(Regarding a potential civil lawsuit against the homeowners association.)
Thanks for your question. (Sorry for the length of this-- it's a hot issue for me!)
I am very bothered by any suggestion that a civil suit may be pursued against the Retreat Lakes HOA. To me, this makes as much sense as suing the manufacturer of the handgun, or the manufacturer of the ammunition. That would be like suing a diabetes educator for the complications suffered by a diabetic. GZ was acting as a private citizen during the night of Feb 26. NW volunteer members have no special "status" elevating them above private citizens. The HOA has no control or jurisdiction over the actions of private citizens. They are not an employer.
Remember-- NW is an educational outreach program, not a "security guard" service. The HOA did not "hire" a security service; the NW observations were conducted by private residents-- not paid professionals. I am aware that they CAN be sued civilly (anyone can be sued!)-- but I believe it would demonstrate enormous bad judgment if they were sued by TM's parents, and would be a very socially provocative move. It would smack of misdirected retaliation, imo. It would also be subject to interpretation that money ALONE was the end result for the plaintiffs, because there would be no other purpose to gain by a lawsuit. Nothing was done wrong, and nothing was manufactured incorrectly, etc. What is the lesson?? Where is the negligence? Whose "job" was it to control or babysit the actions of GZ? Is it the job of a HOA to do background checks on all of the residents? Is it the job of the HOA to supercede FL law in regard to concealed carry laws? Is it the job of the HOA to tell a resident they cannot observe their surroundings and call the police if they suspect something is wrong? I just don't see how the HOA has any legitimate responsibility in this situation. Should the HOA stand by idly and watch crimes escalate in their neighborhood? SYG or no SYG, racism or no racism, IMO, the HOA bears absolutely no responsibility for TM's death or GZ's actions.
IMO- the HOA did absolutely nothing wrong, and exerted no control over the actions of GZ. They neither condoned, nor condemned his actions the night of Feb 26. They were under no obligation to "ensure" GZ did not carry a concealed weapon-- because they had no authority to prevent him from doing so, legally. The "loose" arrangement they seem to have at Retreat Lakes is that GZ, and whoever else is an official "volunteer," are on alert whenever they choose to be-- no scheduled patrols. Because of that, there is no way the HOA can exert ANY influence or control over the "work product" of the volunteers. For that reason, I believe they should not be held accountable for any actions of GZ. Merely organizing a NW educational partnership is not reason enough to me that they should be held accountable for anything that happened Feb 26. They did the right thing, imo, by trying to facilitate some citizen education that might decrease the wave of crimes that was occurring in their community.
As many have pointed out, the HOA is composed of owners of the condos, and GZ was a renter. The HOA potentially does not have insurance for these kind of lawsuits-- many don't. Which means, innocent homeowners who had absolutely nothing to do with this situation could end up owing thousands of dollars out of their own pockets, if a civil suit was brought and they lost. That is extremely distressing to me. It smacks of unfocused, irrational, illogical financial "retaliation" against anyone that is a potential target, whether they had anything to do with the situation or not.
These homeowners are not wealthy people-- this is a very middle class neighborhood. A major judgment could crush these innocent people financially-- for no discernible reason. They did nothing wrong. It would set a TERRIBLE precedent for NW programs nationwide, and be an enormous disincentive for people to participate in community crime prevention educational outreach programs. A lawsuit against the HOA would serve no REAL purpose, send no REAL message, and very unfairly penalize innocent homeowners. It would be simply misdirected anger and anguish, imo, and be very inflammatory. A civil lawsuit, imo, would be an opportunistic manuver designed to further manipulate the public response to this tragedy. I hope it doesn't happen. The situation is really bad enough already.