Welcome to all owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort condos in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
My goal is to help all Deer Ridge owners to have a voice in the management and operation of your property.
Click on the TITLES of any of the following subjects to read the whole posting - and see the comments made by your co-owners. You can also type any term into the below search box, or any word or term in the search cloud.
Click the big image at the top of the page to return to the front page at any time.
Investment Analysis For A Rental Condo At Deer Ridge
Will you really lose $40,000 cash if you buy a rental condo at Deer Ridge and use Ridge Management Ltd?
As an owner-occupied home, Deer Ridge is an incredible value with THE best view in the Smokies and great amenities.
However, several owners and would-be owners of Deer Ridge condos have asked me if these units are a good rental property investment or not. To help answer that question
objectively, I had to analyze the real moving parts of buying and owning here.
Get my complete, detailed investment analysis based on buying a rental condo unit at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It shows what you MUST do to make money when you buy a rental unit at Deer Ridge.
Note: The following, and the information on any and all other posts and pages by me about General Manager Joe Thomas, GGRC, RML and /or the Board of Directors and its members, or any related topics, are my personal opinions based on my ongoing investigation into the actions and inactions of the GGRC and RML Board of Directors and / or Joe Thomas, General Manager.
While I believe these allegations to be true based on my objective analysis, these opinions remain as only allegations until I, or others, prove things in court.
My goal is to offer all owners all the information and evidence that I have available so that everyone can reach their own conclusions.
Legalese - And Powered Wig - Off
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Every Dollar You Pay For Deer Ridge Is The WRONG Amount!
Please read the various posts here on this Deer Ridge Owners Blog - and see my evidence and analysis which I believe shows conclusively that EVERY dollar of HOA Fees, EVERY dollar EVERY special assessment, EVERY water bill and cable TV sent out for YEARS to ALL Deer Ridge Owners has been wrong!
In many cases at least ONE THIRD of ALL owners have been GROSSLY overcharged. My calculations show that I have been overcharged more than TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the past 50 months I've owned at Deer Ridge.
The Board has been WRONGLY and arbitrarily ignoring the requirements of the Master Deed and the Bylaws for YEARS.
If my analysis is correct, the Board has zero choice. They MUST abide by the Master Deed Percentages.
But they haven’t.
However, if the Board knowingly ignored the clear directives of the Master Deed and the Bylaws when allocating costs to various unit types, and overcharging certain unit types on a regular basis, my opinion is that the Board and Joe Thomas may have acted fraudulently.
If they have not been fraudulent, then they have been, at the very least, grossly negligent.
Read the various blog postings - and judge for yourself.
"We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert." — J. Robert Oppenheimer. This includes the Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
We have just been presented with two massive notebooks of historical documents on Deer Ridge that date back to about the time the property was built!
This 11″ stack of papers make absolutely fascinating reading – board minutes, incorporation papers for RML, annual meeting presentations, promises, excuses, provisional hiring, political force outs, side deals – the list goes on.
We have already begun the process of scanning ALL of this in as an Acrobat file that will be available to ALL owners.
This is a massive and time consuming project for both Jan and me – but we are doing this as a service to all owners at Deer Ridge – and will be adding this file to our “Documents You Can Download” section on the blog in the next couple of weeks – as soon as our schedules allow.
We have already found a couple of MAJOR “smoking guns” that will be used in our upcoming litigation. The great thing about it being totally digital is that it is easy for all owners to have a copy – and also easy for us to send a copy to our attorney and to the Court.
Another great thing, in case you don’t know this: Once it is scanned into Acrobat, it performs a complete OCR – making every bit of the documents keyword searchable! (You have to download the file and open the file with the free version of Acrobat to use this function – but it works GREAT!)
That means that, on any of the Acrobat documents I have done for Deer Ridge, you can type in whatever keyword or key phrase that interests you – and immediately find all occurrences of interesting phrases like, Joe Thomas, assessments, walkways, master deed, etc.
Try it, you will like it.
Anyway, just wanted to give everyone a head’s up for these coming attractions.
Watch for the smoke – so you will really know “who done it.”
Once again, the Deer Ridge Board continues its abuse of power by directly violating the Master Deed with respect to the vote on the walkway railings on February 6, 2010.
The First Phase Vote
Neil and I attended the Special Meeting for the Walkway Railing vote. The ending ballots by owners were 77% in favor. This means it apparently passed by 2% – with only two units voting differently, the vote would have failed. We saw the ballots and helped in the counting to at least make sure that the votes were tallying correctly.
However, we were not offered the voting certificates to compare signatures and have no assurance that some of the proxies might have been forged just to make sure the vote squeaked by. Then, there is the issue that the proxy required that anyone that was chosen as some one’s proxy would be required to attend. This constraint is NOT part of the wording of our Master Deed and Bylaws and hence, probably invalidated the results anyway.
Also, the biased wording of the proxy stated that the money was going to be spent either on repairs – or it was going to be spent on the “double-wide” metal railing approach. Owners did NOT have a right to vote on whether to spend the wasted $49,500 at all.
The REAL Problem – No Second Phase Vote
The real problem is that the board refuses to abide by the rest of the provision for alterations and improvements.
As you can plainly see, they are REQUIRED to gain the approval of at least 90% of the mortgage holders of all loans on all condos at Deer Ridge. Not only have they not done this, they categorically REFUSE to do it. As a result, this vote is invalidated and will probably be a point of issue with the upcoming litigation. We will press hard to, in fact, hold each member of the board personally liable for any and all monies spent on the railing alteration since they knowingly chose to blatantly ignore this provision.
“We Are In The Driver’s Seat – And Will Do What We Want To Do.”
That is a direct quote by one of your Board members, Tom Reise. In other words, Tom, speaking for the whole board, is telling all the owners that they hold all the power…and they can choose to ignore anything they want to – and to hell with the controlling documents for Deer Ridge and the rights of the owners to control what happens to their property and to their investment.
Time To Replace The Whole Incestuous Board – And Kick Them ALL Out Of “The Driver’s Seat”
It is past time to replace these guys. All of them, Margie included. Many have been on the board WAY too long and all of them vote as a consolidated entity. That, by itself, is a HUGE red flag. Board members are legally required to act independently and NOT as a consolidated entity. Remember the World Com board and how all of them got individually penalized millions of dollars because of that?
It is time to kick ALL of them out of the “driver’s seat” – and elect those who are willing to be responsive to the owners and abide by the controlling documents of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Major foundation shaking wind storm at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort today. Unfortunately, lost another major tree on the small island at the front of the property. This is the second major tree lost in the island this year alone.
Are we doing something wrong where this year we have lost two major island trees in four months? Considering that these trees have been here for YEARS, what are we doing, maintenance wise that might be wrong for proper root development?
Open Letter to Luther Parker and the Board regarding the announced Special Meeting for February 6, 2010 concerning the waste of $49,000 of owners’ money to replace perfectly good walkway railings.
Luther, David and the Board,
Pursuant to the GGRC Bylaws, I am required to submit the attached proxies to the Secretary at least one day before the appointed time of any Special Meeting. In accordance with this provision, please see the attached signed documents designating me as their appointed proxy.
I hereby vote NO as the proxy holder for these owners against ANY and ALL changes, alterations or even replacement of the existing Walkway Railings.
Note that I am able NOW – late Thursday night, to legitimately vote these proxies NO without attending the meeting on Saturday morning. (Don’t worry – I will be there.)
However, in reviewing your letter and ballot dated December 10, 2009, it states that if an owner designates a proxy then that proxy member MUST attend the special meeting.
