A Dyer couple who has been battling with the city of Dyer for over a decade over water and sewer issues has filed a lawsuit in the Western District United States District Court seeking $500,000 in punitive damages, other legal fees and other actual damages while claiming fraud, retaliation and various other charges against the municipality.
According to court papers filed on July 25, Lee and Patricia Hackler, described as real estate landlords in the filing, are seeking relief on a number of issues stemming back as far as 2003 over being wrongly billed for sewer services and being promised meters and sewer connections to property that has never been done.
You can read the entire lawsuit HERE.
The suit, which names the City of Dyer and Lonnie and Veronica Robbins individually and in their capacity as official agents of the City of Dyer also claims a “misrepresentation by the City of Dyer to obtain federal block grant money, a misapplication or misuse or both” as well as a civil rights violation.
The suit also claims that the Robbins, who are the Public Works Director and Administrative Assistant for the City of Dyer who handles billing or the water department respectively, have retaliated against the Hackler’s after being evicted from a property the couple owned back in the mid-90s.
The suit demands “reimbursement for sewer service charged but not provided, actual and punitive damages by reason of misrepresentation or fraud to a federal agency, actual and punitive damages for fraud, actual and punitive damages for the actions of Lonnie and Victoria Robbins, violation of equal protection class of one selective regulation claim, conspiracy to deprive civil rights regarding property for malicious demand of payment, violation of civil rights under equal protection to lease out their properties, contempt of court and a procedural due process claim.”