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Welcome to All Deer Ridge Owners 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.
Just click the picture or click
Investment Analysis
Gross Negligence – Or Is It Fraud? Legalese On
GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR ALL PAGES AND POSTS
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.
Please Register To Log In And Leave Your Comments 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!
Thanks!
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"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.
Assessment Information Request - An Open Letter To Joe Thomas And The Board
The following email was sent directly to Joe Thomas and the Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort on September 28, 2009:
Joe,
 Fallen Leaves As an owner at Deer Ridge, please provide me with the following information:
- An email attachment of the Word document that you use for printing current mailing labels for all owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
- The most currently completed and immediately available financial statements for GGRC and RML showing both current month and year to date information – preferably as Acrobat files although paper printouts will work too.
- With regard to the upcoming assessments to all owners, please provide copies of:
- All request for quotes that were sent to bidders for all work encompassed by the upcoming assessment.
- All specific, identified milestones, both major and minor, that delineate the work requirements expected of all contractors.
- All bids, backgrounder information, brochures, etc. received from all bidders, whether seriously considered by the Board or not.
- All reference checking that was done for each bidder – and the comments made or offered by the checked references.
- All timelines for each component of work intended, any and all progress payments tied to milestone completion and expected schedule for each project to be commenced and completed.
- All Certificates of Worker’s Comp Insurance from each bidder.
- All other information given to the Board with regard to work required and bids received that relate to any and all work covered by this upcoming assessment.
- I will be glad to pick up the copies of the above at the front office as soon as they are ready. Likewise, I am glad to pick up the originals and copy them myself, and return the originals to the office the same day if that helps expedite matters.
In my opinion, Jim Hinchee, Building and Grounds Committee Chairman does a GREAT job in that role. I completely agree with the statement he made in his recent report to the Board:
- “On any major project, a set of written specifications as to exactly what is wanted should be included with the Request For Proposal. Reference to it should be made in any contract. Requirements for the contractor to clean up behind himself should be included and enforced. Acceptance tests or inspections should be performed by a member of staff prior to final payment of invoices or statements.”
My above requests assumes, of course, that the Board followed the logical protocol that Jim so clearly lays out above.
Several owners have the same questions and same needs for these documents as I do – so whatever you can do to expedite making this information available would be appreciated by all.
I do invite you, and the Board and all owners, to view the updated blog for Deer Ridge Owners at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com – and to participate with your own comments and questions that can be shared with all owners of our property.
Thanks,
Robert
A-202
Tags: Assessment, request for documents, bids, Board of Directors, RFQ, Joe
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Help Us Fight The $1 Million Lawsuit If you believe in free speech as much as we do, we need your help - no matter where in America you may live.
The Deer Ridge HOA board and individual board members have filed a $1 Million Lawsuit against me in their ongoing attempts to stop this blog and have its contents removed. Click Press Release for details.
This power clique wants to continue to block free speech on this property and to keep their illegitimate secrets hidden from other owners.
They are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars of other owners' money on legal fees to keep themselves in power while they continue to break both Tennessee state law and Deer Ridge property law.
We need your help with the legal fees that will be required to force them to abide by the law - and insure that Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is entitled to free speech like the rest of America.
If you would like to join with others who believe in free speech and believe that all of the 305,000 Home Owner Associations across the nation should be protected from tyrannical boards that ignore the laws, please click the
Donate Button below.
Even a donation of just a few dollars would be very greatly appreciated as a way of showing that we have financial support from thousands of Americans for these important issues!
Thanks so much to all of those of you who have already contributed!
Please help us broadcast this Press Release to others you know who can spread the word. You are welcome to link to this site from Twitter, Facebook or other sites.
With your help we can fight and win this $1 Million lawsuit - and keep this blog active - and an inspiration and model for other HOA Abuse Blogs across the nation.
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!
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Hey Luther, Board,
What is the reason you all don’t want to release copies of the records for GGRC and RML ?
