Florida Attorney Who Battled His HOA Is Jailed Over Refusing To Name Disgruntled Neighbors

A 77-year-old attorney from Florida, who represented three neighbors in a failed lawsuit against their homeowners association, has spent nearly two months in jail after refusing to reveal the identities of two clients who filed suit anonymously.

Bruce Burtoff was taken into custody on March 4 and held at the Orange County jail on a contempt of court order, according to court records.

The court order specifies that he may be released at any time if he provides the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the anonymous plaintiffs, who withheld their names from the suit for fear of retaliation from their neighbors, according to WKMG-TV.

Burtoff is urging an appeals court to overturn the civil contempt ruling, arguing that revealing the plaintiffs’ identities would breach a Florida Bar rule protecting confidential attorney-client information.

However, the HOA argues that attorney-client privilege does not bar Burtoff from disclosing identifying details about the plaintiffs known as Jane Doe and Joe Doe.

Lawsuit alleged HOA misconduct, but dismissed as 'incoherent'

Lynn Sandford and the two anonymous plaintiffs filed suit against the North Shore at Lake Hart Homeowners Association in 2020, alleging mismanagement within the 1,049-home community in southeast Orange County.

Eight current and former members of the HOA board, along with its officers, were also listed as defendants.

According to the complaint, plaintiffs Jane Doe and Joe Doe requested anonymity "for fear of reprisal, retribution and retaliation against them by the Defendants."

Sandford and the Does were initially represented by Burtoff—who also resides in the North Shore at Lake Hart community.

From 2020 to 2023, the lawsuit was amended multiple times but repeatedly dismissed for failing to clearly allege specific misconduct or tie actions to individual board members. After several unsuccessful attempts to reframe the claims, a judge dismissed the case with prejudice, calling the complaint “incoherent” and lacking clear factual allegations.

Burtoff withdraws but refuses to name clients

In 2023, Burtoff filed notices in court withdrawing as counsel for the two anonymous plaintiffs.

He cited “irreconcilable differences,” but said he would continue to receive legal correspondence on their behalf and forward it to them to preserve their confidentiality.

After stepping back from formal representation, Burtoff declined the HOA's demand to disclose their identities.

He argued that doing so would violate attorney-client privilege and Florida Bar rules protecting confidential client information.

The HOA then shifted its focus to recovering litigation costs—eventually claiming it had spent over $116,000 and later more than $300,000 in attorneys’ fees and expenses defending the lawsuit.

It filed motions seeking to hold all three plaintiffs, including the anonymous Jane Doe and Joe Doe, financially responsible for those costs, arguing it needed their names and contact information in order to assess liability and pursue collection efforts, particularly now that the original case had concluded.

A circuit judge ordered Jane Doe and Joe Doe to personally appear in court with valid identification on a set date in January 2026, but they failed to show.

Court orders disclosure, Burtoff refuses

Following the Does' nonappearance in court, the judge then issued a further order directing Burtoff to provide the plaintiffs’ full identifying information—including names, addresses, and phone numbers—by a specific deadline in February 2026.

Burtoff did not comply, maintaining that he could not reveal the information due to attorney-client privilege and professional confidentiality obligations, which led the HOA to seek contempt sanctions against him.

After Burtoff missed a scheduled contempt hearing, a circuit judge found him—and the two anonymous plaintiffs—in civil contempt for failing to comply with court orders requiring the disclosure of the plaintiffs’ identities and their appearance in court.

The judge authorized coercive sanctions aimed at compelling compliance, including ordering Burtoff’s arrest and confinement, along with a $500-per-day fine accruing until he turned over the names, addresses, and phone numbers of Jane Doe and Joe Doe.

Burtoff was jailed for contempt of court on March 4 and has remained at the Orange County jail ever since.

“I’m very disappointed and near tears,” Sandford told News 6. “His incarceration is one of the most unfair, no-justice situations I’ve ever witnessed. The priority is to get Mr. Burtoff out of jail. There’s no justice here.”

Appeal and competing arguments

Burtoff is now asking the appeals court to overturn the contempt order and order his release from jail.

“Immediate intervention is required to restore his liberty,” Burtoff’s attorney, Richard Parker, wrote in an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus. “Petitioner’s only recourse is to request relief from this Court.”

The HOA, however, described Burtoff’s account as “false and misleading.”

“The petition attempts to portray Burtoff as an innocent lawyer,” the HOA's attorney, Todd M. Hoepker, wrote in response. “Nothing could be further from the truth. Burtoff blatantly disobeyed every warning, directive and order requiring disclosure of the true identities of Jane Doe and Joe Doe.”

The local CBS affliate's coverage of the story divided viewers, with one person commenting, "Drug dealers, murderers walk around our streets and they lock up this man. Insane."

But another person wrote, "The accused have a right to face their accusers. There is no right to anonymity. The judge's ruling reflects that fact."

The appeals court has not yet set a timeline for ruling on Burtoff’s petition.

Burtoff's attorney and the HOA's attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.