A receiver for ZM Corp. laid off all but the maintenance supervisor Thursday in an effort to collect a $6.6 million judgment against the Le Parc Homeowners Association.

Cutting four gardeners and street sweepers leaves 264 families with no one to tend their luxurious landscaping. Each homeowner pays roughly $150 a month in dues for such services.

The contractor's receiver also canned the guards at the drive-through security gate.

"They told me last week to drain the pools and lock 'er down," said a Le Parc worker, who asked that his name not be used. He said officials for the receiver changed their minds only when told that draining the pools would cause them "to pop right out of the ground."

Jeffrey Becker, the receiver for ZM, said the action came at the request of the contractor, which did business as QwikResponse for Le Parc in 1994.

"The bottom line is, those services are not going to be paid out of the dues being collected because those fees are being used to pay back the judgment," Becker said. "There is some question as to whether the pools will continue to be open and maintained."

The Le Parc condominiums consist of 25 acres at Chandler Avenue and Tivoli Street east of First Street.

Last summer, a construction law arbitrator ordered the Homeowners Association to pay $6.63 million to ZM, which accused the association of besmirching the company's reputation and holding up an earthquake repair project.

At the time, the arbitrator was reported as saying Le Parc agents "went far beyond being Machiavellian -- it was Mephistophelian."

Various appeals have been filed, backed by city officials, who are worried that without a maintenance program, standards at the condominiums will go to seed.

"The place can turn into a ghetto in a matter of months," said Mayor Bill Davis.

The squeeze on Le Parc homeowners, now forced to do their own gardening, had already begun following the appointment of Becker early this year.

More than $100,000 of homeowners association money was seized. Water for landscaping was reduced. Colorful koi once decorating a community fountain were fished out for cash.

Of the $43,000 in monthly homeowner dues, about $7,000 had gone for groundskeepers and $7,000 went for association reserves, Becker said. An unknown portion will soon be skimmed off for the contractor.

Without its gardeners, Le Parc stands for ruin, Le Parc resident James Lee said.

"If they let everything go for two weeks, it'll take three months to bring it back," he said. "It'll fall apart. I'm paying my dues for nothing."