HOA Lawyer Claiming Attorney-Client Privilege to Inspect My Home

What room?

Do you hear it only in that room?

Is there an occupied unit above you?

If yes, have you gone up and asked the neighbors if you can listen from up there when they walk across?

If not, then you should. Be subtle. Don't play the blame game.

I would hope they would be concerned about a potential defect under their feet.

I don't see any flexing of the ceiling in your video. I don't know what good an inspection would do you if it just confirms that there's a noise when somebody walks back and forth. You can figure that out for yourself with a visit to
the neighbors.

As for what the attorney and the HOA people say or do, all I can say to that is "Welcome to HOA living."

 

What did the report say was the issue? And who refused it?

 

Hire your own inspector.

 

What does "it" refer to in this sentence? As you have phrased the sentence, "it" refers to your home -- i.e., "There is an incredibly loud [noise] . . . when [someone] walks across my home." How are people walking across your home? Do you mean walking on the roof? I watched about 20 seconds of your video (I'm certainly not watching/listening to nearly 6 minutes!), and it just sounds like someone walking on an uncarpeted floor in a room above where the camera was located. Nothing particularly unusual or indicative of a structural defect.

An inspection by whom?

Who are "they"? Your HOA?

Yes, it's nonsense. The attorney-client privilege is a rule of evidence that allows for certain evidence to be excluded (and also allows folks to refuse to respond to discovery questions). Unless there's some sort of litigation pending, the attorney-client privilege has nothing to do with the situation you're describing.

Huh?

Let's start with a basic question: Why do you believe your HOA has any obligation do do anything about the noise in your home? What sort of home is this? Single-family residence? Townhome? Condo? Something else?

Even if we assume the HOA has some obligation, the nature of that obligation will be set forth in the HOA's by-laws or the CC&Rs, and no one here has read (or has the ability to read) either of those documents. Similarly, those documents will also govern your right to review any inspection reports.

 

Who ordered the rejected report, you or the HOA?

I think it is time for you to lawyer up. The HOA has and you, at this point, are going to a gun fight with a spoon.

 

You're arguing the shape of the table before you even find out what's wrong. Don't expect the HOA to help you.

Find out what's wrong, if anything, then come back to this thread for further conversation. Until then, you are just spinning your wheels.

 

If they aren't going to accept the report that they paid for then you can pretty much give up the idea of them settling this out of court. At least in a way that you would like.

The only option I see, other than selling, is to contact the city building inspector. That much noise from simply walking on the floor above could well be a sign the ceiling is about to fail.

 

I'll ask again...because it matters a lot: Why do you believe your HOA has any obligation do do anything about the noise in your home? What sort of home is this? Single-family residence? Townhome? Condo? Something else?

 

The problem you have is that the HOA owns that report. It's not so much attorney/client privilege as it is that they don't have to give it to you because they own it, not you.