KW Property Management Lawsuit: Condo, Whistleblower, and Wage Cases

KW Property Management & Consulting, one of Florida’s largest community-association managers, has been named in several lawsuits over the past 15 years. The KW Property Management lawsuit history includes a condominium association’s fraud and fiduciary-duty claims, a competitor’s trade-secret case, a former employee’s whistleblower suit over hidden recordings, resident claims tied to an employee burglary, and various wage and discrimination filings. Most of the cases with documented outcomes ended in dismissal or settlement without KWPMC paying money, according to the company and available court records; others have no publicly reported final resolution.

Hollywood Beach Resort: Fiduciary Duty and Contract Claims

The most widely reported case was filed on December 23, 2017, in Miami-Dade Circuit Court by the Hollywood Beach Resort Condominium Association and the Hollywood Beach Hotels Owners Association. The associations accused KWPMC of breaching its fiduciary duty and management contract during a period beginning in March 2011.¹

The complaint alleged that KWPMC helped former board members divert association funds to prop up their failing outside businesses, issuing checks from reserve accounts and manipulating balance sheets to conceal the spending.¹ The associations also said KWPMC took part in closed-door meetings where board members signed leases for off-site properties, including a bar and pool, without the unit-owner vote Florida law requires.²

KWPMC denied the claims. Attorney Frank Simone said the allegations had “no valid basis” and that he didn’t “see any of it as being true.” The two sides also disagreed on how the relationship ended: KWPMC said it sent a resignation letter on October 21, 2016, effective January 31, 2017, while the associations said the firm had been fired, rehired, and then quit.¹

The case was settled and dismissed by September 2018. Simone said KWPMC paid nothing in the settlement and agreed to drop the sanctions it had sought against the associations and their attorney.³

Continental Group Trade-Secret Case

In 2009, competitor The Continental Group, Inc. (TCG) sued KW Property Management, LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, along with affiliates KW Holding One, LLC and The Grand Preserve at Naples LLC, and former TCG employee Marcy Kravit.⁴ TCG alleged Kravit copied proprietary files, including business plans, contract templates, and employee resumes, onto personal devices and KW servers before and during her move. The suit brought claims under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, breach of a non-compete and non-solicitation agreement, tortious interference, and misappropriation of trade secrets.⁵

Judge James I. Cohn granted a partial preliminary injunction for TCG. The court found Kravit was bound by an enforceable restrictive covenant, that KW knew about it, and that she had copied substantial proprietary data. But the court rejected the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act claim, ruling that the statute requires damage to a computer system or interruption of service and that TCG’s files had been copied, not destroyed. It also found no credible evidence connecting the two affiliated KW entities to the alleged misconduct.⁴

Later orders required TCG to post a $1 million injunction bond and directed KW to hire a forensic expert, at its own expense, to remove TCG’s data from its systems.⁶ Available court records do not document a final judgment or settlement.

Whistleblower Case Over Hidden Recordings

In 2020, former KWPMC concierge Christian Miranda sued Palm Bay Towers Condominium Association and KW Property Management LLC in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, alleging he was fired for reporting hidden recordings at the building.⁷

Miranda alleged that KWPMC, with the board’s consent, installed audio and video recorders disguised as USB charging plugs throughout the complex. Florida is a two-party consent state, meaning all parties to a conversation must agree to be recorded. He said he reported the devices to his supervisor on two consecutive days and was terminated in February 2020 shortly afterward. His complaint raised claims under Florida’s Whistleblower Act and Security of Communications Act, plus intentional infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy, and sought reinstatement, back wages, emotional-distress damages, and attorney fees.⁷

KWPMC denied the allegations. Simone said Miranda “was terminated for cause for violating clear company directives” and that the company “vehemently denied” both the recording claims and the retaliation claim.⁸ The Palm Bay association did not comment. No final resolution appears in available records.

