Appeals Court Reviews Condominium Fee Award and Trustee-Removal Request in Two‑Unit Dispute

The Massachusetts Appeals Court heard arguments in a two‑unit condominium dispute in which an owner, appearing derivatively for the organization of unit owners, asked the court to require attorney’s fees and to remove co‑trustees for alleged malfeasance.

Appellant counsel Jeff Eugino said the trial court erred as a matter of law in refusing to award fees under G.L. c.183A §6A and that in a two‑unit, 50/50 condominium the unit owner had no practical alternative to litigation to pursue assessments. He also urged that the record shows conversion of funds (about $12,000), misuse of funds for consumer purchases, refusal to provide bank records to successive owners, and persistent financial mismanagement that justified disqualifying the trustees.

Appellee Mary Ellen Kushman urged the panel to affirm. Kushman said the trial court correctly applied Superior Court Rule 37 and the lodestar method to reduce overbilled claims and that the equitable remedies the court ordered — disabling certain security cameras, holding annual meetings and unanimous decisionmaking for assessments — have been implemented. Appellees also noted they paid the fee award cited by the appellant (roughly $19,120.60 to one party, additional amounts to the trust) and argued the judge did not abuse discretion in declining permanent trustee removal.

The panel questioned whether the statutory language mandates a fee award as a matter of law in the two‑unit factual context or whether the judge reasonably exercised discretion. The court took the case under advisement.