UPDATE: We have now filed a comprehensive $3 Million counter suit against GGRC, Joe Thomas and each board member, individually. Click $3 Million Lawsuit for details.
The GGRC Board for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort has filed a $1 million lawsuit against me.
They are ready to spend tens of thousand of OUR dollars in their attempt to stifle me and other Deer Ridge Owners who will no longer tolerate their abuse of power.
Here’s a clue, to Joey and the boys: I am not the least bit intimidated and will not stop my efforts to force you to conform to both Tennessee and Deer Ridge law. I will not stop my efforts to uncover your secrets you are trying so desperately to hide from all owners. You know as well as I do that your lawsuit is completely frivolous and totally without merit and we will fight you in court. If you 
expected a quick capitulation as a result of your attempts at intimidation, you are wrong.
By the way, I noticed that your attorney Chuck Sexton is not the attorney representing you on this lawsuit. Is that because he understands how frivolous your lawsuit is – and that he did not want to risk sanctions from the Court?
Below is a press release that is already being sent to more than 500 media outlets across the state of Tennessee and the nation. This includes local as well as national media. It is also being sent to all local and state government agencies across Tennessee and to federal agencies that control policy. It is being sent to local, state and federal lawmakers.
We have contacted the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Media Bloggers Association since Joey and the “board” have chosen to once again attempt to stifle freedom of speech. We are hopeful that they will be interested in participating in this lawsuit since it now has national implications as to what can, and cannot, be said on a blog without the threat of a $1 million lawsuit.
We are also reaching out with our press release to dozens of groups and agencies like AARP, Consumer Reports and the Community Associations Institute and others that understand that the growth of HOA organizations is accelerating and something needs to be done by regulators to ensure that the kind of abuse of power that we suffer through at Deer Ridge needs to be stopped or prevented at all 305,000 HOA communities across the country.
We believe that both of these issues have huge national impacts – and we hope that others from across the country will join with us in both protecting our American rights to free speech and to create policy changes and new laws to protect the 60 million Americans who live in HOA communities.
PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Gatlinburg, Tennessee Home Owners Association Files $1 Million Lawsuit
Against Blog Author and Property OwnerA Tennessee Home Owners Association has filed a $1 million lawsuit against one of its property owners for defamation, libel, slander, and false light invasion of privacy. The property owner, Robert Goodman, has operated a blog that has heavily criticized the actions of the HOA’s general manager and board of directors for alleged violations of both its own HOA controlling documents and Tennessee state law. The HOA board has filed the lawsuit in an attempt to force virtually all content to be removed from the blog and prevent any new entries.
Gatlinburg, TN – April 23, 2010 – According to the Community Associations Institute, during 2009, Home Owner Associations, also known as HOAs, controlled nearly 25 million homes – or more than 22% of the 113 million total American households. This number is expected to grow to over 40% during the next few years.
However, many property owners complain that their Home Owner Associations operate as if it was a quasi-government entity with dictatorial powers that are not properly regulated at either the state or federal level. Often, these HOAs are illegitimately and improperly administered by members who abuse their position by ignoring the written regime documents that are intended to control the powers and actions of boards and managers.
Robert Goodman, a 62 year old, semi-retired executive with three kids in college, is convinced that he owns a property that is being grossly mismanaged by its general manager and HOA board. Goodman is an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, an 84 unit condo development in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
When his HOA’s board continually blocked all attempts at seeing the books and records or even getting the names of other owners, Goodman created a blog at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com so that all owners could easily participate in discussions about what was really happening at their property. Now, he is being sued for over $1 million by his own HOA because of that blog and its contents. A complete copy of the entire lawsuit is available for download at his blog.
Goodman said, “We’ve owned this property for nearly six years. I’ve made dozens of requests to get copies or view the Administrators’ Book that is required by state law to show, in chronological order, the income, expenses and supporting vouchers for every transaction by the property’s HOA. The general manager, who has essentially controlled this property for a decade, and the board of directors have refused to even show me or other interested owners the Administrators’ Book. This is a direct violation of Tennessee state law 66-27-113.”
“What conclusions would you reach if your bank or stock broker adamantly refused all requests to show you the books on your bank or brokerage accounts for 6 years? Would you conclude that something was very suspicious about the way your money was being handled? Would you be equally suspicious about the secrets that motivated their refusal? Those are the conclusions that I, and other owners, have reached regarding the management of our investment at Deer Ridge.”
Goodman added, “Not only are they violating state law, the board has continually violated the written requirements of our own master deed and bylaws with multiple abuses of power including spending over $120,000 of owners’ money on unauthorized projects. They continue to overcharge a third of all property owners by 82% for their monthly assessments. They also violated Tennessee state law by refusing to even provide a list of all owners and their addresses. I believe that this refusal was part of a concerted attempt by those in power to block any communications between owners so that concerns would not be raised about their questionable management and the misuse of our funds. It was only under threat of a lawsuit that I was able to finally get the owner list. This board and general manger are still trying to do all they can to interfere with our freedom of speech. This $1 million lawsuit against me shows just how far they are willing to go.”
