Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 5, 1990                   TAG: 9005050108
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT                                LENGTH: Medium

LAKE LAND COMPANY SUED

Real-Vest Inc. was named Thursday in a complaint filed in Franklin County Circuit Court.

Real-Vest President Dwight Dean declined to comment Friday on the allegations in the lawsuit. Dean did say, however, that it was not unusual for a company that has sold more than 500 lots in the past four years to have a few disgruntled customers.

The complaint against Real-Vest was filed on behalf of Donna R. Pero, a Christiansburg woman who bought a lot in Canterbury-on-the-Lake for $22,000 last July.

The lawsuit alleges that Real-Vest salesmen knowingly made false representations, including assurances that Pero could buy a lot that day and "immediately resell the lot for a $10,000 profit."

The complaint also alleges that Real-Vest failed to provide promised amenities such as an improved road to a common waterfront area and space for individual boat slips.

Pero is asking the court to order Real-Vest to rescind the deal, return her money and pay her "punitive damages for fraud." The lawsuit was filed by Mary Ann Hinshelwood, a Christiansburg attorney.

Friday, Dean appeared in Franklin County General District Court to explain why he missed a March 16 court appearance on a $2,500 judgment against Real-Vest.

Dean told General District Judge William Alexander Jr. that he mistakenly had assumed the appearance would be handled by Bruce Welch, an attorney for Real-Vest. Welch, who represented Dean on Friday, accepted responsibility for the oversight.

Alexander dismissed a bench warrant for Dean's arrest after Real-Vest satisfied the $2,500 judgment owed to MT Corp., a construction company that had done grading work for Real-Vest at the Parkside Acres subdivision.