Hildale couple files countersuit to stop eviction
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No Comments [ Add Comment ]By JENNIFER DOBNER
The Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY -- Attorneys for a Hildale couple filed a counterclaim to a lawsuit Wednesday in hopes of preventing a court-appointed accountant from evicting them from their home.
Guy and Ilene Steed are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and their property is held by the polygamous church's United Effort Plan Trust, which was seized by the Utah courts in 2005.
Court-appointed accountant Bruce Wisan manages the trust and last month sued to evict the Steeds for not signing an occupancy agreement and agreeing to pay a monthly $100 assessment fee.
"We definitely see the filing of this action as an attempt by Mr. Wisan to bully the families in this community," the Steeds' attorney Peter Stirba said in a statement.
Court papers filed in 5th District Court in St. George on Wednesday seek a jury trial to resolve the matter and ask that the Steeds, who have lived there since 2000, be allowed to stay on the property for the rest of their lives. In the alternative, the Steeds want to be paid for the property at its market value.
A telephone message seeking comment from Wisan's attorney, Jeff Shields, was not immediately returned.
The Steeds' property was among 57 in the twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., posted with notices in June that threatened the eviction of residents if they failed to cooperate with Wisan.
Residents sought a temporary restraining order against Wisan in 3rd District Court in Salt Lake City, but were rejected by a judge who said eviction matters should be addressed in the 5th District, which has jurisdiction over Hildale.
The UEP Trust was established in 1942 as the charitable arm of the FLDS church, believing that communal living was an integral part of their religious beliefs. Members donated their properties in Utah, Arizona and British Columbia to the trust. Church leaders have served as trustees, doling out undeveloped parcels or homes to FLDS families.
In 2005, amid mounting legal problems for FLDS church leader Warren Jeffs, the Utah attorney general's office asked the court to seize trust assets. Attorneys said church leaders had fleeced the trust for personal use, including keeping Jeffs on the run from criminal charges.
A judge gave Wisan control of the trust and since then the trust has been reorganized with an eye toward allowing its beneficiaries to obtain deeds to their homes.
Until recently, the FLDS have mostly ignored Wisan, who previously threatened evictions only when tax notices went unpaid. The FLDS paid their taxes, but gave little additional cooperation, believing Wisan is part of a government campaign to persecute the sect for its religious practices, including polygamy.
Jeffs was arrested in 2006. In 2007, was convicted by a Utah jury on two counts of rape as an accomplice for his role in the 2001 marriage of an underage girl. He's now in an Arizona jail awaiting two trials on similar charges and has been indicted by a Texas grand jury on sexual assault charges.
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