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Article Courtesy of The Palm
Beach Post
By Mike Diamond
Published January 7, 2023
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WELLINGTON — The effort to remove four of seven HOA members in the Black Diamond
community is headed for the courts.
Homeowners at the 475-home development sought to recall or remove the four board
members and replace them with four other homeowners. But at a special meeting
Nov. 30, the HOA voted 4-3 to refuse to accept the petitions, claiming that many
of them contained forged signatures.
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The HOA filed a
lawsuit Dec. 7 to challenge the validity of the recall
petitions, asking a judge to determine whether it did the
right thing.
State law allows HOA board members to be recalled for any
reason. A majority of homeowners must sign petitions
supporting the recall. At Black Diamond, the four members
targeted for recall all refused to certify the petitions;
the three members not targeted all voted to accept them.
With the majority of the board refusing to certify, the four
targeted members will remain in office until the courts
address the issue.
The HOA's lawyer, William Pincus of West Palm Beach, filed a
lawsuit in circuit court questioning the tactics used by
recall leaders. The lawsuit says that ballot signatures were
obtained through “fraudulent representations” that includes
allegations that existing board members stole $27,000.
Affidavits were also submitted from some homeowners claiming
that their signatures were forged.
The lawsuit alleges that recall leaders
have been “engaging in a door-to-door campaign of harassment
and intimidation to prevent members from meeting with
targeted directors.” In addition to the claim that the
targeted members stole HOA funds, the lawsuit claims
residents were told that the HOA funded a $100,000
basketball court. Those misrepresentations resulted in
homeowners voting for the recall, the lawsuit says. |
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Black Diamond development, consisting of 475 homes
off State Road 7, is railed in controversy over an effort to recall
four of the secen board members.
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Recall petitioners, led by Richard Darquea, a homeowner and a paralegal,
submitted 283 names of homeowners seeking to recall HOA President Jerry
Milord and board members Elias Kazan, Brian Papula and Terrance Pruitt. The
required number to force a recall is 238. More than 60 ballots were
rejected.
Black Diamond lies west of State Road 7 and north of Wellington Regional
Medical Center. Homes sell for between $600,000 and $1 million, but the
ongoing disputes have affected property values, according to residents.
The feud began in May 2021 following a close board election. Darquea filed
papers with a state agency claiming that at least 27 proxies from that
election contained forged signatures. The agency ordered that a new election
be held but was powerless to enforce its order. Darquea and others then
filed a lawsuit to overturn the results but this year settled the case after
the HOA agreed to pay their legal fees.
Darquea and others subsequently decided to recall a majority of the HOA
board. Darquea denied that there was anything irregular with the recently
submitted recall petitions.
The ill will at Black Diamond shows no signs of subsiding.
Darquea says the targeted board members have been pressuring residents to
sign the affidavits attesting to forged signatures. One was offered a deal
in which the board promised to expedite an application to widen her
driveway, Darquea claims, adding that the targeted board members have used
the development's property manager to pressure residents into saying they
did not intend to vote for the recall.
“This is malicious and vindictive litigation as part of an effort to put
more financial strain on anyone contesting them,” Darquea said. “They are
using HOA money; we have to use our own funds to address these issues and
they know that.”
Pincus has issued summonses for each of the defendants that include Darquea
and the homeowners named in the recall petitions to replace the four
targeted members. A circuit judge is expected to be assigned to the case
once the defendants have been served.
Pincus said he is hopeful that the case will be quickly resolved but it is
not clear when the case will be heard.
Homeowners at Black Diamond in Wellington filed papers to
recall four board members
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