Farmington Square Condominium Association v. Keith Mitan, 366946

Defendant Keith Mitan, as personal representative and later owner of a condo unit, had repeated disputes with Farmington Square Condominium Association over unpaid assessments and leasing practices.
Previous litigation (2018 case) between the parties ended with a foreclosure judgment against Mitan for unpaid assessments; appellate review affirmed in most respects.
In the current 2020 case, the Association sued Mitan and unknown tenants for continued failure to provide tenant information, violating bylaws linked to rental disclosures and rent diversion rights.
Mitan counterclaimed against the Association and several board members, raising nine claims including denial of access to utilities and claiming improper recording of a lien.
Summary judgment was granted favoring the Association and individual counter-defendants on all key issues, including issuance of a permanent injunction and award of attorney fees.
Mitan appealed, challenging the injunction’s breadth, summary judgment rulings, fee award, and dismissals of his counterclaims.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Injunction specificity & reference	Injunction tied to specific leasing-by-law provisions	Overly broad/vague; improperly incorporates documents by reference	Injunction is sufficiently specific and any improper reference to documents is harmless error as defendant knew their terms.
Application of res judicata	Not barred; prior action not final at time of new claim	Prior (2018) claim ongoing, so new case is barred	Not barred; res judicata requires a final judgment in prior case, which wasn’t present when this case was filed.
Proper forum & statutory remedies	Action proper in circuit court as alternative equitable remedy allowed	Must proceed via district court summary proceedings for evictions	Circuit court jurisdiction proper; statute gives Association options between remedies, and equitable relief was available.
Attorney fee award (including paralegal, scope)	entitled to fees by bylaws & statute, including appellate fees	Includes paralegal work without proof of qualification; amount excessive	Fees award reversed only as to unqualified paralegal hours. Association may seek appellate fees. Other challenges rejected.
Dismissal of counterclaims	No actionable right/party or damages for claims re: access and liens	Denied damages from lost utility access and improper lien	Dismissal affirmed: No damages, not an owner at time of denial, and no bylaws breach regarding contractor’s independent lien.

Adair v. Michigan, 470 Mich 105 (scope of res judicata doctrine in Michigan)
Kosiel v. Arrow Liquors Corp., 446 Mich 374 (requirement of final judgment for res judicata)
Chapel v. Hull, 60 Mich 167 (damages for violation of injunction permissible)
Janini v. London Townhouses Condo Ass’n, 514 Mich 86 (nature of condominium common element rights)
Barclae v. Zarb, 300 Mich App 445 (standing/real party in interest principals)