Head of Delaware's prison guard union tangled in homeowners association lawsuits

During the day, Geoffrey Klopp is the face of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, fighting for better work conditions in light of last year’s fatal uprising at a Delaware prison.

But at Klopp's Lewes-area home, he has waged a different battle with his neighbors.

A miniature war between Klopp and his homeowners’ association has been quietly boiling for years. Most recently, a civil lawsuit was filed against him and his wife for refusing to pay nearly $4,000 in assessments, a large chunk of which the association says is needed to create better conditions on the community’s roads.

Gary Thiele heads the homeowners’ association of the “premier upscale residential community,” where home prices can approach $1 million. He said the bad blood that has left the paving of a cul-de-sac road unfinished dates back nearly a decade.

“This is a big story. I’m glad somebody finally noticed it,” said Thiele, who lives across the street from Klopp. 

In February 2018, the Bookhammer Estates Homeowners’ Association filed a lawsuit against Klopp and his wife Lynette in Sussex County Superior Court, claiming they owed nearly $4,000 in assessments. 

“We can’t pave the remaining third of our roads because he doesn’t want to pay,” Thiele said.

Now, the HOA wants the judge to disallow the Klopps' attorney, Bruce Rogers, from representing them because he was the attorney who helped draft the rules that allow the organization to seek the kind of assessments that began the battle in the first place.

Rogers also is an attorney for the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware.

In the minutes from the board’s 2017 annual meeting, it is noted that “all special assessments have been collected except Klopp” and that the circle at the end of Williams Way, where the Klopps live, will be completed when they pay.

Klopp contends that remaining third is just the circle in front of their home, which is one of only 19 in the neighborhood. 

The Klopps do not deny in their court filings that they have not paid the special assessments on their Lewes home, which would fund necessary road repairs.

But instead of giving in and paying a few thousand dollars, the couple filed a counterclaim alleging the members of the association not only established those assessments illegally, but that they have harassed the Klopps for not ponying up.

“This harassment includes denying the Klopps the ability to use the common area roads for ingress and egress to their home, limiting the vehicles which were permitted to be at the Klopp home, contacting Geoffrey Klopp’s employer in an attempt to cause him difficulties at work, and similar harassment,” the counterclaim states.

Ultimately, the Klopps argue that the assessments – which also allowed the HOA to place a lien on their home late last year – were the result of “illegal meetings” that took place without notice, without proper vote and without authority, court documents state.

“It’s just really sad and I look forward to the day we get to court," Klopp said. "It’s a shame they raised the HOA dues from $300 to $950 without a property owner vote.”

The HOA, represented by Wilmington-based attorney William P. Brady, has denied all of those charges in their legal filings in Sussex County Superior Court. 

Thiele argues that Lynette Klopp, when she was the head of the HOA, also violated the association's rules by failing to hold elections and allowing the group's insurance to be canceled.

This is not the first squabble the Klopps have had with the homeowners association. In 2016, they reached a settlement with the group regarding Klopp’s landscaping business.

That settlement called for Klopp to pay $2,500 to the HOA among other restrictions.

The board had claimed that in 2017 Klopp was violating association rules “by having persons working for his business meeting and parking at his home and using his trailer within the community.”

The case is not expected to be resolved in a courtroom quickly. Both legal teams have until early next year to hash-out the request to remove Rogers from the case.

Contact reporter Maddy Lauria at (302) 345-0608, mlauria@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @MaddyinMilford.

Read the initial lawsuit:

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