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The following update was provided by Chris Pinaire, ILPOA Legal Chair. If you have any questions regarding his update you can send him an email at bod.cpinaire@ilpoa.org.

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This past year was an interesting year on several fronts.  Indian Lake Property Owners Association was party to 3 lawsuits.  Each is listed below.

Brunts, O’Fallon, Wideman, Williams vs. ILPOA

This was perhaps the most prominent lawsuit in the community through 2019 and 2020.  This case alone cost the association nearly $33,000 in legal fees.  A final judgement was found in favor of ILPOA, the defendant, on August 11, 2020.  However, an appeal was filed later in August by the plaintiffs, therefore this case is still ongoing.  We hope that we can swiftly find judgement and move on as one community.  Below outlines the counts within the lawsuit.

Count I, was not an actionable count, therefore it never went to trial. 

The judgement on Count II Declaratory Judgement was as follows:

• Annual Assessments declared under the BUR may only be amended by 2/3 of the property owners in writing and are the only assessments in which a lien upon real estate is applicable.
• The bridge design and construction assessments through our by-laws were passed per our by-laws  and were legal and within the powers of the board of directors.
• Boat registration fees and fines provisions are not considered assessments and therefore valid under the rules and regulations of the ILPOA.
• Interest provisions are not considered an assessment and therefore legal and within the powers of the ILPOA.

For Count III Injunctive Relief, Judgement was declared in favor of the Defendant, ILPOA.

Count IV, Illegal Merchandising (MMPA) was found in favor of ILPOA

Count V, Fraud was dismissed by the Plaintiffs.

Trail Road Case

This lawsuit included the ILPOA as a 3^rd party because Trail Road runs through the northwest corner of our community.  The dispute was between two landowners.  One owner was attempting to declare Trail Road as a county road, which would require it to be maintained by Crawford County and open to the public.  However, the landowner filing the suit sold the property and the case was dismissed.  The community is no longer in jeopardy of Trail Road becoming public land in which outsiders could gain entry to Indian Lake.

All-Type Fence

This case has been ongoing since 2019.  We filed suit with All-Type Fence for a faulty gate installation as well as additional expenses to secure our community while the gates and fences were inoperable.  The latest court date will be November 3, 2020, to set a date for trial.  All details regarding this case are available on Missouri Casenet, www.casenet.com  Case Number 18CF-CC00071

Chris Pinaire, ILPOA Legal Chair