CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Charlottetown Manor, the former east Charlotte hotel that serves as a home for veterans and people with disabilities, has become the site of a new legal battle involving allegations of forgery, fraud and "disastrous" mismanagement.
One of the Manor's longtime co-owners, Mary Rudolph, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a team of Charlotte-area businessmen used forged documents and deception to wrest control of the facility.
The main defendants - Bruce Bleiman and Frank McCollum - deny that allegation and contend that, under Rudolph's watch, the Manor put residents in danger. They've pointed to government documents stating that the facility's staff falsified documents and failed to report the on-site death of a resident.
Bleiman, a Charlotte developer, says in court documents he has since spent much of his family's own money to stabilize the facility. Rudolph, 79, said that while health problems sometimes kept her away from the Manor, she worked to ensure residents got excellent care.
In a ruling that he said was likely to make "everyone mad at me," U.S. District Judge Frank Whitney on Friday turned down Rudolph's request to force Bleiman from the property - but required that
Bleiman and his company begin paying $8,000 in rent each month. That money will go into an escrow account that will be distributed to the group that ultimately winds up owning the property.
Rudolph says Bleiman's company has occupied the facility for months without paying rent. And she contends that the defendants forged "power of attorney" documents to gain control of the facility's bank accounts - a claim they dispute.
The judge said evidence presented in the two-day hearing suggests "there is a real issue of forged signatures out there," but said it's unclear who's responsible. He said he'll schedule the case for trial in July.
The resolution of the suit likely will determine who winds up owning and running the Manor. Now called Beacon Independent Living, the 44-year-old complex on Independence Boulevard relies heavily on government money to provide temporary housing to about 60 people, most of them homeless veterans and people with disabilities.
'Catastrophic condition'
In early 2011, while Rudolph recovered from heart surgery, Bleiman and McCollum began managing the Manor as they worked on plans to buy it.
Rudolph, the Manor's founder, alleges that the defendants began using forged documents around that time in order to conduct business without her approval.
She also contends that they caused the company to default on a bank loan and then subjected it to foreclosure in order to win control of the business.
The defendants deny Rudolph's accusations.
"I am saddened by Ms. Rudolph's regrettable attempt to damage so many innocent people, including the veterans and other disadvantaged residents that we have faithfully been serving here at the Beacon," Bleiman said. He said he and his team have "done everything appropriate and have held ourselves to an extremely high standard."
In a court document, the defendants allege that when Rudolph ran the Manor, "it functioned in catastrophic condition, dangerous to residents, insolvent and at risk of imminent closure."
They've cited government records stating that, under Rudolph's leadership, staff falsified urine drug screen results and fire drill records. The records also say that the Manor failed to tell the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs about the death of a resident who suffered a heart attack after being assaulted.
The defendants contend that the Manor was two months delinquent on its loan payments before they assumed management. Rudolph says the bank never informed her she was in default before Bleiman and McCollum took over.
Since then, Bleiman and his team say they've hired new staff and have done much to improve the facility. With the help of volunteers, they have remodeled rooms and renovated the kitchen, dining hall and lobby.
Troubled past
McCollum, an investor from Tega Cay, S.C., ended his involvement with the project last summer.
"He views this litigation as Mrs. Rudolph's baseless effort to improperly blame him for a host of failures at Charlottetown Manor, which all predated Mr. McCollum's brief involvement," McCollum's attorney, Will Terpening, wrote in an email to the Observer.
Rudolph, who has run independent living facilities for nearly 30 years, acknowledged there were times when her employees made "disappointing decisions that I did not authorize or condone."
But she disputed that she mismanaged the Manor. In court documents, she points to VA surveys showing that the overwhelming majority of vets were satisfied with their services.
"At all times I was actively involved in the facility, the veterans were treated with the care, dignity and respect they deserve," she said.
The court fight is the latest in a series of challenges facing the 181-room facility.
In recent years, the Manor has been rocked by embezzlement - and by a separate legal battle between Rudolph and the facility's co-owner.
Many of the facility's problems came to light in 2010, after a now-disbanded mental health contractor named Mecklenburg Open Door failed to pay the Manor more than $200,000 in past-due rent for clients housed there.
Soon afterward, regulators found the complex had failed to meet various safety and health requirements.
Now, Bleiman says, "the Beacon is in good standing with all government agencies - and will continue to be. We've made tremendous headway that anyone can see."
