We’ve all heard of or know people who are walking encyclopedias, but for those of us in the POA industry, we would all like to have a walking Texas Property Code. Luckily for those of us at RMWBH and our clients, we have Cliff Davis and his extensive knowledge of the Texas Property Code to turn to as a resource for all of our clients.
Coming out of the University of Houston, Cliff’s original intent was not to become an attorney serving POAs. Cliff initially followed friends to Washington D.C. with the goal of working on Capitol Hill. But after a short time, Cliff said to himself it was time to go to law school, so he came back to Houston to go to law school, and as they say, the rest is history.
Following law school, Cliff gained valuable experience working with associations in the City of Houston’s deed restriction enforcement department. “The City has limited deed restriction enforcement authority, and so I enforced deed restrictions, primarily in neighborhoods that did not have associations and neighborhoods more or less inside the loop,” Cliff details of his time at the city. Cliff’s time at the City was not to be forever. The need to further advance in his career and do what many attorneys need to do, increase their earnings potential to be able to pay back student loans, led Cliff to private practice.
In making a transition to private practice, Cliff decided to stick with what he knew – POA law. “I knew how to enforce deed restrictions, and I saw an ad for an attorney at Butler Hailey for enforcing deed restrictions and representing associations, and I knew a little bit about that already from my work at the City, so it seemed like a natural segue into that,” Cliff said. The POA legal industry is not an easy industry to stay in for a year, let alone the 24 that Cliff has been with RMWBH. Cliff credits his staying power to the mentorship he received from Roy Hailey and the interesting work he’s done over the years. “I did not want to change jobs every two to three years, like what happens a lot these days, and for me, it’s been a good journey. Long and difficult but good,” Cliff said. The journey has also been rewarding for Cliff. Earlier in 2024, he was named an Equity Shareholder at RMWBH.
Another part of the journey that has kept things interesting for Cliff is the clients and the people. A particular interaction that stands out to Cliff is one involving an assessment collection matter. What started as a disagreement over a relatively small amount of money ballooned to an over seven-year battle and ultimately a jury trial to get resolved. With situations like this, providing the clients with regular updates and explaining their options is key. This is something that Cliff stands out at and helps separate him from other attorneys. In contentious situations like this example, Cliff explains, “I think you have to try to recognize those types of owners early and warn the client that this person is not going to act rationally, and while the law presumes that people will respond in a reasonable manner, sometimes people don’t. When this happens you have to have a conversation with the client that you sometimes have to put aside matters of right and wrong and think about the economic impact. Unfortunately, not all clients realize how much it will cost them when dealing with an opposing party who is not acting responsibly until the end of the matter.”
Learning how to navigate situations like this and other tense situations community managers and board members face daily in the POA industry is something Cliff feels is a key to success. Whether it be new or long-term managers or board members, Cliff believes “being educated on the process and learning as much about the law and the process as they can is critical, because a lot of times the confusion between attorneys and clients in this industry, especially as they don’t understand what the process is, the cost of the process can be consequential to the success of the community.”
This education will be crucial in the years ahead as Cliff believes the biggest challenge facing the industry is the hardening of everyone’s personal opinions. Cliff says he is seeing more infighting amongst board members because no one is willing to listen and be challenged on their opinion. “To overcome this, I think both managers and board members have to keep getting their continuing education. I think that managers and board members need to take advantage of the webinars that RMWBH sponsors and the other education opportunities that we provide; not just watch them to credit in the case of managers, but to watch and understand. RMWBH is always willing to have managers invite us to come out and speak to their board members. It’s really important to continue to educate and sometimes the best way to learn it is just to hear it over and over again to gain that knowledge of the law to overcome the bad decisions and/or opinions that can persist through the industry,” Cliff said.
Cliff is hopeful for the future. He looks forward to continuing to share his knowledge of the Property Code with those in the industry and expanding his knowledge and understanding of the Property Code as it continues to change with every legislative session.
