Judge awards Hickory House $2.4M in dispute with contractors over damaged buildings

SPRING VALLEY - After a contentious court case, the Hickory House housing complex has been awarded $2.45 million from two companies hired to repair severely damaged apartments and a burned-out building at the Main Street cooperative.

Supreme Court Judge Paul Marx sided with the attorneys for the Hickory House board and management company that the contractors failed to perform the prescribed work and over-billed.

The court battle resulted from a 2017 fire that destroyed one of several buildings at the Main Street cooperative, known as Building A. During the repair process, the contractor, Consumer Protection Restoration L.L.C., found asbestos in Building B that needed removal and became structurally unsafe.

Many of the apartments were closed and some shareholders relocated. Those apartments suffered from the dank odors of rotting plaster and dangerous black mold. Ceiling water and heat pipes were exposed after rotted ceilings were torn down.  The water leaks weakened floors.

Court award: Judge awards Hickory House tenants $2.4 million in dispute on repairs with contractors

Hickory House: Residents deal with black mold, damage as complex, Spring Valley quarrel

Spring Valley: Hickory House building destroyed in 'fast-moving' fire

Judge issues decision award after trial

Hickory House attorney Wayne Gavioli said the court award would help complete the repairs. Gavioli and attorney Susan Smith represented Hickory House board and management company.

Consumer Protection Restoration, known as CPR, and Prestige Reality Group Inc. filed the lawsuit in 2018 after a new cooperative board dismissed the company over the work. The firms' attorney Greg Saunders didn't immediately return a call for comment on the judge's decision and whether the companies planned to appeal.

The voided contract with CPR provided a cost of $3.8 million for repairs to apartments at Building B. Prestige would get $15.9 million for the demolition of Building A and reconstruction.

Gavioli called the judge's verdict a "huge victory for the good people of Hickory House," and the cooperative gets $2 million, minus the attorneys' fees awarded by the judge.

The judge, in a 16-page decision, released Jan. 19, found CPR and Prestige wrongfully filing mechanics liens against the property without just cause and willfully exaggerated. A mechanic’s lien is a guarantee of payment to builders, contractors, and construction firms that build or repair structures.

The decision stated that even though the court negated the contracts, the two companies maintained Hickory House was enriched "for the work they did to clear debris and to begin reconstruction/renovations of the buildings." Hickory House attorneys countered the claims were "willfully exaggerated."

"A contractor can file if they did the work," Gavioli said.  "The court found they never did the work."

The month-long non-jury trial before Marx, who noted in his decision the case was protracted and the animosity between the attorneys for both sides slowed down the trial — which lasted close to a month. He opined the matter should not have been tried.

"The animosity and the sniping between counsel and the seemingly incessant objections to matters that should have been the subject of stipulated facts or attempt to lay foundations resulted in an inordinate amount of time expended by the court cautioning counsel as to their behavior," Marx wrote.

Marx issued the following disbursement of funds with Hickory House getting $2.45 million, a result of deducting the awards to CPR and Prestige from the money allotted to Hickory House:

• Hickory House is awarded $3,776,026 from CPR and Prestige jointly on its exaggeration claim. Hickory House's request for interest is denied.

• CPR and Prestige are jointly awarded the sum of $1,595,258 from Hickory House. CPR and Prestige's request for interest is denied.

• Hickory House is awarded counsel fees in the amount of $261,692.

Video: Hickory House cooperatives discuss damage to their apartments.

Hickory House: Spring Valley Inspection Report

Hickory House problems go back years

Gavioli said the mold and repairs were being done and the award would help with the costs.

A lot of the problems were caused by the previous co-op board, citing legal actions, the non-repairs, and the destruction of one building and 20 units by fire in 2017, Gavioli said. Parts of a second building had been gutted.

Hickory House board won legal actions against previous contractors hired, who had placed $5.2 million in liens for non-payment but didn't do the work.

Aside from the mold, Spring Valley Code Enforcement Officer Brian Wagner's inspection report cited a stairway in Building E not anchored to the wall and a handrail not firmly fastened to the wall; a bedroom window in one unit is not weathered tight, causing water damage and potential mold proliferation; and a warped floor and cracked windows elsewhere.

Samuel Lamb, a retired social worker who has lived at Hickory House for more than two decades, and other condo owners have said management and the co-op board have not been responsive. Lamb said the shareholders also have been denied access to the co-op's financial records and have voted out the current board twice, with the last time being in October 2022.

Lamb said that while shareholders would welcome the financial award, they are concerned about how the board would spend the money. He said the board has not informed them of the judge's decision.

"Since the fire, shareholders have been displaced without any contact from the board on how they were to be made whole," Lamb said. "There remain many disturbing issues. My neighbors have been displaced and basically homeless for over 18 months because they refuse to restore their apartment following a corporation water leak."

Steve Lieberman covers government, breaking news, courts, police, and investigations. Reach him at slieberm@lohud.com. Twitter: @lohudlegal.

Read more articles and bio. Our local coverage is only possible with support from our readers.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Hickory House awarded $2.4M from contractors over damaged buildings