ANN RANKIN, PRINCIPLE  
Email: arankin@annrankin.com  Download: Vcard

Ann Rankin has extensive successful experience representing homeowners' associations and other property owners in disputes and transactions involving both residential and commercial real property. She is a 1978 honors graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law, U.C. Berkeley.

Ms. Rankin has recovered millions of dollars on behalf of owners of apartment buildings, commercial buildings, and condominium complexes in connection with defective construction and design methods. Major successes have included:

A thirteen million dollar recovery on behalf of Watergate Community Association in Emeryville, CA;

A four million, six hundred thousand dollar recovery for The Gardens of Sunnyvale, CA; and

A four million, two hundred thousand dollar settlement on behalf of Mission Springs Homeowners Association in Fremont, CA.

Ms. Rankin is a member of the legal panels of Community Associations Institute (CAI); Executive Council of Home Owners (ECHO), Council of Condominium Home Owners (COCHA) and California Association of Community Managers (CACM). She regularly speaks at seminars organized by these groups, and regularly writes articles on legal topics of interest to homeowners associations and managers which are published in the newsletters of these organizations.

Ms. Rankin is also an affiliate Member of the Certified Commercial Investment Members' (CCIM) group within the National Association of Realtors, and she is a licensed California Real Estate Broker. Ms. Rankin has successfully represented real property investors, syndictors and developers in transactions involving Section 1031 Exchanges and group investments. She has also successfully litigated securities cases involving real property syndications. In addition, Ms. Rankin has a long history of her own real estate investments and rehabilitation projects. The Law Offices of Ann Rankin is housed in a property owned and rehabilitated by Ms. Rankin, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Ms. Rankin's real estate investment and development activities have given her "hands on" experience which has proved valuable to her clients.

Ms. Rankin founded the Law Offices of Ann Rankin in 1986 to provide affordable, high-quality legal services to common interest development associations. Since that time, the firm has grown.

In 1987, Ms. Rankin purchased the Locke House in Oakland, California. She performed extensive renovations on the building and succeeded in having it converted to commercial use, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Law Offices of Ann Rankin is now housed in this building. Ms. Rankin has rehabilitated several other buildings as well. This kind of hands on" experience has given her special insight into practical problems facing owners and associations who must deal with problems arising out of improper building design and construction.

 

TERRY WILKENS, ASSOCIATE 
Email: twilkens@annrankin.com  Download: Vcard

Terry Wilkens has been a successful trial attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1987. He has won numerous jury verdicts for clients and has successfully handled more than 100 arbitrations and mediations in cases involving construction defects, personal injury and products liability.

 Prior to attending law school, Mr. Wilkens practiced as a civil engineer, performing design and field engineering work in a variety of settings, both in the United States and overseas. He graduated from Boalt Hall School of Law, U.C. Berkeley, and was admitted to the California Bar in 1985. He practiced construction litigation at the major firms of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold and Pettit & Martin before joining the Law Offices of Ann Rankin. His successful trial experience and engineering expertise provide our clients with a huge competitive advantage over opposing counsel.

HANH T. PHAM, ASSOCIATE 
Email: hpham@annrankin.com  Download: Vcard

Hanh T. Pham’s years of experience with common interest development law and with land use matters provide her with a high level of expertise that is highly beneficial to our association clients.  Ms. Pham has, for the last several years, worked exclusively with preparing governing documents and analyzing issues related to the Davis-Stirling Act and the California Non-Profit Corporations Code. She has also assisted homeowner associations in updating and amending their governing documents, preparing secret ballot materials and providing advice on the interpretation of governing documents.

Ms. Pham also has excellent skills in problem prevention and in helping our clients to avoid unnecessary liability.

Ms. Pham has practiced in the areas of land use and zoning law in San Francisco, eminent domain, and environmental litigation.

Practice Areas

Common Interest Developments • Community Associations • Condominiums • Condominium Conversions • Corporations • Department of Real Estate (DRE) Approvals • Environmental (CEQA and CERCLA) • Land Use Approvals and Entitlements • Subdivisions • SB 800 (Title 7)/Right to Repair Statute • Updating and Revising Management Documents for Community Associations

Education

J.D. in 1996 from University of San Francisco
Staff Member of the University of San Francisco Law Review
Recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award for Contracts
B.S. degree from the University of California at Davis (Environmental Policy Analysis with an emphasis in City Regional Planning)

Memberships

California State Bar, Real Estate Section
Contra Costa County Bar Association, Real Estate Section
Executive Council of Home Owners’ Legal Panel
Home Builders Association of Northern California, Department of Real Estate Committee
Chair, Legal Subcommittee, 2007

DOMINIC PORRINO, OF COUNSEL  
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Mr. Porrino has been working with and representing homeowner associations since 2006.  He began his career at Angius & Terry, where he did both transactional work and litigation.  

As general counsel for hundreds of homeowner associations, he works closely with boards of directors and association managers to resolve legal issues presented to the associations in a swift and cost-effective manner.  Mr. Porrino also has extensive experience in preparing, revising, and amending governing documents and election rules to ensure the association is compliant with California law.  He has also represented many homeowner associations in construction defect litigation cases against developers, contractors, and subcontractors.

Mr. Porrino graduated from Golden Gate University, where he received his Real Estate certification in law.  He was a member of Golden Gate University’s Moot Court Board, and also published an article in Golden Gate University’s Law Review.  He went on to become the Law and Social Change Editor of Law Review, where he edited eight articles that were published in the Law Review.

Mr. Porrino is a member of the California Bar Association, is a panel attorney for San Francisco’s Volunteer Legal Services Panel (VLSP) and a panel attorney for AIDS Legal Referral Panel (ALRP).

Also see: HOA Articles