More Details Of The Ongoing Lawsuit By And Against FCCA -
As many of you already know, Fountain Court Condominium Association, Inc.,has been selectively attempting to enforce rules and thereby harassing and attempting to intimidate one of the owners and also the editor of TFOI in their attempts to try and shut down "The Fountain Of Information". So far, the illegally elected Board and Officers have failed... but they have
succeeded in spending over $15,000.00 of YOUR money in trying to do these illegal, unethical and immoral acts... money that should be being spent on repairing the many leaking and/or deteriorating pipes, walls, roofs, etc. Further, the illegally elected Board and Officers have spent around $65,000.00 of YOUR money on management fees and legal fees and neither the current manager or lawyer bothered to read the By-laws to see that every thing they've been doing has been illegal and unlawful with respect to the By-laws.
They... rather YOU (as an owner of FCCA) have now been sued for their illegal activities and actions.
On Wednesday, April 22, 2009, the illegal Board and Manager met for one of their closed-to-the-owners Board Meetings... well closed to most of the owners, except for the owners who are in their little clique... the owners they have illegally identified as "At-large Board Members" on the official Fountain Court website. There is nothing in the by-laws that provide for the appointment and designation of "At-large Board Members"... another one of their illegal and unlawful actions.
Here is a summary (copy/paste) of the legal pleadings that have been filed by Suzanne and I. I will give a layman's explanation to some of these legal terms/phrases in (parentheses) after giving the summary first. This is all filed in the public record so there are no secrets being revealed here. It can all be verified if you choose to go look at the actual record.
24th Judicial District Court, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana - Case No. 642-934 "B"
EXCEPTION OF NO CAUSE AND/OR RIGHT OF ACTION, LACK OF PROCEDURAL CAPACITY, INSUFFICIENCY OF SERVICE AND CITATION AND RECONVENTIONAL DEMAND
1.
The persons claiming to act on behalf of the FOUNTAIN COURT CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION herein have no right to act on behalf of that body, for the reason that they are not a properly, legally and/or contractually elected or constituted board of that Association; they were not elected or appointed in accordance with the by-laws and other Controlling Provisions of the FOUNTAIN COURT CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION (hereinafter FCCA).
(TFOI's explanation - The Board and Officers of FCCA have not been properly elected and are therefore NOT legal and have no authority to even file this lawsuit, make up rules, sign contracts with so-called managers, spend YOUR money illegally and unlawfully, etc.)
2.
Specifically, the by-laws of the FCCA provide that the three board members shall be elected by the owners to serve in staggered three-year terms, such that one shall be elected each year, and that the board members shall then elect a president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer. Instead, the present board members ran at the same time for election as president,
vice-president, and secretary-treasurer.
(TFOI's explanation - The past Boards and/or Managers and/or Attorneys simply did not read the by-laws which state EXACTLY how elections are supposed to be done and for at least the past five years for which I have records, they have been doing the elections illegally.)
3.
Furthermore, upon information and belief, only approximately 15 of the 94 owners in Fountain Court Condominiums voted upon the election of the board members at the meeting of the FCCA in November 2008. The by-laws require and rules and regulations of the FCCA require that more than half of the owners must be present to form a quorum in order for there to be a valid election. Therefore, the present board members are not duly elected and do not have
authority to represent the FCCA, and have no right of action or procedural capacity herein.
(TFOI's explanation - When Sultan Mirza was the illegally elected President of FCCA, they held an election where Fred Rapp was elected as Vice-President, in 2003, and there were not a quorum of owners. In Chet Hingle's monthly management report, following that Annual Meeting, he reported that Sultan would be consulting with the attorneys to find out what should be done to bring the election into compliance with the By-laws but NOTHING was ever done. A copy of this report and other management reports showing other illegal election announcements and results are available from http://TheFountainOfInformation.blogspot.com)
4.
The current board also purports to have four At-large members. No provision exists in the FCCA by-laws - which allow only for the President and other officers to appoint such officers as may be necessary - for such At-large members, who were appointed by the three elected board members/officers, showing again that the current board is not in any way properly constituted
and has no right of action herein.
(TFOI's explanation - These "At-Large Board Members" simply are owners that the current illegally elected Board have given these titles to so they can be invited to Board Meetings... while refusing to allow any other owners into the Monthly/Quarterly Board Meetings. Other owners have tried to sit in on these Board Meetings and were refused access even though the Board
Meeting was being held in the commonly owned recreation room.)
5.
Additionally, Plaintiff seeks relief based upon supposed additions and amendments made to the FCCA Rules and Regulations in 2006 and 2008. However, the by-laws of the FCCA require that any amendments to the Rules and Regulations must, in order to become effective, be filed with the Recorder of Jefferson Parish. No amendments have been filed with the recorder since
August 8 of 2005. Therefore, Plaintiff has no cause of action as to any and all elements of its claim that depend upon rule changes that it alleges have been made since August 8, 2005.
(TFOI's explanation - That's right... all of the new rules passed in 2006 and 2008, including ALL of these stupid and outrageous fines they are trying to assess against certain owners, are ALL ILLEGAL RULES since none of them were recorded with the Clerk's Office in Jefferson Parish... which the By-laws clearly states they shall be recorded.... further, since the Board and Officers were illegally elected, this entire lawsuit is illegal and all of their actions for the past five years may well be illegal.)
6.
Exception of Insufficiency of Citation and Service
7.
Defendants further except to the First Amended Petition on the grounds that it was filed without obtaining leave of court as required by Article 1151 of the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, and that without leave of court the Amended Petition has no force or effect.
(TFOI's explanation - FCCA's attorney did not follow the law when he amended the original lawsuit. The law requires him to get a Court Order allowing him to amend the lawsuit first and he DID NOT do this simple act. Another WASTE OF YOUR money.)
