Deer Ridge Owners - Deer Ridge Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, Tennessee » Criminal Investigation

Tennessee Consumer Affairs Complaint Filed Against Joe Thomas – Attorney General Action Requested

Robert — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:43:58 +0000

We are filing an official complaint with the Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division against Joe Thomas, principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty and general manager of both Ridge Management Ltd., Inc. and Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club aka Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This complaint is primarily focused on what we believe are deceptive trade practices by Joe Thomas.

This Consumer Affairs complaint is in addition to the just completed complaint package that is being sent to the Tennessee Real Estate Commission requesting them to take disciplinary action against Joe Thomas for multiple violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker Act.

These alleged violations include deceptive trade practices, conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings, willful misrepresentations, wrongly acting for more than one party in Deer Ridge transactions without the knowledge and consent in writing of all parties, etc. . We are specifically requesting that their disciplinary actions include fines and permanent revocation of Joe Thomas’ Tennessee real estate license.

The attachment to the Consumer Affairs complaint form is essentially the same as the one that was used for our formal complaint filed with TREC – with the exception of a couple of paragraphs of additional information that we choose to keep confidential at this time.

The only hold up to sending these two packages is that the TREC form requires notarization. This will be done and the completed packages mailed to both TREC and Consumer Affairs either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

Four Separate Actions Against Joe Thomas – So Far

Once these packages are mailed, we will have four separate actions in process against Joe Thomas:

Tennessee Securities Division for securities fraud and other securities law violations, etc. Please click Securities Fraud for details.
Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) for multiple violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker Act, etc. Please click TREC for details.
Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division for deceptive trade practices, misrepresentations, etc.
Tennessee Attorney General for investigation and possible prosecution of actions related to the above three areas of focus, etc.

Pay attention, Joe: All of these great folks are from the government – and they are here to help you! Who knows? They might, just maybe, all show up at one time to help you all at once!

With regard to Item 1 above: Our complaint has been received by the Tennessee Securities Division, they have assigned an investigator and I have already spoken with the investigator to give additional information. As a consequence, this ticking time bomb is already getting closer to detonation!

Our hope is that each of these agencies will take appropriate actions to stop the ongoing pattern of deceptive trade practices, misrepresentations, securities fraud and discrimination that we believe are regularly perpetrated by Joe Thomas in his triple roles at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort that result in so much conflict of interest

Our hope is that both TREC and the Consumer Affairs Division will review our complaint and conclude that all of our allegations against Joe Thomas are not only fully accurate but that his past and future actions represent a true threat to the public. As such, we are requesting that he not only be sanctioned and substantially fined for his nefarious activities that have continued for more than a decade – but that his Tennessee real estate broker’s license will be permanently revoked so that he can no longer deceive those buying and selling Deer Ridge condos or other real estate in Tennessee.

File Your Own Consumer Affairs Complaint Against Joe Thomas

As described below, we believe we were intentionally deceived by Joe Thomas when we bought our condo at Deer Ridge. If you believe that Joe Thomas also deceived you when you bought your Deer Ridge condo, you are welcome to use the applicable part of our narrative in your own complaint. Simply take that information and complete your own complaint form against Joe Thomas. The Consumer Affairs complaint process and form are available by clicking “Book Em Danno”.

Note: It costs you nothing to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with Consumer Affairs. The great State of Tennessee will take care of it all for you, start to finish, without you having to spend a penny.

Allegations

Remember, as of now these are just my allegations of real estate and securities wrong doing by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan. I believe that I am 100% correct on these allegations based on my years of experience in the business. We will have to wait and see if any, or all, of the 19 states and/or the SEC agree with me or if TREC and Consumer Affairs agree with me.

Next Filings

We also hope to have the time this week to file a comprehensive securities fraud complaint with the SEC in Washington, D.C

Other state filings, starting with Florida State Securities Division, will be done over the next one to two weeks.

Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times. And, hopefully, with the help of the State of Tennessee Securities Division, Tennessee Real Estate Commission, Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division and the Tennessee Attorney General, we will make 2012 VERY interesting for the Gang of Six!

Tennessee Real Estate Commission Complaint Filed Against Broker Joe Thomas – License 281040

Robert — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:36:23 +0000

We are filing the following official complaint with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) against Joe Thomas, principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty and general manager of both Ridge Management Ltd., Inc. and Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club aka Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

All the paperwork, including the sworn affidavit and official complaint are done, the CD-ROM with 300 pages of supporting documents and evidence has been burned and the envelope for mailing is complete. The only hold up is that the TREC form requires notarization. This will be done and the entire package mailed to TREC either Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Securities Fraud Complaint Already Filed With Tennessee Securities Division

The TREC complaint is the next in a series of regulatory filings we intend to make against Joe Thomas and/or the GGRC and RML board for their roles in what we believe are ongoing securities fraud and other securities law violations, including multiple states and federal violations.

