Wife of slain NSU professor sues condo association over rental

Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Rachel Hatzipanagos

Published July 23, 2010

 

FORT LAUDERDALE — The wife of a slain Plantation professor has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the condominium association that rented out his property to the man accused of killing him.

Randy W. Tundidor, 43, and his son Randy H. Tundidor, 21, are charged with first-degree murder, armed kidnapping and arson in the April 6 slaying of Nova Southeastern University professor Joseph Morrissey, the elder Tundidor's landlord. The Tundidors have pleaded not guilty and are being held without bail.

The professor and his wife, Linda Morrissey, had been renting their Plantation townhome to Randy W. Tundidor since November.

According to the lawsuit filed Friday in Broward Circuit Court, the United Community Management Corporation, Inc., the management company for the Vineyards of Plantation Condominiums, failed to conduct a background check on the tenant, though Morrissey paid the condo association $100 to do so. The background check would have revealed Tundidor's prior evictions, the lawsuit states.

Defendants are the Tundidors, the management company and the condo association. The civil suit seeks unspecified damages.

Linda Morrissey has declined to speak with the media.

A woman who answered the phone at United Community Management's Coral Springs offices hung up when asked to comment on the lawsuit. 

CONDO ARTICLES HOME NEWS PAGE