Lella Amiss “Ami” E. Pape Shareholder
Community Associations
Phone: (703) 790-1911
Fax: (703) 848-2530
LPape@reesbroome.com
Ami has extensive experience advising multi-resident communities in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the District, essentially serving as their general counsel. She views her role as being accessible to members of the Board of HOAs and condominiums so they can “avoid spending money unnecessarily or getting into legal trouble that can be both time-consuming and expensive to resolve.” Her current clients range from an HOA with six homes to a condominium with a thousand units owned by both residents and investors.
Her Board clients typically first talk to her because they are having a dispute with an owner or because they are facing problems collecting HOA/condo assessments. In one case, a homeowner challenged architectural changes that had been permitted by the Board, which ended in a heated meeting that involved the personal attendance of more than 70% of the homeowners in support of the Board. In another, an owner challenged the Board’s decision to convert part of a community tennis court to a basketball court, alleging that the new use was noisy and brought outsiders into the development. Not only did Ami shepherd the Board through seven years of controversy, but she kept the Board aware of its insurance coverage rights and obligations. The insurer was eventually compelled to cover more than $70,000 in expenses that otherwise would have fallen on the owners. In addition, she ultimately was able to negotiate a “win-win” for both the Board and the owner, a lengthy undertaking of many steps, ranging from gaining majority ratification of the Board’s action to modifying the court itself to reduce noise and traffic.
Articles
• "Boards Face Variety of Issues" (August 28, 2011, The Journal) by Jenni Vincent with Ami Pape featued
Professional Credentials
• Graduate, Longwood College
• Graduate, George Mason University School of Law
• Barred in Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia and the District of Columbia
• Member, Community Association Institute, Washington Metropolitan Chapter (CAI)
• Recording Secretary, CAI, Virginia Legislative Committee
• Frequent guest on Fairfax County (Va) cable TV program ‘Your Community - Your Call”, and seminar presenter on HOA issues for Fairfax County Consumer Affairs, CAI, and the VA Legislative Committee statewide education programs
• 2011 Common Interest Community Educational Seminar on Transparent Governance (click to view)
DISCLAIMER: THE RESULTS OF ANY LEGAL ACTION DEPEND UPON FACTS UNIQUE TO EACH CASE. NEITHER REESBROOME, PC, NOR ITS ATTORNEYS GUARANTEE OR PREDICT SIMILAR RESULTS IN ANY FUTURE CASE UNDERTAKEN BY REESBROOME, PC OR ANY OF ITS ATTORNEYS.
