SAN ANTONIO - A fight between a Northeast Side homeowners association and their members has turned into an all-out war. It led to a lawsuit that has already cost more than $80,000 in legal fees. These fees will have to be paid by the HOA.
To some in the neighborhood the president of the Ventura HOA, Lisa Pfeiffer, is a bully. Eight of her neighbors say she is suing them because they tried to kick her out of office. It all started when they called a special meeting to kick out board president Pfeiffer after they became unhappy with how she was running things for the HOA.
“It's a classic example of intimidating -- picking a few people to intimidate the rest of the association, so that no one challenges them any further,” said Brenda Johnson.
Johnson is one the people being sued by the HOA.
Lanny Worel is also being sued. “It's a complete dictatorship. I truly believe they don't believe they have to answer to anybody,” said Worel.
Pfeiffer tried to stop the special meeting by filing a lawsuit. A judge allowed the meeting to continue, but the HOA's lawyer claimed the homeowners did not have enough valid votes.
Despite an agreement to mediate the dispute, Pfeiffer has continued the legal action. So far, the HOA’s lawsuit has cost homeowners more than $80,000 - and that’s just for 2009.
“It makes me angry. She's just piling up fees, and I don't think it's fair. It's not fair to us and it's not fair to the association,” said homeowner Evelyn Nolde, also named in the lawsuit.
Residents say Pfeiffer abused her power by closing all board meetings and not responding to requests for HOA records. Pfeiffer agreed to sit down with Trouble Shooter Brian Collister for an interview to explain what she's doing, but the HOA lawyer later called and cancelled. We tracked her down as she was headed into the HOA office.
“I’d like to talk to you about how you're running the HOA,” requested Collister.
“Within the government documents,” Pfeifer replied.
“Some of the homeowners here basically think you're being a bully. What do you say about that?” asked Collister.
“I have no comment,” said Pfeifer.
“And you spent $80,000 in lawsuit money and legal fees. The homeowners are going to have to pay for that,” explained Collister.
Pfeifer remained quiet as she went into the office and locked the door behind her.
But Pfeiffer did have something to say at the last annual meeting, “The reason we closed the meeting is because they were getting out of control. Nobody has been hiding anything. The board meeting minutes, the financial information, how somebody is spending my money ... is available,” said Pfeifer.
Pfeifer is up for re-election at Ventura's annual meeting. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 7pm. During our investigation we found she's using the homeowners’ money to fund her campaign. The board recently sent out notice of the meeting, and inside is a proxy vote with Pfeifer’s name on it and a letter from the vice president urging her re-election as well.
It's now up to homeowners’ to show up to the meeting and decide whether to keep her. We’ll keep on top this one and let you know what happens next.