Specifically, your Proxy Form states, “My PROXY will attend the Special Meeting of Homeowners Association being held at 9:00 AM on February 6, 2010 at the Pine Top Lodge and act on my behalf.”
The GGRC Bylaws (Article VII Section 4) state that “Votes may be cast in person or by proxy.” The obvious implication of this is that proxies may, in fact, be cast without the requirement of actual attendance, in person, by the proxy holder. In fact, proxy holders could vote as I did in the above paragraph.
There is NO requirement anywhere in the GGRC Bylaws that a proxy MUST attend any meeting in order to vote his assigned proxies.
As a consequence, proper notice and instruction has NOT been given all owners for the February 6, 2010 Special Meeting to identify a suitable proxy to represent them for the vote.
As a result of the illegitimate constraints and instructions in Luther Parker’s letter and proxy form, some owners may have felt compelled to choose proxies they would not have chosen if they had been properly instructed.
Some owners may have, in particular, selected board members ONLY because they knew they would be present at the meeting. Some of these owners may not have known they had the RIGHT to chose any owner to represent them for the vote at the Special Meeting – whether that representative was going to be present or not.
Since proper notice of a Special Meeting has NOT been provided to all owners, any votes and / or actions taken on February 6, 2010 would therefore be null and void and in violation of the GGRC controlling documents.
Luther, I am sure that you and the whole GGRC Board of Directors would ONLY want to do everything in full accordance with the Deer Ridge Master Deed and Bylaws and will reschedule the Special Meeting once proper notice and instruction have been given all owners about their true rights to select a proxy at Deer Ridge.
Robert
A-202
If you have not already voted, you can fax me your proxy. But bear in mind that no vote is a NO vote – since the Bylaws require the Board gets a 75% POSITIVE VOTE to proceed – plus a 90% vote of all aggregated lienholders.
We have just hired an established real estate-focused law firm in Knoxville to begin our legal pursuits against GGRC, Joe Thomas and the current Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
We have already paid the necessary retainer – so watch this blog closely for upcoming developments.
Do YOU believe that ALL owners of Deer Ridge deserve the following from their General Manager and Board of Directors:
Transparency?
Full accountability?
Open and responsive communications?
Right to audio recordings of all board meetings?
Genuine access to copies of all books and records (except credit card info)?
Copies of documents that prove that $353,500 is needed for the upcoming assessment (including $50,000 for “nuts and bolts”)?
Genuine and through auditing?
No special favors and illegal compensation for board members?
Fair assessments and HOA fees?
Adherence to all aspects of the controlling documents under which ALL owners purchased their units – The Master Deed and Bylaws?
Fair treatment for all owner types: RML owners, non-RML owners and residents?
If these are reflective of your belief system, then I invite you to help us achieve these goals.
The consistent and predictable actions of Joe Thomas and the current Board make it clear that they are opposed to every one of the concepts described in the above bullet points. As a consequence, we have no choice but to pursue the above goals with legal action.
If you would like to help us achieve these goals, your contribution to our legal fund would help accelerate our success.
With enough in donations, we can hire BOTH an attorney AND a forensic accountant for the whole process through the Court in Sevier County to make absolutely certain we win EVERY point – and never have to fight Employee Joe and the Board on this stuff again.
Even a $100 contribution will help show that you are in favor of an open and FULLY transparent homeowners’ association at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!
Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed! Just click the button below to donate to the cause.
This post is in specific response to ONE of the many lies and gross misrepresentations contained in the Deer Ridge Board Attack Letter sent to all owners about me.
They are apparently SO desperate to discredit me, and the truths told here on this blog, that they are out on a vendetta to attempt to discredit what I say – even to the point of spreading rumors that I am senile. (I will let the readers of this blog determine from its content and the recent Investment Analysis for Deer Ridge whether the author is senile or not.)
These are the kinds of people we have currently managing Deer Ridge – and it is way past time for a change. But more about that very soon.
Joe Thomas and the Board Lied To All Owners Once Again
The Lie du Jour we are dealing with here is this one that was contained in their Attack Letter:
“On November 15,2009, on his website, he posted pictures along with the allegation ‘Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit of Non Deer Ridge Owner’ …What his cursory investigation failed to reveal was that one of the cabin owners on Moonshine Ridge, which overlooks Weber Road, also wanted some trees topped that were located on the south side of the road. Through the Maintenance staff, Joe contacted the landscaper that does contract work for Deer Ridge and referred him to the persons wanting the trees cut. The property line is very close to the road at this point and GG&RC only owns a 25 ft right of way from the center line of Weber Road. The topped tree closest to the road is 33 ft from the center line. Therefore, it appears that most, if not all, of the trees topped in this area were not on GG&RC property.”
From our analysis of the plat, the above “convenient” calculations by Joey and the Board appear to be very wrong and these trees are, indeed, on our property.
Thanks to the help of Deer Ridge owner Todd Novak, we reviewed the plats to the property in detail. He was outraged how the board had so obviously lied about so many things in their Attack Letter – including their spurious claim that Deer Ridge did not own those trees that Joe Thomas butchered – that Todd went to the County offices for Sevier County and got the following plats of Deer Ridge.
If you look at the following plat, Deer Ridge owns the 10.56 acres identified as Plot 3.
This coincides with the plats that are part of the Deer Ridge Master Deed.
The Truth About The Measurements
Based on the documents provided by Todd, I was able to run some measurements today on this issue using the surveyor’s plat and my satellite-accurate GPS to calculate the real distances.
Acrobat offers a great analysis tools for doing precise measurements to scale. Below you can see that we were able to find the exact location of the Joe Thomas Tree Butchering as located at N 35 45.942 and W 83 20.942. This location is identified at the bottom of the red scales show below. This shows the exact distance from the center of our road to the edge of Deer Ridge owned property to be 0.25″ – and when plotted to scale, that 0.25″ is equivalent to about 60′ from center line of the road to the edge of our property.
The following are enlargements of the above plat so that you can more easily see the scale of things. Note again, we are measuring at the bottom part of the two parallel lines which mark both the center of the road and the Deer Ridge property line. When you compare the scale, you will see that the distance is 60′ .
Now, let’s look back at the FALSE claim Joey and the Board made in one of their many lies in the Attack Letter: ” The property line is very close to the road at this point and GG&RC only owns a 25 ft right of way from the center line of Weber Road.”
The REAL distance is 60′ NOT the contrived lie by Joey and the Board of 25′!
Gee, guys, why the lie? Then, in the same part of their Attack Letter, they state,”The topped tree closest to the road is 33 ft from the center line. Therefore, it appears that most, if not all, of the trees topped in this area were not on GG&RC property.”
Even if their statement was true – that the topped trees were 33′ from the center line, ALL of the topped trees WERE on GGRC property – which means that Joe Thomas DID destroy Deer Ridge assets for the benefit of a non Deer Ridge owner!
This is an open letter to Luther Parker and the Board regarding what we see as ongoing mail tampering at Deer Ridge.
As a result of this blog, and the efforts of other full time residents at Deer Ridge, we were able to finally force Joe Thomas and the Board to erect private postal boxes like most multi-family residents have.
As a direct consequence of a conversation that we had with the Gatlinburg Postmaster, he saved a postal box pedestal for Deer Ridge so that the property had zero cost for adding this badly needed acquisition.
(The Board and Joey never gives us any credit for this stuff – but we invite you to ask the question directly of the Postmaster for the truth of our direct efforts. Postmaster Scott Genseal told us at the time that if he did not save the one he had currently on hand for us at Deer Ridge, the property would have to wait a year or two for another free one – or would have to go out and buy a new one for several thousand dollars.)
