Jonathan V. Doerr Joins Buck, Toscano and Tereskerz, LTD.

The law firm of Buck, Toscano and Tereskerz, LTD is please to announce that Jonathan V. Doerr has joined the firm as an Associate. Jonathan is a 2012 graduate of Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA.  He was a member of the Emory Public Interest Committee, the Criminal Law Society, and was elected the American Bar Association Representative for Emory Law.

Jonathan interned at the United States’ Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh, NC; the Special Prosecutions Division of the Georgia Attorney General’s Office in Atlanta, GA; the Cobb County District Attorney’s Office in Marietta, GA; and both the General Trial Section and the Crimes Against Children Unit in the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office in Decatur, GA.  He practiced law at both the Cobb and DeKalb County District Attorney’s Offices under the Third Year Practice Act, getting valuable courtroom experience.

In 2005, Jonathan graduated cum laude from Presbyterian College, Clinton, SC. In addition to singing in seven music groups, Jonathan was also an officer of Sigma Nu fraternity all four years.

The attorneys of Buck, Toscano and Tereskerz practice in the Circuit, General District, and Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. The majority of their practice is concentrated in the areas of Personal Injury, Divorce and Family Law, Real Estate, and Civil Litigation. Jonathan also will be representing clients in traffic and criminal cases.

More about Jonathan and contact information.

Personal Injury Attorney, Frank Buck recently settled claims of clients injured in motor vehicle accidents. He was co-counsel in a case involving a catastrophic collision with a truck causing several fractures of his client’s leg, multiple operations and a large claim for past and future wage loss. The case settled for $4 million, three months before trial. An all-day mediation session ended without a settlement, but seven days later the case settled for the client’s final demand.

In a separate case the driver and his passenger were involved in a head-on collision, but were spared serious injuries due to the airbags deploying. Their soft-tissue injury claims were settled before filing suit for $16,500 and $6,000. In both cases, aggressive and careful representation resulted in fair compensation for the clients.

Past case results cannot predict a similar result in future cases.

Attorney Frank Buck
provides experienced
representation of injured persons.

Who Can Sign the Warrant in Debt for a Home Owners Association?

In our previous blog post (Jan 9, 2012) we commented on the relative pros and cons of proceeding with a warrant in debt versus an HOA lien for delinquent dues or assessments.

If an association decides to file for a warrant in debt, it is important to start off on the right foot. In particular, a warrant in debt is considered a “pleading”, a legal document that as a general rule has to be signed by an attorney licensed to practice law in Virginia. The major exception to that rule is that a party representing himself/herself, may sign a pleading himself/herself — in legal parlance, this is referred to as a party appearing pro se, which means “in his own behalf”.

What about associations that are almost always corporations?  Can they appear pro se?

Virginia Code section 8.01-271.1 provides that a corporation officer, such as the president, vice president, secretary or treasurer may sign and file a warrant in debt. It also permits a regular employee, when authorized in writing by a corporate officer, who has been authorized by the board of directors, to sign and file a warrant in debt. If permitted by the HOAs articles of incorporation or bylaws, a corporation may appoint somebody as an assistant treasurer and assistant secretary of the corporation for purposes of handling collection of delinquent dues and assessments.

If a person without authority signs a warrant, the error cannot be corrected after the warrant has been filed with the clerk. Some recent Supreme Court cases have held that statutes which permit steps to be taken after the fact to relate back to the original filing of the initial pleading, do not apply to situations when the pleading was signed by an unauthorized person.

In all situations it is important to get started on the right foot. When filing warrants in debt, it is more than a good thing, it is a legal imperative.

Frank Buck practices in
the areas of home owners associations,
personal injury and domestic relations.

Although many people are aware that there is a time limitation of two years for filing personal injury claims, most people and some lawyers are not aware that in cases involving claims against the Commonwealth of Virginia, the claim shall be “forever barred unless the claimant…has filed a written statement of the nature of the claim, which includes the time and place at which the injury is alleged to have occurred…within one year after such cause of action accrued.”  Virginia Code section 8.01-195.6.

