HOA Nut House

Frenchman's Creek residents complain about maintenance, accounting

by Natalie McGill | Staff Writer

More than 50 residents voted to remove the Frenchman's Creek condominium board of directors, claiming the group was inaccessible, handled maintenance poorly and filed bogus liens on condominium accounts.

Residents of the New Carrollton condo off of Riverdale Road held the meeting Friday.

"I'm tired of it and I know that you're tired of it," resident Fredia Tatum said.

An interim board was elected at the meeting. Members of the removed board and the board's attorney, Gregory Alexandrides, did not attend the meeting.

There are 608 units at Frenchman's Creek, but only a majority of owners present during a meeting were needed to remove the board, according to the bylaws.

The interim board of Debbie Allen, Marshall Brown, Danielle Carpenter, Tom Carrington and Lesley Stewart were voted in at the New Carrollton Municipal Center to temporarily replace board president Paul Gbenoba, Tara Gilead, Lord Moses, Rotimi Oyekanmi and Andrew Stephenson.

Gbenoba and Alexandrides did not return calls for comment.

Stewart and Tatum read a list of infractions the board allegedly has made in violation of the condominium bylaws, including neglecting to give copies of bylaws to new homeowners, record meeting minutes, present copies to residents and for failing to follow meeting procedures.

"And this is just some of the infractions," Tatum said.

Resident Chuma Mmeje called the name of each absent board member and asked the homeowners to vote by a show of hands if they supported his or her removal. The vote of 51 units was unanimous and the discussion shifted to obtaining an attorney.

New Carrollton Councilman Dave Anderson, who attended the meeting, implored the residents to get a lawyer to represent them in the case they decide to file a lawsuit against the former board of directors.

Jenise and Anthony Flournoy have lived in the complex for two-and-a-half years and said they would be willing to put $100 toward obtaining legal representation.

"Every meeting I see we are growing," Anthony Flournoy said. "We have good support out here and we have a good team of people and with their support we can make great strides."

Carpenter said she has no timeline yet as to when the homeowners will hire a lawyer but is confident about the direction the community is heading.

"I'm looking forward to the outcome," Carpenter said. "There are good people in Frenchman's Creek. With their support we will get to where we want to be."

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.

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