Venetian Islands Burglary Demands

At 3 Island Avenue on the Venetian Islands in Miami Beach, a KWPMC front-desk attendant named Jennifer Russell was accused in 2017 of burglarizing residential units and stealing luxury goods and electronics. Resident Nazila Aboughaddareh claimed at least $23,000 in losses, and Ofir Farahan reported $2,500 in stolen property. Aboughaddareh’s attorney sent KWPMC a $65,000 demand letter, arguing the company had failed to run adequate background checks.⁹

KWPMC fired Russell and contested liability. Simone argued the company was not responsible for an employee’s criminal acts committed “outside the course of their employment” and not “in furtherance of the employer’s interest.” Broward County records showed Russell had been arrested on July 26, 2017, on charges of dealing in stolen property and making false statements to a pawnbroker, with a prior retail-theft arrest in January 2017.⁹ No final court outcome is documented in available reporting.

Wage and Discrimination Filings

In January 2025, former employee Anyeline Labrada filed a Fair Labor Standards Act case against KWPMC and an individual defendant, Liusmila Silva, in the Southern District of Florida. Labrada voluntarily dismissed her own claims in April 2025, but the case stayed open on the defendants’ counterclaim. Judge David S. Leibowitz dismissed that counterclaim without prejudice in September 2025, and the case closed.¹⁰

KWPMC has also appeared before the Florida Commission on Human Relations. Two matters reached the agency’s deliberation hearing docket: one filed by Julio Garcia directly against KWPMC, heard in August 2025, and another filed by Amy Modglin against The Place Master Association, KWPMC, and several individuals, heard in December 2025.¹¹ The specific allegations and outcomes are not detailed in available records.

BBB Consumer Complaints

Outside formal litigation, KWPMC has drawn consumer complaints through the Better Business Bureau. As of mid-2026, the BBB shows 12 complaints filed between June 2024 and June 2026, with nine marked answered and three resolved.¹² Recurring themes include:

Unresponsive management, with residents describing months of unanswered emails and calls.
Maintenance and safety complaints, including non-functional elevators, leaking life-safety equipment, and poorly maintained common areas.
Billing disputes over late fees, delayed security-deposit returns, and charges for work residents believed should fall under common-element maintenance.
Allegations that management entered private units under “false emergency pretexts.”

KWPMC’s BBB responses generally point to each association’s governing documents and engineering reports as defining repair responsibilities, and redirect the complainant to the board of directors as the decision-making authority. One complaint concerned The Hamptons, where the association had sued its roofing contractor over defective installation across all 31 carriage-home buildings; the complainant said the undisclosed litigation blocked mortgage approvals for owners trying to sell. KWPMC replied that the lawsuit had been “finalized,” the roof deficiencies repaired, and the matter discussed at board meetings. The complainant disputed that communication had been adequate.¹²

How Florida Law Shapes These Disputes

Florida’s Condominium Act (Chapter 718) places non-delegable duties on associations to maintain common areas and provide access to official records, and it requires management contracts to be in writing under Florida Statute § 718.3025. Board members owe fiduciary duties to unit owners, and Florida courts have held that an association remains directly liable for common-area maintenance failures even after hiring a manager.⁴ A management company can still be held directly liable for its own negligence, contractual breaches, or fraud. In practice, though, many disputes land on the association board, which retains ultimate authority over spending and governance.

For HOAs under Chapter 720, associations must maintain written dispute-resolution procedures and follow strict timelines, including acknowledging complaints within 10 days and issuing a resolution within 45 days, before a homeowner can go to court. Residents pursuing a grievance against a manager like KWPMC often have to work through those internal processes before litigation becomes an option.

1
Yahoo Finance. Hollywood Beach Resort Associations Sue KW Property Management
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The Real Deal. Hollywood Beach Resort Residents Sue KW Property Management
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Daily Business Review. Hollywood Beach Resort Associations Settle With Ex-Property Manager
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GovInfo. Continental Group v. KW Property Management, Case No. 09-60202-CV
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vLex. Continental Group Inc. v. KW Property Management
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GovInfo. Continental Group v. KW Property Management, Subsequent Orders
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CCFJ. Condo Laws: Secret Recordings
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CCFJ. Top Condo Lawsuits 2020
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The Real Deal. Residents at Venetian Islands Co-Op Want Management Company to Pay
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PACER Monitor. Labrada v. KW Property Management and Consulting LLC
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Florida Commission on Human Relations. FCHR Deliberation Hearing Events
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BBB. KW Property Management LLC BBB Complaints