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Article Courtesy of The Palm Beach Post By JANE MUSGRAVE Published December 12, 2007 Four mentally disabled women will be allowed to stay in their home as a result of a settlement reached with a Greenacres homeowners association that claimed the women were creating a nuisance. But, like virtually everything involved in the legal battle over the group home in the Normandy Isles community, even the settlement hasn't gone smoothly. Attorney Cathy Lively, who represents the women and the owner of the group home, threatened to have a judge sanction Normandy Isles Homeowners Association because the check it wrote to end the legal battle was 10 days late and $500 short. "Five hundred dollars is not a whole lot of money, but it was a promise that was made so the lawsuit would be resolved," she said. "We want to see a finalization of everything." When the agreement was hammered out last month, the association agreed to pay $52,500 by Nov. 30, Lively said. The association also agreed to "promptly" send notices to residents that the women had the right to live in the group home owned by Helpers International. A check for $52,000 arrived on Monday. The association has yet to alert residents that the lawsuit is over and the women won, Lively said. Late Tuesday, the association agreed to pay the $500 and send out the letter by Dec. 18. If they don't, Lively said she will head back to court to ask Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Kenneth Stern to decide what, if any, action to take. He could impose financial penalties or order the association to pay Lively for the additional work she has done to get the association to pay up. Originally, the association sued Helpers International founder Evroy Grant, claiming he was violating the law by running a business out of the home he owns in the community. Later, the association claimed that the women themselves were the problem, creating a nuisance by taking a PalmTran van to jobs and appointments. Lively responded by suing the association. She warned that residents could be forced to pay as much as $10 million for violating state fair housing laws and court decisions that prohibit discrimination of people with disabilities and allow group homes in neighborhoods. She described the settlement, which will let Grant recoup the money he has spent fighting the association, as fair. However, she said, the lawsuit should never have been filed. "The sad part is essentially we got what we wanted since Day 1," she said. All they wanted, she said, was for the women to be able to live in the home in peace. |
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