Even though claims for personal injury generally can be filed within two years after the date of the accident, when the defendant is the Commonwealth or one of its agencies, a notice of the claim must be filed within one year from the date of the accident.

The notice needs to be mailed to the Attorney General or the Director of Risk Management for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

If the notice is filed within the one year, then the normal two year statute of limitation applies.

Unfortunately, some injured persons wait more than a year before retaining an attorney, and if it is a claim against the Commonwealth, the claim will be barred if the notice has not been filed in accordance with the statute.

If you have questions about your personal injury claim, you can contact Frank Buck for a free consultation.

The January 2, 2012 “Tip of the Week” by HOAleader.com, a clearinghouse for legal issues involving community associations, quoted attorneys from Sunbelt states that Home Owners Association (HOA) liens are preferable to obtaining judgments against property owners, who are delinquent in paying their assessments. However, this assertion about Sunbelt states may not be applicable to Community Associations operating in the state of Virginia. Although Sect. 55-516 of the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act (POAA) provides a fairly inexpensive and quick method for obtaining a lien on a delinquent owner’s property, that process is subject to certain time limitations that are not applicable to judgments. The POAA memorandum has to be filed within 12 months from the time the assessment first becomes delinquent and the lien becomes unenforceable after 36 months from the time when the memorandum of lien is recorded. In contrast, an association can obtain a judgment for delinquent assessments 3-5 years old and the judgment can be enforced for a period of 20 years after it is obtained. Once obtained, a judgment can be enforced against the property or by garnishment of wages or accounts.

One other major difference between Virginia and the Sunbelt states referred to in the HOAleader Tip is that in Virginia personal judgments can easily be recorded in the clerk’s office where deeds are recorded to constitute a lien on a member’s property. According to the statements from the attorneys quoted, personal judgments cannot easily be converted into liens on property in those Sunbelt states.  Depending on your circumstances, one method may be more preferable than the other.

If your Home Owners Association has questions concerning community association issues, please contact Frank Buck.

David Toscano attends Three-day Conference of Virginia Association of Collaborative Professionals (VACP)
September, 2011
David Toscano recently participated in a 30-hour “Negotiation and Skills Training” offered by the Collaborative Practice Training Institute (CPTI). The seminar was designed to improve the skills of collaborative professionals, and involved attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial analysts from around the Commonwealth. The sessions focused on improving communication, mediation, and facilitation skills. David has now completed over forty collaborative divorce cases in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area. For more information about David’s Collaborative Law go to: http://www.charlottesvillecollaborativelaw.com

David Toscano, in his capacity as a Delegate to the Virginia General Assembly, introduced and had passed a bill related to temporary spousal support orders and the payments of debts. Under the bill, HB 1529, a temporary spousal support order may include a requirement that one party pay the secured or unsecured debts that were incurred jointly by the couple or in either person’s name. This will allow the courts to ensure that homes that otherwise might go into foreclosure because of a failure to pay a debt pending litigation will remain available for the fairest division possible at the time of a divorce hearing.

In response to the Supreme Court decision in Gilliam v. McGrady, the General Assembly amended Virginia Code §20-107.3 (the equitable distribution statute) to include definitions for classifying debt as either marital or separate debt, similar to the process used for classifying property as marital or separate. Ironically, the amendments do not provide statutory guidance for classifying debts incurred by a spouse as a result of a third party’s or business entity’s liabilities. In Gilliam v. McGrady, the question was whether the wife was liable for business taxes owed by a company solely owned and controlled by the husband. After being reversed by the appellate courts, the trial judge ultimately ruled that the wife was not liable. The amendments to §20-107.3 do not address that type of debt. Presumably, the trial courts will follow the principles established by Frank Buck in the Gilliam v. McGrady case. The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2011.