HOMEOWNER APPEAL GOES NOWHERE; FOR NOW, CONSTRUCTION FIRM MAY ASSESS RESIDENTS FOR JUDGMENT.Byline: Sylvia L. Oliande Daily News Staff Writer A Superior Court judge refused on Monday to temporarily bar a construction company from collecting maintenance fees from the Le Parc Homeowners Association to pay off a $6.6 million defamation defamation In law, issuance of false statements about a person that injure his reputation or that deter others from associating with him. Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation. Libel is defamation in print, pictures, or any other visual symbols. judgment. At the same time, Judge Harry Walsh set a May 5 hearing to review the association's request for an injunction against the company's collection methods. The court also will hear a request by ZM Construction to impose a special assessment on homeowners until the judgment is paid. Residents had argued that the construction company was trying to collect fees from the wrong party. The 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. Le Parc Homeowners Association was fired April 1, and the Le Parc Community Association has taken over the management of the complex and is collection of dues. ``As far as the Simi Valley Le Parc Homeowners Association is concerned, it has been fired,'' said Camarillo-based attorney James Lingl. ``It has no job within the 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 and has no source of income because it is no longer entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: to collect assessments.'' Lingl said he will file a motion asking that the court dismiss the construction company's receiver, which has been collecting from bank accounts held by the old association, which is now broke. But Glenn J. Campbell, an attorney for ZM Construction, said that the move to change associations was an awkward attempt by the homeowners to shield themselves from the debt. An arbitrator arbitrator n. one who conducts an arbitration, and serves as a judge who conducts a "mini-trial," somewhat less formally than a court trial. In most cases the arbitraror is an attorney, either alone or as part of a panel. imposed the $6.6 million judgment last July against the association, saying it had falsely accused the contractor of doing substandard substandard, adj below an acceptable level of performance. work with substandard materials, of hiring unlicensed contractors and of diverting di·vert v. di·vert·ed, di·vert·ing, di·verts v.tr. 1. To turn aside from a course or direction: Traffic was diverted around the scene of the accident. 2. funds from the project. The construction company, then operating under the name QwikResponse, had been hired to repair damage from 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. . Before the job was completed, the association stopped payment. As a result of the judgment, the complex's 264 homeowners could each face a $25,000 levy. In another attempt to collect the judgment, Campbell filed a motion on behalf of the company asking for a special assessment of $2,000 per unit per year, coming to about $166.66 per month over an estimated 10 years. The assessment would be charged in addition to the homeowner's normal association fees - a portion of which will also would go to the company. ``Since the association refuses to assess itself for the judgment, we're going to have the court do it,'' Campbell said. |
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