From his 25th-floor beachfront condo, the 81-year-old had breathtaking views. The sunrise over the Atlantic. Stingrays and sharks swimming in the ocean below. Cruise liners sailing into the Port of Palm Beach.

He swam in the ocean every day, walked along the beach and on the condo's top floor was a clubhouse with panoramic vistas where he could enjoy drinks from the bar.

Hammered by hurricanes Frances and Jeanne last year, the 320-unit Tiara condominium on Singer Island has been in a constant state of repair. Windows shattered. Suites flooded. Some were gutted by the powerful winds.

The Tiara's residents have become refugees of sorts. And to restore the lifestyle they once enjoyed, their owners could be assessed up to $250,000 each to cover the estimated $120 million reconstruction.

That's the argument the Tiara Condominium Association makes in a lawsuit filed in August against Citizens Insurance Co., the state's insurer of last resort.

Furthermore, the suit charges Citizens with fraud, saying the company initially indicated it would pay two claims before it abruptly changed its mind this summer.

With the total cost of repairs at $120 million, Citizens' position leaves the Tiara with about a $70 million shortfall, said Edward Kisco, president of Tiara's board of governors.

The worst-case scenario is that owners of one-bedroom units would be assessed roughly $170,000 and the owners of two-bedroom units would have to pay about $250,000.

It was the board, he noted, that decided to embark on a lengthy balcony-restoration process they knew would extend through hurricane season. Because of the restoration, residents were unable to put up shutters before the storms.

He also is dismayed that Domingo Castro, the president of Southern Construction, has purchased some Tiara condominiums, saying it represents a clear conflict of interest. Property records show Castro has purchased three, including Leicht's.

The insurance company directed faulty repair methods in the beginning, he said. For example, rather than replacing the drenched drywall, Citizens wanted it dried. The rental equipment associated with the drying cost between $25 million and $30 million.

Carl Presto, a real estate agent with a condo on Tiara's 37th floor, said it will be like getting a new building. A two-bedroom unit worth $600,000 before the hurricanes will be worth $1 million, he said.

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