Speaker 1: We'll take a short break and be back with more of Case Closed. Spanish writer and politician Antonio Canovas del Castillo once said, There are no worse alliances than those that trace interests. Hello and welcome to Case Closed. There are no worse alliances than those that trace interests. Interests are complicated, folks. Let's see how this relates to our first case of the day. Please bring out the litigants.

Speaker 2: When I read Alibaba and the 40 Thieves, I thought it was just a fantasy. But it turns out I'm closer to it than ever.

Speaker 3: Laws must be followed, and God won't stop me from following them.

Speaker 1: Good afternoon and welcome. Ahmed, you're the plaintiff. Tell me who Cecilia is, why you're suing her, and what you demand to settle this case.

Speaker 2: Cecilia is the president of the condominium where I live. The president of the association? The association where I live. I'm suing her for $3,000 for the damages she's caused to me and my property. Let me explain. Two months ago, Cecilia wasn't in the building and I approached the neighborhood board because of some irregularities. They didn't listen to me, so I waited for her to arrive. I also talked to her, but she didn't listen to me either. I went to the police with the evidence I had and they told me that they didn't make that kind of claim, that it was in the condominium. So I decided to go to the press and make it public what was going on.

Speaker 1: What was going on?

Speaker 2: I'll explain. The $3,000 I'm asking for is because Cecilia has had my car towed on several occasions. The last time, the car was severely damaged, plus the repairs I had to pay. That's where the claim I'm making comes from. Here's what's going on in the building. More than a year ago, an apartment was vacated and Cecilia took over the building. I can show you the evidence.

Speaker 1: Yes, bring it here.

Speaker 2: You'll see the damages first. You'll see what's going on with the building. She takes a sum of the money we all deposited there to solve the problem of that apartment, which is her niece who's living there and she stole the money from the condominium.

Speaker 1: So you're saying she stole money from the foundation to buy an apartment that she gave to her niece.

Speaker 2: Yes, a property. She took care of it and gave it to her niece. I approached her because Cecilia won't let us breathe. She puts up signs in the car, in the apartment, and she's a homophobe because they have to leave because they can't be here all the time. They're kissing.

Speaker 1: You're discriminating against her in your own house.

Speaker 2: I take a visit to the house and Cecilia is there to see what she can do, to call the police, to sue us for anything. I go to the pool and the same thing happens. I throw a party and Cecilia is there at all times. Since she has nothing to do, she does this kind of thing. And we really don't give anymore. Cecilia's been through a lot.

Speaker 1: I'm looking at this. You were towed by a car three times. Exactly. You were badly parked.

Speaker 2: What's going on? In the condominium, there are other neighbors that when I get home from work, the cars aren't in a good place. So I have no choice but to park it the way I can. So she knocks on my door and I call her right away for the crane to come pick me up. I'm going to talk to the crane and she says, look, it's not me. She's the one who calls to tow the car. Not the others, but mine.

Speaker 1: So you're telling me that you had to park badly because there were other residents there who were badly parked and they left you the space in an illegal way.

Speaker 2: Exactly, but in an equitable way. She could have knocked on my door to solve it. She immediately calls the police for anything. The last time it was in a pool, my partner and I were there, and there she was saying, and there you can see the signs that Cecilia puts with the offenses so big that they are at the door and the same in the car.

Speaker 3: No, ma'am, I haven't done that. How do you know it's her?

Speaker 2: Well, ma'am, we really don't have any problems with anyone in the building. It's just that it's with Cecilia all the time. It's a condominium with 40 apartments, so we're not... How many apartments are there? 40. 40, there are 40 units. That is, of 38, including mine, there are 39. She's the one who's just constantly being aggressive with us and we don't give anymore. So she says that we, because we're homosexuals, we become defenseless, and that's really the argument she's presenting.

Speaker 1: What happened to the car that you had to fix?

Speaker 2: The last one was that they took the bumper of the car, totally destroyed, and I really had to pay that amount because I claimed it, but really, imagine, what am I going to do if I don't pay it?

Speaker 1: And then here you are giving me a bank account, of the association. This is the association's account.

Speaker 2: Exactly. Okay. Can I explain? Explain to me. This account is where all the money we pay is. We pay a fee. What do you pay monthly? We were paying a monthly fee of $260. Okay. What does Cecilia do? She made an increase to an extra fee, because for me, what she's doing is just to, with this money, the $10,000 that's missing in the building's account, Cecilia supplies it from there to be able to justify the deficit that you can see there, which is in the account. She took the money, paid all the repairs to the apartment, according to her, for the property of all, without consulting it, and then this $120 that she's increasing is to be able to pay back the money that's missing there. So she steals, and then she charges you

Speaker 1: to pay the deficit.

Speaker 2: I tell her, I've been paying it for three months. I know that it hurts me, as the owner of the apartment, but I can't just be paying for one thing, and Cecilia, this month the pool, the other month the garden, the other, I mean, an apartment that was repaired a year ago, part of the condominium, Cecilia wants to fix it again, because supposedly she has problems again. So we can't be paying, because it's the letter of the car,

Speaker 1: well, you know, everything. But you're paying for other people's apartments. The repairs of other people's apartments. The owner is responsible for his apartment.

