Preview
Filed: 8/7/2019 9:10 AM
JOHN D. KINARD - District Clerk
Galveston County, Texas
Envelope No. 35754746
16-CV-0524-A By: Lisa Kelly
19-CV-1418 8/7/2019 11:22 AM
XXXXXXXX
CAUSE NO. __________________
ROBERT KELTON § IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF
ROSENBERGER and RONALD §
ROBERTS §
Plaintiffs, §
§
v. § GALVESTON COUNTY, TEXAS
§
WALDEN POND OWNERS §
ASSOCIATION, and HARVEY § Galveston County - 212th District Court
LEMASTER d/b/a §
INSURANCE OFFICE OF §
MONTGOMERY §
Defendant. § _____ JUDICIAL DISTRICT
PLAINTIFFS’ ORIGINAL PETITION AMD INITIAL DISCOVERY
Plaintiffs Robert Kelton Rosenberger (“Rosenberger”) and Ronald Roberts
(“Roberts”) allege that they are injured by the negligence and breach of governing
documents of Walden Pond Owners Association (“Walden Pond”), and materially
misled by Harvey LeMaster d/b/a Insurance Office of Montgomery, or both, as
follows:
I. Discovery-Control Plan
1. Rosenberger and Roberts intend to proceed under Level 2 of Texas
Rule of Civil Procedure 190.3.
II. Parties
2. Plaintiff Robert Kelton Rosenberger (“Rosenberger”) owns an undivided
Status Conference set 10-31-19
fee-simple interest in Unit 403 in Building 400 (sometimes known as Building 4) of the
Walden Pond Condominiums, located at 111 Dunbar Estates in Friendswood,
Galveston County, Texas (“Unit 403”), and he has been a Member of Walden Pond
continuously since acquiring Unit 403.
3. Plaintiff Ronald Roberts (“Roberts”) owns an undivided fee-simple
interest in Unit 503 in Building 500 (sometimes known as Building 5) of the Walden
Pond Condominiums, located at 111 Dunbar Estates in Friendswood, Galveston
County, Texas (“Unit 503”), and he has been a Member of Walden Pond continuously
since acquiring Unit 503.
4. Defendant Walden Pond Owners Association (“Walden Pond”), a Texas
nonprofit corporation, may be served with process by serving its registered agent for
service of process, Associa Houston Community Management Services, at its
registered office, 17049 El Camino Real, Suite 100, Houston, Harris County, Texas
77058, or wherever it may be found.
5. Defendant Harvey LeMaster, doing business under the assumed name of
Insurance Office of Montgomery (“Le Master”), may be served with process by serving
him at his place of business, 19700 Highway 105 West, Montgomery, Texas 77356, his
home, 250 Spring Edge Dr., Montgomery, Texas 77356, or wherever he may be found.
III. Jurisdiction and Venue
6. Plaintiffs seek monetary relief over $1,000,000, which is within the
jurisdictional limits of this Court. Walden Pond is a Texas non-profit corporation with
2
its principal place of business in Galveston County, Texas, where itis responsible for
managing the Walden Pond Condominiums in accordance with the duly adopted and
applicable Declarations, By-laws, and Rules and Regulations (collectively, the
“Governing Documents”). All (or a substantial part) of LeMaster’s conduct on which
these claims are based occurred in Galveston County, Texas.
IV. Factual Basis for Plaintiffs’ Requested Relief
7. At all material times, and in accordance with the Governing Documents,
Walden Pond owed Plaintiffs (and other owners) a duty to maintain, repair, and replace
Common Elements, including the exterior envelopes (roofing, siding, flashing, etc.) on
Buildings 400 and 500, and to insure against losses. Despite being aware of water leaks
in Unit 403 since at least 2012, Walden Pond neglected and failed to do so. When
Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas Gulf Coast in August of 2017, Rosenberger and
Roberts suffered water damage in their units – not due to the hurricane’s widespread
flooding (Units 403 and 503 did not flood), and not due to windstorm damage caused
by the Hurricane, but due to pre-existing leaks in the exterior envelopes for those units.
8. The envelopes on Buildings 400 and 500 are General Common Elements.
See, e.g., Declaration at 1.1.k.2. Walden Pond is responsible for maintaining, repairing
and insuring Common Elements, including the exterior envelopes of Buildings 400 and
500. Declaration at 1.1.d.2 and 4.6.a (duty to insure); compare Declaration 3.7 (omitting
roof from Owner Maintenance) and 3.8 (prohibiting Owner from work on Common
Elements). Rule 21 of the Association’s Rules and Regulations bars an owner from
3
entering onto the roof of the Owner’s unit or conducting any roof repairs, and thus
prohibited Rosenberger and Roberts from making their own roof repairs.
