Mr Pearlstein (& Ms. Kida):
With all due respect, after three decades in publishing (both fiction and non-fiction), I'm well aware of what constitutes libel (and slander).
If anything, your client has slandered and libeled me to numerous third parties including the Better Business Bureau.
I have documentation on all of it, which I will happily produce upon request (in fact, most of it is on the blog).
Plus, I don't post anything that can't be verified seven ways from Sunday with documentation, including the ultimate smoking gun, your own client's e-mails and letters.
I've been a professional archivist with, among others, Collier's Encyclopedia, and thus, know the value of verifiable documentation in legal matters.
I always use the proper wording to invoke opinion, not fact, when I speculate on various matters.
And, as they say, "Never say something you can't back up."
For the record; My wife has always met her financial obligations to the Association, never missing an assessment payment, unlike most (if not all) of the other unit owners, including most (if not all) of the Association Board members (and yes, I have Mara's own documentation to prove that).
That being said...
Problems dealing with Mara Feldman-Fox and the Board have been going on for the past seven years, ever since we moved into Claremont...
1) Your client, Mara Feldman-Fox, charged us $75 per hour for condo financial information requests (which you, Mr Pearlstein, pointed out was illegal in a recent Tribune column, IIRC)
2) She consistently sends assessment bills less than ten days before they're due, creating a situation where payment can't possibly arrive on time (the first of the month) by normal means, creating late fees.
(We always send out payments via Priority Mail with Delivery Confirmation which proved vital when Mara falsely tried to bill late fees.
We proved with the Delivery Confirmation receipts [which we always use in correspondence with her] that she received them on time, and she was forced to retract and apologize.)
3) We have not seen the 2011 Condo Association profit/loss statement as of this date, April 18th 2012, and the previous statements have become progressively less detailed over the past few years.
4) According to the Board Meeting Minutes, there has never been an outside audit of the Association's finances, which you, Mr Pearlstein, recommended in your column be performed at least every five years, IIRC. (None has been recorded in the Minutes)
5) Condo Association Board meetings are held miles away from the condo, in locations my wife and/or I cannot reach without undue hardship since we don't have a car.
Mara and the Board are well-aware of these physical limitations.
6) On April 3rd, 2012, Mara Feldman-Fox and the members of the Board appeared, unannounced at our front door, during our dinner, ordered us out of our unit, then surrounded us and harassed us, reducing my wife to tears.
That's just the tip of the iceberg.
There's lots more...
To clear up one of your charges...
Recently, he sent more than twelve (12) e-mails to Fox Management on one (1) day which is a blatant attempt to stop the operations of the management company and the Association.The e-mails were sent because your client, Mara Feldman-Fox, claimed she hadn't received an e-mail with a required document that I had sent the previous day.
I re-sent the document in various formats (jpeg, pdf, etc.) both within the bodies of separate e-mails, and as attachments on others, to be certain she received it one way or another.
It was done to expedite matters, not delay them.
You did read the entire e-mail chain, including attachments, not just the excerpts Mara provided...or her unconfirmed statement of such?
I can provide or forward the entire chain, with verifiable dates and transmission data (which your techies can confirm).
I can also refute all your other charges.
I hope I'm not being naive when I say that "Truth is it's own defense."
We are currently without a functioning bathroom, largely due to Mara's refusal to communicate with the on-site coordinator (me), as she was instructed to do from the beginning.
She chose instead, to continually call my wife, who works full-time in a very detail-oriented position, forcing my wife to interrupt her work to contact me, delaying anything getting done, especially if my wife is away from her desk for a meeting or project consultation, resulting in even longer delays. (Phone and e-mail records will verify these facts)
I work from home and am easily reachable, and thus am the logical person to contact.
Unfortunately, your invoking this additional attempt to forestall communication will only add to the time and fiscal costs of the project, creating both a financial hardship for us both and a physical hardship for my wife, who is middle-aged, has bad knees (knee surgery a couple of years ago), and is currently using a portable camping toilet to relieve herself.
Your client is not the aggrieved party here, and I can prove it.
If you have questions, I'll be happy to talk.
We, unlike your client, Mara Feldman-Fox, have nothing to hide.
Respectfully,
B
PS: Love your column. It's must-reading every Sunday!
NOTE: I never heard from Mr Pearlstein again.
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