When more light is shined on the existence of the documents showing that some persons have been engaged in a long-term fraud, they will not be able to continue to do so.
What can you do?
Spread the word. Invite others to look at the documents: both the bona fide documents and the fraudulent ones created by those who have obstructed the lake access of easement owners and demanded that the easement owners be members of the LLPOA and pay money to them.
At a minimum, my suggestion is to get more involved. Shine more light on the activity. Let more people know about the existence of the documents. Let them see and compare what has been represented to them by those who want their money with the documents showing that their representations are false. Let them see that the claims of maintaining the lake, by those engaged in neighborhood empire building, are false ones. Let them see that the participants in this scheme have actually harmed the lake. And let them see that they have not helped the community by pretending to be operating a mandatory-membership homeowners' association.
You might consider talking with a neighbor or two. Some of our neighbors have been misled. Some have been misled into believing that those who have been collecting money have been "maintaining the lake." Those who have been fooled into paying money, like us, want to maintain the value of our properties. That desire to maintain property values is an emotion that those involved in this scheme have played upon. But they have used a bait-and-switch. They have used money to build a neighborhood patronage system while they determine who can and who cannot pass through the gates to the lake. As part of their theater, they have been putting chemicals such as copper sulfate into the lake while knowing that they have been harming the lake. For them, having a warm-weather activity has been more important than the long-term damage to the lake.
False claims of maintaining the lake
The claim that those collecting money have been maintaining the lake is as false as their claim that the LLPOA is a mandatory-membership homeowners' association.
The participants in this scheme know that the LLPOA is not a homeowners' association. They know, for example, that no liens have ever been filed against nonpaying easement owners while threats have been made over the years to do so. The first threats to file liens to collect an alleged "several hundred thousand dollars" in so-called back dues began in 1993. They admit knowing that attorneys hired in the name of the LLPOA have repeatedly told them that the LLPOA is a voluntary-membership association. They know that no attorney has ever filed a lien against nonpaying Loch Lomond property owners, including the latest attorney that they hired in 2010 to collect an alleged $188,000 owed in so-called back dues. They also know that they have been damaging the lake. This was admitted in writing as early as 1997 in a February 1997 newsletter.
Sooner or later, our neighbors who have been tricked into paying money will realize from the increased algae and the algae blooms will know that those who have put copper sulfate into the lake have been killing oxygen-producing water plants. Water plants not only provide food for fish, but produce oxygen and help keep down the algae. When dead zones are created in the lake by killing the plant life, there are more algae blooms. And some might say that the rotting algae does not smell like roses.
Putting copper sulfate into the lake is damaging the lake, not maintaining it. Water plants produce oxygen and are need to provide food for fish and to help keep the algae down. Putting copper sulfate and other plant-killing chemicals in the lake which has caused so much damage that those operating in the name of the LLPOA now say that they may need $10 million or so to dredge the lake is not maintaining the lake. That's approximately $17,825 per household for the damage that they caused.
Hiring teenage "lifeguards" to lounge near the entrance of the South Beach gate and obstruct nonpaying easement owners from exercising their easement rights, is not maintaining the lake. Knowingly operating a fraud is not maintaining the lake. Inviting parents to have their young children swim in the water and get it into their mouths is certainly not maintaining the lake. Dividing the community between easement owners with lake-front properties from those who do not is not maintaining the lake.
Contact an attorney?
If you recently bought your house, you might consider contacting the attorney who handled the closing for you. Hopefully, that person is not an attorney who receives referrals from the real estate agents who have been involved in this fraud.
Even if you didn't recently buy your house, you might consider contacting an attorney who handles fraud cases. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. But I don't think that it is a good idea to have a group effort in a lawsuit. That can present a problem of having too many voices and too many people have a veto power over whatever an attorney might do. Different attorneys might choose different actions. As an example, one attorney who might think that those involved in the scheme are merely mistaken and could do what other attorneys have done by mailing a letter with a hope that will correct the situation. It hasn't. No communication from any attorney, not even ones hired in the name of the LLPOA, has ever stopped them. When collecting money, the participants want you to believe that they are smarter and more informed. In contrast, when an issue is raised as to the illegal nature of their actions, they pretend to be ignorant and stupid.
One attorney might write a letter. A different attorney might look at the language in the deed and seek an injunction to preclude those involved in the scheme from obstructing easement owners from accessing the lake. Another one might pursue a Quo Warranto lawsuit to question the purported authority of those who claim to be LLPOA officials. In 2014, like 2012, they didn't even hold an annual election as required by the LLPOA's charter. Still another attorney might consider a civil RICO action and, to the extent that the statute of limitations appears to have run, consider one of the tactics in AmJur Trials for how to solve the apparent statute of limitations problem: 4 Am. Jur. Trials 441, Solving Statutes of Limitation Problems (2014).
Another attorney might even file an action for declaratory relief and seek a judgment that there is no debtor-creditor relationship and no obligation to be a member of the LLPOA. These are not the only approaches that an Illinois attorney, including one who handles federal cases, might consider. If you have received a collection letter Mr. Kalman alleging that you owe an overdue amount, such an attorney, might also, for example, consider a lawsuit under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
Anticipated ad hominem attacks
This is not about me. In fact, I haven't paid so-called dues since I learned about the scheme in 2008. I have an interest in the Loch Lomond community because I am a long-term Loch Lomond property owner. I bought my house here in 1991. I also have some knowledge because I am a retired, inactive member of the California Bar and I have collected the documents which substantiate the allegations that I've made.