Joe Thomas fought these private mailboxes as long as he could because he doesn’t want to lose any CONTROL at Fiefdom Deer Ridge. Please see our other posting on this subject by clicking Postmaster Says We Have A Right To Demand Individual Mailboxes that I posted on September 20, 2009.
As a result of this forced action, Joey has once again reacted in his typical petty way: attempted retribution against anyone who holds him accountable or interferes with his perceived fiefdom.
The following is a copy of our email about this latest Joe Thomas incident.
To: Luther Parker and Deer Ridge Board
We attempted to get our mail the past two days. Some of it was delivered properly into the new mailbox. However, the postal person is also delivering to the front desk any mail that does not have our unit number.
Obviously, we still have a right of delivery of our mail to the front desk, along with any oversized parcels that come addressed to us at Deer Ridge whether it includes our unit number or not. As you know, a vast majority of Deer Ridge owners have their mail addressed to 3710 Weber Road without any unit number – and most of this is forwarded by the office staff to their home address.
However, as part of the ongoing harassment and attempted intimidation by General Manager Joe Thomas, he has intentionally and willfully interfered with the timely delivery of our mail, and the mail of other residents at Deer Ridge. We are fully convinced personally that we have not received some of our mail at Deer Ridge as a result of mail tampering by Joe Thomas.
We believe his actions are a criminal violation of federal law and that Joe Thomas is attempting the same violation with regard to every permanent resident at Deer Ridge.
Joe Thomas is attempting to falsely claim that if our unit number is not on the mail, it cannot be delivered to us. It appears he has even returned some of our mail, marking it as undeliverable. Other mail has been held up in his office for no reason whatsoever. This alone is a criminal violation of federal law. When our mail is delivered to the front desk, the office person is fully capable of seeing that the mail is addressed to us and put it in our slot for mail in the office.
Instead, our mail is being routed to Joe Thomas’ desk for “review.” Joe Thomas has no right or authority to “review” our mail or delay its delivery to us.
Please see the attachment with Joe Thomas’ handwritten signature evidencing his illegal actions.
We have already taken these letters with Joe Thomas’ notes and presented them along with an official complaint to the Gatlinburg Postmaster, Scott Genseal, asking that federal authorities fully investigate Joe Thomas for these alleged violations of federal law. As of today, we have also file a formal complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with copies of the below hand written notes by Joe Thomas.
Scott assured us that we, and all other residents, have every right to receive our mail at the Deer Ridge office if it arrives without our unit number and that Joe Thomas’ actions are in fact intentionally delaying our mail. Delaying and otherwise tampering with mail is a federal crime. Continue reading New Official Mail Tampering Complaints Filed Against Joe Thomas At Deer Ridge
Will you really lose $40,000 cash if you buy a rental condo at Deer Ridge and use Ridge Management Ltd?
As an owner-occupied home, Deer Ridge is an incredible value with THE best view in the Smokies and great amenities.
However, several owners and would-be owners of Deer Ridge condos have asked me if these units are a good investment or not. To help answer that question objectively, I had to analyze the real moving parts of buying and owning here.
The following is my detailed investment analysis based on buying a 1-1 condo unit at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The numbers for the other sized units at Deer Ridge are very similar, bottom line.
Here are a few pages of the analysis to show you the format. Click any of the following pages to immediately download the full report.
The Main Assumptions – Using RML To Lease and Manage:
$50,000 purchase price with $2,000 for initial improvements and $2,000 for closing costs.
Down payment of 25%, with a mortgage of $37,500 at 7% fixed for 30 years.
Total resulting initial investment of $16,500.
28% marginal tax bracket, 15% long-term capital gain and no state income tax.
The current $3,400 special assessment for 2011 and 2012, with an additional, average $1,000 per year assessment per unit starting in Year 3 and required for other things like roof, parking lot and “oh, by the way…” ideas from Joe Thomas and the Board.
Annual appreciation rate of 3% per year, as an average, over the next 10 years.
Selling costs of 10% – to cover brokerage, closing costs, etc.
Rental income per night averaging $90 per night after accounting for specials, packages, Hotels.com / Expedia / Etc. discounts with rental rates increasing, on a net basis, by 3% per year.
Continuation of the historical Joe Thomas and RML 39% economic occupancy for all units on average at Deer Ridge across the entire year. This equates to a 61% economic vacancy rate. (This is the historical average across the past 8 years – with no signs of any improvement.)
40% RML management fee. (RML has upped this fee several times in the past – but this is the current charge.)
$270 per month for the HOA fee (the highest per sq ft. charge in the entire Gatlinburg, Knoxville area.) This represents an 82% overcharge compared to the amount that should be charged for 1-1 units according to the Master Deed. This is expected to be a major point covered with upcoming litigation filed against GGRC and / or its Board of Directors.
Water at $116 per month. This represents double what should be charged for 1-1 units according to the Master Deed.
Contents and liability insurance of $300 per year, $500 per year for internal maintenance and/or forced upgrades required by RML and another $500 per year for repairs. Maid service is shown at only $100 per year for spring cleaning. Also shown is the RML pass through costs for credit card fees of about $250 per year.
Cobbly Nob taxes of $668 and Sevier County taxes of $400 per year.
Electricity of about $1,000 per year on average along with charges for cable TV and telephone.
Expenses increasing 5% per year.
The Projected Numbers – Using RML To Lease and Manage:
Negative Net Operating Income for all ten years after all income and expenses. This means, even without a mortgage of any amount, the property loses money every year. Over 10 years, this adds up to a loss of out of pocket dollars more than $31,000 – excluding any net proceeds from sale.
With the 75% mortgage described above, the numbers are a lot worse. Over 10 years, your loss of out of pocket dollars would be almost $68,000!
Taking appreciation into account, if we sell after 10 years and sell the unit for $67,200 after buying it for $50,000 with 75% financing, then the loss after all benefits of every kind would still be almost exactly $40,000!
That is a $40,000 LOSS – Not Gain – With everything taken into account after 10 years!
This means after owning at Deer Ridge for 10 years, there would be zero net profit – and it will end up costing you $40,000. This equates to costing you $4,000 a year in order for you to have a place to use and enjoy as a vacation home – assuming you are not “RML Abusive” and want to actually use your unit during the summer or holidays or during the peak foliage time in October.
If you were to actually hold for longer – say 20 years, it gets even worse. In that case, it would end up costing you over $86,000!
The Conclusions – Using RML To Lease and Manage:
Using RML to manage your property, it makes zero sense to buy a unit at Deer Ridge strictly for investment purposes, as a rental unit, expecting any kind of positive ROI whatsoever – EVER.
Did you rent your Deer Ridge Mountain Resort unit through Ridge Management Ltd., RML, for all of 2009?
Wonder how your unit’s performance stacked up against the other units for rental? Well, here’s a chance to find out.
An owner of one of the 2-2 units at Deer Ridge provided me a copy of their year end RML statement. Here’s what their numbers looked like for 2009 (used here with their permission):
A Quick Analysis
Owner X had gross rental income on their unit of $14,454 for all of 2009.
In December, the income was $456 for 6 rental nights according to the above information. This works out to an average nightly rental rate of $76.
Since this is a 2-2, let’s assume that the average nightly rental was $105 per night across the whole year.
This means that for $14,454 of gross income, this unit was rented for about 138 nights out of the 365 nights in a year.
This means that this unit saw an economic occupancy of only 37.7% – or conversely, a vacancy rate of 62.3% for the year.
