I purchased my condo in October of 2021. I thought it would be a quiet and peaceful place. It would be finally my own home where I would be not be throwing money away on rent. It did not take long for me to realize that it was the opposite. We are located in Washington county, Vermont.
For the past three years I have been defending my home from a fraudulent condo association, their attorney Hans Huessy and a broken legal system. As soon as I moved in I learned from my a neigbor/board memeber that the building was not maintainted for decades. Monthly HOA dues were very low and no reserves were established. On the recomendation of my neighbor I reached out to Hans via email and voiced my concerns. This was only to later on to receive a bill from him via HOA dues disguised as a smoke alarm charges. Please see the attached communications between the attorneys and the court.
On the day I purchased my condo I was approached by June Cook, a former board member, and she informed me about many issues regarding the building. The owners neglected the building for many decades and did not have financial statements nor any reserves established. Throughout my time here, I have received abusive emails from the management company and a complicit board. Through the management company, I received fraudulent invoices for the Association’s lawyer (“Hans Huessy”) fees and late fees on other payments that I did not owe. The week of October 14 2021, June Cook mentioned that Lisa Wiliams, the former president of the board, was preventing her from filing an insurance claim through the building insurance to reconstruct the floor joist that was mistakenly removed by by an incompetent builder. The issue was just under the floor of June’s unit as stated by June Cook and was discovered before my condo purchase. Accordingly, in February of 2022, the Association imposed a special assessment to cover the cost of repairing the joist affecting only June Cook’s and Lisa Williams’ units. Neglect of the building is firstly evident from rejected or invalid past insurance claims. The association could not obtain full insurance coverage for repairs due to neglect. I experienced a kitchen sink drainage issue on February 1st, 2023, consulted plumbers that stated it was outside of my unit, requiring access to the basement main pipe. I informed the association of the issue and received a response five days later, stating the uninformed assertion of the president that it was inside my unit and to “try Draino.” After further emailing and the management company’s Ed Reed visually inspecting the sink and flooding it further with water, the Association referred me to the Kingsbury Company. I had to resort to calling the police after being refused access to the basement main pipe per the request of the Kingsbury Company plumbers. Unknown to me, the plumbers consulted with Ed Reed instead of myself resulting in further abuse from Ed Reed. The police stated that they could not help and to take the issue to court. The Kingsbury Company did not fix the problem and further caused damage, so I was forced to independently consult with Terry Barbour and later Roto-Rooter, ultimately fixing the problem after over another week without a working kitchen sink. Despite the issues with the Kingsbury Company, even they agreed that the issue was outside the unit. This was the responsibility of the Association and all other owners to fix.
The Association refused to assign parking spaces despite that the previous bylaws explicitly listed parking spaces for each unit. Vermont State law and the previous bylaws prohibit the removal of this section from the previous bylaws. I am entitled to assigned parking spaces or an assigned amount of parking spaces, which the Association has failed to ensure. In large summer gatherings and during the busy ski season, many out-of-state and non-owners are taking up parking. The Association’s current bylaws also prohibit short-term rentals. Many of the vehicles parked are out-of-state and seen once and never again. I hired Justin Sherman ESQ to assist with the parking dispute with the Association to no avail. Sherman stated that it would cost me $20k-$30k to take them to court, and it will take years to get justice with an uncertain outcome.
The Association contracts with a local provider to plow its parking areas. (source in Defendant’s Statement of Undisputed Material Facts) Multiple other members including board members have complained about the plowing, as empty spots are frequently left unplowed, and walkways are hazardous. The plow operator has on multiple occasions plowed directly into only my vehicle.
I was advised by my previous representation, Hal Stevens, to pay all fraudulent bills under protest as part of the legal process of reclaiming funds. My account was never in arrears. At the time of the complaint, I previously had a lien filed against my unit for these bills. Multiple other owners have had accounts in arears for up to a year of dues were never assessed late fees or had liens filed. I have also been discriminated against directly in recorded Association board meetings.
I have voted against the budget and done so via email to avoid further discrimination and ridicule. In addition, the Association scheduled the meetings during my work hours. Building complaints made by myself including the leaking cistern leading to potential foundation issues, a roof that is decades overdue for a repair resulting in water damage, and a draft through the floor and wall from the new structure built on top of the original 1800s building without any rework reflect the general state of the building as being decades overdue for detailed inspection and repair. A purchase inspection of my unit would have been visual and would not include deeper access into the building systems, and no access has been granted by the Association for any attempted inspections. In one instance after a power outage, fire alarms all around the building turned on and required the fire department to go into the maintenance room to turn off. They could not for about two hours as it is locked from all owners. A visual inspection is not sufficient to determine structural and internal mechanical issues. I also purchased the unit with no heat and no hot water due to a failed boiler. I only became aware of the issues after moving in. Ice accumulated on the interior side of the windows. The draft issue is also needing repair and is due to a common element that the Association is responsible for. Another Association board member, Liz Bisbee, commented that we cannot fix the issue ourselves, suggesting that it is indeed a common element. I cannot obtain any building engineering inspections in the state as all available inspectors claim a conflict of interest from previous work with the Association.
Had there been reserves in place, no special assessments would have been needed to fix the floor joist. For many years, the Association’s dues were very low until they increased the dues 3x, just after I was forced to fix and pay for the building drainage system and special assessments. Monthly dues were set at $350 a month for my unit and the Association did not have any reserves at the time of purchase. Despite dues increasing, no improvements are being made to the building. Owing to the issues with the building and finances, June Cook and Chris Woods tried to convince me to join the board as a treasurer since there wasn’t one. The Association’s financial statements also show negligible reserves.
The former Association president, Lisa Williams, sold her 500 ft^2 commercial space as an apartment for 200k, while being dismissive of building maintenance for her years of tenure, passing on the costs to future owners. All owners that voted, voted yes (except myself) to convert Lisa Williams’ space from a commercial to residential unit despite that the septic system was not up to code for the number of residential units. Michael Ketchel (one of the owners with extremely late payments) speculated in an email that there is most likely a bus buried under the ground serving as a septic system. According to conversations and emails with June Cook and Chris Woods, they were working for many months (before my purchase of my unit) to expose the fraud and negligence of the condo association board (owners). Chris Woods sadly passed away due to health complications after attempting to purchase the commercial space and take care of the building full-time – with knowledge of the building’s issues. The judge also totaly disregarded the drainage issue evidence while insulting the profesial plumbers with many years of experience. The Old Schoolhouse Condo Association, especially Lisa Williams, Sarah Moran, with their Attorney Hans Huessy, ruined my carier and my health. They stole my peace and 3 years of my life.