Accusing a Pompano Beach condominium association of "greed beyond belief," a Broward County circuit judge on Tuesday refused to let a board stop an owner from selling her unit to her boyfriend.

Judge Victor Tobin also accused the board of Admiralty Towers, at 750 N. Ocean Drive, of "committing a fraud on this court" for lying about its attempts to locate her.

The case began in January 2003 when Rochelle Gordy, a real estate investor, offered to sell a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment to Richard Capalbo for $235,360, the amount remaining on the mortgage.

Capalbo was looking for a larger home, and together they planned to make the apartment their "Shangri-La," they said.

Gordy notified the board of her plan, noting the sale was like that between family members and, therefore, wasn't at fair market value. The board, however, exercised its right of first refusal, telling her it would buy her apartment for the same amount Capalbo was going to pay.

Gordy said the association's treasurer suggested she put a higher price in the sales agreement so it wouldn't lower property values on other apartments. She revised the price but was turned down. On Jan. 28, 2003, she brought him a third price, and he again refused.

She wouldn't revise it further, and the board sued, asking the court to force her to sell it to them at the original price. Capalbo said the board planned to resell the unit for a profit.

Capalbo, an attorney, has since spent thousands of hours battling the board. Although the case is over, he said he now doesn't want to move into the apartment.

"We need to get away from the condo association. There's no harmonious living under this kind of dictatorship," Capalbo said.

The board's attorney, Stuart M. Smith, of Fort Lauderdale, said no evidence shows the board was aware of any "special deal" between Gordy and Capalbo. But Tobin said the low price should have been a clue.

At a hearing in September, the association told Tobin it had spent five months trying to find Gordy to notify her of the suit but was unable to locate her, even though she was paying her maintenance fees each month.

The association then asked Tobin for permission to buy her unit without serving her.

Tobin called the argument a "total sham" and accused the board of thinking him a "moron" for assuming he might believe it.

He recalled the discussion at Tuesday's hearing and said the argument was a fraud.

"They represented to this court that they didn't know if Rochelle Gordy was even alive," Tobin said. "Their credibility to me is virtually nonexistent."

Smith said he didn't know whether the board will appeal.

The judge's ruling comes as state legislators get ready to consider 25 proposals for changing condo law when their annual session begins on March 2.

Jan Bergemann, president and founder of Cyber Citizens for Justice, a statewide grass-roots organization, says the case illustrates why his group is leading the fight to change Florida's condo laws.

"It is a David and Goliath thing," he said. "Most owners don't have the finances to fight deep pockets, like boards, in court. Boards have more or less unlimited resources. If the bank account is depleted, they levy a "special assessment" on unit owners to get more money.