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FLORIDA RECORD

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Tenants accuse Dunedin landlord, business owners of fraudulent concealment

Lawsuits

CLEARWATER — Two tenants are suing a Dunedin landlord and business owners, alleging civil conspiracy.

Phillip L. Ulm and Wesley K. Reeves filed a complaint July 5 in Pinellas Circuit Court against Joseph L. Burden, Judith Major and Ladislau Major, alleging the defendants wrongfully disposed of hazardous waste on the property.

According to the complaint, in February  Ulm and Reeves entered into a sales agreement to purchase the defendants' Burdens' Auto Craft U.S.A. Corp Inc. Contemporaneously, the suit says, they entered into a lease agreement with Major, landlord of the property at 1437 Main St., Dunedin. 

Shortly after, the lawsuit states, the employees disclosed to Ulm and Reeves that that defendants had dangerously stored and disposed of hundreds of gallons of paint thinner waste on the property. As a result, the suit says, the plaintiffs were unfairly and unjustifiably exposed to potential criminal and civil liability. They vacated the property June 30. 

The plaintiffs allege Burden and the Majors conspired to fraudulently conceal the contamination before they induced Ulm and Reeves into executing the agreements.

Ulm and Reeves seek trial by jury, damages of more than $15,000, reimbursement equal to the purchase price of Auto Craft U.S.A., the funds expended to repair inventory and the funds advanced for the lease agreement and all other just and proper relief. They are represented by attorney Matthew A. Kassel of Kassel Law Group PLLC in Tampa.

Pinellas Circuit Court case number 18C4470

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