9. The Governing Documents appoint Walden Pond as an Owner’s
fiduciary for dealing with damage to that Owner’s condominium unit (Bylaws XI.11).
Walden Pond’s breaches of its duties (fiduciary or otherwise) proximately caused injury
to Plaintiffs. Nearly two years after Hurricane Harvey, Walden Pond has not replaced
or even adequately repaired the exterior envelopes of Buildings 400 and 500. Walden
Pond has failed and refused to compensate Rosenberger or Roberts for the water
damage to their units during (and since) Hurricane Harvey.
10. Walden Pond claims that it did not have the funds to provide insurance,
replace the envelopes or compensate plaintiffs, but Walden Pond’s finances have not
been audited in years. It is far from clear why Walden Pond lacked both the insurance
coverage and the funds to meet its basic obligations, or what expenses could possibly
rate a higher priority than Walden Pond’s fiduciary duties to protect owners as
recognized in its own Governing documents, but it appears that Walden Pond
squandered a substantial portion of its funds paying its lawyers to bully Owners like
Rosenberger with meritless lawsuits that never had a realistic hope of justifying their
fees.
11. Contrary to Walden Pond’s denial that it obtained (or could obtain) the
required insurance coverage, by letter dated July 29, 2016, LeMaster affirmatively
represented to Rosenberger that his Building 400 was insured through a Commercial
4
Property policy, a General Liability policy, and a Texas Windstorm Association wind
and hail policy. From that letter through and including the arrival of Hurricane Harvey,
LeMaster never advised Rosenberger of any change in this coverage. Rosenberger
reasonably relied on LeMaster’s assurance that Rosenberger’s building was insured.
Rosenberger has been unable to discern whether it was Walden Pond, LeMaster, or
both who misled him about insurance coverage.
12. Walden Pond has breached, and continues to breach, each of the
following duties owed to Plaintiffs:
a. the duty to keep the common elements and all common personal property
in good order, condition and repair, consistent with managing the Project in a
first-class manner and consistent with the best interests of the owners (Bylaws
IV.2.c and k);
b. the duty to insure and to keep insured the common elements and property
(Bylaws IV.2.d);
c. the duty to protect and defend the entire project from loss and damage
(Bylaws IV.2.g);
d. the duty to keep and maintain full and accurate books and records
showing all of the Association’s receipts, expenses and disbursements, and to
permit examination thereof by owners during normal business hours (Tex. Prop.
Code § 82.114(b); Bylaws IV.2.l and m);
5
e. the duty to prepare and deliver annually to each Owner, and upon request,
to each holder of a first mortgage on a Condominium Unit, a statement showing
receipts, expenses and disbursement since the last such statement (Bylaws
IV.2.m);
f. the duty to have the Association’s books and records independently
audited each year by a certified public accountant (Tex. Prop. Code § 82.114(c);
Bylaws IV.2.l); and
g. the duty to act as a fiduciary for Rosenberger and Roberts with respect to
damage to their units.
These breaches have proximately caused injury to Rosenberger and Roberts.
13. If Walden Pond had insurance for Buildings 400 and 500 as Le Master
represented, but failed to promptly pursue coverage for damage to Buildings 400 and
500, then Walden Pond breached its fiduciary duties to Rosenberger and Roberts. If
Walden Pond did not have insurance as Walden Pond now claims, then Walden Pond
breached its duty to provide insurance and LeMaster materially misled Rosenberger.
V. Plaintiffs’ Causes of Action
A. Negligence and Gross Negligence
14. By reserving to itself the exclusive right to maintain, repair, and replace
Common Elements as needed, Walden Pond accepted a duty to do so reasonably and
promptly, and in a “first-class” manner. Walden Pond breached that duty, and plaintiffs
were injured as a result of Walden Pond’s negligence or gross negligence.
6
B. Negligent Misrepresentation
15. By making conflicting representations about the nature, extent, and
existence of insurance coverage in the course of their business, one or both of Walden
Pond and LeMaster negligently misrepresented the status of insurance coverage for
Building 400 by supplying false information for the guidance of Rosenberger without
exercising reasonable care or competence, and Rosenberger justifiably relied on the
representation(s) to his injury.
C. Fraud
16. To the extent their false representations about insurance coverage were
intentional, or were made without the actual knowledge defendants claimed to have,
defendants defrauded Rosenberger.
