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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.
Six Weeks Old - Some Blog Statistics - And A Legal Update
Some Blog Statistics
I started this Deer Ridge Owners Blog about six weeks ago.
During that time, we have had:
- 38 posts with 82 comments, six pages and 20 different categories. (I am getting a LOT of other, mostly encouraging, email from owners and others who support our cause – but who prefer, currently, to remain anonymous.)
- We have had 1,089 unique visitors, looking at 7,216 page views – that is a huge number of visitors for a small 84 unit condo – and a huge average number of pages viewed per visitor (6.63 pages per visitor) – so the visitors who come, read what has been written.
- 3,031 Internet spider visits – this is a separate count for all the times Google , Yahoo, etc, come visit and re-index the updates here. As a consequence, we are showing up very high on a lot of Google searches for Deer Ridge, Gatlinburg this or that, including rentals, condos for sale, etc.
- We have had 824 RSS feeds – so a lot of folks want to automatically see every word that shows up on DeerRidgeOwners.com.
- The metrics target for the blog this month, November 2009, is for us to have 1,200 unique visitors just this month – so apparently we are ramping up fast in traffic.
- We apparently have a LOT of local real estate brokers watching – as well as other HOA members – both locally and from all over the country – wanting to see the outcome of our legal actions we are taking against the GGRC and Ridge Management boards – and all of the board members and Joe Thomas individually.
- Apparently, a lot of other web sites and blogs that are focused on bad HOA management and board members are adding links to DeerRidgeOwners.com. (Note: you are welcome to include links to this blog if you have your own blog or website fighting your own HOA.)
- We have heard that several local real estate brokers in the Gatlinburg area are recommending that their clients NOT buy at Deer Ridge UNTIL these major issues raised on this Deer Ridge Owners Blog are finally resolved. Several brokers have mentioned that if our lawsuits are successful, that the impact will probably be a HUGE increase in market value for many of the units here.
Here’s a screen grab of the stats:
Legal Update
Quick update…still interviewing attorneys…and biz is booming so been swamped with work that pays the bills…and all this lawsuit stuff is very time consuming…but still a life priority for me to get this suit in place ASAP. Class action will still be eventual best approach due to nature of all of our claims….but class action seems too complicated for a lot of small law firms…and apparently takes a while to set up….so, will be filing a smaller, individualized suit to start with….on the most basic points.
Right now, I am most interested in getting a quick court ruling on the following basic points to get the Board and Joey under control. I may even still end up doing these as one or more small claims actions just to get the ball rolling.
Once the precedents are set with rulings on the below points, LOTS of derivative lawsuits can be IMMEDIATELY brought forward…
Minimized Litigation Points To Keep Costs Low And Expedite Ruling – The First Five Points
- Decision by the Court that Article V of the Master Deed in no way gives the Board and/or the General Manager the right to circumvent or trump the other provisions of the Master Deed and/or Bylaws and does not give the Board and/or the General Manager carte blanche to bypass the vote and opinions of the owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
- That the Board must ALWAYS use complete and constant applicability of the Master Deed Percentages to EVERY cost, monthly fee, assessment, etc. for all units at Deer Ridge.
- Recovery of my personal $10,000 plus overcharge by the Board not following the Master Deed Percentages along with interest at the highest legal rate, at least treble damages, court costs and legal fees plus additional, other full reimbursements and/or damages for all other wrongdoings committed by Joe Thomas and/or the Board.
- Decision by the Court that the formation and operation of Ridge Management Limited, AKA RML, is not, in any way, a Common Expense, for GGRC as defined by the Master Deed and Bylaws and, as a consequence, any and all costs, fees, charges and assessments related to the formation and operation of RML were wrongly allocated to the past and current owners of units at Deer Ridge.
- That the Board and Joe Thomas, or his replacement, are required to provide all owners with copies of any and all books and records related in any way to the ownership and operation of GGRC, RML and or the operations of the Common Property.
Other Tack On Points To First Lawsuit Claims Subject To Cost and Time – The Second Five Points
- That secure, individualized mailboxes be installed for all owners as a Common Expense so that mail tampering can be minimized and have the property meet US postal code requirements for individualized mail delivery for multi-family residential developments.
- That the Board be required to allow last minute attendance by any and all owners to all meetings related in any way to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and for time set aside for attendees participation and comments.
- That the Board be required to digitally audio record all parts of any and all meetings in any way related to GGRC and/or related entities in a legible manner and for those recordings to be made available online to all owners.
- That the current special assessment for $353,500 be quashed until such time as the true and correct evaluation of the financial status of GGRC is settled and established by this lawsuit.
- That the Board be required to offer any and all services, use of personnel and maintenance staff, etc. on an equal basis to all owners without discrimination of any kind.
I believe if the first set of lawsuits are strictly limited to these above issues, that it should not be very complicated at all to try this case – just have the judge or jury decide the proper interpretation of the existing documents.
After The First Win…
Once we get a clear ruling on the REAL meanings of our existing documents, then Joey’s and the Board’s house of cards will quickly collapse on everything else.
And, once we all have access to ALL the books and records on OUR property, we can then quickly discover what financial shenanigans have REALLY been going on at Deer Ridge – and what, if any, fraud and criminal misappropriations and / or embezzlement may or may not have been stealing OUR money from the Deer Ridge accounts.
If you would like to help with the legal fees to finally get Joey and the Board under control – and help all owners finally take back control of Deer Ridge, I invite you to click on the DONATE button in the RIGHT column of this blog.
Well, that’s the current game plan….stay tuned. We live in VERY interesting times.
PS: On Suing Ourselves
A few owners have voiced some concerns about me suing err ME when I sue GGRC – and where will the money come from if I, and the other 1-1 owners, win?
Well, I have personally been grossly overcharged more than TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS – and I want my money back. The thing is, virtually EVERY 1-1 owner has been similarly grossly overcharged – and my guess is that they want THEIR money back, too. Fair is fair.
For me, the natural place to get this money – and even the money for the rehab of Deer Ridge that REALLY needs to be spent – can all be covered from found money – the money GGRC should receive from the arm’s length sale of RML to another property management company – once GGRC is forced to sell it from the above court actions. I have experience selling my own, much larger property management company, so I know the right way to do this – and how to maximize the proceeds from a sale of RML – for the benefit of GGRC and all owners.
The other pockets I fully expect to get my money back from are those belonging to the individuals who are our board members and Joe Thomas, General Manager. If we show in court that they are either fraudulent AND / OR grossly negligent – then they are not protected and can be individually sued – with judgments against them that can be collected on.
So, I don’t see it as suing ourselves at all – but suing those individuals who have tried their best to subvert the governing documents that define the way things SHOULD be done at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Tags: statistics, wasted money, visitors, Board of Directors, gross negligence, Seeking attorney, lawsuit, Sell RML, board members, Joe Thomas, Assessment, Blog, Fire Joe Thomas, fraud, master deed
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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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I like the strategy. I would think for a lot of owners whose cash flow isn’t exactly rolling down like roaring waters in this economy, having the special assessment stopped is important. I also think these particular points are the main points to be addressed. Thanks again for pursuing this!
Robert,
In the pursuit of Truth and Justice my hat is off to you.
Thankyou,
tm