Lawsuit accuses South Florida condo board of illegally blocking sales

By Nicole R. Kurtz

A Boca Raton condominium association involved in litigation that was the subject of media coverage and two columns in this space from August 2025 and March 2023 is back in court and in the news.

The Boca View Condominium Association and its board president were the subjects of a recent article in the Palm Beach Post focusing on a lawsuit brought by a unit owner alleging improper blocking of the sale for her unit. The suit describes a legal saga for plaintiff Amelia Owens, who says she has been trying to sell her Boca View condo for nearly five years but has been stymied by the association board and Diana Kuka, its longtime president.

The complaint alleges the association’s board has refused to approve the unit’s sale on multiple occasions, even though the Palm Beach County Circuit Court and Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal have ruled the association’s bylaws do not provide the board with the authority to approve or disapprove unit sales. The complaint claims the reason for the blocking of the sale may be because Kuka once made a below-market offer for the unit that Owens rejected.

The lawsuit states that Kuka has singlehandedly caused irreparable harm to Boca View by refusing to abide by Florida law and the association’s own bylaws in order to further her self-serving agenda. It would appear no court can rein in or deter her from taking actions that lead to ceaseless litigation, the complaint declares.

The suit asserts the unit has asbestos, which poses a danger to Owens and the community, but her applications from three different contractors to Kuka and the board for its removal have been denied “in an act of blatant retaliation with no justification whatsoever.”

The owner has subsequently been unable to occupy or rent the dwelling, and her only recourse has been to price it below market value and attempt to sell.

Owens’ complaint claims the unit has gone to contract twice, but both times Kuka and the association “intentionally, wrongfully and deliberately prevented her from selling her unit by (falsely) claiming that all unit transfers/sales must be approved by the association.” It asserts: “Not only did they make this false claim that approval was required, but they refused to approve or interview the prospective buyers altogether. Kuka only approves a sale when it’s going into her own portfolio of properties.”

The complaint alleges that together with Tim Olexa, who is Kuka’s brother and provides maintenance services for the community, she uses her position as president of the association “to do everything possible to interfere with residents’ peaceful enjoyment of their home so they will sell. When unit owners contract to sell their unit to a third party, she takes immediate action to stop that sale by claiming there is some reason the sale cannot be approved. As months turn into years, it becomes increasingly obvious that no matter who the prospective buyer is, there will be no approval and thus no sale, so long as Kuka is board president.”

When owners subsequently complain, it claims “she and/or her family members swoop in to offer to take the property off the unit owner’s hands at below market value.”

For Owens, the suit states her only option during the last three years has been to continue paying her monthly dues and other costs for her empty residence while “Kuka has stonewalled all attempts to sell, rent, or repair the unit.” It concludes that Kuka will continue to do so until she is forced to stop by a court ruling, or a receiver is appointed and she is removed.

The complaint includes excerpts from a 2008 circuit court ruling and a 2020 Fourth District Court of Appeal decision that both found the association has no right to approve or disapprove sales/transfers. It alleges that in an act of outright defiance, Kuka and the association have ignored these rulings and continued to require owners to submit any such transactions for approval.

Owens’ lawsuit seeks for the court to issue an injunction to force the association and Kuka to stop interfering with the sale of the unit and remediation of the asbestos, and to stop requiring approvals for prospective buyers. It also seeks declaratory relief finding that the defendants have wrongfully and without justification denied the asbestos remediation applications in acts of retaliation, as well as awards for damages and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

In a court filing, the association called the accusations against it and Kuka “a figment of Plaintiff’s imagination,” and it characterized the lawsuit as a sham and alleges the plaintiff’s late husband performed unauthorized work on their condo that resulted in citations by Boca Raton code enforcement.

The recent newspaper article states there are three active lawsuits involving the approval of unit sales/transfers at Boca View. While condo association boards often have the authority to approve or deny sales, the prior circuit and appellate court rulings concluding the community’s documents do not grant it that authority may ultimately be reaffirmed in these current cases.

Such rulings could prove costly for the association. If Owens prevails, her attorney told the Post, she expects the court would also force it to pay her fees, which she says could amount to more than $100,000.

The takeaway for other condo associations is to carefully review their governing documents with qualified legal counsel to determine if their boards have a say in whether unit sales/transfers are approved or disapproved before taking such actions. In order for condo boards to have such approval or disapproval authority their associations’ governing documents must specifically state as such, and the lack of those provisions should be a clear indicator that boards should avoid attempting to assert such authority.

Nicole R. Kurtz is a shareholder with the South Florida law firm of Siegfried Rivera who focuses on community association law and is based at the firm’s Coral Gables office. She is a regular contributor to the firm’s Newsroom blog at www.SiegfriedRivera.com/blog. The firm also maintains offices in Broward and Palm Beach counties, and its 49 attorneys focus on real estate, community association, construction, and insurance law. NKurtz@SiegfriedRivera.com, 305-442-3334, www.SiegfriedRivera.com.