Answer and Affirmative Defenses
8.
Defendants adopt and re-iterate all arguments made in Defendant, Lenny Vasbinder's, original Answer filed April 23, 2007, except insofar as facts urged in that Answer have changed since that time.
9.
Paragraphs 1 and 8 of the Amended Petition require no response from Defendants.
10.
The allegations of Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Amended Petition are admitted.
11.
The allegations of Paragraph 4 are denied. Defendant Vasbinder is an occupant of unit 65 along with its owner; furthermore it would be impossible for him to live there as a tenant at the same time as the owner lives there, because the only lease approved by the FCCA contemplates leasing the entire unit from its owner; additionally no owner living at Fountain Court is
required to have a written lease with any occupant of his or her unit.
12.
The allegations of Paragraph 5 of the Amended Petition are denied. Additionally, Plaintiff's desire for Defendant Halprin to seal her windows ignores the fact that the leaks in her unit arise from defects in its roof and walls, which are the responsibility of FCCA to repair. No further
sealing of the window is required, nor would it have any effect.
13.
The allegations of Paragraphs 6, 7, 9, and 10 of the Amended Petition are denied.
14.
Now responding to the original Petition where as it was not modified by the Amended Petitioner, Defendant Halprin answers as follows: the allegations of Paragraph 2, 5 are admitted; the allegations of Paragraphs 7, 9, 10 and 11 are denied.
15.
Defendants furthermore deny that Plaintiff is entitled by any statute, contract or jurisprudence to an award of attorney's fees herein even if successful in all particulars.
Affirmative Defenses
16.
For their Affirmative Defenses, Defendants urge that Plaintiff has been selective, abusive and arbitrary in its interpretation and enforcement of the Controlling Provisions, so as to single out Defendants for any purported violations while ignoring similar or identical acts when committed by other owners, including the current President, Vice-President, and other members of the Board, showing that such purported violations are in fact no cause for filing this action. The Controlling Provisions should be interpreted in such a manner as Plaintiff applies them to all owners at Fountain Court, not merely as it applies them to Defendants.
17.
Furthermore, Defendants urge that any actual violations they have committed were long ago remedied and that their inclusion in this suit is frivolous.
18.
Defendants further urge that Plaintiff has failed to specify any irreparable damage it may be suffering and has therefore failed to supply the minimum necessary requirements for issuance of any injunction.
Reconventional Demand
(TFOI's explanation - This is the counter lawsuit against FCCA)
19.
Now appearing in the capacity of Plaintiff In Reconvention, Suzanne Halprin prays that she be granted relief in the form of specific performance and damages as set forth below.
20.
As an owner at Fountain Court, Suzanne Halprin is entitled to specific performance of the Controlling Provisions, which have contractual force between her and the FCCA. Therefore, Plaintiff In Reconvention requests that the FCCA be ordered to:
a) Provide a yearly independently audited financial statement as required by the by-laws and Controlling Provisions of the FCCA.
b) Hold an election with a quorum of votes from the owners at Fountain Court to elect a board as provided for in precisely the manner set forth within the by-laws and Controlling Provisions of the FCCA.
c) Dissolve the current board, which is improperly constituted and was improperly elected;
d) Return responsibility for managing all FCCA funds to the Treasurer of the board, because such responsibility has been delegated the management company hired by the FCCA, in violation of the by-laws and Controlling Provisions of the FCCA.
e) Enforce all by-laws, rules and regulations equally and impartially with respect to every owner, tenant and occupant at Fountain Court.
f) Repair Plaintiff In Reconvention's unit in accordance with the FCCA's responsibilities as set forth in the by-laws and Controlling Provisions of the FCCA, with particularity repairing the leaking roof above her unit, repairing all elements of her unit that have been damaged as a result of the leaking roof, and repairing the leaking wall, vapor barrier and other elements causing ongoing damage to her unit.
21.
In the alternative to Paragraph 20(f), Plaintiff In Reconvention requests that she be awarded a monetary sum equivalent in value to the specific performance requested in Paragraph 20(f) above.
22.
Plaintiff In Reconvention furthermore requests that she be awarded any and all attorney's fees incurred in this matter.
WHEREFORE, Leonard Vasbinder and Suzanne Halprin urge that the Fountain Court Condominium Association be cited and served with this Answer and Reconventional Demand, and that after due proceedings are had, Plaintiff's action be dismissed, with prejudice, at Plaintiff's cost; that all relief requested in the original and First Amended Petitions be denied; and that an order issue granting specific performance of all Controlling Provisions as
requested herein; and that they be awarded court costs, judicial interest, attorney's fees and all such damages as are warranted herein.
Respectfully submitted,
(END OF COPY/PASTE)
So... as you see, the many illegal, unlawful, unethical and immoral activities of the current illegally elected Board and Officers has been legally pointed out in Court filings now so they can no longer hide behind their own ignorance for their failing to read the by-laws. My understanding is that there will be at least a couple of more lawsuits filed against FCCA
in the very near future. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available in the public record.
Until next time, let "The Fountain Of Information" flow!
Lenny Vasbinder, Editor
TheFountainOfInformation@gmail.com
http://www.TheFountainOfInformation.Blogspot.com
Cell-504-621-1870 eFax-413-318-0742
Advertisement:
Lenny Vasbinder NHSNOLA@gmail.com
Cell-504-621-1870 Fax-413-318-0742
http://www.NeighborhoodHomeServices.com
P.O.Box 74031, Metairie, LA 70033-4031
Handyman Services, Lawn & Garden Care, Residential Contractor, General Cleaning & Trash Hauling, Etc.
No comments:
Post a Comment