More Palm Valley Homeowners Win Transfer Fee Cases

More Palm Valley Country Club homeowners are winning court battles over a nearly $10,000 transfer fee charged when they sold their homes.

The issue was first reported by NBC Palm Springs in June, when seven homeowners had successfully challenged the fee in small claims court.

Since then, 16 additional homeowners have taken the issue to court and won.

Former Palm Valley Country Club resident Brett Butler was the first homeowner to successfully challenge the fee. He has since helped other homeowners pursue their cases.

Butler says about 22 cases have now gone through small claims court, with homeowners prevailing in every case.

He says the country club appealed one of those cases and hired an attorney, but the second judge reached the same conclusion: the transfer fee was not enforceable.

Butler says homeowners previously faced additional challenges collecting the money awarded to them by the courts.

He says some homeowners had to involve the sheriff and pursue bank levies to collect their judgments.

Butler says the club is now refunding those court-ordered amounts.

There's also been a major policy change.

In an email sent to homeowners August 5, the Palm Valley HOA Executive Committee said the golf club stopped requesting the transfer fee through escrow in July.

The HOA called the change a "positive and constructive step" and said it plans to continue working with the club on solutions that support the club's long-term success while protecting homeowners.

Butler says the change is the result of homeowners choosing to challenge the fee in court.

He says he's encouraged by the decision to stop collecting the fee but believes questions remain about homeowners who previously paid it.

Butler says he's been told a separate class-action lawsuit has been filed against Palm Valley, with the goal of potentially recovering fees paid by homeowners in the past.

The status and outcome of that lawsuit remain pending.

For now, the transfer fee is no longer being requested through escrow, while homeowners who previously paid the fee continue to seek possible avenues for reimbursement.