He continued, “I even went to the expense of recently hiring an independent attorney to provide us with a 13 point legal opinion just to make sure that our claims were valid. On 12 of the 13 points, the attorney found that our assertions were correct and the board was at major fault. Not surprisingly, the board completely ignored the entire legal opinion.”
Goodman, who is an MBA, spent 15 years running his own real estate company and 16 years as a management consultant to thousands of start up companies CEOs worldwide. He knows something about management, real estate, finance, financials and due diligence – and he knows something about the Web and how to set up a blog.
“Virtually all of my business for the past 16 years has come from the Web. So, I already knew how to leverage the Internet with my knowledge of what is required to produce web content. Setting up the blog was easy. Adding all the content about all the many things that are wrong at Deer Ridge has taken man-months of time and effort.”
“I am a big believer in the power of the Web – and the massive benefits it offers for democratizing information and making that information easily accessible. To me, it seemed like a natural way to let other owners know what was really happening at this property. The blog let me fully document multiple examples of how our rights have been blatantly abused by the power clique which has controlled this property for years.”
The Deer Ridge HOA lawsuit alleges that Goodman is guilty of “defamation, libel, slander, false light invasion of privacy, procurement of breach of contract, and intentional interference with business relationships.” The suit attempts to block him “from further publishing matters concerning Plaintiffs in such a way that casts Plaintiffs in a false light, from further inducing persons to breach contracts…and from further interfering with Plaintiffs’ business relationships.” It also attempts to force him to remove the existing content from his blog.
The HOA also is asking the Court to “assess compensatory damages against Defendant in an amount of no less than $250,000” and to “assess punitive damages against Defendant in an amount of no less than $750,000” along with costs and legal fees. The HOA also wants to “assess damages against Defendant in an amount of five hundred dollars ($500) per day for each day Defendant has published and/or continues to publish the statements described herein and/or any other libelous, defamatory, and/or false light statements, regarding Plaintiffs.”
Goodman responded, “The claims in their lawsuit are so completely frivolous on every single point of issue – that sanctions against the plaintiffs’ attorney may be involved. Once again, the board is wasting owners’ money – in this case, tens of thousands of dollars of our money on this lawsuit – just to protect their own empire and their own secrets. The blog speaks for itself and has appropriate disclaimer language. Their $1 million lawsuit is simply a preemptive attempt at intimidation to quash my own lawsuit against the HOA and its board members. The blog made it clear that I intend to force them to abide by Tennessee state law and Deer Ridge law. We were already seeking an attorney to represent us in our claims on the dozen points contained in the legal opinion. Now, I need an attorney to handle both their frivolous claims and the original dozen points of issue – and get these matters finally settled for the benefit of all owners. Many of us want to find out what secrets the general manager and board are so desperate to hide from all the other owners.”
Goodman added, “This case could have far reaching implications on at least two national issues: Firstly, what exactly are the rights to freedom of speech for blog authors everywhere – what can and cannot be published? Secondly, what is going to be done about the tyrannical and illegitimate abuses that HOA homeowners are forced to endure daily in many of the 305,000 HOA communities that house over 60 million Americans nationwide?” Goodman said he hopes that both the freedom of speech issue and the lawsuit gain the attention of the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
For the last issue, Goodman concluded, “Our state governments in Tennessee and many other states desperately need to develop new regulations with powerful enforcement teeth. They need to address the blatant abuse of powers at these fiefdoms that serve as quasi-governments for so many folks – and that adversely impact the rights of so many lives. Homeowners need a way of forcing their HOA to abide by the law – without having to spend a fortune on legal fees.”
Contact: Robert Goodman
Tel: 865-365-5962
Email: Litigation @ DeerRidgeOwners.com
Website: www.DeerRidgeOwners.com###
That’s it so far – but stay tuned. We believe a lot of good things will be happening in the next few weeks.
If you would like to download the entire 112 page lawsuit, click Lawsuit. If you would like to download the actual press release, click Press Release.
If you are with the press or the government and would like to schedule an interview, please email me at Litigation @ DeerRidgeOwners.com.
If you would like to donate to the Deer Ridge Legal Defense Fund, just click the Donate Button below. All contributions, no matter how small, are appreciated.
- Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits
- Do NOT Make Your Deer Ridge March 1st Assessment Payment – It Is NOT A Valid Assessment
- File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission
The above is their “evidence.” I invite you to read each of these in their entirety and make your own judgment as to whether I am guilty of all that they claim. Especially in light of the disclaimer that is in the left column of every single page on this blog:
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
I would say that is pretty clear with regard to my opinions about things. What do you think?
