Ventura County Superior Court Judge John J. Hunter ruled that 264 Le Parc condo owners can be assessed $2,000 a year -- on top of their current homeowner dues -- to pay down an escalating $7.2 million judgment awarded a Santa Barbara contractor.

Residents, while not expecting Hunter to eliminate the debt of their former homeowners association, had asked that a court-appointed receiver be barred from taking funds from a new association formed to collect money for general maintenance.

The ruling Friday forces homeowners to pay combined assessments of more than $300 a month -- and not be guaranteed services such as water, gardening, trash pickup, electricity, swimming pools, sewer service and liability insurance.

Residents, who face assessments up to $40,000 each, could lose their homes through liens and foreclosures if they refuse payment, attorneys say.

"I'm 82 years old, I get $377 (a month) Social Security," said Le Parc resident Zella Bullock, who owns a second condo for rental income. "There's no way I could ever (pay) it. I don't know what I will do."

Bullock was among three dozen homeowners who held signs such as "We have a right to utilities" and "I don't want to lose my home" outside the Hall of Justice on Friday morning. A prayer vigil was held the night before.

"This is called scratch and claw mode," said Ferenc Gutai, acting president of the recently formed Le Parc Community Association, after the ruling. "We're now at the bottom of the septic tank; we can only go up."

The basis for Hunter's ruling is a 1998 judgment awarded by an arbitrator in favor of Darren Zuzow, president of ZM Corp., for breach of contract and defamation by the Le Parc Homeowners Association related to repairs done after the 1994 earthquake.

"He's right, the judge is right," said attorney Glenn Campbell. "What happened was the association took all the money due our client. They've taken every device to delay and forestall the result, so here we are."

Zuzow, tired of waiting for his money during the association's failed bid for bankruptcy, worked to collect his debt through a receiver, who earlier this year severely curtailed water and landscaping services at the 25-acre complex at Chandler Avenue and Tivoli Street, diverting the money to Zuzow.

Residents, tired of paying association dues while watching their premises fall into ruin because of the conduct of several association board members, fired their association last month and formed another to collect money for general upkeep.

Hunter, while not ruling on a motion to ban the new association, called it "fraudulent on its face" in attempting to escape the debt of the former association. A hearing will be held Thursday to rule on its validity

"Because those people won't assess themselves," he said of Le Parc homeowners, "the court clearly has the power to do so."

Hunter maintained he had no power to affect the decision of his court-appointed receiver to scoop every dime used for general upkeep and give it to the contractor.

"This is not an equitable receiver that's in there," he said. "This is a judgment receiver. You folks are simply going to have to live with the receiver's decision.

"You've got a tyrant."

Attorneys representing Le Parc residents and both homeowners associations said Friday's ruling was based on corporate, not real estate, law, and threatens condominium owners nationwide.

"It's a real sad day for the owners," said James Lingl, counsel for the Le Parc Homeowners Association. "If what the court has done today is permitted to stand, then every homeowner in every common-interest development in America has become responsible for unlimited liability to the debts of the (homeowner) corporation."

Appeals are in the works.

"I can't understand how it could be justice in any way, to allow people's utilities to be shut off, their water, their electricity, their gas. Where is the justice?" said Le Parc resident Sandra Pizano. "They have the right to assess me, and I have no right to services. How can that be?"

Betty Burk, 49, bought her condo three years ago and wasn't told of the pending arbitration. "I wanted to have a home for my son and now I'm scared to death," she said.

"I feel I'm going to lose my place, that's how I feel," Nick Rodriguez, 22, said Friday. "There's no way I can pay that."