D. Breach of Governing Documents
17. The Governing Documents impose on Walden Pond a duty to maintain,
repair, and replace Common Elements as needed, and to insure them. Walden Pond
breached these duties, injuring Rosenberger and Roberts as a result.
E. Breach of Fiduciary Duty
18. By agreeing to act as an agent for an Owner whose Unit suffered damage
(including, inter alia, Rosenberger and Roberts), Walden Pond agreed to accept the
responsibilities of a fiduciary, including the duties of loyalty, utmost good faith, candor,
full disclosure, fairness, a high degree of care, honesty and the strictest kind of integrity,
as well as the duty to refrain from self-dealing with Walden Pond’s agents (including its
7
lawyers). Walden Pond has breached its fiduciary duties, and Rosenberger and Roberts
have been injured as a result.
F. Attorney Fees
19. Rosenberger and Roberts are entitled to recover their attorney fees from
Walden Pond as actual damages caused by Walden Pond’s breaches of duty, or as a
matter of law. Tex. Prop. Code § 5.006; Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code § 38.001 et seq.
E. Exemplary Damages
20. Walden Pond and Le Master breached their duties to Rosenberger and
Roberts with malice, fraud, or at least gross negligence. Plaintiffs are entitled to recover
exemplary damages. See Tex. Civ. Prac. and Rem. Code §§41.003(a) and 41.004(a).
When exemplary damages are awarded for breach of restrictive covenants, a successful
plaintiff may recover up to $200 per day for each violation. KBG Investments, LLC v.
Greenspoint Property Owners Assn, Inc., 478 S.W.3d 111, 122-23 (Tex. App. – Houston [14th
Dist.] 2015, no pet.) (construing Tex. Prop. Code §202.004(c)).
F. Joint and Several Liability
21. Walden Pond and LeMaster conspired or otherwise acted in concert to
mislead Rosenberger into relying on insurance coverage which apparently did not exist.
Walden Pond and LeMaster are jointly and severally liable for Rosenberger’s damages.
VI. Jury Demand
22. Rosenberger and Roberts demand a trial by jury and pay the jury fee
concurrently with the filing of this petition.
8
VII. Discovery Requests
23. Pursuant to Rule 194, each defendant is requested to disclose, within 50
days after service of citation, the information or material described in Rule 194.2.
Pursuant to Rule 196 and the Texas Property Code provisions authorizing
condominium unit owners to inspect a condominium association’s books and records,
each defendant is also requested to produce, within 50 days after service of citation, all
documents after January 1, 2009 constituting, containing, modifying, transmitting,
summarizing, referring to, or otherwise relating to, any one or more of the following:
a. insurance policies naming Walden Pond as an insured;
b. communications about insurance policies (actual, proposed, or
merely hypothetical) naming Walden Pond as an insured;
c. invoices or payments for insurance premiums allegedly due from
Walden Pond;
d. communications about insurance coverage for Walden Pond
Buildings 400, 500, or both;
e. communications about insurance coverage for any claims asserted
against Walden Pond in lawsuits or demand letters;
f. invoices or payments for attorney fees due from Walden Pond;
g. audited financial records, together with all cover letters, footnotes,
audit reports, and other material associated with those financial records, and any
communications from accountants regarding audits, whether actual or hypothetical;
9
h. financial reports from Walden Pond to any one or more owners of
Walden Pond Unit(s);
i. funds received by Walden Pond as a result of foreclosure auctions,
lawsuits, attorney demand letters, dispute settlements, or other action by Walden Pond’s
attorneys;
j. funds received by Walden Pond from WP Acquisitions, LLC, or
funds paid by Walden Pond to WP Acquisitions, LLC;
k. Walden Pond agreements for attorney services, and
communications terminating any one or more such agreements; and
l. work orders, vendor contracts, change orders, invoices, receipts,
cancelled checks (front and back), and other records of Walden Pond expenditures or
services received by Walden Pond. This category includes, but is not limited to,
correspondence and other accounting records documenting services received by
Walden Pond from Owners and consideration received by Owners in exchange for
those services.
WHEREFORE, Rosenberger and Roberts respectfully request that they be
awarded actual damages, attorney fees, exemplary damages, court costs, and pre-and
post-judgment interest, as well as all further relief to which they may be entitled.
Respectfully submitted,
By: /s/ David A. McDougald________
David A. McDougald
Texas Bar No. 13570525
10
4309 Yoakum Blvd., Suite 3000
Houston, Texas 77006
(713) 522-1177 – telephone
(888) 809-6793 – telecopier
david@davidmcdougaldlaw.com
ATTORNEY FOR PLAINTIFFS
11