Continuing Village Lawsuit – ISN
At one point in the recent past, I recall the HSVPOA was involved in a number of lawsuits – some minor, some not so minor. As far as can be currently determined, the Village is still embroiled in only one lawsuit.
This is a HUGE improvement from the past when we were under the thumb of the previous reign. At one point in time, HSVPOA was involved in, if my memory serves me correctly, six cases. All of these cases had overlapping timelines.
ISN, otherwise known as International Security Networks, was contracted under our ex-CEO to provide a more secure gate system for HSV, complete with RFID readers. ISN is based out of Florida.
Although ISN performed a lot of the work, it has been alleged that there were many change orders coming from the POA causing delays. Allegedly they could not meet the established deadline because of the numerous change orders. The relationship between ISN and the POA soured and HSVPOA fired ISN.
For whatever reason, the deal fell apart, and the POA did not receive a finished product. It also appears that the POA did not receive even a partial gate system that can be salvaged by a different company. I sincerely hope I am wrong about the latter.
It also has been stated that ISN left a lot of their equipment in the Village and this has all been ruined due to being left out in the weather. (I do not know the truth and/or details regarding this issue.)
Before any lawsuit was filed, Karen Lundberg (click here to read the article about this case and more) contacted ISN and found out the story from their side of the issue. She talked numerous times to the person who sold us the system and who was also in charge of the actual work.
Late one Saturday evening (11/24/18) Karen exposed the ISN issue. This narrative was shared by email to a lot of the Village.
The POA, in what seemed to be a knee-jerk reaction, filed a lawsuit against ISN very early the next Monday morning (11/26/18). And while they say things move slower in the south. I think this is not always true.
Karen located an attorney to represent ISN. Coincidentally, the last name of ISN’s attorney happens to be Nalley. Counselor Nalley is only very distantly related to our ex-CEO.
I am not sure that this dispute would have ever gone to court without exposure from this Villager because from what I am hearing is that ISN is a pretty laid-back company and they didn’t know what to do and were just ignoring the situation.
The Villager who exposed this did it to let everyone know what was going on with past management and the reason why the promised gate security system did not materialize. This Villager believes in transparency, as do we and most of the community.
ISN filed a counterclaim against the POA, alleging that the fault was not theirs. But now, ISN wanted the remaining money owed for their services to be paid, plus damages. We all know, once courts and attorneys are involved, the cost becomes much higher as courts and attorneys are not free.
Under the old regime, HSVPOA had a number of law firms working for us and handling the variety of suits.
Our new board had the wisdom to hire the renowned Rose Law Firm and let them handle all legal issues. At least with one firm, it would be much easier for the left hand to know what the right hand was doing. Our current board had nothing to do with this mess and the blame for the gate debacle is tied directly to past management/boards.
Looking at the court docket, Rose Law Firm took over the case in early May, 2020.
Maybe we will have an update on the ISN case soon. It would be nice to have this issue behind us, but under the current COVID-19 restrictions, we do not know when this issue will be resolved. It would also be nice to have even greater gate security. I do know things at the gates seem to be improving under the new Board, at least that is what is being reported.
Click here to read the initial suit filed by the POA.
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Click here to read the countersuit filed by ISN.
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By Cheryl Dowden, August 16, 2020
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David Sintich
08/16/2020 — 4:48 pm
Well knowing that now our board members and GM have some common sense about them, maybe a phone call to ISN from them or Rose Law to see if a possible deal could now be worked out to finish the gate upgrade. I’m sure we still want security and they would like to make some money and not have a court case. Their equipment is in place, they had to share knowledge and company secrets with another firm for the soft ware so maybe possibly now that the POA know-it-alls are gone the project can be completed and we could have a vender that we can work with into the future to handle all our security needs. Show them that we now have intelligent leadership and we can extend a open hand to friendship and a working business relationship. Just a thought….
Tom Blakeman
08/16/2020 — 4:57 pm
Good thought!
HSVP C
08/16/2020 — 5:09 pm
Great idea, David.
A Moody
08/16/2020 — 5:55 pm
Karen is fighting pneumonia and grieving the loss of her son. As such, she is unable confirm or deny the information provided, nor address any questions regarding the above article. We wish Karen a speedy emotional and physical recovery.
HSVP C
08/16/2020 — 6:10 pm
Thank you for letting us know about Karen. I had no idea that Karen had pneumonia and wish her a speedy recovery. A Moody, there is nothing to deny or confirm in this article. I have everything I wrote well-documented. This was not an article criticizing Karen but merely stated what happened in the past for those who were unaware. If anyone has questions about what I wrote, I will be happy to answer them so no one needs to bother Karen while she is ill. Karen was a big help with the movement and no one would ever deny this. This is the article that Karen wrote where I obtained some of the information: https://hotspringsvillagepeople.com/lets-talk-about-hsv-lawsuits/ Information about this case was also supplied by the ex-CEO through an eblast.
David Vuurman
08/16/2020 — 8:59 pm
I agree. Let’s “bury the hatchet”
Walter
08/17/2020 — 9:33 am
Well wishes to Karen. I too would like to see a reasonable conclusion to this litigation as well.
Robert Busse
08/18/2020 — 10:31 am
Yes, my condolences to Karen on her loss and also I pray for a speedy recovery from her illness. She has been a tireless behind-the-scenes investigator.
I agree we need to get this entire law suit resolved and get on with a more modern, up-to-date gate system. But first I think it would be appropriate for the POA to, in simple, more general language, explain what is the requested system, how will it work from a member stand point, and do we really need everything the ex-leaders wanted/demanded. HSVPOA has had a history of requiring bells and whistles that really are not needed, increase costs, increase maintenance and do not always work on new system upgrades.
So, before we have somebody rush headlong into getting things running and ending the lawsuit, it might be nice for us to know what we are getting. After all, it is the members who have to use it and it might be something more complicated than what we need, want and are willing to pay for.
Randy
09/21/2020 — 11:32 pm
Do we have a deliverables section on purchase orders so everyone has a clear understanding of what the final outcome of the purchase will look like? It appears not. Specifications, quantities, detailed work definitions, software interfaces, required reporting capabilities, a completion date with extension penalties should be a minimum on complex projects. This seems to be a re-occurring issue & there always seems to be some off the wall excuse for an undesirable outcome. The idea of knowing what we are paying for up front can save bundles of money in the long run avoiding cost overruns and change orders.