Over time, I’ve looked into a lot of problems with homeowners associations, and in general, most of the time they have the same ending: an angry meeting, a couple of emails expressing complaints, and everybody then goes back to taking care of their yards.
However, this wasn’t the case with Todd Creek Farms. What began as a dispute over the landscaping contract developed into a case in federal bankruptcy court, and to be fair, even now I am surprised by what I come across every time I look back into the case.
Quick Answer:
Several residents of the Todd Creek Farms neighborhood located in Brighton, Colorado, filed a lawsuit against the board of their HOA for breaching the bylaws, refusing to allow homeowners to access certain information and for not revealing a conflict of interest regarding a landscaping contract.
After the HOA spent nearly $900,000 on a legal defense, it eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025 in order to halt the proceedings. The legality of the bankruptcy process is still being decided in federal court.
Table of Contents
Quick Facts
| State Lawsuit | Apke, et al. v. Todd Creek Farms Homeowners’ Association, et al. (Case No. 2023CV30537, Adams County District Court, CO) |
| Bankruptcy Case | In re: Todd Creek Farms Homeowners’ Association, Inc. (Case No. 25-14385, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Colorado) |
| Location | Brighton, Adams County, Colorado, 370 lots across roughly 750 acres |
| Lawsuit Filed | 2023 |
| Bankruptcy Filed | July 15, 2025 |
| Plaintiffs | A group of homeowners, initially reported as 21 and later around 31 |
| Defendants | Todd Creek Farms HOA, its board of directors (including President Jason Pardikes), Method Landscaping Services, and related parties |
| Main Allegations | Breach of fiduciary duty, bylaws violations, an undisclosed conflict of interest, blocked access to HOA records |
| Current Status | Lawsuit paused under the bankruptcy’s automatic stay; a motion challenging the bankruptcy as a bad-faith filing is still pending |
What Is the Todd Creek Farms HOA Lawsuit?
Unlike many other typical subdivisions, Todd Creek Farms is an unusual formation of land. Its semi-rural setting is located just west of the town of Brighton and, in case you haven’t heard yet, it is a property that has oil and gas in it, meaning that the residents get royalty payments through the HOA.
The Todd Creek Farms HOA was created to manage shared roads, collect dues and enforce covenants but things began to change once the lawsuit against Todd Creek Farms HOA came into being.
In 2023, a number of owners of houses brought up a derivative lawsuit, which is a kind of lawsuit made on behalf of the HOA, in case the board does not fulfill its obligations as an authority that is required to serve this whole organization, against the board and HOA.
According to the opinion of the lawyer of plaintiffs Peter Towsky, the issue started with what the homeowners refer to as “the swap of terms”.
These homeowners are claiming that this arrangement allowed the board to prolong their term of rule without conducting the necessary vote and that it has enabled the president of the board, Jason Pardikes, to extend the period of his presidency beyond the time he was initially supposed to serve in this capacity.
The situation escalated to the accusations that the board kept the financial reports from the homeowners, which they are entitled to, according to the Colorado law, and the most incredible accusation was that Pardikes was covertly connected to Method Landscaping Services, a firm hired by the HOA to conduct grass and turf operations.
Why Was the Lawsuit Filed?
Boiled down, the plaintiffs’ complaint rests on a handful of connected claims. It’s worth saying upfront: these are allegations. None of them have been proven at trial, and the defendants deny wrongdoing.
If you are unfamiliar with the concept of HOA meetings, it can be illustrated as a situation in which a cooperative board engages the services of the brother of the board president for the renovation of the building’s lobby without disclosing the relationship. Consequently, the bill for the renovation turns out to be eight times the expected amount.
The HOA’s Response
Neither the Homeowners Association nor the governing board has backed down on this matter. The organization claims there was no wrongdoing on its part, while Mr. Pardikes contests that he has never owned a portion of Method Landscaping
The board’s stance, as communicated in its newsletters to homeowners, is that the suit results from the actions of a small cabal of homeowners who have been unable to attain their objectives via the customary electoral process and resolved to seek redress through litigation. The parties filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit with the court, which were rejected, and the case proceeded on an amended complaint.
In late 2025, the board advised homeowners that its legal defense costs had already reached $100,000, attributing its claim to lawsuits it has called frivolous. The expenses kept increasing. By mid-2025, the board disclosed it had incurred nearly $800,000 in legal expenses.
Which brings us to bankruptcy.
Todd Creek Farms Bankruptcy: The Filing That Stopped Everything
On July 15 of the year 2025, just as the lawyers were gearing up to get the records from the bank that should connect Pardikes to Method Landscaping, Todd Creek Farms filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11 with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Colorado. I will confess I was confused at first because filing for bankruptcy while you expect to submit the records that the parties have been in dispute over for the last two years is quite the coincidence, if coincidence it is.
