Realty firm sues Golden Eagle
Two sides battle over office, commissions
 

Article Courtesy of The Tallahassee Democrat

By C.E. Scott
Posted on Saturday, June 17, 2006

  

A Tallahassee realty and development company filed suit Friday in Leon Circuit Court against the Golden Eagle Homeowner's Association, the latest move in a long-standing dispute between homeowners and the company.

 

"The (lawsuit) was filed for two reasons," said Kelly Overstreet Johnson, a partner in the Broad and Cassel law firm who filed the suit on behalf of Twin Action Properties Inc. and RK Development of Tallahassee.

  

The complaint alleges the plaintiffs own the information center at the main entrance to Golden Eagle in Killearn Lakes on Tallahassee's northeast side, not the homeowners' association.

It also alleges a covenant requires homeowners in the upscale subdivision to use Twin Action Realty if they want to sell their homes, or pay a commission to Twin Action if the homeowner uses another real-estate agent.

  

Johnson said there are 950 lots in Golden Eagle. She said the suit was filed after homeowners in two areas of Golden Eagle voted to overturn the covenant that allowed Twin Action to collect commissions on home sales.

  

"I believe the courts will interpret the restrictive provisions (of the covenant) the way we think they were meant to be interpreted," Johnson said.

  

"It just does not intuitively make sense" to allow a small group of homeowners to overturn a covenant that affects the entire Golden Eagle addition, Johnson said.

  

The covenants require any change to be approved by 80 percent of the homeowners. The two sides disagree on whether it's 80 percent of the entire 950 lots that make up Golden Eagle.

Andy Greybar, a financial planner who lives in Golden Eagle, said the covenant "only applies to the 247 lots" Twin Action purchased in 1999.

   

He said the original covenants for five sections of Golden Eagle never had the language that required sellers to pay commission to Twin Action. The two sections that voted to drop the commission requirement are among those five.

  

As for the information center, Greybar said the 1,335-square-foot office building, which also serves as an office for Twin Action and the homeowner's association, should have been deeded to the association in 1995 because of language in the original covenants.

    

Johnson said her clients have a deed to the property and the structure, so it does not belong to the association.

 

Last month, each side ordered the other out of the building, Johnson said.

 

Neither side would leave and Johnson said she hoped a court order could resolve the dispute.


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