Speaker 2: No, it's the association.

Speaker 1: The association pays for the maintenance of common areas.

Speaker 2: Yes, but it's correct, but I can't pay every year that there's a problem, Cecilia wants to fix the pool again, that she has an issue. The water has the same level, but for her, she has an issue. So she always tries to get some money,

Speaker 1: Okay, perfect, okay.

Speaker 3: Well, Cecilia, how do you respond? This man has come to defame me, ma'am, because he, he, definitely, I'm not a homophobe, I haven't put any posters on him, and he doesn't pay the fee, because what he does is parties, all his friends come, they park wherever they want, and then what do I do? I call the crane, and I call the police, because they don't let me live in the community. First, he makes some love kisses, and here's the proof, ma'am, he stops in the line, he's not looking, ma'am, in the white line. But it's a little piece. But that's not legal, and they stop for more than 24 hours. Manny, why are you showing me these photos of these men hugging each other? Well, because they, in public light, their love kisses are in the pool, and it starts, yes, they hug, yes, a little kiss, and there are children, ma'am. And what? No, ma'am, the morals, the morals and the good habits.

Speaker 1: If a heterosexual couple hugs each other and gives each other a kiss in the pool, would you be taking pictures of them? Well, ma'am, there are children,

Speaker 3: and I think...

Speaker 1: Ma'am, let me explain something to you. Children don't have a problem with homosexuality. It's the adults who have prejudices and transmit fear to children. This is legal, ma'am.

Speaker 3: The neighbors have complained.

Speaker 1: Show me the complaints of the neighbors.

Speaker 3: They've come to me to tell me. Where are the complaints? Oh, no, I didn't bring any complaints. What I brought are the photos that I...

Speaker 1: No, because, ma'am, this is discrimination.

Speaker 2: Ma'am, it doesn't exist.

Speaker 1: This is serious. What you're doing is discrimination. And I haven't put any posters on him. Well, but now with what you're presenting here, now I think you were the one with the posters. No, ma'am. I'm not capable of...

Speaker 3: I'm a decent person.

Speaker 1: And you think you're decent with prejudices, ma'am?

Speaker 3: What I've taken is the picture because they've already put it on me. They've put things everywhere.

Speaker 1: Okay, look, I'm not going to fix your prejudices and your discrimination. Why did you buy that apartment?

Speaker 3: I bought it because the apartment was depreciating from being alone because it was in foreclosure. I closed an apartment. The condominium board had a meeting and we decided to take the money to buy the apartment, to pay for it. And my niece told me, aunt, you pay for it, I'll pay for it. And she gave me the money because the money was there. $10,000 is missing. She told me she was going to pay me by the end of the month.

Speaker 1: But, ma'am, where is it? Where is the document? I'm just doing it on purpose. Where is the document, the owner's resolution, where all the owners agreed that you use the association's funds to buy an apartment for your niece? No, I don't... Where is the resolution signed by all the owners of the board? Where is it? The document where the owners approved this? They approved it. Where is it? Show it to me.

Speaker 3: The condominium board...

Speaker 1: The condominium board, when they make a resolution, they put it in writing. And because it was a quick sale, Oh, it was quick, so there's nothing in writing. You can't tell me that you had the consent of all the owners to buy this apartment. That's what you're telling me. Who has witnesses?

Speaker 2: I have witnesses, ma'am.

Speaker 1: Let's take a short break, and when we come back, because this condominium and the associations has me up to my last hair, we'll welcome the witnesses and look for a solution. Let's take a short break. When we come back, we'll welcome the witnesses and look for a solution. If you live in a condominium or a department that has an association of owners, have you ever had to go through a disastrous event? Because it's very difficult to choose the people who are really going to organize and keep the areas of our homes in order and honestly. Ahmed is suing Cecilia, who is the president of the association of the condominium where he resides, of which he is the owner of one of the units, for the sum of $3,000 for having been a victim of reprisals one after the other from this lady. Let's move on. Do you have a witness, Cecilia? No. You don't have a witness. Bring out the plaintiff's witness. Do you have one or two? Two. Two. Bring out the witnesses. Both of them. Good afternoon. Good afternoon, ma'am. Your name? My name is David. And your name?

Speaker 4: Juana.

Speaker 1: Juana. David, who are you?

Speaker 5: He's my partner.

Speaker 1: Oh, you're the one in the pictures.

Speaker 5: Of course. Okay.

Speaker 1: What have you come to testify?

Speaker 5: We've been together for about a year. We're tired of being mocked and rejected. We're tired of all the papers they put on us. They don't leave us alone. We're a normal couple. We go out, we walk, we shake hands. We're like any other couple would be. And all they do is reject us. They reject us in the condominium for everything. We're going to get married. We're getting married in two months. We already have our license. They've never put a warning on us. They've never put a warning on us. The only thing is that we left the car on the side simply because we don't have anywhere else to park it. But the accusations so far are incredible.

