HOA Nut House

She was offered a place to live for free, but a group says she's a pawn.

By CARRIE WEIMAR, Times Staff Writer

TAMPA - Nancy Soble opened the blinds and gazed at the Hillsborough River meandering past her new home.

"This is the first time I've ever had a screened-in porch," said Soble, 38. "It's all so overwhelming."

After teetering on the brink of homelessness for more than a year, Soble thought her luck had changed last week when a kind stranger told her she had been picked to live in an empty condominium building, a place where units typically sell for $200,000 or more.

Suddenly, instead of a cramped room in a Budget motel, Soble found herself in a luxurious two-bedroom suite at the Marina Club of Tampa, 2424 Tampa Bay Blvd., with access to two swimming pools, a jacuzzi and a private dock. And she didn't have to pay a dime.

Unfortunately for Soble, the story doesn't end there. Now she is at the center of a legal tug of war. On one side is a man who says he's trying to do his part to help the less fortunate by opening a building to the homeless. On the other is the Marina Club homeowner's association, whose members say the man, Dwayne Gillispie, is using Soble and others like her to exact his revenge and cheat the system.

"You've got to recognize what he's doing here," said Paul Holthaus, president of the Marina Club's homeowner's association. "He's sticking it in our faces and using these people as pawns."

Gillispie, 61, said he sees the situation differently.

"All we're trying to do is give a family who is completely down a chance to get back up on their feet," Gillispie said. "We're trying to fill a need."

The conflict stems from the battle over Building N, which has a long and complicated legal history.

The building is owned by Mohammed Husein Bhadelia, who lives in Pakistan. His brother is married to Gillispie's sister.

Bhadelia has been embroiled in a federal lawsuit with the homeowner's association since 2003 over rights to certain areas of the property. The case was settled in 2005, but both sides accuse the other of violating the terms.

According to the settlement, Building N is supposed to be used for condominiums. But Bhadelia and Gillispie say they can't market the building as condos because the homeowner's association is denying them access to the parking lot.

The association and their lawyer dispute that and say they never barred access to the lot.

After getting a certificate of occupancy on July 31, Gillispie contacted Mike Switzer, who volunteers for the Hillsborough council of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Gillispie told Switzer he had room to house needy families, free of charge.

Switzer found six good candidates and immediately began scrounging for furniture for the empty units.

Soble was the first to move into Building N on Aug. 7. The others were scheduled to arrive later this week.

Meanwhile, the homeowner's association filed a motion with U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara, requesting an order barring Gillispie from moving people into the building.

Lazzara granted a temporary order Tuesday. A hearing is scheduled for Aug. 23 on a permanent order.

This isn't Gillispie's first run-in with the homeowner's association. When he was a resident, he took the association to court in 2002 after they said his dog, a 107-pound bull mastiff named Dude, violated their 25-pound weight limit.

Gillispie, who has epilepsy, said Dude was a service dog and helped him during seizures. The case was eventually settled.

Ronald Trybus, an attorney for the homeowner's association, said Gillispie's plan clearly violates the terms of the settlement.

"He's making everybody feel bad," Trybus said. "These people are being put in the middle. He's using them as pawns."

Trybus said the association would like to resolve the dispute, but Bhadelia hasn't visited America since 1997. His lawyers have withdrawn from the case, and Gillispie's authority to act in these matters is questionable, Trybus said.

Holthaus accused Gillispie of using Soble and the other needy families as leverage to negotiate a new settlement with the association.

"This is a vengeful act on his part," Holthaus said.

Now Soble is caught in a bind. A mother of nine, including quadruplets, she planned to move eight of her kids - now spread among her estranged husband and a church friend - into the unit with her this week. But if a judge orders her to leave, she'll have no place to go.

"Now what am I supposed to tell them?" she asked. "I'm lost. I can't take them all to a hotel. I don't know what to do."

Carrie Weimar can be reached at 813 226-3416 or cweimar@sptimes.com.

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