Good news, neighbors! A lawsuit filed against our HOA in 2020, which at one time sought as much as $20 million in damages, has been thrown out of court. The plaintiffs will not be able to refile it as it has been dismissed with prejudice.

The suit was first filed in 2020 by attorney and North Shore resident Bruce Burtoff and homeowner Lynn Sanford (and two other anonymous homeowners in the original version). It was dismissed without prejudice six times, which gave the plaintiffs the opportunity to presumably fix the suit’s many procedural and factual problems before refiling. But the suit itself made that difficult because its claims, in addition to being unsubstantiated, were erratic. It alleged different things at different times, had different parties with every iteration, including non-identified plaintiffs which, as Judge Emerson Thompson pointed out, is extremely unusual in civil suits. In fact, Judge Thompson stated during a hearing that he had never seen this or heard of unnamed plaintiffs in a civil suit in all his years on the bench. The suit also sought financial compensation that went up and down without any apparent justification or legal reason every time it was refiled. The numbers just seemed to materialize out of thin air each time.

The HOA Board and its attorney Jennifer Englert, always maintained the suit was meritless. The court has now validated it.

“This suit in all of its seven iterations was frivolous and unsubstantiated,” Englert said. “The plaintiffs made outrageous blanket claims that lacked the most basic of details, misinterpreted the law (which the judge pointed out) and went as far as to add defendants to the suit who had nothing to do with their unfounded claims.”

Englert is specifically referring to Board members Lisa Solick and Paul Snyder, who were added as defendants to the suit in 2022 just a few days after they joined the board, before they even had a chance to vote on one single HOA business item and even though they were not board members when the alleged, unsubstantiated events took place.

HOA President Dave Gordon said that it is regrettable that Ms. Sanford and Mr. Burtoff would have sought to air their grievances in such a divisive way, without even attempting mediation first as Florida Statutes require. Incidentally, Judge Thompson, pointed out that as one of the many defects of the suit.

“We will now aggressively move toward all plaintiffs named in the various renditions of the suit to recover 100 percent of the money we have spent defending our residents against a suit that could have cost them as much as $20,000 each in special assessments had the plaintiffs prevailed,” Gordon said.

Close to $200,000 has been invested in legal fees to protect homeowners against this baseless suit.  The defense of the suit was required. Legal expenses continued to accrue because Mr. Burtoff kept re-filing the suit each time it was dismissed. In addition to legal fees, the claims in this suit have caused damages to all of the defendants’ reputation and caused a lot of sleepless nights. At the same time, the defendants have devoted hundreds of hours that could have gone to other community projects to assist the HOA and its attorney in the defense of this suit.

HOA attorney Englert is now writing an order for the Final Judgment which will end the case.  It needs to be detailed as Mr. Burtoff indicated to the Court that he plans to appeal despite two different judges dismissing the case several times. The plaintiffs have the right to go before an Appellate Court if they so choose. We hope they act wisely and refrain from extending their pointless fight any longer, as it will result in even more legal fees for the HOA. But if they do, we will defend homeowners just as vehemently again and are certain we will prevail.

The HOA annual meeting, called to order on May 2, did not result in an election because a quorum was not met. A quorum is a minimum participation requirement established in our bylaws. As a general matter of parliamentary procedure, when an assembly does not achieve quorum, it may not proceed and a motion to adjourn brings it to an end.

According to North Shore at Lake Hart bylaws, the election of directors by homeowners at the Annual Meeting can only occur if quorum is achieved at the meeting. Quorum is defined in the bylaws as having at least 15 percent of the total qualified North Shore homeowners being physically present at the meeting or having mailed in or dropped off a properly completed proxy. In this instance, that meant that 154 homeowners were required to attend the meeting in person or to have had already mailed in or dropped off a properly completed proxy form. That number fell short by at least 20.

There was only one Board director position on the ballot. The incumbent, Paul Snyder, was running for reelection while four other qualified candidates vied for the seat as well. Because of the lack of quorum, Snyder will remain in his seat for another full term.

Some homeowners in attendance showed frustration at the lack of quorum. The HOA Board also expressed disappointment. Two separate meeting Notices were sent 45 days and 25 days ahead of the meeting, and ballots and proxy forms were sent 25 days prior. Residents were made aware of a few different ways in which they could vote, while reminders were posted on social media and signs about the meeting displayed throughout the community. Nevertheless, most homeowners chose not to participate in this process.

The time is now to start building quorum for the next election cycle. Plan on attending, tell your neighbor, bring someone with you. For everyone’s voices to be heard, participation is key.