Speaker 1: Okay, perfect. So you're here to... They're not legal parties. Legal. To validate what your partner is saying. Perfect. Juana, who are you?

Speaker 4: Well, I'm the ex-wife of this man here, this opportunist character. You're his ex-wife? Yes. We were married. We came here from Colombia. We came with a tourist visa. When we got our tourist visa, he decided he was going to look for someone to get married for the papers because we were undocumented. We both decided. Well, you decided, but I later agreed. The thing is that... You got divorced. We got divorced legally, so he decided to look for that person. But I never found out who he was because he disappeared. When he disappears, I start looking for him. But it turns out he wasn't a woman.

Speaker 1: It was him? It was him.

Speaker 4: Okay. But it turns out I know he doesn't want to marry him because I brought evidence and I gave it to the production.

Speaker 2: What are you talking about?

Speaker 1: Let's see, Mr. Director. But this is Cecilia. Exactly.

Speaker 2: But this is Cecilia. What? I was going to tell you. How? I was going to tell you.

Speaker 4: You don't have to tell me. Exactly, ma'am. He lied to me and he lied to him, too. That poor bastard. Well, he was a lawyer. I was going to tell you. But you're going to explain all this to him? This is my private life. So, Cecilia...

Speaker 2: I'm going to explain everything to him.

Speaker 4: You're going to talk to her? Of course, ma'am.

Speaker 1: I'm going to talk to her. So, you know exactly what she does.

Speaker 2: Exactly. She's a moralist and a whore. Yes. She's a whore.

Speaker 1: But come here, David. How can you be so shameless?

Speaker 4: Yes, I'm so short that he thinks I'm short.

Speaker 1: Yes, you don't look like a man. You look like a man.

Speaker 4: I don't know if he likes me left or right.

Speaker 1: No, he likes you both.

Speaker 4: I think so, too.

Speaker 1: So, you've been keeping an eye on Cecilia's clothes? I got in love with her. So, now you've got a condominium with Don Perlman walking around?

Speaker 2: No, I've got a place I want to take.

Speaker 4: What do you mean they're both in love with each other?

Speaker 1: You parked the car so she could take you to the club.

Speaker 2: No, he told me he was going to talk to Cecilia because I was upset with Cecilia. He resolved everything, and when she said no, everything was resolved with Cecilia. In bed or anywhere, in the garden, in the park. In short, he breaks the marriage license. No, exactly. But he breaks that. No, it's not worth it. He prefers to be alone than with bad company.

Speaker 1: Let's invite Dr. Angel Leal and Detective Peñate, please.

Speaker 4: He left me and him on the boat too.

Speaker 2: No, he left everyone on the boat, he stayed on it.

Speaker 1: I'm glad to hear that. Okay. What's the problem with condominiums, Doctor?

Speaker 6: Horrible.

Speaker 1: And who... I mean, it's frustrating. Yes. Once the president is elected, he has a lot of power, and if he's charismatic, and dominant, and authoritarian, he does thousands of things.

Speaker 6: That's right, Doctor. And what we have to do, at least in the state of Florida, and I imagine in most states, not to say all, is that there is the Office of the Condominium Ombudsman, which is part of the Department of Regulation of Professions and Businesses in the state of Florida. Okay. So in a situation like this, where there are irregularities, where there are theft suspicions, where there is a selective application of the rules or statutes of the condominium, the owners have the option to complain directly to the state, and the state investigates all of this.

Speaker 3: But that takes up more time.

Speaker 7: In this case, obviously, it's a robbery, and it's very easy, but unfortunately... Not all cases are as clear as this one. So when they go to the police department, and they explain, look, we have estimates, we have meetings, and all that, so many of those things are not public. They are not clandestine. They are clandestine. By the Sunshine Law, they are supposed to be public, so that all people can see them. So the police departments, what they do is, they say this is a civil problem, you solve it. Now, at this moment, there is a state representative, Jose Felix Diaz, who is passing laws, at this moment, to solve this. He is trying to bring together the police, the prosecutors, and the state, to be able, all together, to investigate these cases. Because so many irregularities are happening.

Speaker 1: There are so many cases of complaints against the associations, because there really is a very large banditry, that we have to take measures to speed up the process, and reach faster conclusions. Now, in this specific case, there is probable cause of arrest. I wish it were all like that, ma'am. I wish it were all that clear. So you are going to arrest the defendant, and prosecute her for the so-called robbery. Decision of the case. The lady has to pay you $3,000. In less than 30 days. $3,000 that has to come out of her pocket, not from the association's pocket. Perfect. And with this action, her arrest, you will have to have an emergency session to elect a new president. And I'm going to give you a copy of this video, so you can take it to your neighbors, and show them and tell them that everything you suspected was really happening, and that they have to open their eyes for the next president. I have said... And you should go to jail too. You kill her for being skinny and ugly. You look like a beetle. I have said, case closed.