not a final liability finding.

Step 7 2023-06-26

Notice of settlement filed after remand.

Filed by: Parties

Confirms the case ended without a final CHDB liability finding.

Complete source-document index

This index contains 11 PDFs from the reviewed public source packet. Byte-identical copies are listed once. Files are ordered by the date and sequence in the public filename, and party filings or research materials are labeled separately from court rulings.

Source 2 2019-07-02

Report Recommendation Summary Judgment

Type: Motion/application

Report and recommendation granting defendants summary judgment on threshold FDCPA consumer-debt grounds before appellate reversal.

Source 4 2021-06-08

Opinion

Type: Decision or judgment

Opinion holding that the relevant “transaction” under the FDCPA’s definition of “debt” is the purchase of the property that gave rise to the HOA assessment obligation, and whether that obligation is a consumer debt turns on the primary purpose of the purchase measured when the obligation was incurred—not on the owner’s later use of the property as a rental.

Download source file
Source 7 2022-05-02

Plaintiff Statement Of Facts

Type: Statement of facts

Moving party's asserted facts and cited evidence. These are not findings made by the court.

Source 8 2022-05-02

Collection Letters And Exhibits

Type: Court/source PDF

Exhibits including CHDB collection letters and communications used to support Glawe's FDCPA allegations.

Source 9 2022-05-02

Resident Transaction Ledger Exhibit 16

Type: Court/source PDF

Resident ledger exhibit showing the disputed balance and attorney-fee write-off that are central to the public-interest narrative.

Source 10 2023-06-26

Notice Of Settlement

Type: Procedural/service filing

Notice reporting that the parties reached settlement after remand.

FAQ

What was Glawe v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC about?

It was a Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) lawsuit brought by an Arizona homeowner, Curtis Glawe, against the law firm that acted as collection counsel for his community association, the Sundance Residential Homeowners Association. After the HOA twice sued the Glawes in state court for unpaid assessments, late fees, court costs, and attorneys’ fees, Glawe sued the firm in federal court, claiming its collection efforts violated the FDCPA. The central legal question was whether the HOA assessment obligation qualified as a consumer ‘debt’ that the FDCPA protects.

What did the Ninth Circuit decide?

The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the law firm and remanded the case. It held that the relevant ‘transaction’ for the FDCPA analysis is the original purchase of the property, and that whether the assessment obligation is a consumer or commercial debt depends on the primary purpose of that purchase—measured when the obligation was incurred—not on how the owner later used the property. The court directed the district court to make a factual finding about the true purpose of the Glawes’ acquisition of both properties.

Does renting out a home automatically make HOA dues a commercial debt?

No. The court expressly rejected the idea that an obligation associated with a rental property cannot be consumer in nature. The district court had erred by treating the rental use as automatically making the debt commercial. Instead, a court must examine the transaction as a whole and focus on the purpose for which the property was acquired at the time the obligation arose. An owner who bought a home for personal or family use does not necessarily lose FDCPA protection just by later renting it out.

Why did the timing of the 'debt' matter?

The FDCPA defines a consumer debt by reference to a transaction whose subject is ‘primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.’ The Ninth Circuit, quoting In re Cherrett, explained that courts determine the debtor’s purpose ‘as of the time the debt was incurred.’ Because the Glawes’ assessment obligation arose out of their 2009 purchase of the property, the relevant question was their purpose at that time—here complicated by affidavits stating they initially planned to retire in the home and only later chose to rent it out.

Is this decision binding precedent in Arizona?

No. The disposition is an unpublished memorandum marked ‘NOT FOR PUBLICATION,’ and under Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3 it is not precedent except in limited circumstances. It does not bind future panels or district courts as controlling authority. It can still be informative as an illustration of how the Ninth Circuit frames the consumer-versus-commercial debt question when HOA assessments intersect with the FDCPA, but it should not be treated as settled law.

What happens after a reversal and remand like this?

A reversal and remand sends the case back to the district court for further proceedings consistent with the appellate ruling. Here, the Ninth Circuit did not decide who wins; it instructed the district court to make a factual determination of the true purpose of the Glawes’ acquisition of the Mohave Property and the 228th Lane Property, using whatever procedures the court finds appropriate. Depending on that finding, the FDCPA claim may proceed or be resolved. This summary is educational only and is not legal advice.

Case Dossier

This dossier combines the case metadata, linked court sources, and the explanatory sections below. It distinguishes court rulings from party filings, allegations, and requested relief.

