Robert Leon Tankel

We recently had the UNfortunate experience of dealing with this attorney while they represented an HOA in a dispute over a $250 payment. The balance, including late fees, was paid. Yet the HOA proceeded to involve legal counsel, which ultimately resulted in us being forced to pay over $5,000 in lega...l fees. Judge said lawyer would be able to reduce the fee, lawyer said he would see what he could do. Once asked after judgment, lawyer absolutely did nothing in his power to lower this fee. He lied to the judge. While this attorney technically "won" the case for their client, the situation highlights a much LARGER issue with how AGGRESSIVELY some HOAs choose to handle MINOR matters. Turning a small, already paid balance into thousands of dollars in legal costs feels EXCESSIVE and UNnecessary.

Currently working with Mr. Tankel to resolve dispute with past due HOA fee's he has one approach and that is to foreclose, this is often not in the best interest of the association as it nullifies what we tried to accomplish in the first place , this often leaves our properties vacant and not maintai...ned,as a client have tried to reach Mr, Tankel on numerous occasions to discuss this situation,extremely disappointed with his services would not use again.

I emailed and left a voice message with John Stolar on a property issue, and he never returned my phone calls, as he only responsed by email. He did not understand what I was asking for, and was unwillingly to understand my situation. When I asked for certain documentation he did not provide exactl...y what I was looking for, and since he did not return my phone calls I was unable to speak with him to fully undertstand myself. I have not dealt with many lawyers, however, I do feel that Mr. Stolar's professionalism and knowledge left much to be desired.

He handles our condominium association collections and foreclosure proceedings and his best advice is to Foreclose. We have him on tape making this statement. Bad advice! Let me explain, while foreclosing may give possession of the property it is still subject to the mortgage that the association m...ust carry. Yes, you may be able to sell the property subject to a mortgage for pennies on the dollar but ultimately selling the property at that discounted value will reduce the value of the remaining units within the condominium property. He also fails to mention that foreclosing in a down market is probably the worst thing you can do from a financial well being of the association. The association can only recoup up to 6 months worth of association fees as part of the foreclosure. You will probably not recuperate all of the funds. If you are foreclosure and collections attorney you would think of the financial impact of your advice to your client!