$1.6 million awarded in Scottsdale land use suit

battle over responsibility for a failed commercial development in north Scottsdale involving allegations of fraud, bad faith and breach of contract was resolved last week when a jury ordered defendant First American Title Insurance Co. to pay the plaintiff companies, the Equitable Troon H LLC and the Equitable Troon K LLC, about $1.6 million in damages. The case was tried in Maricopa County Superior Court last week before a nine-member jury, said Dennis Wilenchik, a Phoenix attorney who represented the plaintiffs. The legal conflict began with the 2005 purchase of two properties adjacent to the upscale Troon North community in north Scottsdale by an investment group known as Morgan-Sklugan LLC. Investors in the project included John Vatistas, then-owner of Camelback Title Agency in Phoenix, who now is co-owner of Russ Lyon Sotheby's International Realty in Scottsdale. Timothy Barton, First American Title's Phoenix attorney in the dispute, did not return calls seeking comment Wednesday afternoon.

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