Halk, Oetinger, and Brown PLLC
Halk, Oetinger, and Brown started in 2006, when Philip Brown formed the Brown Law Group. His vision was simple: community associations needed experienced legal counsel, but they also needed fee structures that made sense for volunteer boards and professionally managed communities.
That idea led to the creation of Arizona’s first contingent assessment collection program. Instead of requiring associations to pay hourly legal fees in most cases, our firm advances the cost of collections and recovers our own legal fees directly from the delinquent homeowner. The model aligns with the association’s goal of recovering unpaid assessments with the firm’s goal of resolving cases efficiently. We move to resolve cases quickly so the association recovers its money, the firm recovers its fees, and the community is made whole.
The firm grew quickly because that approach addressed a real need in Arizona’s community association industry. My partner Kelly Oetinger joined the firm in 2012 and manages the general counsel work. I joined the firm in 2015 to manage the firm’s litigation and collections department. Kelly and I became shareholders in 2023, continuing our firm’s unique service model.
How We Help HOAs in Arizona
We proudly serve the entire state of Arizona for all assessment, collection, covenant, and fine enforcement, litigation, general counsel needs, board trainings, election issues, and much more. We also place a strong emphasis on education, providing monthly email updates, articles, legislative summaries, and industry involvement. We try to give boards and managers timely information they can actually use.
What Makes Us Unique Within the Community Association Industry
Many law firms sell time. Our firm is built around access, clarity, and being focused on results, not billable hours.
What makes Halk, Oetinger, and Brown unique is that our fee structures are designed around how community associations actually operate. Boards and managers need practical legal guidance, but they also need predictability. They should not have to hesitate before asking an important question because they are worried about starting an hourly billing clock.
For assessment collections, our vision is simple – why should our clients pay legal fees for the failure of an individual homeowner to pay assessments? We bill our legal fees directly to the delinquent homeowner. If we don’t collect our fees, we don’t get paid. And we’ve been getting paid for two decades. One misconception about our contingency is how other firms use the word, like in personal injury cases. Our firm does not take any assessments from our clients. We bill our fees on top of the full assessment balance owed. The association receives the full assessment balance owed, and our fees are billed on top of that principal amount owed.
For general counsel, legal help should be easy to access before a problem becomes expensive. We believe billable hours create a barrier to establishing relationships. So, we created the $50.00 General Counsel Plan for unlimited questions by phone or email for a board member and their manager. Have a question on your CC&Rs, new legislation, or HOA law issue? It’s all included. Open communication builds relationships and lowers liability risks. It’s win-win. For other work, we charge flat fees up front whenever possible so there are no surprise monthly invoices for our clients.
What Our Clients Can Expect
When selecting an HOA law firm, boards and managers should look beyond the hourly rate and ask whether the firm’s structure encourages early communication and practical problem-solving. Our law firm understands Arizona HOA and condominium law, communicates clearly with direct answers, responds promptly, and offers a predictable fee structure whenever possible. We help boards and managers make confident decisions before small issues become major disputes.
We communicate about collections through detailed monthly status reports. The property manager receives these reports before the community board meetings in order to include the status reports in Board packets.
Innovative flat monthly fees available for unlimited legal advice. Our clients have come to expect industry-leading service that is cost-effective.
Our attorneys specialize in specific areas to serve our Association clients with answers to their questions, including design and review, covenant enforcement, liability, bankruptcy, and vendor disputes.
Halk, Oetinger, and Brown leads in representing Arizona planned communities and condominiums with our innovative fee structure that focuses on solving problems, instead of billing hours.
Experienced Arizona HOA Lawyers
Meet Our Legal Team
We have a phenomenal team. Four of our paralegals have been with the firm for more than a decade, which says a lot about the culture we have built and the level of knowledge our clients benefit from every day. The values that guide our firm are accessibility, honesty, consistency, and practical problem-solving. We pride ourselves on direct communication with our clients. If a case has strengths, we explain them. If there are risks, we explain those too. Boards and managers need clear guidance, not legal jargon or vague answers.
Our firm motto is “Making Managers’ Lives Easier,” and that really does guide how we approach the work. Whether we are moving a collection case forward, helping resolve a violation dispute, or answering a quick general counsel question, our goal is to give managers and boards the support they need.
Satisfied Homeowner's Association Clients
Read what our clients have to say about us...
