Assessed common charges for that project and recorded a lien against a unit for non-payment.

A tribunal rejected this claim.

Board of Managers of Pomona Park Condominiums v. Gennis · 61 AD3d 905 (2d Dept 2009) · App Div 2d Dept · Index 61 AD3d 905

Outcome

Board prevailed

Filed

Last decision

2009-04-28

Elapsed

yrs

Brought by

board

Posture

summary judgment

What the court held

Where a preliminary injunction is later determined to have been wrongly granted, the enjoined party recovers on the CPLR 6312(b) undertaking on proof of damages sustained by reason of the injunction; a board that establishes legal expenses exceeding the undertaking recovers it in full. Separately, an owner who litigated and lost the question whether the board had authority to undertake a project is collaterally estopped from raising, as a counterclaim, that the resulting common charges were improperly assessed and the lien improperly recorded — those grievances rest on the same issue already determined against her.

“the gravamen of her claims regarding the allegedly improper assessment of common charges and recording of a lien for their nonpayment were based on the same issue raised and determined against her in the prior action seeking a determination that the plaintiffs lacked the requisite authority to undertake the restoration project”
61 AD3d at 907

Outcome in full

The board prevailed, with one bill of costs. Summary judgment recovering the full $25,000 undertaking affirmed. Dismissal of the counterclaims — improper assessment of common charges and improper recording of a lien — affirmed on collateral estoppel; they were never heard on their own terms. One appellant's appeal from the counterclaim ruling was dismissed outright because she was not aggrieved by it (CPLR 5511).

What it cost

$25,000 — stated in the decision itself, borne by the unit_owner.

What would have prevented this

This is the deterrent, priced. An owner who wants a court to stop a capital project before the money is spent must post an undertaking, and if the by-laws turn out to favour the board — which is a question of drafting, not of conduct — they forfeit it and lose the right to contest the assessment or the lien ever again. An administrative review that stays a project without requiring a bond, as Virginia's Ombudsman process contemplates, imposes no such entry fee on being wrong about a contract clause.

Sources

Read in full and verified 2026-08-04.

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