OLDSMAR, Fla. — The ABC Action News I-Team has learned the name of a small neighborhood association in Pinellas County is at the center of a very expensive legal battle.
Homeowners in the Stonebriar subdivision are racking up thousands in legal fees.
Their HOA is fighting one neighbor who applied to trademark the association’s name.
“This is something else. And when we all got the letter that showed why this assessment was necessary, people really reacted,” said resident Dorothy King.
Legal battle divides neighborhood
“It's a good family neighborhood. It used to be very peaceful. No drama,” said resident Ken Christensen.
The Stonebriar subdivision in northern Pinellas County consists of 59 single-family homes, with mature trees and well-landscaped yards.
For 33 years, Stonebriar Improvement District, Inc., the neighborhood’s HOA, has overseen things like road paving, maintained common areas and enforced the non-profit HOA’s covenants and bylaws.
“I can’t really say we’ve had any problem, up until the last couple of years,” Dorothy King said.
Recently, residents have faced six-figure assessments from the HOA to cover past and future legal bills.
Lawsuit over “plastic, snap-together shed” filed by HOA
The cases involve homeowner John Siamas, who ran for Florida State Senate in 2024 but was defeated in the primary.
He posted an ad on YouTube seeking support for his candidacy.
Siamas’ first run-in with the HOA started in 2020 when he put a small plastic shed in his backyard.
“He put up a shed. And the covenants indicated no sheds. And the board nicely asked him to remove it. He said no. One thing after another, now we’ve got a lawsuit on our hands,” said neighbor John Papa.
The HOA board sued Siamas, alleging his shed was considered an outbuilding and violated covenants.
Siamas responded in court documents that he sought permission for the shed from the HOA management company before erecting the shed, but never heard back. In an email, Siamas claimed it was a “plastic snap together shed” which he planned to block from sight with plants.
Last August, residents received a $35,000 assessment... $595 per household... to cover the HOA’s legal fees for the case.
Christensen blames the HOA president for the unexpected expense.
“It's insane to ask people to pay that for her,” Christensen said, adding that residents were not consulted before the board voted.
But that was just the beginning.
Just last month, the five-member HOA board approved an $82,000 assessment... almost $1,400 per household...for more legal fees.
“Right now I have the means to pay it, but there are people in the neighborhood who probably don’t,” Papa said.
“We have lives besides our mortgage payments. I personally have a son in hockey. There are people with kids in college,” Christensen said.
Attorney to charge HOA $425 an hour
According to a notice to homeowners, the money will pay a trademark attorney $425 an hour to oppose an application John Siamas filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the term “Stonebriar Improvement Association, Inc."
“I think it’s foolish. Why would he do it?” Papa said.
The HOA board filed a dispute over Siamas’ trademark claim and tried to trademark the name “Stonebriar” itself.
The US Patent and Trademark Office provided a dispute resolution calendar showing the process is expected to run through November 2026.
The HOA board sent residents a proposed “litigation budget” he prepared, anticipating spending 141 hours on the case.
“That’s who’s making money ...is the lawyers. For sure,” said former Stonebriar HOA President Stephen King.
King says the Stonebriar Improvement Association has served the neighborhood for 33 years without a trademark, and he doesn’t know why they need it now.
“I think a trademark is only really for commercial. And if that’s the case, then we’re not selling anything here,” King said. Most neighbors we talked to agree. “I think it’s nonsense,” Christensen said.
After the HOA challenged the trademark, John Siamas filed state and federal complaints against the HOA and its president, Gayle Zelcs.
In the federal lawsuit, Siamas alleges Zelcs’ actions “were retaliatory in nature, designed to maximize legal expenses, with the ultimate goal of causing financial ruin and to force him to sell his home and leave ‘her neighborhood’”.
We called, emailed, and went to see Siamas at his home. He came to the door but declined to comment.
HOA president Gayle Zelcs, who we talked to on the phone, also declined to comment.
“You are just wasting your money”
Siamas wrote a letter to Stonebriar residents, saying, “I really hate to break this to everyone, but no one really cares about the name and no one is trying to ‘steal it’ and the truth is you are just wasting your money that you will never see again on some personal vendetta”.
In the letter, Siamas offers to drop his cases if residents vote out the current HOA board.
“I can not only stop all the nonsense but also get all our money back at no cost to you, but you will have to make a decision, support the current board, or rally together and support the change. I can transform this place in less than a month, reduce our fees, streamline the operations, and get us back to normalcy, just like I have done in other associations. The choice is yours.”
Residents are growing weary of the ongoing legal battles.
“It’s divided everybody up, obviously. Before, everybody got along,” Stephen King said.
“We just basically want to get back to normal,” Papa said.
“It's hard to live here now,” said Christensen.
The homeowner’s association is having its annual election for new officers later this week.
We’ll let you know what happens.
If you have a story you think the I-Team should investigate, email us at adam@abcactionnews.com
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