Colony Lender refiles lawsuit

Colony Lender LLC refiled a lawsuit against unit owners at the 237-unit shuttered Colony Beach & Tennis Resort earlier this week in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court.

Colony Lender originally filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida’s Tampa division, however, it withdrew it and refiled it in the 12th Judicial Circuit due to jurisdictional issues.

The suit seeks $4,594,276.40 for accrued unpaid rent plus interest on a disputed recreational facilities lease for the period through Oct. 29, 2008 through Aug. 15, 2014, plus $525,244.82 in unpaid real estate taxes plus interest, and attorney fees.

When the Colony was operational, unit owners paid $650,000 annually for use of the tennis courts and other recreational properties at the property to longtime owner Dr. Murray “Murf” Klauber and other leaseholders.
Colony Lender now owns a 95% interest in the resort’s 2.3-acre recreational property and insists that its interest also includes the lease, a claim that the Colony Beach & Tennis Association denies.

Contact Robin Hartill at [email protected].