Years of legal wrangling over a bed and breakfast inside the Lily Dale Assembly have come to a close.

Lily Dale officials have spent much of the past two years trying to evict Robert and Danielle Reuther from the assembly, filing two cases in state Supreme Court and taking their case as far as the Fourth Department Appellate Division in Rochester. On Dec. 3, the parties reached an agreement that brings the legal acrimony to an end and allows the Reuthers to remain in the Assembly. Neither side concedes the points made by the other side.

“The parties mutually release each other from all claims that the parties may have against each other, known or unknown, other than third party personal injury claims, from the beginning of the world to the date of these presents,” the settlement agreement states.

Lily Dale has been trying since 2022 to remove the Reuthers from the spiritualist community after the Reuthers stopped paying a $1,000 fee in 2019, prompting the assembly to claim the contract between the parties had been breached and, according to Assembly officials, giving reason to have the Reuthers removed. The Reuthers had argued the claims in Lily Dale’s complaint aren’t authorized under state law, the state constitution, the Lily Dale Assembly bylaws, rules or regulations and, further, that the actions taken by Lily Dale constitute harassment, discrimination and abuse of process against the Reuthers. The Reuthers also say they did not enter into agreements on the terms Lily Dale alleges and can’t prove the Reuthers violated the material terms of any binding or valid contract.

By July 15, 2025, the Lily Dale Board of Trustees will amend its Rules and Regulations to make clear that the business fee all businesses operating on the Lily Dale campus must pay is an annual fee paid as long as the business is operating inside Lily Dale’s gates. By Sept. 15, 2025, the Lily Dale Board of Directors will amend its application for permission to operate a business to stipulate that all businesses applying for permission to operate must pay an annual fee.

The Reuthers will pay the business fee starting with the 2025 business season and agree to pay the fee as long as their business operates. Lily Dale is also approving a lifetime membership for the Reuthers; approving credits of $1,000 for the $1,000 cost of the membership as well as for the disputed business fees totaling $5,000 through 2024. A credit has also been granted for disputed property assessments that were either unpaid or returned to the Reuthers from 2022 through 2025. A payment plan has been approved for the 2025 business fee, with the fee to be paid in one lump sum starting in 2026.

“The parties have concluded that the best course of action for the Lily Dale community and for the parties is to reach an amicable settlement,” the order states.