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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Senate President Michael Waddoups is locked in a legal battle with a Midvale homeowners association.
While the lawsuit against Waddoups' Cooperative Property Management was filed over a year ago in 2010, the attorney representing the Hidden Village Homeowners Association in Midvale is seeking to expand his complaint before Judge John Paul Kennedy.
A hearing on that motion could be heard as early as October in a case that alleges fraud and breach of fiduciary duty and names Waddoups, a Republican from Taylorsville, as a defendant.
HOA members at Hidden Village claim Waddoups and his company were "fraudulent" in the management of their property. According to the lawsuit, Waddoups "abdicated his fiduciary responsibility" to manage the property and, as a result, the suit alleges tens of thousands of dollars are unaccounted for.
The long and tangled dispute initially stemmed from a group of condo owners who felt that the then-president of the association's board of trustees, Mary Abbott, was arbitrarily assessing fines, late penalties, fees or assessments for improvements that weren't properly approved.
"It was like living in a prison," said Debbie Warren. "It was horrible. Everyone was afraid to go outside."
Homeowner Dane Smith agrees. "There was just a lot of fear here," he said.
Fear, they claim, of Abbot, who sat on the HOA board at the time and decided on everything it did.
"She would walk around here like she owned the place," said Warren.
In a lawsuit filed in 3rd District Court, homeowners claim Abbott charged them fines and transfer fees. They accuse her of not paying the same for some of the eight units she owns and rents.
Ultimately, Senator Waddoups is the fiduciary. He's responsible.
–Dane Smith, homeowner
When this group banded together to look further into the financial management of the HOA and Abbott's role, it asked Waddoups' company for help.
"I felt he was the answer to all of our prayers because he said he's going to help us and give us what we need," said homeowner Ferney Munoz.
But months passed, and the group says Waddoups stalled.
As the contracted property manager, Waddoups held all of the financial ledgers and documents for Hidden Village. But the homeowners say getting those documents was difficult.
"The second we started asking for them, they started backpedaling," said Smith.
Residents say it took filing suit against Waddoups for the majority of Hidden Village's financial records to surface. Those documents, according to the lawsuit, showed a pattern of mismanagement.
The lawsuit claims items were paid in cash with no receipts, thousands of dollars went unaccounted for, financial ledgers were altered with Wite-Out and entire sections were deleted.
"Ultimately, Senator Waddoups is the fiduciary," said Smith. "He's responsible."
Attorney Lincoln Hobbs calls the lawsuit, "baseless" and "frivolous." He says Waddoups did not abdicate in his responsibility to manage Hidden Village and that there is no proof of any wrongdoing.
That's why the group is suing Waddoups, his management company and Mary Abbott. "He was pretty nonchalant about it and did say he just abdicated his responsibility to Mary," said Smith.
Munoz said, "He's the president of the State Senate, and if that's how he manages his personal business ... I don't know much about politics, but I would think he was more organized and well aware of what's happening in his firm and with his employees and the assets he was paid to safeguard."
Waddoups declined a request for an interview through his attorney, Lincoln Hobbs.
Hobbs calls the lawsuit, "baseless" and "frivolous." He says Waddoups did not abdicate in his responsibility to manage Hidden Village and that there is no proof of any wrongdoing.
Cooperative Property Management has since filed a suit against Abbott, asking essentially that should any liability be decided by the judge in the case that it be shared with former members of the board of trustees.
"She (Abbott) is on record in court denying the allegations raised in the complaint," said Richard Matheson, the attorney representing Abbott. "I do not think my client has done anything wrong."
Matheson said he does not believe there is a basis to the allegations in a case where "there are no victims because there are no perpetrators."
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Written by Lori Prichard with contributions from Amy Joi O'Donoguhe.
