Homeowner Groups to Consider Alliance

ANAHEIM — In an attempt to avoid dissension among themselves, five homeowners associations affected by the Anaheim Hills landslide have tentatively agreed to seek their legal options as a group, board members said Saturday.

“We’ve all agreed that we would be better served if we addressed this problem together,” said Doug Jacobs, president of Anaheim Ridge Estates. “We want to eliminate the infighting.”

“We have agreed to this in theory,” added Glen Gray, president of the Anaheim Hills Estates.

The tentative alliance, however, has many issues to consider before it is formalized, they said. How costs will be divided, which attorney and geologist to hire and equal representation of the subdivisions are among the concerns.

If the coalition is formed, the associations would be prohibited from suing one another for landslide damage, at least until all other options are exhausted, several board members said.

The board members, who met Tuesday, said they agreed that their best chance to mitigate the slide’s physical and financial damages would be to unite.

Board members said the next step in forming the coalition is consulting with their individual general counsels and getting the approval of their members. The five associations, which represent about 360 homeowners, are: Anaheim Ridge Estates, Anaheim Hills Estates, Window Hill, Hidden Canyon Estates and Covey Homes.

The boards of the five associations are expected to meet next week to formalize their plans.

Many individual homeowners said they need legal representation separate from their associations. They said that the associations are mostly concerned about the “common areas” and not about the damage to individual homeowners.

On Friday, about 100 residents from the Window Hill neighborhood met to discuss banding together and hiring a lawyer to represent the needs of all homeowners.

Michael H. Clayton, who with several other residents formed the Window Hill Organization of Concerned Residents, said that attorneys have been contacted about representing all homeowners in a class-action lawsuit against any party that might be liable for the slide.

A meeting of all homeowners has been scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Canyon Hills Presbyterian Church, 190 S. Fairmont Blvd., Anaheim Hills.