Yet both women are among an estimated 100 Le Parc condominium residents whose outside lights were darkened Thursday for unpaid electric bills. In the temporary blackout, electric garages fused shut and hot water refused to flow indoors.

As homeowners associations prepare to meet with attorneys and insurance brokers next week during mediation over how to pay down a $7 million judgment to ZM Corp., hopes of 264 Le Parc homeowners are diminishing.

"I've been paying my association dues, and my special assessment dues to the idiots who are suing us for something I didn't even say," Nordli, 45, said through tears Friday. "I don't get it.

"I just want to know what's going on here. I'm scared, I don't know what to do," she said.

The west Simi Valley condo owners have worried ever since an arbitrator ruled last year their homeowners association must pay $6.6 million, plus 10 percent interest, to ZM Corp. for breach of contract and defamation following earthquake repairs in 1994.

Since then, courts have ruled each homeowner can be assessed $332 a month to pay the judgement through a court-appointed receiver who has chosen not to pay more than $50,000 in utility bills.

Those who don't pay the assessment face liens and foreclosures on their homes.

On Thursday, Southern California Edison, following a second reprieve, automatically shut off power to a quarter of the complex because of $7,000 in back bills. Power was restored until Nov. 1, however, with the provision the bill gets paid.

"It was the right thing to do," said Edison spokesman Glen Becerra, who doubles as a Simi Valley councilman. "But ultimately they're going to get to the point where we can't carry them anymore."

The court-appointed receiver did not return phone calls Friday. ZM Corp. attorneys say they've given Le Parc homeowners ample opportunity to negotiate a settlement. Utility bills aren't paid, they said, because many residents refuse to pay their assessments.

"We've made more offers to them than fingers on my hand," said Glenn Campbell, counsel for ZM Corp. "We've made proposals to allow their utilities to stay on, and we're met with silence.

"It's kind of like herding cats."

Jim Lingl, attorney for the Le Parc Homeowners Association, said if the ZM goal is to encourage homeowners not to pay their dues, then refusing to pay the utilities will do it.

"It's just ridiculous," said Bunyan, a single mother. "They expect us to pay over $300 a month and not (receive) basic necessities."