These numbers are consistent with the entire Deer Ridge property as a whole, which has suffered from an average annual economic occupancy of only 39% for the past 8 years under the very questionable leadership of General Manager Joe Thomas.
Is Deer Ridge A Good Investment? / Bad Investment?
Owner X saw distributions for the whole year of $4,504. This works out to an average monthly check to them of about $375 per month.
From this distribution, Owner X had to also pay: Sevier County taxes, electricity, content and liability insurance, HOA fees and other maintenance from wear and tear and theft. All of this added up to about an additional carrying cost of about $5,800 for the year.
This means, that Owner X lost about $1,300 for the year – not counting debt service. This also does not include the costs for any of the thousands of dollars the board is requiring for the upcoming Asinine Assessment.
If the monthly mortgage payment was $320 per month, then the total LOSS for the year for Owner X was over $5,000!
If Owner X keeps their unit for 10 years – and these same trends continue, this means that the aggregate loss for them will exceed $50,000!
Does this make it a good investment – or a bad investment for owning a condo at Deer Ridge?
The answer to that is not quite so black and white – and needs a much more in depth analysis to reach a valid conclusion.
Because so many owners, and prospective buyers, want to know if Deer Ridge is a good or bad investment, my next post will be a comprehensive analysis and downloadable document – so you will finally KNOW the answer!
If you have not already done so, please vote NO – check “NO – I DO NOT approve the alteration” on the walkway railings vote that is coming up in the special meeting on February 6th.
You can download a copy of the ballot / proxy by clicking Ballot.
If you prefer, you can name me as your designated proxy to vote on your behalf. Just download the same Ballot and fax or mail it to me. My fax number is 270.596.3732.
Since many of you have indicated severe doubts that your NO ballots will make it to the meeting since they were mailed to Joe, please also fax me a copy of your ballot so I can take them to the meeting.
Remember, not only does Joey and the Board have to get at least 75% positive vote from the owners – they also need to get at least a 90% positive vote from all the lien holders for all the condos at Deer Ridge – and show they have the right organization and the right person approving the alteration.
And, I will be there to make absolutely sure that Joey and the Board comply.
Jim and Wanda Goebel mailed the following letter to the GGRC and RML Board of Directors yesterday and copied me on their letter. With their approval, I have included it below.
What about you?
Is Deer Ridge, as we currently know it – with its insider deals, secrecy, ongoing violations of our Master Deed and insidious conflicts of interest – what we REALLY want to keep?
I want to thank the growing number of owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort who are supporting this blog and its primary goals. Those goals include making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.
These documents are the “law of the land” for Deer Ridge – and these “laws” have been systematically, substantively and repeatedly violated by Joe Thomas and the current and past boards of Deer Ridge. As more of you have become acquainted with these laws and your rights as owners, as a result of this blog, your sense of outrage over these ongoing, intentional violations by Joe Thomas and the Board has joined with the voices of other owners who are now demanding long needed changes be made immediately at Deer Ridge.
This growing, vocal demand has finally gotten a response from Joe Thomas and the Board.
You will be receiving an unsigned letter purportedly from the GGRC / RML Board of Directors concerning some of my efforts to accomplish the above goals. Not surprisingly, their 8 page letter is solely focused on their ongoing villainization and disinformation about me that has been going on for years – attacking me and my ever constant demand for implementing the above goals.
Fortunately, so many of you have started to call, email and otherwise voice your own demands to Joe Thomas and the board that the Deer Ridge Owners Blog goals be met, that they have felt compelled to generate this most recent attack letter in an attempt to deflect the growing complaints against the old way, their way, of doing things.
Here’s a hint for Joey and the Board: Your attempted deflection won’t work. Your violations of Deer Ridge Law will no longer be tolerated.
Joey And The Board Have No Authority To Be Thought Police Overseeing All Owners At Deer Ridge
Joey and the Board continue to believe that they are the ONLY people who can have an opinion about Deer Ridge and its operations…and they consistently set out to attempt to discredit and alienate ANY owner who does not agree to abide by their warped sense of proprietary and priorities.
My guess is that many other owners would agree with me that the board is completely out of line trying to censure ANY owner from expressing their rights to freedom of thought and expression. For some reason, Joey and this board think it is alright to try and tell an owner how to think and behave – even when they have no authority whatsoever to do so.
Thought Police is NOT one of the authorized duties of either the general manager or the board.
The board members, as individual owners, have a right to their own ideas and opinions – but have ZERO right as the board of directors to use HOA fees to prepare and mail out any document on GGRC letterhead attempting to censure individual owners for expressing their opinion.
If individual board members wish to mail all owners their PERSONAL opinion about me or anything else, they are welcome to do so – WITHOUT using GGRC letterhead and without HOA fees being used for the postage.
Here’s another hint for Joey and the Board: A growing number of us will no longer tolerate your attempts to control and intimidate owners.
Your lies and secretive actions will see the light of day and be fully exposed for the coordinated deception they are. Each owner is fully entitled to their own ideas and opinions regarding Deer Ridge – and no one is required to follow your dictatorial wishes with regard to their opinions about Joe Thomas and the board and use and enjoyment of THEIR property as long as they abide by the Master Deed and Bylaws. And no where in those controlling documents are you empowered in any way to be Thought Police for every owner at Deer Ridge.
However…all owners have a right to demand COMPLETE transparency about the way their investment is being handled – and to demand that the elected board provide that transparency AND that the board abide FULLY with the controlling documents that are part of the purchase documents for each and every condo at Deer Ridge. Every owner has the right to demand full accountability of Joe Thomas as general manger and every board member to account for every penny – and follow every article and bylaw of our controlling documents.
As such, I demand that Joe and each board member reimburse GGRC for the time, postage and all other expenses incurred as a result of them sending this completely inappropriate attack letter to all owners and to go on record apologizing for completely overstepping their authority with their letter of attempted intimidation and censure.
If you want to send the same letter to every owner again, fine – but have the forthrightness to send it yourself, under your individual signature, using your own postage. Don’t hide behind some unsigned letter and charge all owners. Or, set up your own private blog at your own cost, unaffiliated with Deer Ridge management, and rant away to your heart’s content.
Welcome To New Visitors To This Blog
Most of you who are regular readers of this blog are already aware of the multitude of mistakes, errors and misrepresentations, intentional or otherwise, that are contained in this most recent attack letter. However, since their letter references our blog so many times, I am hopeful that many of you now reading this posting are here for the first time, trying to find out for yourselves if the claims in the attack letter are true. If you are here for the first time…or the first time in a long time, welcome!
I invite you to read all the postings and all the many dozens of comments made by your fellow owners at Deer Ridge. I also invite you to join in the dialogue by registering and adding your own comments to each individual posting that interests you.
Unlike the new Joe Thomas and Board Blog, where they do not allow ANY comments and discussions by owners, but only post their own propaganda, this Deer Ridge Owners blog is specifically set up to give ALL owners a voice in their property and investment in Deer Ridge.
In the last three months since it started, this blog has had over 2,800 unique visitors, many visiting multiple times, with over 20,000 page views, 7,200 search engine robot visits and over 3,400 feeds. We continue to average about 1,500 visits a month to the blog. Not bad for zero advertising and a small 84 unit property!
Some Points of Issue With Their Current Attack Letter
There are SO many errors, false statements, half-truths in the board’s attack letter, I won’t bore you with refuting them all except to ask you to explore this massive blog to find your own answers. However, some of the points are so flagrant, I will respond to the following, along with providing specific links where you can get more information to make your own decisions.
