The following lawsuit was mentioned in the original version of the July 2019 open meeting Minutes, but was deleted in the altered version. (Click here to view the highlights of alterations from July 2019 Minutes.)
From original version of July 2019 Open Meeting Minutes, #4 on page 2: "Evidence presented regarding a recent small claim court suit. Person sued HOA to honor pre-paid golf fees paid to GPL. There had been a statement that the man who sued did not have proof of his pre-payment and the member showed that he did. The man won his suit plus damages."
The man made a prepayment to GPL for range key. (A prepaid range key provides access to driving range buckets of balls at a discount.)
After GPL departed, Barone refused to honor the range keys, claiming the man did not have proof of the prepayment. Though the man showed that he did, Barone continued to deny him use of range key.
The man sued LLHOA in small claim court for $90 plus damages. He won the case. The court awarded him $90 plus costs of $129 for a total of $219.
Barone appealed the case to Superior Court with the assistance of the HOA attorney. Appeal was denied and vacated by court. The HOA Board supported Barone's refusal to pay the judgement. The man filed a form with court requesting explanation of failing to pay the judgement and to reveal LLHOA assets, Judge issued a bench warrant against Barone for failing to come to trial. Barone and attorney showed up at the Van Nuys Courthouse in response to court order and proposed a settlement of $887.06 which was accepted.
Here are ways to squander HOA money:
1. Refuse to honor customer’s prepayment for driving range key because it was paid to GPL even after proof of prepayment was presented, when a few buckets of golf balls that cost HOA almost nothing would have settled the matter and earned the HOA goodwill. The lack of basic business common sense costs the HOA $887.06 when the issue could have been prevented for a few buckets of balls. …..But Barone continue to aggravate the customer until he successfully sued the HOA.
2. After losing the case in small claims court, instead of cutting the loss and paying the judgement of $219, Umann, DiNapoli and Bromley allowed Barone to appeal the judgement to Superior court with the HOA attorney, incurring more attorney fees.
3. After losing the small claim case and the appeal was denied and vacated by court, Barone continued to make the situation worse by defying the court order to the point that a bench warrant was issued for him. Rather than explaining in court why the board and he did not pay the judgement, Barone and attorney proposed a settlement. LLHOA paid both Barone and the attorney for their time in court, further compounding the total cost to the HOA for one poor business decision after another, in violation of the prudent man rule. So the costs of the issue went from a few buckets of balls at virtually no cost to HOA, since HOA already owned the balls, to a case in superior court that involved several hours for attorney fees (assuming six hours at $300/hour) $1800 and $365 daily salary for Barone plus the $887.06 settlement for a total estimated cost of $3052.06. LLHOA ended up paying over $3,000 for a few buckets of driving range golf balls that LLHOA already owned!
This example illustrate that Umann, DiNapoli, Bromley and Barone:
1. Lack basic common sense, let alone business knowledge and judgement;
2. Lack fundamental management skills;
3. Have zero understanding of customer service and customer relations;
4. Have no moral compass for doing what is right;
5. Are extremely financial ignorant and irresponsible.
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