Jury awards possession to condo association in record-setting suit

July 27, 2012 – The largest lawsuit filed by Marina Towers Condominium Association ended in its favor in May.

A jury awarded MTCA $39,937.39 for assessments, late fees, attorney’s fees, and other charges. It also awarded possession of three units owned by Edie and Joseph Mathers.

MTCA had sued the Mathers in Cook County Circuit Court on January 11 for $32,358.83, the greatest amount of damages ever sought by the condo association going back to 1992. The second highest amount it sought in any single case was also against the Mathers, in 2008. The average amount MTCA has sued anyone for is $2,031.

This time, there was much debate over whether the Mathers had been properly notified of the amount allegedly owed. The husband and wife claimed they did not receive at least three notices supposedly sent last year by certified mail. They accused the condo association of improper notice, defective notice, insufficient evidence of service, mail fraud, and wire fraud.

According to a transcript of the court hearing, this issue continued to be discussed even after the jury returned its verdict on May 1, with Judge Leonard Murray siding with the Mathers at times. An attorney for the condo association at Marina City, Ted Eberspacher of O’Hagan Spencer, claimed copies of the certified mail amounted to “a preponderance of the evidence.” Judge Murray disagreed, asking academically, “If I make a copy of an envelope and put a certified mail label on it, is that proof that it was mailed?”

Eberspacher (left) is an associate trial lawyer at O’Hagan Spencer’s Chicago office in the Kemper Building.