It would seem to me that if there is no downside to it, It really can’t matter that much.
Please answer this in a simple, direct, timely and complete way, I would appreciate an answer or some type of explaination from each board member.
With my other questions regarding the Digital Recording, I have gotten one or two word responses like “E-Mail Received ” from both Tom and Margie, no response at all from David, and Larry, Margie even askes God to Bless me…. He has blessed all of us, I know I have been blessed, but honest concerned conversational answers are what is in order here.
David, How do you feel on the questions asked by Robert, Myself, Others ?
Margie, How do you feel on the same ?
Larry, How do you feel…. ?
Tom, Same ?
Luther, Same ?
It really puzzles me why this is happening.
I promise you I’m not trying to be a smarty pants or trouble maker, neither is Robert, just searching for answers to legitimate questions we and others have.
Please don’t Dis-regard us, or give us short unmeaningful answers or none at all.
Neil C-208
Date: Thu, 1 Oct 2009 08:23:01 -0500
From: tomtrip@verizon.net
To: openroad12@hotmail.com
CC: davidbarone@optonline.net; mickmargie@zoomtown.com; larryo@skdocpa.com; parker.luther@gmail.com
Subject: Re: Copies of the Records ?
Neil,
The reason you have not, and will not, hear from each individual Board member is that we are a united Board that works closely together to present a consensus which we believe is in the best interest of a majority of the owners at Deer Ridge. There is no subterfuge in this policy and we have nothing to hide. Please stop with the conspiracy theories!
Tom Reise
Board Vice President
On Sep 30, 2009, NEIL BLAIR wrote:
Hey Tom, Board,
In reponse to you e-mail below, I have always been straightforward and independant in my questions and actions, In the past, When I was not with RML, I made my reasons very clear, My problem with RML at the time was 50/50 or was it 55/45 ? split not being the market split, I was puzzled as to why everyone seemed to be O.K with the Pooling of income and expense… when that changed, I eagerly went with RML and am still with RML.
My effort to rent our unit individually was met with outright accusations of me ” Trying Steal money from RML and GG&RC ” and that accusation was published on a website…. “I have that quote filed away” I never unerstood why the board approved Joe spending the money to send out the letter he did, then billing ME for it… Then crediting the money back to me after we paid it to RML… As if I had no right to show someone how our unit was decorated differently than the cookie cutter style that All RML units were required to maintain at that time, and they may save money renting directly from an owner, Just An example of the mindset at the time, all that changed… Let’s not get that way again and be entrenched in Being unified to the point of doing things like that that just did not make sense… Like telling Joe not to allow copies to be made…
My questions below in no way say that I think there is a conspiracy, and challege anyone to find anything to that effect that I personally have ever written.
I do wonder why the board thinks the paperwork asked for by Robert and others is somehow protected from being copied, since we are ALL owners of the records of both RML & GGRC and if we are owners, why would the board not want copies made available to all owners without them having to drive hundreds of miles in most cases to see and study them if they so desire, Now you may feel that statement is somehow conspiratory, It Is Not, it is simply an observation and a question.. As far as the board wanting to have consesus that is fine, but each of you have an opinion, I have heard that in the 4-5 meetings I have attended, ” Why I would like Digital Recordings”
I am asking each of you for your opinion, that is not to say the Board did not come to a mutual agreement as it should, but me asking for your own views on 2 subjects is not too much to ask…
I don’t know what a judge may say on these matters,
I can live with it either way, But the board not wanting owners to have their own documents to study, is not something we as owners should have to pay good money to defend…
Again my feelings are known to the board, and to Joe, Just because some of us feel the running of RML is costing the Owners money, creating all this discord among owners.
The free market will take care of the situation, the demographics are changing fast.
Please just let Robert make the copies without us all wasting time and money going to court.
Thanks for Reading with an open mind.
Neil C-208