You can read all about my complaint filed with the Tennessee Securities Division by clicking Securities Fraud Complaint against President Luther Parker of Memphis, TN, Vice President Thomas Reise of Friendship, WI, Treasurer Larry Ohm, CPA of Grant Park, IL, Secretary David A. Barone of Monroe, NY and Director Margie Duncan of Florence, KY and Principal Broker and General Manager of RML and GGRC, Joseph Thomas of Kodak, TN.

(Update: The above complaint has been received by the Tennessee Securities Division, they have assigned an investigator and I have already spoken with the investigator to give additional information. As a consequence, this ticking time bomb is already getting closer to detonation!)

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch…TREC Complaint And Requested Actions Against Joe Thomas

This particular TREC complaint is currently only focused on Joe Thomas and what we believe are his multiple, serious violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973, as amended. These alleged violations include deceptive trade practices, conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings, willful misrepresentations, wrongly acting for more than one party in Deer Ridge transactions without the knowledge and consent in writing of all parties, etc. (Even though this complaint is solely focused against Joe Thomas, TREC may choose to include actions against Ridge Resort Realty and/or RML and its board.)

Our hope is that TREC will review our complaint and conclude that all of our allegations against Joe Thomas are not only fully accurate but that his past and future actions represent a true threat to the public. As such, we are requesting that he not only be sanctioned and substantially fined for his nefarious activities that have continued for more than a decade – but that his Tennessee real estate broker’s license will be permanently revoked so that he can no longer deceive those buying and selling Deer Ridge condos or other real estate in Tennessee.

File Your Own TREC Complaint Against Joe Thomas

As described below, we believe we were intentionally deceived by Joe Thomas when we bought our condo at Deer Ridge. If you believe that Joe Thomas also deceived you when you bought your Deer Ridge condo, you are welcome to use the applicable part of the below narrative in your own complaint. Simply take that information and complete your own complaint form against Joe Thomas. The TREC complaint process and form are available by clicking “Book Em Danno”.

Note: It costs you nothing to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with TREC. The great State of Tennessee will take care of it all for you, start to finish, without you having to spend a penny.

Their $1 Million Lawsuit

If you recall, a lot of this started when the Gang of Six (Joe Thomas and the “board”) filed a $1 million lawsuit against me for “slander, libel and ‘false light’, etc.” as a way of trying to silence my first amendment rights and to try to shut down this blog. That was two years ago – and we are still here. However, based on recent actions by the Gang, they are still delusional that their $1 million nuisance suit gives them a hammer to force my capitulation.

One of the things that the Gang doesn’t seem to understand: You can legitimately say bad things about people if you believe they are true. And, we have already proven that Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas, along with the rest of the board have perpetrated a $2 million fraud by falsely claiming that RML makes money for the HOA. (For details, click Luther Parker’s Big Lie.) We believe that this alone would easily convince a jury of our peers that we had the right to say what we have said and continue to say about Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang. In spite of this, the Gang continues to squander our HOA dues on legal fees in their ongoing vendetta to protect their own little private fiefdom called Deer Ridge.

As a consequence, and with the goal of showing even more proof to a jury of my peers, I am very aggressively pursuing appropriate regulatory rulings that will show that Joe Thomas and the rest of Gang, have had very unclean hands as a result of their massive, ongoing securities fraud, other state and federal securities law violations, deceptive trade practices and violations of Tennessee consumer protection and real estate laws.

Even a single favorable ruling by any of the regulatory agencies agreeing with our official complaints would be that much more proof to the jury that the $1 million lawsuit by the Gang of Six was nothing more than a retaliatory way of trying to suppress our free speech. Having been born and raise in Tennessee, I can tell you with absolute certainty, Tennesseans take their right to free speech VERY seriously. And, they will have no tolerance for the Gang’s actions.

Allegations

Next Filings

During the upcoming week, our regulatory filing of official complaints will include the Tennessee Consumer Protection Division which will be essentially identical to this official complaint filed with TREC. We also hope to have the time this week to file a comprehensive securities fraud complaint with the SEC in Washington, D.C

Other state filings, starting with Florida State Securities Division, will be done over the next one to two weeks.

The Official TREC Complaint

The following is the content of a letter that was attached to the TREC Complaint Form. Also, included in the envelope is a CD-ROM with 300 pages of supporting documents and other evidence.

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Complaint: Deceptive Trade Practices, Securities Fraud And More Against Tennessee Real Estate Broker
Joseph Thomas – Tennessee License 281040

Summary

This complaint being brought before the Tennessee Real Estate Commission specifically deals with my multiple complaints regarding Tennessee real estate broker Joseph Thomas of Kodak, Tennessee for conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings and other violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973.

