CONDO OWNERS DUMP GROUP; LE PARC RESIDENTS SEEK TO PREVENT $6.6 MILLION COLLECTION.

Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer

Homeowners at the Le Parc condominium complex dissolved their homeowners association this week in an effort to stop a construction contractor from taking funds earmarked for maintenance of their complex while he tries to collect a $6.6 million judgment against them.

An attorney for the homeowners also filed a request for a temporary restraining order barring ZM Construction from taking homeowner dues paid to the old association.

Residents, many of whom fear that a dwindling maintenance budget would cause the deterioration of their complex, said they don't expect the association change, made March 31, will stop the contractor completely, but it will buy them some time.

``It means that we get a little breathing space,'' said James Lee, a resident since 1987. ``Hopefully the new corporation will hire everyone back and get on with life and stop worrying about the threat hanging over our heads.''

An attorney for the construction company said he wasn't surprised by the move, but said that it would have little effect on his client's attempt to collect.

``It's almost fraud on a creditor to just change the form or name of a defendant who has a judgment against it in order to avoid that judgment,'' Glenn J. Campbell said Friday. ``The courts have said that it can be disregarded completely when it's done for that purpose. This is such an obvious, clumsy attempt to avoid the judgment that we're very confident that this will avail them not.''

The homeowners' Camarillo-based attorney, James P. Lingl, said his motion for a restraining order is expected to be considered on Monday, but he would not comment further on the case.

In 1994, in the wake of the Northridge Earthquake, ZM Construction was hired by the association to fix damage to the condominiums.

Before the job was complete, the association withheld payment on the $6.2 million contract, saying that the work being done was substandard.

The construction company, which also is known as QwikResponse, sued the association for trade libel, slander and negligent lawsuits, and won a judgment from an arbitrator in July.

Each homeowner may ultimately be assessed $25,000, to be paid over five years, to make good on the debt. Meanwhile, the court appointed a receiver to attach association fees to help pay off the judgment.

The homeowners association has appealed both the original ruling and the decision to allow a receiver to attach their accounts.

As a result of cutbacks in the maintenance budget, several gardeners, street and driveway sweepers and private security officers have been laid off. The receiver has left only the pool cleaning crew and the maintenance supervisor to keep up the property.

The cuts have residents worried that their complex will fall into disrepair, but Campbell said the company is exercising its legal right to take the money.

``They wouldn't assess themselves,'' he said of the homeowners. ``They wouldn't make any arrangements to pay the judgment.''