The Orlando Condo Blog

A group of MetroWest homeowners claim millions of dollars are missing and were misused. The homeowners said the former head of their association was using the extra money to fund personal projects. Mary Biddle has lived in MetroWest since 1989.

“I was one of the original residents,” Biddle said.

She hasn’t had a real complaint, until three years ago when she got a notice about her homeowner association’s assessment fees. “So when I got my dues bill in late ’05, ’06. Kelli, I was stunned that we had a 30 percent increase in dues, couldn’t believe it and I started asking questions,” Biddle said.

She, along with several other residents, went straight to the property developer and then head of the MetroWest Masters Association Kevin Azzouz. The group sued to get a look at his financial records, and what they found was shocking.

“Mr. Azzouz, who had a commercial development, was taking the money from the homeowners fund and using it for his commercial development to the tune of $2.5 million,” said Phil Snyderburn, the homeowners’ attorney.

Snyderburn contends in the 45-page lawsuit that it cost just over $700,000 for the yearly upkeep of the homeowners’ common areas. However, Azzouz was taking in around $2.5 million. An audit showed the extra cash was funding Azzouz’s new and financially troubled project at Veranda Park.

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