BOCA RATON — All Alberto Ruiz De Gamboa wanted was $675 from his condominium association. An arbitrator had ruled he was entitled to it because the association had failed to provide him with copies of records relating to legal services and construction projects. That was seven years ago. But instead of complying, the Newth Gardens Condo Association called on a judge to overturn the ruling, resulting in a costly and time-consuming trial involving several law firms. And then the trial court ruling was appealed to an appellate court, which ruled in Ruiz De Gamboa's favor. "It was pure insanity," said Ruiz De Gamboa. "Now the courts have ruled I'm entitled to recover legal fees since I was the prevailing party. That $675 has turned into nearly $200,000, and it is probably just as much for the association."

Newth Gardens in Boca Raton will have to pay the legal fees of an owner who sued it for failing to provide him with public records.

 

Ruiz De Gamboa’s case involving Newth Gardens, a five-story, 100-residence oceanfront condominium in Boca Raton, is just the latest example of courts ruling that a condominium or homeowner association has failed to comply with a state law requiring that records be provided promptly to owners.

 

State and federal courts have sanctioned another Boca Raton condominium, the 72-unit Boca View at Camino Real and Spanish River Road, after it refused to allow an owner's attorney to inspect its records on her client's behalf. A judge ruled against the association in a trial, and has ordered Boca View to pay the $178,000 in attorney fees sustained by the owner. A federal judge has sanctioned the condo attorneys for filing a frivolous lawsuit challenging the state court ruling.

Boca Raton condo association claimed it had mailed the documents, but had no proof

In the Ruiz De Gamoa's case against Newth Condominium, a circuit court judge found that the association was not guilty of a “willful failure” to comply with the records-inspection statute, but an appellate court disagreed. After waiting a month for financial records, Ruiz De Gamboa informed the association in June 2018 that he had not received a response.

The association claimed it had mailed the documents; the appellate court, however, noted that it provided no proof that it had done so. It could have done a “do-over” at that point and have provided the records to Ruiz De Gamboa, but instead, it chose to not respond, according to court documents.

The condo boards think they can do whatever they want, and they can if no one challenges them, Ruiz De Gamboa said.

"I would have donated the $675 to the Legal Aid Society. There was no reason for the board to keep fighting this," he said. "This was a decision that the board made to gamble with the money of unit owners, and they lost big time."

The association called on the appeals court to reconsider, but it denied the request, a move that resulted in both sides incurring additonal legal fees.

"It is unfortunate that this case dragged on as long as it did,” Broeker said. “There is a clear message that the courts are sending to condo associations: Ignore the public records law at your own peril."

Efforts to obtain comment from the association were unsuccessful, but it recently sent an email to residents, a copy of which was shared with The Palm Beach Post. It called Ruiz De Gamboa "a serial litigator" who has subjected the association to "a constant stream of complaints, arbitration demands, and lawsuits." It claims he made over 60 records requests in the past 10 years.

Ruiz de Gamboa called the statements made in the email "both false and inflammatory," enough so that he is considering filing another lawsuit.

The association noted in its email that it has had to obtain a separate legal defense policy to insure it against Ruiz de Gamboa's complaints. As for the court ruling, the association said it believes the decision was "influenced by the current judicial climate that is skeptical of condominium associations."

The association also limited Ruiz De Gamboa's public records requests to one per month, which both the trial-court judge, Bradley Harper, and the appellate court found to be illegal.

Harper is expected to determine within the next 90 days the amount of legal fees that Newth Condominium Association must pay to Ruiz De Gamboa. Douglas Broeker, an attorney who represented him, said three law firms spent numerous hours on the case representing Ruiz De Gamboa.