School board candidate Teuber embroiled in legal woes

School board candidate Steve Teuber is no stranger to the courthouse — both as an attorney and as a defendant.

Teuber makes much of his living by defending clients in foreclosure and debt suits. But in the last four years — Teuber has been targeted by seven civil lawsuits in Lee County. Three involve foreclosures of two properties, and one concerns almost $50,000 that he hasn't paid to his former law partner.

The News-Press analyzed Lee County criminal and civil court records and found the school board candidates' legal pasts are a mixed bag. Marilyn Stout, Mary Fischer, Carla Ronco, Pam LaRiviere and Richard Dunmire have clean records. Don Armstrong readily discusses his well-publicized foreclosure, bad checks, battery charge, marijuana possession and domestic violence charges.

At one point of the real-estate meltdown of the mid-2000s, Lee County was the foreclosure capital in the country. Like many in the area, Arvella Clare has faced foreclosure. In September 2010, Bank of America filed a foreclosure against Clare and her husband, Darryl. The suit was settled in 2011. In 2013, Nationstar Mortgage filed a second foreclosure against the Clares that continues to be fought in court today.

But Teuber's record stood out due to the frequency of legal action in the past four years.

When asked how these lawsuits reflect Teuber's ability to handle the school district's $1.28 billion budget if elected, he declined comment.

His current legal woes involve his former law partner, Daniel Sasso, who sued Teuber in 2012 for almost $50,000 — money Teuber borrowed from Sasso in 2007 to buy a Mercedes.

In October 2010, Sasso and Teuber dissolved their joint law firm, according to LinkedIn. Sasso started his own law firm, and Teuber teamed up with his current partner, attorney Amy Neaher.

The loan paperwork stipulated that Teuber pay Sasso $400 each month and the entire remaining sum after two years. But Teuber did not finish payments by 2009 and stopped making payments altogether in 2011, Sasso claimed in court.

Teuber told the courts that he was "led to believe" the law firm would foot the bill for the Mercedes. The loan paperwork is only under Teuber's name.

The court ruled its final judgment in Sasso's favor in October 2013, leaving Teuber with the order to settle his debts. Sasso declined to comment, citing fear of legal retaliation.

The legal battle is not over, however. As of April, Teuber owed Sasso $48,202.09 for the Mercedes, accruing interest and attorney fees — but he has made no efforts to settle the debt, court documents note.

"He still disputes owing any money," said Darrin Schutt, Sasso's attorney.

At one point, the court went so far as to garnish money from Steven Leftwich, a North Fort Myers man who made monthly condo mortgage payments to Teuber.

Schutt said they probably cannot garnish Teuber's personal income because he is the head of the household and has children.

"Florida is a debtor's paradise, and there's a lot of exemptions when collecting for a judgment," Schutt said.

Past problems

The past four years have been equally rife with litigation, court records show.

In October 2010, American Express sued Teuber for a breach of a credit card agreement and an amount more than $15,000. It was voluntarily dismissed the next year, but the reason was not cited.

In May 2011, Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union sued Teuber for $18,914 in unpaid credit card charges. The case was later dropped because the credit union accidentally attached the wrong person's balance statement, which reflected a different amount of debt.

In October 2011 Teuber filed a mortgage foreclosure against Leftwich because he wasn't receiving payments on the condo. Teuber settled with Leftwich. A month later, U.S. Bank National Association filed another foreclosure on the condo, and it was later sold at an auction.

In November 2011, Bank of America filed a foreclosure against Teuber's main residence. The case was dismissed. In April 2012, Third Federal Savings also foreclosed on his home, claiming $63,558 in outstanding debts. That, too, was settled.