A Kalispell attorney denied any wrongdoing Wednesday after being accused of seven counts of professional misconduct by the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

David Tennant, who was appointed Monday as acting City Attorney for Libby, allegedly put a lien on a client’s property for nonpayment of fees, had the property foreclosed and then anonymously bought the property for well below market value at a sheriff’s auction.

“The foreclosed property is on the market,” Tennant said in a statement that confirmed he owned the property in question. “If the complainant wants it back, all he needs to do is contact me [and] arrange to pay what he owes.”

The entire statement can be read in a letter published in today’s Inter Lake on page A4.

Tennant claims he represented the client involved in the case in a divorce, which wrapped up. He later represented the man in a contempt of court matter.

“Pursuant to the rules of professional conduct, you do not need to set out a new contract with former clients unless your hourly billing rate changes,” Tennant said. “We concluded that matter at a hearing. About six months after that, we foreclosed on an attorney lien because he did not make any payments to the firm.”

Tennant claims the allegations hinge on a single filing that was not filed in the case.

“The ODC’s case rests on the fact that a notice was not filed with the court that we were no longer the attorneys to be served by mail if there was any future litigation,” Tennant stated. “My staff generally files that document when we go to put a file in storage. We never got to that point in this case because we were never paid.”

Tennant claims he is owed $34,000 in attorneys fees that were never paid. He also claims he had to pay a $6,750 tax lien on the property and more than $6,800 in past taxes on the property.

“I also have about $25,000 or so of additional time into this matter dealing with the mess he left,” Tennant said.

However, the complaint notes many issues other than Tennant not filing a notice with the court.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel claims Tennant filed a lien for $24,000 against two residential lots near Columbia Falls that were awarded to the client in the divorce case. He then allegedly illegally added to the lien a $2,300 bill of fees the client owed him from an earlier case. Tennant then billed his client $3,200 for attorney fees incurred while he tried to collect his fees in the divorce case.

Tennant won the foreclosure suit in May 2013 with a $34,000 judgment, the complaint alleges.

 The Office of Disciplinary Counsel argues that Tennant used inside information about his client’s financial circumstances, and created a corporation to buy his client’s property for $34,000 in September 2013. The lots were put up for sale for $80,000 each. If the lots sell, the disciplinary council claims Tennant will have charged an excessive fee in addition to those already billed against the client.

Tennant has 20 days to formally file a response to the complaint. The Commission on Practice’s adjudicatory panel then will hear the case and decide if disciplinary action is required.

Libby Mayor Doug Roll clarified Tennant’s relationship with the city’s government in a statement Wednesday. The City Council met Monday to approve a contract for the Libby City Attorney.

“The city of Libby has an agreement with the law firm of Kaufman, Vidal, Hileman and Ellingson to represent the city as our City Attorney,” Roll said. “Dave Tennant is their representative and performs the day-to-day requirements of that office. I spoke with Dan Hileman, the firm’s managing partner this morning. He reassured us that the firm will provide the agreed upon services as specified in the recently approved contract. The city will continue with Mr. Hileman’s firm as long as both parties agree to the terms as spelled out in our agreement.”

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.