Case Summary

Case ID / citation9th Cir. No. 19-17090 (memorandum disposition)
Court / tribunalFederal Court
Decision / key dateJune 8, 2021
Judge / panelKim McLane Wardlaw (Circuit Judge), Ronald M. Gould (Circuit Judge), James Donato (U.S. District Judge, N.D. Cal., sitting by designation)
PartiesCurtis G. Glawe (pro se homeowner and HOA member) v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC and individual attorneys Javier Delgado, Mark Holmgreen, Mark K. Sahl, and Gregory A. Stein (collection counsel for the Sundance Residential Homeowners Association).
Governing law
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5) (FDCPA definition of 'debt')
  • 15 U.S.C. § 1692 et seq. (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act)
  • 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (courts of appeals jurisdiction over final decisions)
Topics
FDCPAAssessmentsCC&RsAttorney FeesProcedure
Outcome / holding

The relevant “transaction” under the FDCPA’s definition of “debt” is the purchase of the property that gave rise to the HOA assessment obligation, and whether that obligation is a consumer debt turns on the primary purpose of the purchase measured when the obligation was incurred—not on the owner’s later use of the property as a rental. Because an obligation associated with a rental property is not automatically commercial and a genuine factual dispute existed about the Glawes’ purpose in acquiring the properties, the district court erred in granting summary judgment; the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded.

Primary public sourceView source opinion/order

Parties, Court, and Research Coverage

Reviewed source package11 PDFs
Step-by-step docket roadmap7 roadmap entries
Video overviewGlawe v. Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen PLC – 9th Cir. No. 19-17090
Study / briefing material1 section
FAQ / homeowner questions6 questions
Featured download links9 download links

Key Issues & Findings

Case Summary

Curtis Glawe sued Carpenter, Hazlewood, Delgado & Bolen and individual attorneys under the FDCPA after HOA assessment-collection litigation involving Sundance Residential Homeowners Association. The district court initially granted summary judgment for the Carpenter Hazlewood defendants by treating the obligation as non-consumer rental-property debt. The Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that the relevant transaction was the original property purchase and that the consumer-versus-commercial purpose could not be resolved categorically from later rental use. PACER filings obtained after the appellate opinion show the plaintiff's unresolved allegations in sharper detail: collection letters and exhibits reflected legal fees and collection charges, and a resident ledger showed the account balance growing to $69,457.70 before a $49,276.27 attorney-fee write-off. The case settled after remand, so there was no final liability finding against CHDB.

Key Issues & Findings

The panel began with the FDCPA’s threshold limitation: the statute reaches only consumer—as opposed to commercial—debt, citing Bloom v. I.C. Systems, Inc., 972 F.2d 1067, 1068 (9th Cir. 1992). The FDCPA defines “debt” as “any obligation or alleged obligation of a consumer to pay money arising out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance, or services which are the subject of the transaction are primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.” 15 U.S.C. § 1692a(5). The court read this to require two things: (1) an obligation arising out of a transaction, and (2) that the subject of the transaction be primarily for personal, family, or household purposes.

The dispositive question was how to identify the “transaction.” The appellees urged the court to focus on the assessments and attorneys’ fees incurred after the Glawes bought the home and while it was being used as a rental. The panel rejected that framing. It held that the “transaction” at issue is the purchase of the Mohave Property itself. The Glawes bought the property in 2009 and were, at that moment, subject to the HOA’s CC&Rs, which required them to pay assessments. Because the appellees’ efforts to collect the allegedly late assessments, late fees, court costs, and attorneys’ fees are what produced the FDCPA claim, the underlying obligation “ar[ose] out of” the purchase of the property under a plain reading of the statute.

Having fixed the transaction as the purchase, the court framed the real inquiry as whether that purchase was primarily consumer or commercial in nature, and it emphasized timing: courts “determine the debtor’s purpose as of the time the debt was incurred,” quoting In re Cherrett, 873 F.3d 1060, 1067 (9th Cir. 2017). The district court had erred by concluding categorically that an obligation associated with a rental property cannot be primarily consumer in nature. To decide the purpose question, a court must “examine the transaction as a whole, paying particular attention to the purpose for which the credit was extended,” quoting Slenk v. Transworld Systems, Inc., 236 F.3d 1072, 1075 (9th Cir. 2001). That determination can be made as a matter of law, but a genuine dispute of fact relevant to the inquiry can preclude summary judgment. Here, the Glawes’ affidavits and deposition testimony—that they initially intended to use the home as a future retirement residence and only later decided to rent—created such a dispute. The panel therefore reversed and remanded for the district court to make a factual determination of the true purpose of the Glawes’ acquisition of both the Mohave Property and the 228th Lane Property, using whatever procedures it deemed appropriate. Because the reversal resolved the appeal, the panel did not reach Glawe’s challenges to the denial of his motion to amend or his motion for reconsideration.

Why It Matters

Glawe is not a clean exoneration and not a proven liability case. The Ninth Circuit rejected the defense's threshold consumer-debt win and forced factual review of the property-acquisition purpose. The later PACER filings are important because they show why the dispute mattered to a homeowner: alleged collection balances and legal-fee entries far above the final court-approved amounts. But because the case settled, public copy must describe those points as allegations and source-backed exhibits, not as a court finding that CHDB violated the FDCPA.

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