CONTRACTOR WINS SUIT AGAINST HOMEOWNERS FOR LIBEL, DAMAGES.Byline: Kevin F. Sherry Daily News Staff Writer A Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. contractor has been awarded more than $6.6 million by an arbitrator who found that the company was put out of business by the actions of a Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. homeowner's association. Arbitrator Nicholas Toghia found that the Simi Valley Le Parc Homeowners Association had engaged in trade libel, slander slander: see libel and slander. Slander See also Gossip. Slaughter (See MASSACRE.) Basile calumniating, niggardly bigot. [Fr. Lit. , negligent lawsuits and interference with the business of QwikResponse. The ruling, binding on both parties, was signed Friday. The case stems from a repair job started by QwikResponse following the Northridge Earthquake The Northridge earthquake occurred on January 17, 1994 at 4:31 AM Pacific Standard Time in the city of Los Angeles, California. The earthquake had a "strong" moment magnitude of 6. . The homeowners association cannot pay the judgment, said David R. Worley, an attorney for Le Parc. ``They don't have assets anywhere near that. They are currently in bankruptcy,'' Worley said. ``Obviously, my clients did disagree and still disagree with Verb 1. disagree with - not be very easily digestible; "Spicy food disagrees with some people" hurt - give trouble or pain to; "This exercise will hurt your back" the claims that were made.'' The residents at the 264-unit condominium condominium In modern property law, individual ownership of one dwelling unit within a multidwelling building. Unit owners have undivided ownership interest in the land and those portions of the building shared in common. complex near First Street and the Ronald Reagan Freeway should receive their official notification about the award within the next several days, said Leslie Dattel, who has been the homeowners board president since July 1. ``We're still coming to terms with what we're going to do,'' Dattel said. In September 1994, QwikResponse initiated a $6.2 million contract for the earthquake repairs. The work included fixing cracked drywall, roofs, carpeting, tiles and stucco. It progressed until a new association board was elected in January 1995, said Glenn J. Campbell, the attorney for QwikResponse. ``Things really started to get hairy then,'' Campbell said. The board attempted to remove QwikResponse from the project and to get a cheaper bid. The board tried to make additions, deletions and general changes to the project, Campbell said. The board falsely accused the contractor of doing substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. work, hiring unlicensed subcontractors, diverting funds from the project and using substandard materials, Campbell said. QwikResponse continued to pay its subcontractors as best it could, but the board withheld its payments. That caused QwikResponse to miss out on other quake-repair jobs and caused the company to become inactive, he said. The next step will be for QwikResponse to ask a court to confirm the award. |
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