Howard and Melissa Fellman say it’s bad enough that they lost their lawsuit to prevent an investor from terminating their Boca Raton condominium and forcing them to sell their unit for a below-market price.

Then the Fellmans watched a court in Miami side with condo owners there who waged a similar fight. Yet the couple say they can’t use the ruling to compel their district court to reconsider its decision.

And now the investor who terminated the condominium has sent a letter to the Fellmans’ longtime tenant telling her to stop paying rent to the couple. “We, as the new owner, would like to offer you a NEW LEASE so you may continue to occupy the Leased Premises without any interruption,” the letter says. Court records and correspondence provided by the Fellmans present a story of a long legal battle to prevent The Scully Company, a Pennsylvania-based operator of rental communities, from taking over a condo unit the couple purchased for $65,000 in 1992 — back when the condominium’s declaration stated it would take 100% of unit owners to approve any termination. But after buying 175 of the Mission Viejo Condominium units — all of them except the Fellmans’ — the investor took over the governing association and voted to reduce to 80% the threshold of unit owners required to approve the termination, court records show.

Melissa and Howard Fellman stand in front of their condo at Crystal Palms Apartments on July 15, 2022 in Boca Raton.

“I am still not sure what I did wrong and/or what Melissa and I could have done differently to have kept the free-and-clear condo in our possession,” Howard Fellman wrote Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 16 in an email begging him to intervene.

“Simply put, we bought a beautiful condo 32 years ago that was supposed to be our forever home. We have never been late on a mortgage, a monthly condo fee, a special assessment, an insurance premium or a tax. My wife and I worked very hard for the right to make that claim. This is so unjust.”

But a spokeswoman for The Scully Company, which operates the complex under the name Complex Palms Apartments, contended in a statement to The South Florida Sun Sentinel that the company made the decision to terminate the condominium “after years of enduring Mr. Fellman’s dissonance as it related to him sharing financial responsibilities associated with his rental unit.”

Howard Fellman cites a list of issues with how money at the condominium has been spent and reported, including its use of association property for what he says is the operation of the apartment complex.

When The Scully Company filed notice of its intention to seek termination in 2021, it offered the Fellmans $210,000 for their unit, saying the price was determined by an appraiser it had hired, Howard Fellman said.

While the Scully spokeswoman said the price offered was “above market value plus closing costs,” Howard Fellman contends that a Zillow search shows his property is worth more than $300,000.

On Monday, Howard Fellman’s attorney sent a letter to Scully objecting to its acquisition price and other terms of its proposed settlement, including the fact that the appraisal was conducted more than three years ago and the offer fails to credit him with 2.5% of the association property that includes Fellman’s building and all of the recreation areas and offices.