Ruling buoys residents
A Doral community that lost its swimming pool because of unpaid back
taxes can use it while a court battle over the whole issue continues.

 
Article Courtesy of the Miami Herald
BY MICHAEL VASQUEZ
Posted on December 11, 2003

Residents of Doral Place are about to regain use of their community swimming pool -- more than seven months after it was auctioned off because of unpaid property taxes.

Miami-Dade County Circuit Court Judge Henry Harnage recently signed an order granting residents the right to use the pool while a legal battle over its ownership is pending.

The pool, located at 5000 NW 102nd Ave., was auctioned by Miami-Dade County in late April. Soon after, residents found they were locked out of it by the new owners. Summer came and went; the locks stayed on.

Doral Place Master Homeowner's Association President Vicente Pena said the pool may be open for use as early as this weekend.

Whether South Florida's chilly temperatures will warm up enough for residents to go swimming remains uncertain. Regardless, the fact that residents are being allowed to use the pool again is a significant boost to their efforts to eventually win back ownership of it and roughly a half-acre of surrounding property.

By granting residents use of the pool, the judge, in effect, was saying there is a strong chance the homeowner's association may ultimately win the court battle.

''Everything looks very favorable that we will prevail,'' Pena said. He predicted that wrapping up the court battle will likely take another six to eight months.

On April 28, the pool and surrounding half-acre were auctioned off by the county. Miami-Dade seized control of the property and sold it to the highest bidder because Doral Place's management company, the Continental Group, had for years neglected to pay overdue property taxes.

The back taxes on the pool date to 1998 and 1999 and total nearly $8,000. Pena said the Doral Place Homeowner's Association has since fired Continental as its management company and has not ruled out suing Continental for damages.

In court, attorneys for the homeowner's association are arguing that the county made a mistake in the way it assessed property taxes on the pool and should not have auctioned it off. Because of this, the association says, the pool should be taken away from the companies that bought it at auction -- R--U-4 Real and For Sale By Owner Realty -- and returned to the association as if the sale never happened.

Deborah Marks, an attorney representing the new owners of the pool property, did not return phone calls from The Herald seeking comment.

W. Todd Boyd, the homeowners' attorney, said even if the association isn't awarded ownership of the pool, residents could still be in good shape as long as they are allowed continued use of the pool. That would weaken the bargaining position of the pool's new owners, who have been trying to sell the property back at a profit, Boyd said.

If residents were given permanent use of the pool, the property would be ''worth zero'' to the new owners, Boyd said.

''It would make it valueless to them,'' he said.