Just a quick note about firewood for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in particular and Gatlinburg area in general – we’ve found a great guy for firewood for this cold winter.
We just got our second order from Matthew Roark and highly recommend him for both great prices and total dependability. He lives near Deer Ridge and can usually deliver and stack it on your balcony with very little notice. We pay $40 for a small pickup truck full – which is a LOT better than the tourist rate at the front desk – or what you have to pay at Food City.
If you are interested, call Matthew at 865-216-2729.
The following was part of my December 4th email I sent in response to Joe Thomas’ email at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. The brackets from this comment are so clear on this point, I thought it deserved its own posting.
Joe,
With the long running untrustworthy track record of you and the board when it comes to abiding by the Master Deed and Bylaws, it is not surprising that so many owners are calling and writing me – with all of them concerned that you and the board were once again going to violate the rules.
Speaking of which, WHO was responsible for the $120,000 that was illegitimately spent on the ill-conceived pavilion, the pool area improvements, the massive office changes and the new maintenance building additions?
Since Article XII of the Master Deed has gone completely unchanged for the past 25 years, were these illegitimate construction projects a result of:
Gross negligence?
Gross incompetence?
Fraudulent behavior?
Illiteracy by you and/or all board members?
Total disregard for the Master Deed and the rights of all owners?
Since you and the board seem to now see the light of day in the requirements of Article XII, there has GOT to be a reason Article XII was NOT followed for all those COMPLETELY illegitimate projects that cost me, and all other owners, a huge amount of wasted money.
I believe the above five points list all possible reasons that Article XII has been violated SO many times in the past by you and current and past boards.
This is NOT a rhetorical question — we expect a clear answer. So, Joe, which of those five answers is the right one?
I have not received an answer to THIS very direct question.
Don’t Ask, Please Don’t Tell – The Joe Thomas Management Philosophy
The following email was sent to Luther Parker and the board of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort on January 2, 2010. It was also sent to GGRC attorney, Chuck Sexton.
Luther,
You and Joe Thomas and the Board are hereby put on notice that any walkway railing “test” is a DIRECT violation of the Article XII of the Master Deed. Period.
In your letter to all owners you state, “The ownership should be cognizant that the Building and Grounds committee, Board and Management, contractors and maintenance staff would like to do a test run on one walkway. Additionally, if the test run is successful, the Board would like to see this project completed by the April 2010 Owners meeting (if approved).”
Please reread Master Deed, Page 16, Article XII, number 2 to better understand that “There shall be noalterations or additions to the Common Elements or any part(s) thereof except as authorized by the Board of Directors and approved by not less than seventy-five (75%) percent of the total vote of the Co-Owners of the Regime.
Let me step through the complicated logic here for you: NO means NO.
NO means that you can NOT destroy what we currently have – even to run a test without the 75% approval. NO means that you cannot do ANY alterations. Period.
Please have your attorney explain that to you if you need any additional clarity.
If you and Joe Thomas move forward with ANY alterations whatsoever at Deer Ridge without the REQUIRED 75% vote, then all of you, including every member of the “board” will be held personally accountable and financially responsible for this blatant violation of the Master Deed.
With your December 10th letter, you have ADMITTED that Article XII must be followed.
By doing so, you have ADMITTED that you and Joe Thomas and other members of the board, both past and present, have wrongly violated this provision in the past, squandering over $120,000 since I have owned at Deer Ridge.
This admission makes you and the board even more guilty if you move forward with this “test run” since now, with your December 10th letter, you can no longer claim, “Gee, I didn’t know any better…”
Additionally, bear in mind for the upcoming meeting on the Walkways, I will be there with proxies from other owners.
I will want to see detailed spreadsheets, estoppel certificates and other proofs that the Board is ALSO complying with the following ADDITIONAL provisions of the Master Deed, Page 16, Article XII, number 2: “Where the approval of Co-OWners for alterations or additions to the Common Elements of this Regime is required, “the approval of Institutional Mortgagees whose mortgages encumber Apartments representing not less than ninety (90%) percent of the total unpaid dollar indebtedness as to principal on said Apartments at said time shall also be required.”
This will require you to obtain a complete and comprehensive listing of ALL mortgage holders for all 84 units at Deer Ridge, including any and all second liens, equity loans, etc. It will require an estoppel certificate from each and every mortgage holder, verifying that they still own the loan, the amount of the unpaid principal balance, and that the person signing any ballot or proxy has the personal delegation of authority of the institution to sign said ballot or proxy. This step will also require a detailed spreadsheet showing the required arithmetic to demonstrate that the Board has received the REQUIRED 90% of all mortgage holders.
The above is in addition to providing proof of the seventy-five (75%) percent of the total vote of the Co-Owners of the Regime.
Joey And The Board Are About To Trample YOUR Rights Once Again
Readers of this blog know that I have been pushing hard for the Board and Joey to abide by the rules of the Master Deed and Bylaws. Readers also know that one part of that push has been with regard to Article XII – which requires, in part, that 75% of all owners have to give PRIOR approval for any alterations or improvements.
By now, all owners have received the packet from Luther about their desired double wide metal railings for which they want us to spend an unneeded $40,000.
Luther tells you in his letter that he has now magically had the epiphany that it takes a 75% vote to approve any alterations or improvements to our property. He then has the audacity to tell us all that whether we approve it or not, the $40,000 will be spent on “repairs” to the walkway railings anyway, so you might as well approve it.
Well, several of us owners have walked every walkway and we find there is less that $2,000 worth of needed repairs!
Additionally, we have now pointed out that Luther and the Board need not only a 75% vote of all owners…they also needs a 90% vote of all lienholders for all condos at Deer Ridge! See Deer Ridge Walkway Railing Alteration Fiasco – Vote NO! for details.
Well, guess what?
Joey and the Board are getting ready to ignore Article XII once again and conduct a “test” by replacing railings on at least one of the buildings here. Proof:
This is the rollaway dumpster that showed up on property today. Wanna bet it was here for the demolition of our walkway railings? Our guess is that Joey said, “Not today – too many owners are around on New Year’s Eve. We have to sneak you in here some other time.”
A “Test” Is A Violation of Article XII!
I don’t care if the test walkway railings are free (and my guess is that they are NOT – thereby squandering more of the owners’ money) – Joey and the Board are NOT authorized to even do a test case without the 75% vote and the 90% vote!!! Luther, if you and the Board cannot understand Article XII have your attorney or an eighth grader read and explain what all those words mean!
It is mind boggling that you think we owners are so stupid that you believe we can’t see your logic flaw?
Many owners we’ve talked with are already upset over the way that Joey and Luther are railroading this through – again, in direct violation of our controlling documents – and usurping the power of the owners to make these decisions.
Let the Board know that NO means NO! Stop this before it happens! Email them – and/or post your comment here.
We’ve never been at Deer Ridge when they were having this week long convention. It is mostly free and meets in Pigeon Forge at the Music Road Hotel & Convention Center. We’re looking forward to attending and participating. If you plan on being at Deer Ridge that week, we invite you to join us.
Wilderness Wildlife Week, the ultimate Smoky Mountain experience, is a series of activities sure to connect Pigeon Forge visitors with the wide, wonderful world of the great outdoors.
In 2010, we celebrate the 20th anniversary of this very special event. Visitors will enjoy more than 100 experts sharing their knowledge of the outdoors in more than 175 seminars, lectures and hands-on workshops. Get up close to nature with your choice of more than 50 guided walks and hikes. Music lovers will enjoy tunes performed by authentic Smoky Mountain musicians at AppalachiaFest.
