Mesa senior community angered by club fees

Herman Lydiatte, 89, settled into a chair this week inside his modest east Mesa home in Dreamland Villa, his financial papers spread out on a portable table in the living room.

His wife, Margaret, 95, was away at the Mi Casa Nursing Center, and he seemed content that she was in good hands, even if doctors said her health was deteriorating and she would never come home again.

Lydiatte, wearing a striped shirt and blue chinos held up by suspenders, said each month’s stay for his wife costs $5,000 and that’s “cash on the barrelhead.” No payments.

“It doesn’t look too promising right now,” he said. “I’m canceling magazines and any other bills that I get besides taxes and gas.”

On top of his other financial headaches, Lydiatte needed some charity this week to pay a $92 bill to the Dreamland Villa Community Club. He never agreed to be in the club and says he’s too old to use the neighborhood’s facilities, but was worried about the consequences of forfeiting.

“We’re paying his dues so he can relax a little bit,” said Cathy Ehninger, who has been leading the fight against the fees charged by the Dreamland Villa Community Club. “I think if he gets another bill he’s going to die. He’s so anxious and distraught about it.”

Lydiatte’s case isn’t unusual. Since 2003, neighbor-againstneighbor confrontations and lawsuits have become the norm in the sprawling Dreamland Villa, which draws retirees to the unincorporated area.

Last month, 39 court summonses filed by Dreamland attorney Charles Maxwell were delivered to residents for not paying annual dues — which could lead to liens on homes in default, and even foreclosure.

Joe Kuka, 78, who lives on Evergreen Street, recently received court documents stating he owed $769.30 in dues, legal fees, monthly penalties and interest for a club he said he doesn’t want.

“I pity the poor (person) who would come up and put a for-sale sign in front of my house,” Kuka said. “I worked hard for this house.”

The summonses were the latest in an ongoing legal feud that centers on changes three years ago to the 45-year-old neighborhood’s rules and restrictions.

Those rules now require around 1,400 homeowners to pay annual dues and will eventually include nearly all of the 3,000 homes in Dreamland Villa, which would generate hundreds of thousands of dollars per year for the Dreamland Villa Community Club.

The two elections that played a role in changing the neighborhood’s dues from voluntary to mandatory payments remain contentious.

Opponents of a 2003 election that helped create the dues claim that signature gatherers carried innocuous sheets of paper door-to-door under the guise of retaining the senior community’s 55-and-older designation, even though it was not in immediate jeopardy.

Steve Duncan, 68, remembered signing the petition to keep Dreamland Villa’s pool open. Mandatory dues were never mentioned, he said, although he said he agrees with the existence of the club and says it boosts his home value.

“They said that if we didn’t get 50 percent of our area we wouldn’t be able to swim,” he said. “The way they went about it sounded kind of weird.”

Opponents also contend that a 2004 vote to alter the nonprofit Dreamland Villa Community Club was rigged — partly because residents angered by the earlier election weren’t allowed to vote because they had stopped paying dues and were no longer considered members.

Ironically, those nonmembers will at some point be forced to join the club.

Harold Britton, 63, who lives seasonally in Dreamland Villa, recently received a court summons. He said the neighborhood suffered no financial crisis before the club imposed dues. Those who used the club, pool, billiards room and wood shop at North 55th Place paid dues. And those who didn’t use the amenities didn’t pay.

Britton and his 64-year-old wife, Janet, moved into the neighborhood to be close to her elderly parents. She said she suspects the club was changed to take advantage of people like her parents, who live on a limited income but pay the dues because they are asked to.

“My mom and dad have never been happier. This was the best years of their lives. And now this whole thing has put a new tone to the neighborhood,” she said.

Club officer Tana Ullmann and others associated with the club refused to comment and referred questions to Maxwell.

Maxwell said both of the elections in Dreamland Villa were valid. A lawsuit by Ehninger challenging the 2004 vote ended because she was not a club member.

Two years after the vote, Maxwell said he won’t release the 2004 ballots for review because “we’re not going to take the chance of anyone manipulating the documents or altering the votes.”

Maxwell describes the trouble in the neighborhood as the work of a small group of people who have advised their neighbors not to pay dues. The homeowners association lawyer said he knows of no other association with fees that are as low as Dreamland Villa.

Such dues provide “fiscal predictability” for the club and are used to maintain an aging clubhouse and other needs of the large community.

But attorney fees likely will be part of the club’s upcoming budgeting. Maxwell requested $500 in legal fees for each summons that went out last month and said more fees will be added “in the event this matter proceeds to trial.”

Steve Cheifetz, a Scottsdale attorney, plans to represent residents who received the summonses and said he will likely challenge the fact that a majority of residents created what amounts to a homeowners association for everyone in Dreamland Villa.

He said it is very rare that an association is created after a development has been built. In a typical situation, “every homeowner has to agree” to an association when purchasing their home.

He said the widespread confusion surrounding the voting seems to raise ethical questions. “Anyone that’s doing this to elderly folks — well, it should be transparent,” he said. “Especially when you are dealing with people like this.”