A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing means automatic stay gets activated and essentially everything freezes, therefore there is absolutely no movement in the lawsuit no matter how close the case is to resolution and prosecution of claims.
The company was open about its intentions, it admitted in its newsletter to homeowners that they have done things not to slow down the process, but rather to finish it and prevent homeowners from further liabilities.
Towsky sees it differently. He argued that a bankruptcy court will ultimately have to decide whether this was a legitimate financial filing or, in his words, a “bad faith filing strictly to end a lawsuit” and help Pardikes avoid accountability. It’s also worth noting: the HOA itself has said the filing wasn’t due to mismanagement, unpaid vendors, or a lack of funds, and that the association actually holds more assets than debts. That’s an unusual thing for a debtor to admit, and it’s exactly why the legitimacy of the bankruptcy has become its own separate legal battle.
Timeline of the Todd Creek Farms HOA Lawsuit
Current Status: Is the Lawsuit Still Active?
Technically, yes, but it’s stuck. The original 2023 lawsuit hasn’t been dismissed or settled; it’s simply paused by the bankruptcy’s automatic stay. Nothing moves in the state court case until the bankruptcy judge decides how to proceed.
As of mid-2026, that decision hasn’t come down. The court has approved some interim procedures to keep the bankruptcy estate’s legal professionals paid and the process moving, but the central question, was this bankruptcy filed in good faith, or as a shield against a jury trial, is still unresolved.
If the judge finds the filing was made in bad faith, expect the bankruptcy to be dismissed, the stay lifted, and the original lawsuit, jury trial and all, to pick back up close to where it left off. If the bankruptcy survives that challenge, the homeowners’ claims will likely get folded into the bankruptcy process itself, resolved as creditor claims inside a reorganization plan rather than in front of a jury.
Impact on Homeowners
Residents who weren’t even a part of the lawsuit see its effects. Funds needed for the lawsuit were drawn from the common finances of the HOA, and in Todd Creek Farms’s case, which means that part of the funds should have come back to the residents in the form of oil and gas revenues, if not for the legal battle.
Moreover, the HOA’s board has claimed that if things do not settle, expenses that residents have to pay during litigation may rise. The costs of insurance have grown, as the board revealed that due to lawsuit-related expenses even the amount of deductibles under the director and officer insurance has grown.
In addition to finance, there are many other problems the people of the neighborhood face. The locals have split up, and the tension during meetings has gone so high that newspapers started to publish information about threats made by residents. Regardless of how the court will decide in this case, the trust of the people would take a long time to renovate, which can be compared to the time of bankruptcy process.
How This Fits the Bigger Picture
Use of Chapter 11 by solvent companies to stop unwanted lawsuits is not something new in corporate America; it is a controversial tactic, to say the least. Trying to use the same tactic by a homeowners association comprising 370 properties is what makes this case unique. But it is an important lesson for homeowners across the country:
HOA has genuine powers, but it has constraints too. It needs to follow its own set of rules, keep the correct documents, and conduct itself with honesty. If the residents feel that their HOA has acted improperly, they, according to Colorado law, have a weapon to go to court.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is the Todd Creek Farms HOA lawsuit still active?
Yes, technically. The original lawsuit hasn’t been dismissed, but it’s paused under the bankruptcy’s automatic stay while a federal judge decides whether the Chapter 11 filing was legitimate.
Q. Why did homeowners sue the Todd Creek Farms HOA?
Plaintiffs allege the board violated its own bylaws through a board-term “swap,” blocked access to financial records, and awarded a landscaping contract to a company with an undisclosed tie to the board president.
Q. Where is Todd Creek Farms located?
It’s a residential community of about 370 lots on roughly 750 acres near Brighton, in Adams County, Colorado.
Q. Who filed the lawsuit against Todd Creek Farms HOA?
A group of homeowners, originally reported at 21 and later described as roughly 31, filed a derivative lawsuit on behalf of the HOA against the association and its board.
Q. What is the Todd Creek Farms bankruptcy about?
Facing roughly $900,000 in legal defense costs, the HOA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2025. The filing paused the homeowner lawsuit, and homeowners are now challenging whether the bankruptcy was filed in good faith.
Q. Has anyone won the case?
No. The lawsuit hasn’t gone to trial, and the bankruptcy court hasn’t ruled on the legitimacy of the Chapter 11 filing as of this writing.
Q. Could this affect my HOA dues if I live in Todd Creek Farms?
Possibly. The board has said continued legal costs could lead to special assessments, and money that would otherwise return to homeowners through oil and gas royalties has instead gone toward legal fees.
