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Two insurance carriers for a Molokai condominium association have agreed to pay nearly $1.2 million in a lawsuit that had led to a 2nd Circuit Court jury award of almost $3.9 million against the association, its board of directors, a resident manager and a handyman in 2012.
According to documents filed in court, Jim and Nancy Bevill purchased a unit at the Molokai Ke Nani Kai condominium intending to make it a peaceful home, but they didn’t realize that “they were investing in a property that was essentially the west Molokai version of ‘Lord of the Flies’ or the equivalent of a John Ford western where an isolated town is run by a villain and his collection of thugs.”
The Bevills said they received death threats, had their car vandalized and experienced other forms of retaliation for speaking out about misconduct at the condominium in Maunaloa. They sued the association, its board of directors, the resident manager and a handyman for what the plaintiffs’ attorney Terry Revere called a “campaign of intimidation” that lasted at least six years.
In an eight-week trial last year, a jury awarded the Bevills $3.9 million in damages. Jurors supported all 11 of the Bevills’ claims, including negligence, conspiracy, infliction of emotional distress and violations of Hawaii’s condominium laws and the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
The verdict included $500,000 in general damages and more than $3 million in punitive damages to be paid by the board of directors and condo association, as well as by three members of the board individually, the former resident manager and the handyman.
Attorneys for the defendants asked to have the verdict thrown out as defective for several reasons, including that the jurors’ judgment went against the condominium board when it wasn’t included as a defendant. Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo agreed to set aside the verdict and scheduled a new trial for July.
In a phone interview Thursday, Revere said that the settlement also called for members of the old board to be removed, for the “problem” resident manager to quit and for handyman Frank Maurizio to be banned from the condominium for life, although he may reapply for his job in five years.
When asked if the Bevills were happy with the settlement, Revere said they would have been “happier if the judge didn’t mess with the jury’s verdict.”
However, they were “very pleased” to have members of the board and the resident manager removed and Maurizio banned from the condominium, he said.
The Bevills had offered to settle with the association for zero dollars, but its members refused, Revere said.
A new trial against Maurizio will be held in July, he said.
Maurizio could not be reached for comment.
According to court documents, Maurizio, a New York native, has a criminal record and bragged of having connections with the Mafia.
In court documents, Revere said that the Bevills moved to Molokai from California in 2004 and hired an outside contractor to complete renovations on their unit. There was an attempt to convince the Bevills to hire Maurizio for the job, but when they didn’t the Bevills “found themselves at odds with Maurizio, labeled ‘troublemakers’ and essentially marginalized and made to feel unsafe in their own home,” Revere wrote.
The Bevills and other frustrated condominium owners eventually tried to rally other owners by writing them a letter seeking a change of leadership in the association’s board, but that led to increased retaliation, according to court documents.
The letter resulted in board members filing a defamation lawsuit against the Bevills, using condo association funds to pay their legal bills in what Revere called a “gross misuse of the board’s discretion.” The defamation lawsuit was dismissed for lacking merit.
The Bevills filed their lawsuit in 2004, and the jury verdict was handed down on March 21, 2012.