Furniture company seeks judgment of more than $90,000.

A third lawsuit in as many weeks has been filed against the developer of the BayView project in the Village of Suttons Bay.

The latest lawsuit was filed in Circuit Court in Leelanau County on Monday, July 23, by VanDrie Furniture Company of Cadillac. The suit alleges that the developer not only failed to pay for more than $23,000 in furniture provided by VanDrie but also sold a “furnished” condo unit at BayView containing furniture that VanDrie had provided.

VanDrie is asking for a judgment of more than $69,000 against the BayView developer. VanDrie’s suit names Suttons Pointe Development L.L.C., Livingston Building Realty, L.L.C., and Livingston Building Company, L.L.C. as defendants. All three companies are headed by Marcus Yono of Brighton.

Two other lawsuits were filed against Suttons Pointe Development earlier this month. On July 5, a class action suit was filed by BayView condo owners against the developer for “misrepresentation” and “fraudulent concealment” related to the developer’s efforts to market condo units for “fractional ownership” or “timeshare” sales. The suit alleges that documents provided to early buyers of BayView units assured the buyers that other condo units would be sold only to “single families.”

Another lawsuit was filed July 16 by a couple demanding their “earnest money” back from the developer for alleged violations of the Condominium Act and the Michigan Consumer Protection Act.

Since last month, the developer has also been facing a lawsuit from another couple demanding their deposit back on a condo unit, also for alleged violations of the Michigan Condominium Act.

In addition, Molon Excavating of Traverse City is suing Yono’s companies and Yono personally for “fraud/misrepresentation” related to the developer’s alleged non-payment of a bill for work Molon says it completed.

All of those cases are pending in 13th Circuit Court in Leelanau County.

Meanwhile, in April, Yono and his companies filed suit against the Leelanau Enterprise and reporter

Eric Carlson in Circuit Court in Livingston County for alleged “defamation” of Yono and his companies in articles published in the Enterprise in February and March 2007. The articles detailed several earlier lawsuits against the developer in Leelanau County, a criminal investigation involving the development and a Suttons Bay subcontractor, unpaid taxes on the BayView property in Suttons Bay, and numerous construction liens against the property.

On July 3, a Circuit Court Judge in Livingston County ordered a change of venue to Leelanau County in Yono’s suit against the Enterprise and Carlson.

Last week, Yono’s attorneys appealed to the Livingston County Circuit Court judge to reconsider his decision to order a change of venue to Leelanau County. The developer’s attorneys argued that the case against the Leelanau Enterprise should be tried in Livingston County because the actual “damages” sustained by the developer as a result of the newspaper articles occurred in Livingston County where the developer does most of his business.

In addition, Yono’s attorneys argued, Leelanau Enterprise articles can be read on the Internet and the newspaper has “several” subscribers in Livingston County. Also, “none of the persons who have identified the articles in the (Enterprise) as the basis for canceling purchase agreements (on BayView condos) are Leelanau residents,” Yono’s attorneys argued.