Bella Collina Property Owners, in Lawsuit, Allege Racketeering


One of Central Florida's most troubled house developments, the upscale Bella Collina country-club near Clermont, was hit by a proposed class action lawsuit by people who bought tons there before the development went dormant in the Great Recession.

The lawsuit alleges that the owners behind the Bella Collina company, for example Palm Beach businessman Dwight Schar, intentionally sought to destroy property values so as to drive out bunch owners so they could repurchase the entire project at super-low prices.


Schar and his regional business partner, Randall Greene, are not commenting. A company endorsed by Schar called DCS purchased Bella Collina lots, the Nick Faldo-designed golf program and the $40 million clubhouse at 2012 for only $10 million.

They had declared new sales would start again in 2014, also declared the started building on nearly 30 new houses in 2016, but there's been little new construction visible on satellite photos.

Attorneys representing the evolution have fired back into many court filings, asserting that the plaintiffs in the new litigation have already litigated and settled several of the disagreements, and that the litigation represents a"shotgun" begging and should be tossed out.

The litigation was filed by Orlando attorney Tim McCullough on behalf of lot owners James and Virginia Shelton, Brad and Lana Heckenberg, both Bart and Kathryn Sutherin and others.

They assert that the developers should have turned into the Property Owners Association over to the respective owners more than 10 years ago.

"The Defendants illegally usurped control of the POA. The POA, with no member consent, then filed 400 fraudulent lawsuits for its collection of invalid special assessments, which coerced great owners to surrender their tons," the lawsuit states.

An answer from the developers filed in court says it's all just sour grapes.

"Many had enjoyed their property for years without paying club POA dues. They reacted poorly when the POA pursued legal remedies to take the owners to pay their debts," the programmers' lawyers at Shutts & Bowen wrote.

McCullough said there are approximately 100 individual lot owners nowout of roughly 800 lots.

"There are problems which have been raised in the state court, but the state court lawsuits weren't a class action," McCollough said. "A number of the lot owners are simply afraid to open their mouth. They may be slapped with a $100,000 penalty, which I think is illegal, if they do not follow the prohibited deals in the settlement arrangements some folks signed."

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