Wilderness Wildlife Week offers activities for all ages and attracts thousands of nature lovers to Pigeon Forge each year. The International Festivals & Events Association has recognized the event for its environmental and educational efforts. Visit this page again to learn more Wilderness Wildlife Week details as they develop. Continue reading 20th Annual Wilderness Wildlife Week January 9-16, 2010 Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge
All Owners Are Negatively Impacted By Joe Thomas’ Actions As Principal Broker At Deer Ridge
Joe Thomas serves as General Manager of both Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club HOA (GGRC) and Ridge Management Limited, Inc. (RML) property management company and as Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty, another affiliated company of RML – creating a HUGE issue with conflicts of interest to the detriment of Deer Ridge Owners.
Joe Thomas and the Board run this property as if it were a motel – publicly chastising and villainizing those owners who do not choose to rent their units using RML – or, God forbid, live in their units.
We contend that through his position as Principal Broker of the on site real estate company, Joe Thomas has attempted to overtly control the ownership of units here by encouraging ONLY those potential buyers who indicate a willingness to rent their units through RML while STRONGLY dissuading others potential buyers who want to live in their unit, not rent it, or if they want to rent it themselves.
Other brokers in the Gatlinburg area have indicated an unwillingness to work with Joe Thomas or list units at Deer Ridge or even co-broker units because of Joey’s strong bias to only sell to those who want to use RML. Because of this inherent conflict of interest, the market values of units at Deer Ridge have been severely depressed when it comes to resale, thereby penalizing all owners.
Want proof? Consider that the real, closing price current market values of Deer Ridge units is virtually unchanged from the original selling prices of Deer Ridge in 1984! 25 years and no substantive increase in value???
Since RML is, at best, BARELY holding on right now – Joey can’t afford to lose even one unit from RML. If all 11 units that are currently listed for sale on the Ridge Resort Realty site sold to non-RML owners, the RML party would finally be over – and even Joey and this Biased Board could no longer hide the huge cash drain that RML has caused for all owners.
Think about it.
If Joe Thomas is AGGRESSIVELY trying to keep a MAJOR portion of interested buyers from buying at Deer Ridge – just because he thinks they might not use RML – that means MUCH fewer contracts get submitted and owners have less chance to raise prices. As a matter of fact, less demand means long periods between contracts and sellers who are motivated by this Great Recession to sell – are forced to lower prices – and even fire sale their units.
Often, I believe these fire sales are caused by Joey purposely dissuading buyers from buying who might want to live here. Remember, Joey makes a lot more money for his little empire from getting a unit in the clutches of RML than he will make off the sales commission here – especially if there is another broker involved who is taking half the commission.
Also, bear in mind that Joey doesn’t give a damn what kind of money a seller nets when they sell at Deer Ridge.
If you are selling, and on RML, he knows he has a lock in to rental income from you owning the property. The longer he can delay the sale of your RML rental unit, the better off he is since there is always a risk when it sells, it will be bought by someone who WON’T keep the unit in RML.
Also, if you are selling, once you are gone, you can no longer do ANYTHING to help him or hurt him…so again he doesn’t care an IOTA whether you, as a seller, make or lose money from your sale or not.
Next, please?
Joe Thomas’ SOLE focus is on whether he can make money off of the unit you currently own with his little RML empire. To him, your unit, actually EVERY unit, is strictly a commodity with interchangeable owners…a commodity for him to utilize to HIS fullest – and your use of YOUR condo is at best an aggravation to him…and sometimes, a screaming rage when you want to do something with your unit for YOUR benefit.
All of that is my personal opinion of course – but doesn’t it make logical sense based on the antics and actions you have seen from Joe Thomas?
Joe Thomas’ Unholy Trinity Role at Deer Ridge of being the General Manager of GGRC, the General Manager of RML and the Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty has created a despicable conflict of interest to the determent of ALL owners. The only person who is winning is God Joe Thomas as he rakes in OUR money from serving in his Trinity Role.
Amen. Praise the Lord and pass the plate.
Right now, very few folks are buying vacation homes. Add to this that Deer Ridge has NEVER made economic sense as an income property since, even debt free, these units are a guaranteed negative cash flow given the current, outrageous HOA fees we all have to pay.
This means that the only real market for these units that are for sale – are folks who plan on either living in the unit full time – or plan on using their unit so much that RML doesn’t make a lot of sense. Actually, for owner occupants, Deer Ridge is a steal! The price per foot for this property is obscenely low – especially considering the fantastic view and the amenities. With so many folks downsizing right now, Deer Ridge could be an ideal primary residence for a lot of folks in the East Tennessee area.
Folks, Something Needs To Change
Actually, a LOT needs to change at Deer Ridge – and one of those changes is that we abolish Ridge Resort Realty and file a complaint with the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions concerning Joe Thomas’ self serving impact on Deer Ridge unit sales.
All we have to do is stop operating the whole property as Little Joe’s No Tel Motel and Mountain Resort, stop the biased selling of units, sell off RML – and get the HOA fees adjusted so that they are in compliance with the Master Deed and Bylaws. Oh, and get a general manager and Board that are trustworthy, transparent and open – and allows all owners to have full access to copies of ALL books and records.
THEN, we will see MAJOR very quick increases in the market value of all Deer Ridge units – benefiting ALL owners.
Filing Complaint With Tennessee Real Estate Commissions
For all of the above reasons, we and other owners will be filing an official complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions.
Watch your mail. You will be getting a copy of the latest diatribe from President Luther Parker – this one regarding the Walkway Railing Alteration. To read Luther’s letter now, just click Fiasco or check under Documents You Can Download located in the left column of this blog.
Joey and The Board Finally Understand PART of Article XII
Readers of this blog know that I have been pushing hard for the Board and Joey to abide by the rules of the Master Deed and Bylaws. Readers also know that one part of that push has been with regard to Article XII – which requires, in part, that 75% of all owners have to give PRIOR approval for any alterations or improvements.
The Board APPEARS to finally understand that they cannot do anything they want with our money. We, the owners, are suppose to have a vote – and the final say. If the Board had enjoyed this epiphany earlier and had followed this REQUIREMENT as they should have, then we would not have squandered $80,000 of OUR money on Joe’s Folly Pavilion. Nor, would we have spent another $40,000 PLUS for pool area and office alterations and building additions to the Maintenance Building.
All of these improvements were done illegally – without the 75% vote of the owners – and Joey and the Board have now admitted their GUILT with the request for the vote they just mailed you.
If the Board is requiring the 75% vote for the walkway railing alteration – then why was it not done for the $120,000 of wasted money for the above projects???
The fact that they are NOW requiring this vote for this alteration is clear cut proof that Joey and the past and current Boards are GUILTY of multiple violations of this very Article and should be held accountable AND liable to ALL the owners for their gross incompetence and gross negligence for having already squandered so much of the owners’ money that otherwise could pay for the maintenance that really needs to be done at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
I don’t know about you all – but I want my money back – and expect to hold the violators personally financially responsible for their gross incompetence and gross negligence.
(Come on, Luther, give me some credit. Ha! Fat chance. It would have been nice to have an acknowledgment from Luther in his letters that I was the one that pushed for them abiding by this Article XII, but I noticed there was no positive acknowledgment in his Board Meeting letter either. Golly, gee whiz. But more about THAT letter coming soon.)
The Part About Article XII That Joey and The Board Are STILL Ignoring
The part they are ignoring – is the REST of the Section that Luther Parker refers to: Master Deed, Page 16, Article XII, number 2.
