Ten more plaintiffs have joined the lawsuit against Vallecito Resort owner CC5 Vallecito LLC and manager Advanced Outdoor Solutions LLC, according to an amended complaint filed in La Plata County district court on Oct. 15.
Along with the three original plaintiffs Steven Campbell, Mary Beth Scott and Kathi Channell-Beard, a list of Vallecito Resort mobile home park residents are seeking judgment against the park owner and manager for allegedly violating the Colorado Mobile Home Park Act by illegally acquiring the park, wrongfully terminating leases and attempting to push park residents out of their homes.
The new plaintiffs are Janet, Richard and Fred Riley Jr.; Ronald and Leslie Hockenbery; Gerri Petranovich; Elizabeth McDaniel and Kenneth Hill; Clifford Burmeister; and Sheri Lynn Sperline, according to the amended complaint.
The complaint lists several potential new violations under the Mobile Home Park Act, which was amended on Oct. 1.
The court documents say the park owner and manager threatened eviction of tenants without grounds for terminating a tenancy; required tenants to sign a new agreement without meeting requirements for rental agreements; assumed unauthorized control of tenants’ mobile homes, other personal property and guests, required mobile homeowners to sell their mobile homes in order to comply with park rules and regulations; and otherwise restricted mobile homeowners’ rights to sell their mobile homes.
The complaint also details statutory financial penalties along with injunctions sought by plaintiffs.
The lawsuit requests a judgment in favor of up to $20,000 for each groundless threat of eviction and up to $1,708,333, a third of Vallecito Resort’s listing price, because it was sold without due notice to tenants.
It also requests up to $50,000 for each plaintiff’s rent increase enacted while CC5 and AOS are not registered with the Division of Housing and asks for rent increases to be prohibited until the companies become registered, the complaint says.
Vallecito Lodging, the former park owner, transferred ownership of the park to CC5 Vallecito on April 23, 2021, via a special warranty deed without notifying residents, the lawsuit says. On Sept. 9, 2021, residents received lease termination notices.
The notices announced the immediate termination of the residents’ leases and said if they wanted to return to the park for the “2022 season,” they “must complete a Seasonal Guest Registration Form” and submit a payment on or before Sept. 30, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also says that on more than one occasion, the park’s on-site property manager harassed tenants and threatened to evict them for breaking arbitrary rules.
Kim Perdue, partner at Southwest Water and Property Law LLC and the attorney representing the legal action, said in an interview with The Durango Herald in September the main question the lawsuit seeks to answer is whether temporary or seasonal mobile home parks are protected under the state’s Mobile Home Park Act.
Kathi Channel-Beard, one of the original plaintiffs, said on Saturday they learned the mobile home park has been registered as a mobile home park with the state for at least 17 years and that CC5 failed to renew its status in February, which could cost the park owner another $5,000.
cburney@durangoherald.com
