Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Joe Kollin

Published April 2, 2008

He was a "gentle" Army veteran living quietly in his Boca Raton condo when his world came apart.

Two years ago, former Postal Service worker Paul Ryan, 60, had a nervous breakdown and couldn't work, care for himself or pay his bills. He has no family to help him.

With Foreclosure on his Boca Verde apartment imminent, Rhode Island real estate investors Carol and Sabatino Ranucci stepped in. The snowbirds have owned a unit in the same building as Ryan for more than 20 years. They saw he had no place to go and rushed to his aid.

The Ranuccis paid his bills, took him to doctors, picked up his medicine and helped him get disability benefits. In March 2007, they bought the 1,043-square-foot apartment that he had purchased in 2003 and let him stay at no charge.

Now, however, the Boca Verde condo board wants Ryan out. It has filed a lawsuit that could become a test of how much discretion directors have when it comes to enforcing rules.

"The association wants to kick him out because the Ranuccis, doing their goodwill, didn't dot the I's and cross the T's," said Kenneth Michael Curtin, the Boca Raton attorney representing the Ranuccis and Ryan.Curtin. "If it wasn't for his neighbors, this man would be on the street. Society would have a disabled vet on the street."

In June 2007, for estate planning purposes, the Ranuccis transferred the apartment to a trust they created. Their trust then gave Ryan a life lease so he could stay for free in the condo until he dies. Then, the unit will revert to the Ranuccis' trust. The life lease also meant he wouldn't be subject to an association rule that sets a one-yearmaximum for renting.

The Ranuccis say the board was aware of their plans, but they admit they hadn't sought its formal approval.

"He already lived there, they already approved him. We never thought we needed approval," said Carol Ranucci.

Although the life estate and Palm Beach County property records put the apartment in Ryan's name, "the board said he wasn't the unit owner so he couldn't stay, even though he had been there since 2003," said Curtin. "They wanted him to be considered a renter so they could kick him out after a year."

On Aug. 8, the association filed suit against the Ranuccis and Ryan. It asks a judge to "immediately remove" Ryan from the 98-unit complex.

The suit, which considers Ryan a renter, accuses the Ranuccis of violating the rules by not getting board approval to rent the apartment to him and selling it to their own trust without board approval.

In his response, Curtin argues the board's action is illegal because it is based on Ryan's disability and the rule isn't enforced equally. He said another rule states the association, if it objects to a transfer such as the Ranuccis made, must provide an approved purchaser within 30 days for cash at fair market value. The association didn't do so, Curtin says, so the transfer is valid.

Association attorney J. Steven Hudson of Boca Raton couldn't be reached for comment. A former director said the association's lawyers have instructed him and board members not to comment.

The dispute is in mediation. If not resolved soon, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Jeffrey A. Winikoff may have to decide whether Ryan should stay or go.

Ryan, according to Carol Ranucci, "has never bothered anyone" and is a "very gentle man."

Why did the Ranuccis, who are paying all of Ryan's expenses, go to his rescue?

"My husband is a generous, loving person," said Carol Ranucci. "We both know you can't save the world, but you can help one person at a time."

EXPLANATION: Association attorney J. Steven Hudson is an attorney of the law firm of Randall K. Roger & Associates, P.A.

Q&A

Q. Does a legal spouse who isn't listed as an owner on the deed have any rights, asks a Dania Beach reader. Can the spouse attend meetings, vote or act for the owner in any other way? Another reader asks the questions of unmarried longtime companions.

A. A spouse who is not on the deed does not possess the rights of an owner, said attorney S. C. Chase Adams of Fort Lauderdale. A spouse, he said, doesn't have the automatic right to attend board meetings unless an association's documents permit it.

A spouse can vote the owner's proxy in non-election issues, Adams said, and a spouse can serve on the board unless the documents prohibit it.

If it seems strange that a spouse can be locked out of board meetings but can serve on the board, blame it on the law. Adams said if an association's documents don't say who can or can't be a board member, then anyone who meets the requirements of the state law governing nonprofit corporations applies. That law pretty much says only that the person must be 18 or older.

The answers for non-owner significant others are exactly the same, he said.