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Hernando Today

Powerhouse Founders Named In Lawsuit

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: January 15, 2009

SPRING HILL - Steven Dillenbeck is being sued, but that didn't stop him from asking a circuit court judge to let the plaintiffs show up at his business with trucks earlier this month and haul away the equipment.

He said his business partner, who also was named in the lawsuit, owed thousands of dollars to California-based M.H. Holdings Inc., the company that leased all of the workout equipment, according to court records.

That partner, Daniel Toth, in turn, said Dillenbeck no longer has a stake in the business and that it was Dillenbeck who left him with debts in the thousands for failure to pay taxes, rent and maintenance fees.

In the meantime, the status of Powerhouse Gym in Spring Hill remains in limbo. Toth is assuring his 1,500 members it will reopen soon after the purchase of new equipment is negotiated.

"Everything we've tried to do, he has tried to destroy," Toth said of Dillenbeck.

Court records revealed that Dillenbeck also asked the judge to go to Toth's father's home in Sarasota and remove some of the cardio equipment there. It also belonged to M.H. Holdings and has not been paid in full, he said.

"I (want) to apologize for the failure of Powerhouse Gym," Dillenbeck wrote in a letter to Hernando Today. "I vowed to bring you a fitness facility like no other, past or present. I did this to the best of my ability with a lot of help and patience from our employees, members and residents of Hernando County."

Dillenbeck owns a gym in Gainesville. He said he walked away from the Spring Hill business a year ago out of frustration but has retained majority ownership, he said.
Toth still lives in Spring Hill and works at the gym, which is located behind the Staples along Commercial Way.
Toth has not spoken to Dillenbeck in more than a year, he said. Their business partnership was severed when he and two other minority partners took full control. He said over the phone he had documents to prove it.

He was negotiating a lease for some new equipment Wednesday afternoon, he said. He could not give a date for when the business would reopen but he and his partners were "looking at a very short time frame."

Dillenbeck stated in his letter he was suing Toth and the two minority partners - James Hale and his mother, Dorothea Hale - but there were no records of the lawsuit at Hernando County Circuit Court.

Lisa Arrington is a local Zumba instructor and used to teach classes at Powerhouse. She noticed from the beginning the frayed relationship between Dillenbeck and Toth.

"They both tried to convince me the other was an idiot," she said.

After Dillenbeck departed, she said Toth had failed to pay her in full for several months. She currently owns and manages an alternative healing business near Weeki Wachee.

"Steve has always been consistent with his story," she said. "He hasn't lied to me yet. I can't say the same about Daniel."

Messages to James Hale and Toth's financial advisor were not returned.

Two members called Hernando Today and complained the business was still deducting money from their checking accounts for membership fees, even after the business closed early last week.
Toth said he was resentful of Dillenbeck's comments to the media and was frustrated he had to defend himself at a time when he was focused on reviving his business. He said he was on track to purchase new equipment.

He also responded to Dillenbeck's claims that he and the minority partners were being sued by anyone other than M.H. Holdings. He has never been served with papers.

"The whole situation is not what it seems," Toth said.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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