An Arlington County judge has tossed out a luxury D.C. developer’s defamation and conspiracy claims against a couple who sought to pull out of a $1 million condo purchase in October.
In an extreme example of a condominium deal gone sour, Abdo Development had sought hundreds of thousands of dollars from Rachelle Barimany and Erik Steven Dove as part of a multicount lawsuit, which stemmed partly from a letter sent by the couple’s former attorneys. The developer was largely rebuffed two weeks ago by Circuit Judge James Almand.
The couple’s Oct. 1 letter sought a return on their $58,000 deposit for the unit at the Wooster and Mercer Lofts Condominium on Clarendon Boulevard. It said the two were wary of
Abdo’s “actions in reneging on promises and rushing to settlement” and denied signing a contract document that purported to bear their signature.
Abdo sued later that month, seeking about $375,000 for statements in the letter that caused the developer to “suffer embarrassment, mortification, shame” and other harm, according to a copy of the lawsuit, which also included breach of contract and conspiracy counts.
Almand ruled June 18, however, that the letter was opinion and not enough to constitute defamation.
Stewart Fried, an attorney for Barimany and Dove, called the ruling “a very good sign.”
“I think the dismissal of the conspiracy and defamation counts substantiates what we’ve been saying all along, which is that their claims do not have any merit whatsoever,” he said.
The judge also tossed some of the couple’s counterclaims, which said the developer had violated disclosure requirements and a law governing interstate land sales.
Jim Abdo, owner of Abdo Development, could not be reached last week. He told The Examiner in a June 3 interview that what he really wanted was an apology from the couple, and that he typically refunds deposits from clients who don’t want to go forward with a purchase.
“What they should have done is just picked up the phone and called over and just talked, instead of getting into some very bizarre, creative intimidating position and filing some false accusations through a law firm,” he said.
