Greenspoon Marder Successfully Represents the Recreational Facilities at Century Village West Palm Beach in Two Arbitrations

Aug 15, 2022

Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., – August 15, 2022 – Greenspoon Marder’s Litigation team led by Litigation Department Chair, Beth-Ann Krimsky, joined by attorneys Jessica Sander and Jamey Campellone, secured a resounding victory for their clients who are the owner and manager of the recreational facilities at Century Village West Palm Beach (“CVWPB”) (collectively, “Lessor”), against the United Civic Organization, Inc. (“UCO”), the organization representing all 309 of the condominium associations at CVWPB, in an arbitration proceeding presided over by the Honorable Mary Barzee Flores, serving as the Arbitrator.

The dispute concerned the unit owners’ financial responsibility for repairs to the HVAC Systems at the Main Clubhouse at CVWPB. Agreeing with Lessor that the terms of the Operating Agreement governing the parties clearly provides the repairs must be paid for by the unit owners, on August 5, 2022, the Arbitrator entered an Order Granting Lessor’s Motion for Summary Judgment and Denying UCO’s Motion for Summary Judgment. After lengthy hearings, the Arbitrator concluded the cost for the repairs is the responsibility of the unit owners and requires UCO to reimburse Lessor for the amounts Lessor has already expended on the repairs, plus interest, while further awarding the Lessor the Arbitrator’s fees and costs and pay for the repairs going forward.

This complete win comes on the heels of both a prior successful arbitration involving the same parties and the recreational facilities at CVWPB held in November 2021 and then successfully defeating UCO’s attempt to avoid a second arbitration under the Lease. In the November arbitration, a panel of three Arbitrators, which included two former Florida Bar Presidents, Jesse H. Diner, Esq. and Scott G. Hawkins, BCS, Esq., as well as Gary S. Salzman, BCS, Esq., determined the amount of rent unit owners are to pay for use of the recreational facilities after hearing testimony, including from Lessor’s expert which was based in large part on a market analysis.

The arbitration occurred after the Lessor and UCO were not able to reach a mutual agreement on the rent amount, and thus the Lease between the parties provided for the Arbitration Panel to determine the reasonable amount of the rent. Accordingly, the Arbitration Panel’s Arbitration Award sets forth incrementally increased rental payments the panel found to be reasonable and due from each of the 7,854 unit owners for the next ten (10) years to access the recreational facilities. As for UCO’s most recent attempt to use an improper forum to challenge the terms by which the residents agreed to use and rent the recreational facilities, the Honorable Judge Curley in West Palm Beach rejected UCO’s plan and ordered in June 2022 that the matter be compelled to the contractually agreed up on forum of arbitration.

The Greenspoon Marder team is proud to have helped the Lessor prevail in all three matters in which UCO has attempted to avoid its obligations under the operative Lease that three different tribunals have now found to govern.

About Greenspoon Marder

Greenspoon Marder LLP is a full-service law firm with over 225 attorneys and more than 20 office locations across the United States. With operations from Miami to New York and from Denver to Los Angeles, our firm attracts some of the nation’s top talent in key markets and innovation hubs. Our core practice areas include Real Estate, Litigation, and Transactional Services, complemented by the capabilities of a full-service firm. Greenspoon Marder has maintained a spot on The American Lawyer’s Am Law 200 as one of the top law firms in the U.S. since 2015, and our goal is to provide exceptional client service by developing a thorough understanding of each client’s business needs and objectives in order to provide strategic, cost-effective solutions.

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Greenspoon Marder Successfully Represents the Recreational Facilities at Century Village West Palm Beach in Two Arbitrations

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