Mr. Goodman addressed his accusations at GGRC and the board, seems to me the board must respond on behalf of GGRC as they have done.
This matter is extremely detrimental to Deer Ridge and all owners as a whole, especially the owners that have their units up for sale in an already bleak real estate market. I would say that Mr. Goodman’s actions have single handily extended the marketing time for any units on the market.
Hopefully this legal response will bring the matter to an end asap so we can all get back to enjoying our mountain homes.
Please do not respond with a lengthy explanation tearing down my comments, as I am sure there is nothing else you can say that has not already been stated on your website.
I just finished reading the “minutes” of the “board” meeting. Joe and the “board” have everyone jumping to illogical conclusions.
It is not Robert’s fault that the “board” has chosen to spend $12,000 in legal fees. If the board was transparent and would just let owners see the real, actual, complete Administrator’s book, then the need for the $12,000 in legal fees would not be present.
Instead the board looks for loopholes and various other avenues out, as any excuse not to answer questions by owners and ignore demands to see the Administrator’s book. So they waste our money on legal fees for loopholes. This does not entitle the board and other owners to lay this $12,000 price tag on Robert’s head (even if you don’t like the guy.)
Let us all stop jumping to negative conclusions and view what has actually gone on here. Robert has asked the board to make things open and transparent to all owners. By the way Freedom of Speech means that all Americans are free to speak their minds on any topic – not just those approved by Joe and the “board.”
Apparently, based on reading the board minutes, Joe and the board here thinks that only “gnat traps, giraffes and dragons” are suitable topics for free speech – and that none of us has any right of any kind to voice any kind of negative opinions about things at Deer Ridge. And just because we say something that might be negative does not make it defamation.
Joe and this board are ready to spend tens of thousands of dollars MORE of our money on their personal vendetta against Robert. You can bet that even if they win anything, GGRC will not see a penny. It will all go in their personal pockets even though it was our money they used for all the legal fees.
Plus, from what I’ve read on Robert’s blog, the board will probably lose and we will all have to pay for Robert’s legal fees since our board was stupid enough to sue him when there were no merits to their case.
These idiots are all wasting all of our money on their own agenda. If they want to sue Robert, they should waste their own money and they should be the ones at risk when Robert wins – not exposing GGRC to all of this unnecessary cost and risk.
Dear Mr. Goodman,
I happened upon your blog via the HOA Nut House, one of the websites I routinely check for information on HOAs. Wow!
As a condo owner in Atlanta, I too know the harm that secretive, rogue Boards of Directors can inflict upon individuals and/or an entire community, and the legal and trade associations that enable them. But while your problems are not unique in the HOA world, they are right at the top of the outrageous scale.
I was wondering if you have heard back from the ACLU or AARP on your press release. Forgive me if you are are aware of the following information, and if you are not aware, perhaps it may help your end of things.
AARP was granted amicus status in the Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners’ Association (Twin Rivers) case, which was led by the ACLU in New Jersey. This was a constitutional free speech case that was won by homeowners in the appellate court and then reversed by the NJ Supreme Court in favor of the Board of Directors. However, Twin Rivers was only about the in-house Newsletter and NOT an outside blog!
Just for the record, constitutional freedoms are not recognized in HOAs because they are essentially considered private property. The other entity granted amicus status in that case was the Community Associations Institute, and they were on the side of the Board, not the owners. The CAI argued
In other words, the CAI is not your friend, or any other owner’s friend. They are a trade association dedicated to the paid performers involved in HOAs – mainly the attorneys and property managers. They have absolutely no interest in your constitutional rights other than to see that you don’t receive them while living under their command. For more on this subject and others, see the 2007 Rutger’s Panel on Homeowner Associations: Problems and Solutions Conference.
I have now added your site to my frequently checked bookmarks. Please know that owners everywhere are on your side, many more than what the CAI claims are the numbers of unhappy residents and owners. I also have collected research and articles that may or may not be of interest to you, but I am happy to share.
Best wishes,
Carole (name supplied privately if you wish, but not publicly for fear of reprisals.)
The following was an email from Ray, a Deer Ridge owner who is an attorney, after receiving notice that the “board” had filed its $1 Million lawsuit against me. Ray, sent this email to the “board” and copied me and about a dozen other owners whose email addresses we have. (Please let me know if you would like to be on the email distribution list for all the stuff that goes on outside of the blog.)
Ray and other owners are outraged that Joe Thomas and the GGRC “board” are so easily squandering all of OUR money on their personal vendetta against me with this $1 million lawsuit.
The following was my email response back to Ray, the “board” and the rest of the list:
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