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. I use these all the time to work with my clients as a way to convey complex planning ideas.
I decided to use one for the current pivotal problems at Deer Ridge to better convey the issues to the attorneys we will be working with on our lawsuit(s) – and even as a way to make things clearer to the FBI once they start to investigate the activities of Joe Thomas and the GGRC HOA Board.
This image version is hard to see – so click on the image to get a much more readable Acrobat version.
Once you see it in Acrobat, use the magnification controls to zoom in – and then use the Hand control to move around the image. Sorry it is so big – but then again, so are the problems we have at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Please let me know of other issues I should include on Version 2.
Today, I officially filed the following complaint and request for criminal investigation with the FBI regarding Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and the GGRC HOA.
After the last “board” meeting, I, along with several other owners, are totally fed up with the board not providing copies of all books and records that we all deserve. Based on EVERY board members’ absolute resolve NOT to allow ANY copies of ANY books and records, I am now personally 100% convinced that Joey and the board are hiding criminal financial malfeasance to the detriment of all non-board Deer Ridge owners.
I have been involved in too many businesses in too many facets of real estate not to overwhelmingly sense, in my personal opinion, that we are all being criminally ripped off at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
No matter what the Master Deed says, a transparent and forthright board would provide these documents to the benefit of everyone! The fact they are ALL fighting tooth and nail to prevent the release of copies of ANY of these documents speaks volumes to me, personally, about criminal intent and fact.
The White Collar Crime Division of the FBI has begun criminally investigating HOA and their boards and managers across the country. For example, click HOA Investigation. There is a fast growing trend in this country to start treating HOA managers and board members as quasi-government officials – holding them to the same standards as public officials when it comes to major white collar crime, corruption, financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement, illegitimate board member compensation, securities fraud and other possible financial crimes.
If we can get the FBI interested and convinced enough to pursue these perceived problems with GGRC and RML, they will hopefully run a comprehensive forensic audit going back several years. And, when the FBI runs an audit, they can find stuff – no matter how much Joey may have had his computer guy from North Carolina try to hide any suspicious trail. My guess is that the FBI will want to talk to him, and a whole lot of other folks, at length if they pursue this investigation. And I doubt that any one is going to risk lying to the FBI to try to protect any potential guilty parties at Deer Ridge.
It may take the FBI 2-4 months to get to us, depending on how busy the White Collar Crime Division is in the Knoxville office (which has jurisdictional responsibility for Sevier County.) If you would like to file your own request for an FBI investigation of the shenanigans at Deer Ridge, you can do so online by clicking FBI Complaint. I would guess that the more of us who file a request for a criminal investigation, the more attention the case will get and the faster any investigation will commence. Also, please let me know if you would be willing to talk with the FBI about any investigation they may initiate.
I see this criminal investigation happening in addition to the civil lawsuit I am still pursuing.
Unless requested otherwise by the FBI, I will update this story on this Deer Ridge Owners blog as any investigation proceeds.
Then again, who knows? A half dozen black vans with two dozen FBI agents may just show up one day at the Deer Ridge offices, sweep in and confiscated everything. Just like on TV.
Stay tuned.
Suspected Crimes: White Collar Crime, Corruption, Financial Misappropriations, Kickbacks, Embezzlement, Illegitimate Board Member Compensation, Securities Fraud
Alleged Suspects: General Manager and Members of the Board of Directors of Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, AKA Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Ridge Management LTD, Inc. et al.
Location: Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee – Knoxville Office of FBI
Federal Jurisdiction: Property owners in multiple states, board members domiciled in multiple states, units sold to buyers in multiple states as investments.
It is my understanding that the FBI’s White Collar Crime Division has begun investigating Home Owners Associations across the country and criminally prosecuting those board members and managers found to have been financially diverting HOA funds illegally for their own personal gain.
If so, I applaud this focus since nearly a quarter of all Americans now live under some sort of HOA Regime. These Regimes have become quasi-government entities like towns and cities – and their ruling boards of elected members should be held accountable under the same legal scrutiny as government officials when it comes to financial malfeasance.
Summary Background
I have been the owner of a condo at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the past four years. During that time I have constantly and continually requested copies of the books and records of our homeowners association and other associated operating companies. Likewise, many other owners have made the same request. I have even offered to bring my own copy machine to the main office and use my own time and equipment to make these copies.
Even as recently as four weeks ago, I and several other owners attended a board meeting. We all specifically requested copies of the books and records be made available. Every member of the board and the general manager, Joe Thomas, categorically refused to allow any owner to have copies of ANY requested books and records.
This same board is now attempting to force all owners to fund a $353,500 special assessment but very suspiciously refuses to provide ANY underlying documentation that supports the amount of the assessment other than four or five single line items. For example, one particularly suspicious line item on the special assessment is, “Nuts and Bolts — $50,000.” That’s a lot of nuts and bolts.
Official FBI Request
I am filing this official criminal investigation request with the FBI because I, and several other owners, believe the reasons that copies of the books and records are not made available to the owners is because the general managers and the board are attempting to conceal major white collar crime, corruption, financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement, illegitimate board member compensation, securities fraud and other possible financial crimes being committed by persons associated with the operation and management of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. Continue reading FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board
Note: The way blogs work is that one person makes posts and others can add comments to each of those posts. Since I want to give ALL owners a REAL voice in the their property and investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, I will sometimes elevate a comment to a posting to increase its visibility to all visitors to the Deer Ridge Owners Blog.
The following is a copy of a comment by Tina regarding Joe Thomas’ despicable tree butchering of our trees for the benefit of non-owners of Deer Ridge:
I know a little about tree ‘pruning’. The preference for the health of any tree is selective pruning technique. Selective pruning is a procedure where selective limbs/branches are taken out to allow growth to make the tree stronger. They make a clean cut. Selective pruning is very healthy for the tree in that it makes the tree stronger by eliminating inner branches that in the summertime obtains lower light with no stubs.
However, this process allows the tree to be a tree and to get larger, appear more natural. They appear MAJESTIC and it puts up a large canopy. It creates beauty and strength promoting a natural order of health to the tree.
This was NOT the process that was done at Deer Ridge. This was simply ‘topping’. Chain saw, cut off, no more thought than that I will guarantee anyone.
The topping process is very unhealthy for any tree, of any species and WILL in time eventually kill them. Depending upon the species of the tree of course will determine the time that kill may take. For example, there was a pitch pine (soft wood) that is already dead. By topping it, it is killed immediately. It will appear like a telephone pole next year. The bark will fall off. Hopefully woodpeckers can utilize it in time before it falls down. White Pines (soft wood) will continue some growth but look more like oversized bushes. Much like if a tornado went through years prior. The white and red oaks (hard wood) will sustain but they will always appear off balance and appear to be chopped. Their ‘normal’ lifespan is long (150-200 years or more) for a healthy oak, but this will affect there health and longevity as well. While the maples (fall color trees) will sprout many re-growths, it is extremely hard on them and their lifespan. IF topping is continued, it will put them at 1/2 life. Living a total of maybe 40 years.
The problem with topping a tree is that it creates opposite of selective pruning.
Yesterday, we have very heavy winds – probably gusting t0 60 MPH. One fatality was a 30′ tree in the island as you drive into Deer Ridge. It was quickly cut up and removed by our maintenance staff – even while the storm was still raging.
Nature has a way of destroying things like this tree which has been here for years. Sorry to see it go.
But this is FAR better than the butchering of DOZENS of OUR trees that were destroyed by Joe Thomas – all for the benefit of a NON Deer Ridge owner of a cabin on the hill overlooking Deer Ridge.