Stalling tactics by persons claiming to represent the LLPOA
In earlier newsletters, those claiming to represent the LLPOA reported that a lawsuit had been filed against the LLPOA. Normally, any bona fide creditor wants to receive money that is allegedly due as quickly as possible. And normally, any bona fide homeowners' association can file liens and seek a court's judgment to collect a debt instead of merely asserting that a debt is owed. But that is not done in our community because those claiming to be officers and directors of a homeowners' association know that the LLPOA is not a homeowners' association and no debts are due.
When I stopped paying after 2008, those claiming to represent the LLPOA claimed that I owed money to them. To establish that I did not, I filed a lawsuit for declaratory relief. An action for declaratory relief is supposed to be handled expeditiously. Although I had been defrauded out of $4,600, the statute of limitations had run. I filed the lawsuit, in part, while hoping that the opposing attorney would file a counter-claim for an alleged debt and make the mistake of waiving the statute of limitations. He didn't. All he wanted to do was to stall. His office even filed documents, repeatedly, in which claims were twice made that his office faxed documents to me. They didn't fax any documents to me. I don't even own a fax machine. I don't use one. All they could do was falsely claim that they did so to raise a minor controversy and waste more time. And when falsely claiming that they faxed certain documents, they couldn't even comply with the Illinois requirement of identifying the fax number to which they allegedly sent the documents. As an example of another stalling trick, the opposing attorney delayed the filing of a particular required document, and then submitted a document which did not have a required signature. Again, more stalling. The stalling tactics are documented in the court files.
If you see an attorney, this is something that they would want to know. It shows that the opposing attorney knew that the LLPOA is not a homeowners' association and is not a creditor. If an Illinois licensed attorney is informed that the insurance company representing those who claim to be representing the LLPOA is willing to stall, and even stall for years, the attorney might choose to seek a recovery under one of the statutes that allows prevailing plaintiffs' to recover attorney fees upon a successful conclusion of the case. This, of course, is an exception to the American Rule (discussed elsewhere) which requires each side to pay their own attorney fees. If anticipated stalling tactics might not allow for declaratory relief in an expeditious manner, an attorney might consider statutory relief which would act as a disincentive for such tactics. A RICO claim, if an attorney can avoid a statute of limitations problem, could be one for them to consider. A claim under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, if such a claim is a relatively fresh one and Mr. Kalman and/or his company is considered to be a debt collector as a property manager was in New York, could be another. If you obtain the services of an Illinois attorney who contacts me for more information, I can share another legal theory involving federal law as well.
Reporting of tax fraud
In 2008, when I had less information, I made an effort to reform the actions and meetings which were being held in the name of the LLPOA. When I was in the process of doing so and discovered that two of the four "officers" were not Loch Lomond property owners, I gave up on that effort. As mentioned above, I chose an option of filing a lawsuit for declaratory relief. I originally anticipated the opposing counsel to read the deed to the LLPOA and other documents so that he could agree to settle the dispute in accordance with the deed, the LLPOA's charter, and other documents in the shared possession of those claiming to be operating the LLPOA. His desire to delay this for years, and the willingness of the Lake County court to cooperate with him and allow him to do so, prompted me to obtain the evidence that I needed showing the delay and then take a nonsuit.
A another option for me was to collect sufficient documents to show tax fraud. I did that. And I fully expect to receive a reward. I compiled the documents showing that the participants collected money from criminal activities. I also showed that they filed false documents under oath with the Illinois Secretary of State while claiming that the LLPOA is a homeowners' association. In one recent newsletter, they stated that they would be filing a form 1120-H, a tax form which is filed for homeowners' associations. Filing a false claim with the Secretary of State that a corporation is a homeowners' association is something that can be done without too many adverse consequences. In contrast, knowingly filing tax returns with the IRS is entirely different. The collected documents on this website show the knowledge of those who have been falsely claiming that they have been collecting money on behalf of a homeowners' association. The IRS can take whatever time that it needs because, as tax attorneys and tax accounts know, there is no statute of limitations for tax fraud.
How can you shed more light on this?
One option for you, as mentioned above, is to contact an attorney with the readily available information on this website. Another, if you are offering your house for sale, is to make the information known to real estate agents who have not been involved in the fraud. Let them look at the deed and the covenants. Let them look at the 1957 charter that was issued to the bona fide officers of the LLPOA. If they are listing a house in one of the three Loch Lomond subdivisions, they don't have to falsely represent that a buyer will belong to, and pay money to, those purportedly collecting it on behalf of a homeowners' association. One or more of them, after they receive and verify the publicly available information, might even want to contact the State agency that oversees the licensing of real estate agents. Honest real estate agents who are not receiving referrals from those involved in this long-term scheme are at a disadvantage when competing against those who are less than honest and receive referrals for LLPOA "officers" and "directors." The smart ones will not want such competition and will notify the State agency. They have much more clout with such agency than you or I ever will.
Another option is to contact one or more politicians. I have done so. Also, I have documented my filing of a written statement with the Mundelein Police Department, and the words in that statement speaks for themselves. If you supported the election of one or more local politicians by hosting yard signs or by making campaign contributions, you might consider contacting them and making them aware of the documents on this website and the long-term fraud. You might ask them about the actions that they intend to take, if any.
Your comments and suggestions are welcome.
More to come.
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Loch Lomond Property Owners Against Fraud
llpoaF@gmail.com
Jerry Wahlert
(847) 566-1218
Copyright © 2016, 2018 Mundelein Property Owners Against Fraud.
All rights reserved.