George K. Staropoli

At present, even licensed and trained legal document preparers cannot represent others in the courts, yet unlicensed and untrained HOA managers have been given under SB 1482 (Ariz. Sess. L. Ch. 83 (2014) special dispensation on a broad basis to do so. Of the current 30 exemptions under Rule 31(d), none allow for payment to a third party agent and none allow a contractor to an entity to represent that entity. Section 7 of SB 1482 affecting ARS 22-512 does not include restrictions on fee payments to contractors, nor does it restrict contractor employees to those not regularly involved in representing the HOA in small claims court, as contained in all existing Rule 31(d) exemptions.

To allow this third attempt at UPL exemptions just for HOA managers would violate the due process clause for fair adjudicative process, and SB 1482, Section 7, is a special law.
Of the current 30 exemptions under Rule 31(d), none allow for payment to a third party agent and none allow a contractor to an entity to represent that entity. Section 7 of SB 1482 affecting ARS 22-512 does not include restrictions on fee payments to contractors, nor does it restrict contractor employees to those not regularly involved in representing the HOA in small claims court, as contained in all existing Rule 31(d) exemptions.

Furthermore, notice should be taken that HOA manager industry comes with unclean hands. The Supreme Court rejected a similar request in 2011, R11-0001, and the 2013 petition, R13-0041, relating to SB 1454, the initial version of SB 1482, was withdrawn upon the declaration that the bill was unconstitutional. In January 2012 HOA managers were put on notice by the AZ Supreme Court opinion (UPL Advisory Opinion, 12-01) on the Unauthorized Practice of Law, and one firm in particular, a member of two HOA special interest trade organizations, was found to have engaged in the unauthorized practice of law (in RE: Board of Legal Document Preparers v. AAM, LDP-NFC-09-L094 and LDP-NFC-10-L026). Yet, this bill has no restrictions that HOA managers must obtain adequate training and licensing, as has been required for ACLDP, in order to protect homeowners from abuse.
Arizona courts have held, “Courts have found a legitimate purpose lacking where a regulation fails to protect the public from harm.” Vong v. Aune, 1 CA-CV 13-0423 (May 27, 2014).

For these reasons the petition for exemption from UPL for HOA managers must once again be denied.