The ONLY property that benefited from the destruction of OUR trees is a cabin called Shadow Mountain up on the hill overlooking Deer Ridge at 3633 Moonshine Way, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
In case you want to contact the cabin owners to let them know how you feel about this side deal of Joe Thomas, then, according to public records, the owners are:
Charles F. and Mary Y Butler
353 Calumet Trace
Murfreesboro, TN 31727
Click Joe Did This to see the video and photos of the damage Joe caused.
How much did you get for doing this obscenity, Joe? What were destroying OUR assets worth to you and YOUR wallet?
The JUST released Deer Ridge Mountain Resort 2010 Budgets and Board of Directors Minutes are now available as a Document You Can Download. Please click CROCK to download your own copy of this very special document.
At least, I assume these are supposed to be the minutes of Deer Ridge AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, Ridge Management Ltd. It is hard to tell.
Interestingly, the minutes and other documents don’t seem to properly and fully reflect the meeting that I attended a few weeks ago. Maybe, others who attended can tell me if these minutes accurately reflect the meeting you attended.
Detailed comments, analysis, pursuit of truths, and real facts and figures will be forthcoming.
One of the multitude of Board of Director violations that seems to occur in significant amounts is with regard to compensation. There seems to be a major issue of entitlement by the current “board” members that is in direct violation of Article IX Section 1 Paragraph D of the Bylaws:
“Serve without compensation” means NO compensation, NO reimbursements for travel, NO special considerations, NO special favors, NO side deals, NO redecorating allowance, NO special storage of contents, NO NOTHING.
We JUST Need At Least THREE New Directors To Take Control – Are You One Of Them?
It is time to take control of the Deer Ridge Board by those who appreciate the full meaning of the following quote:
“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” — J. Robert Oppenheimer
All five members of the current Deer Ridge Board for Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club apparently fully disagree with the above quote.
Based on their collective comments at the last “Board” meeting:
NONE of them thought all of the owners were entitled to have copies of the books and records of OUR organization.
NONE of them believe their actions should be questioned or scrutinized.
NONE of them believe owners should be so “negative” as to question anything they do.
NONE of them want their secrecy detected.
Amazingly deplorable.
If you read my prior post, you saw why I believe that the current “Board” is illegitimate. I plan on pressing hard on this issue in court – hoping to have the court rule on their illegitimacy and place a court-appointed receiver in charge of GGRC under which a proper Board can be elected in accordance with the Master Deed and Bylaws.
The Ten Point Plan
Whenever we do have a PROPER election of the next Board, we are looking for at least three owners who:
Even though the “Board’s” own attorney told the “Board” that they HAD to give any and all owners the names, addresses and unit number of every current owner, Joey and the “Board” are bending over backwards to make it as hard as possible for owners.
Instead of simply forwarding the existing Word document that directly prints to labels, Joey went to the trouble to recreate the list as a printout that he HAD to mail to those requesting it – thereby squandering more of OUR money on his petty little games.
Well, fear not, Joey…I have taken that information and have produced an emailable mailing list of all current owners as a Word document that can be sent to any Deer Ridge owner who writes me and requests it. (I am not posting it here as a document that can be directly downloaded – so only owners can get the list by direct email from me.)
Below is a quote of what I emailed the “Board,” and copied Joey, yesterday about the ridiculous way they are wasting postage and personnel time MAILING a printout that could have been emailed – and was specifically requested to be emailed:
I got the same printout from Joey too…what “silly” games by Employee Joe…hopefully, his employment days are VERY numbered. Of course, the fact that these costly games are allowed is indicative of the lame and impotent management by the illegitimate “board” too. Hopefully, they all will be “fired” soon too.
The good news is that I had the old mailing label list – and it was easy to update with the list that Joey was forced to finally give out.
Please see the two attached documents: An Acrobat file of everyone on the Joey list AND a completely updated Mailing Label list, suitable for printing and already formatted for Avery Labels 5160 which you can get at any office supply store.
Takes three pages to print out labels for all owners – and actually corrects several typo errors in Joey’s copy. All you have to do is print the Word document and manually feed the label sheets into your printer. Note that my mailing label list also shows unit type – which Joey’s list did not include. Continue reading Deer Ridge Owners Mailing Labels Now Available To ALL Owners
I am writing you directly as a representative of several owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
The reason for this direct contact is that, based on our meeting with you last weekend at the “board” meeting, the resulting conclusion of the conversations was that Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club (”GGRC”) currently has NO bonafide Board of Directors or officers. Nor, have they had any bonafide Board of Directors or officers for many years.
As the following will show, those owners currently posing as the “official” Board have no different status, and no more authority, than any of the other owners at Deer Ridge. They have no authority to call meetings, set budgets, set monthly HOA fees, impose special assessments such as the current $353,500 assessment, block access to copies of documents, hire personnel, sign agreements, determine rules and regulations or authorize any rules and regulations.
The “board” has no more authority to do anything with regard to GGRC than I, or any other owner, do.
I am writing to you, since you have been the long standing attorney for GGRC, for your fiduciary legal opinion as to:
What is required to unwind all of the past decision of this and prior “Boards?”
What are your recommendations as to the totally compliant requirements of the Tennessee Horizontal Act and GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws for the interim management and control of the Regime?
Should we place GGRC and Deer Ridge’s operation in the hands of a court-appointed receiver?
Please register first - so you can participate in the discussions by making comments that reflect YOUR opinion.
When you register, please include your unit number so we can confirm you are really an owner!
You are welcome to submit as many comments as you want on any of the topics - or even on a new topic. This is the time and the place to finally have YOUR voice heard with regard to your investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
I would ask that you include your Deer Ridge unit number at the end of each of your posts so other owners get to know you - however, it is not required. I understand some owners may want anonymity for a variety of reasons - but I will need you to show me that you are an owner.
I may post non-owner comments from time to time if I believe they add to the discussion. When this happens I will note that it is a non-owner comment.
Bear in mind, any and all comments you make here can be seen by all one billion folks on the Internet, worldwide!
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Deer Ridge Litigation Fund
Do you, as an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, believe we are ALL entitled to have access and be able to copy the books and records of our Homeowner's Association?
So, do I.
But, apparently, Employee Joe Thomas and President Luther Parker and the Board disagree - and are doing all they can to block access, publication and candid discussion of the Asinine Assessment, special deals and favored treatment - at the expense of all Owners.
What ARE they so afraid of us finding out?
Maybe it has to do with the HUGE $10,000 overcharge for my HOA Fees, special assessments, water and cable TV bill - which, in my personal opinion, is due to fraudulent intent or at least gross negligence by the Deer Ridge Board of Directors and / or General Manager Joe Thomas. Please see the posts for details.
We have no choice but to file a lawsuit against GGRC and RML in order to finally, once and for all, make it clear that OWNERS do have a right to all the information about our property and our investment at Deer Ridge.
If you have thoughts and ideas and suggestions, please post them here on this blog.
If you have any clout with the Board, convince them to stop the charade - and let the owners have the information that all owners own!
If you want to help cover the legal costs to get us the right to see the bids for $50,000 for nuts and bolts - and the other background documents for the $353,500 Asinine Assessment, please click on the Donate Button below.
With enough in donations, we can hire BOTH an attorney AND a forensic accountant for the whole process through the Court in Sevier County to make absolutely certain we win EVERY point - and never have to fight Employee Joe and the Board on this stuff again.
Even a $100 contribution will help show that you are in favor of an open and FULLY transparent homeowners' association at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!
Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed!
Owner Comments