Washington Lawyer - November/December 2024 - 42

THE PRO BONO EFFECT
In Battle of HOA Boards,
Steptoe Delivers Justice
By John Murph
W
hen a nearly
10-year legal
dispute between
residents
of the 22-townhome Chaplin
Woods community in
southeast Washington, D.C.,
and their homeowners association
(HOA) was finally put
to rest in April, victory for the
litigants could not have been
sweeter.
The convoluted legal battle - which
involved accusations of excessive parking
fines, rigged elections, and lack of
transparency in accounting books -
would have continued to drag on for
years if not for the pro bono work of
attorneys from Steptoe LLP who first
got involved in 2019.
" I was tired, I was frustrated, and I was stressed
out, " says homeowner Veretta Mells, whose
fight with the HOA began in 2015. " I had gotten
sick with breast cancer. I could not deal with
this stuff anymore. "
Chaplin Woods resident Veretta Mells with her pro bono lawyers, Andrew Magloughlin (left) and Benjamin Holt.
Benjamin Holt, an associate at Steptoe at the
time of this interview, says the residents " had
been waiting long and hard to finally have their
day in court. " Holt was part of the litigation
team that represented Mells and her co-litigants
in D.C. Superior Court, in a jury trial that
was delayed until September 2021 because of
the pandemic and other issues.
KING OF THE HILL?
A Chaplin Woods resident since 1999, Mells
complained because of parking fines. Mells
42 WASHINGTON LAWYER
* NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024
says HOA board member Wilfred Welsh fined
her $2 a day for parking her car over the sidewalk
of her own driveway. When Mells' daughter
visited from college and parked her car in
a visitor's space, Welsh called D.C. parking enforcement
and had the car ticketed for $250,
according to Mells.
Chiquita Manago-Haywood, a former Chaplin
Woods resident who moved there in spring
2000, witnessed the harassment Welsh inflicted
on Mells and other residents. " I didn't speak up
on the matter until people started getting fines
in excess of $3,000, " Manago-Haywood says.
" There were a couple of fines that were over
$6,000. "
Chaplin Woods residents said that their properties
came with two parking spaces when they
purchased them. " Somehow [Welsh] asserted
that all those spaces belonged to the HOA
at some point and we had to pay, " ManagoHaywood
says. " That's when I joined the fight.
I think there were close to a dozen people,
[including me], who received those excessive
parking fines. "
The residents also alleged that Welsh presided
over the five-member HOA board autocratically,
violated the HOA's bylaws during elections,
and withheld the association's financial books
and reports from those who requested to examine
them. " He portrayed himself as the King
of Chaplin Woods, " Mells says.
Welsh also held every position on the board.
" Even though his title changed, he was still the
only one in charge, " says Manago-Haywood.
Jati Lindsay

Washington Lawyer - November/December 2024

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