When Evelyn Wilson moved into her gated community in south Lake County more than 13 years ago, the cable reception on her TV was so fuzzy it was unwatchable, and the home alarm system didn’t work.
    

But residents soon started lodging complaints about the shoddy cable, internet and phone service with the homeowners association soon after moving into their new homes.

“It was horrific,” said resident Vincent Santanelli, in recalling when he moved into Cascades.

Although the problems with the cable, internet and telephone services have long since been fixed, the homeowners’ nightmare may still not be over because of the ongoing legal maneuvering.

Residents — caught in the middle of the dispute — could soon end up paying thousands of dollars per home after a South Florida judge agreed last month with the jury award to PC Services LLC after a civil lawsuit filed by the company claimed the original homeowners association improperly canceled the contract with the Miami-based PC Services in 2007.

To prevent PC Services from quickly collecting on the judgment and placing liens on Trilogy homes, the current homeowners association board filed for bankruptcy in June. Retaining the development’s original name, the Cascades at Groveland Homeowners’ Association Inc. also has since filed a notice that it will appeal the judgment.

How much each Trilogy homeowner may have to pay to settle the suit is unclear and likely will be hashed out during mediation between representatives from the homeowners association and PC Services scheduled to take place in the coming months.

Members of the current homeowners association board didn’t want to comment publicly regarding the lawsuit, which was filed in 2012.

But Mario Bustamante, CEO of PC Services, said his company and a contractor installed more than $1.3 million worth of fiber-optic cable and made repairs throughout the community as it was being developed by home builder Levitt and Sons, even though faulty wiring was installed in the homes, which caused the problems. And his company and contractors were never paid for their work, he said.

“I spent all this money to fix stuff that wasn’t even our fault,” Bustamante said. “I feel bad because a lot of people [in Trilogy] did not know that this lawsuit was going on and are now going to have to pay.”

The earlier homeowners association, which was controlled by Levitt representatives, terminated its contract with PC Services in 2007 because it claimed the company didn’t deliver what it promised and residents were complaining about bad service, according to court records.

Levitt representatives controlled the homeowners association board at the time because only about 200 homes of the planned 999-home development on 752 acres were completed at the time.

Months later, Levitt walked away from the Cascades development when it declared bankruptcy in November 2007 after finishing 238 homes, nearly a quarter of the total homes planned.

Bank of America eventually took title of the property and Shea Homes, based in Walnut, Calif., purchased the property in 2010. The development has since been annexed into Groveland. Current plans show the final development will have 1,145 homes by 2021. Shea has already constructed and sold 774 homes. There are currently 133 lots for available for homes to built. New homes range from the $230s to the $340s.

The current homeowners association board is now controlled by Trilogy residents.

“Neither the current Homeowner’s Association Board of Directors nor Shea Homes had anything to do with the dispute that led to this lawsuit" and resulting judgment, Shea Homes said in a written statement. “It was the sole result of decisions made by the original and now defunct developer more than a decade ago.....Shea Homes also continues to disclose and provide up to date information about the lawsuit to homeowners and prospective buyers.”

As part of the deal with PC Services, the earlier homeowners association was to provide an enclosed air-conditioned space at least 12 feet by 12 feet to accommodate a “headend,” according to court records. A headend is a facility that takes input — such as television signals — from satellites and other sources and then processes the information into a format to deliver to customers in homes, offices and other networks.

Without the headend, PC Services claimed that it couldn’t provide services.

In January 2006, PC Services — or Groveland LLC — installed $300,000 worth of headend equipment on its own because residents were beginning to move in and demanding service, according to court records and Bustamante.

“When we went up there in January [2006], I was shocked to see there was no place [for the headend],” said Bustamante, explaining why his company decided to install it. “I said: ‘Guys, where am I going to put all this stuff?’”

Bustamante added that the wiring within the new homes was faulty and not compatible with fiber optic.

“We were putting in optic fiber because it was the latest and greatest. It’s the best there is,” he said. “But the houses had to be wired a certain way. But all the houses were really messed up. The rollout of the service was a complete disaster.…. There was no coordination [with the homeowners association].”

Bustamante said he brought it to the homeowners association board’s attention, and court records show that PC Services officials met with the group’s president.

“They said to me: ‘You have to help us out,’” Bustamante said. “I told them: ‘I’ll do the best I can.’”

He said his company spent about $92,000 on most of the homes. Soon afterward, the homeowners association fired Bustamante’s company.

Wilson said she ended up becoming so frustrated at the time from the lack of service for her television, internet, phone and alarm that she hired private companies — including a satellite dish service, a phone company and a home alarm company — on her own.

“Eventually we bit the bullet and spent extra,” said Wilson, who served four years on the Groveland council in two stints prior to her election as mayor in November.

Eventually, Bright House Networks — now Spectrum — was hired to replace all the fiber-optic cables and wiring in the community and correct the problem.

Like many residents, Wilson said she didn’t hear about the lawsuit “until about five months ago” and is concerned about a future assessment to pay off the lawsuit.

“It’s a significant amount of money, and when the time comes to pay, I’ll have to figure out what to do,” she said.

Another Trilogy resident, Santanelli, called it “a sad state of affairs” and that he doesn’t understand why the current community must now pay for the “just horrible” service from years ago.

“It’s just beyond me,” he said. “I’m having a hard time understanding it.”

However, Mike Smith, who moved to Trilogy 2015, said the current homeowners association board may have handled it differently today and avoided a lawsuit.

“I don’t think there was a good solution at the end of the day,” said Smith, who was elected to the Groveland City Council in 2017. “I’ll be happy once it’s over. But I still would’ve bought here if I had known about the lawsuit. Because it’s a great community.”