The home phone number and home address of Joe Thomas are: (865) 932-1669 / 3229 Autumn Lane, Kodak, TN 37764. The Tennessee Real Estate License number for Joe Thomas is 281040.

To fully understand the extent of Joe Thomas’ alleged willful misrepresentations, deceptive trade practices, securities fraud and more, it is necessary to fully define his conflicting roles with three related companies: Ridge Management, Inc., Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club and Ridge Resort Reality.

Ridge Management Ltd, Inc. (“RML”) is a “for profit” Tennessee domestic corporation, with corporate offices at 3710 Weber Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738, and was originally incorporated December 29 1987. A copy of the current filing information (Control #198618), incorporation documents, stock certificate and articles of incorporation are included as Exhibit A. (All supporting documents are in Acrobat format and are contained in the included CD-ROM.)

RML is owned by the 84 owners who own individual condominiums at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which is governed by the Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club Condominium Association, Inc. (“GGRC”) in accordance with the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act. GGRC is a “non-profit” Tennessee domestic corporation with corporate offices at 3710 Weber Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738, and was originally incorporated March 13, 1984. A copy of the current filing information (Control # 139212) is also included in Exhibit A.

Joseph Thomas of Kodak, Tennessee serves as the General Manager of both GGRC and RML.

He also serves as Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty (“RRR”) (www.RidgeResortRealty.com ) which is a DBA of RML. As a consequence, Joe Thomas serves three major roles in companies all related to RRR, thereby creating a substantive conflict of interest that is not clearly disclosed to buyers of condos at Deer Ridge.

Many, if not most, owners of the 84 total outstanding shares of RML are believed to be unaccredited and unsophisticated investors. The prices for condos at Deer Ridge generally range from $35,000 to $90,000.

It is important to note that RML, under the direction of Joe Thomas, is not solely focused on providing motel services to Deer Ridge owners – but is, instead, a motel service that aggressively pursues cabins and other rental properties which are completely unaffiliated with Deer Ridge. However, in spite of RML expending up to $100,000 or more per year on advertising and marketing, this high risk small company has not been successful in competing in the motel business marketplace and has only signed up about a half dozen additional rental properties. As a consequence, based on corporate audits, RML has lost over $2 million during the past 16.5 years. As the following will show, this $2 million loss was funded by mandatory, illegitimate capital calls that were required to be paid by the real estate owners of all 84 units at Deer Ridge.

By way of background, for the past six plus years, I have been an owner of one of the 84 condo units at Deer Ridge governed by GGRC. As such, I am one of the 84 de facto shareholders of RML.

As an MBA, and the founder and past owner of Goodman Securities, Inc., a NASD Broker/Dealer company which was also a member of SIPC, I believe that I have the necessary credentials and background to recognize that RML, real estate broker Joe Thomas and the board of directors of RML have committed, and continue to commit, what I believe are major state and federal securities law violations including securities fraud exceeding $2 million.

As founder and CEO of a real estate investment company for 15 years that purchased, as a principal, over $100 million of income properties and managed over 45,000 rental units, I believe that I have the necessary credentials and background to recognize that Joe Thomas has committed, and continues to commit, willful misrepresentations, exhibit conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings and deceptive and fraudulent trade practices with regard to many millions of dollars or real estate transactions in Tennessee.

It is my contention that these willful misrepresentations, securities law violations and deceptive trade practices, which have been going on for more than a decade by Joe Thomas, have already resulted in many past and current condo owners being forced into personal bankruptcy and/or losing their Deer Ridge condo in foreclosure or have forced past owners to sell their unit at a significant loss.

As such, I respectfully request that the Tennessee Real Estate Commission thoroughly investigate these complaints for the protection of the past, current and future real estate purchasers of Deer Ridge condos and any and all other persons involved with Tennessee real estate transactions involving Joe Thomas.

Specific Complaints Against Joe Thomas

My complaints include the following allegations:

1. Joe Thomas, General Manager of both GGRC and RML, and the board continue to perpetrate a fraud on all owners by fraudulently claiming, as recently as 60 days ago, that RML has continually made money for the owners. Please see Exhibit B, Luther Parker Letter, dated November 15, 2011 and mailed to all Deer Ridge owners on or about December 1, 2011.

2. In spite of these fraudulent statements and willful misrepresentations, CPA audits commissioned by the corporation clearly show that RML has lost nearly $2 million of owner’s money during the past 16.5 years. This loss of $1,915,934 is calculated based on CPA audits completed by Hickman and Company, CPAs under the direction of Luther Parker, President, Larry Ohm, CPA and Treasurer – and Joe Thomas, General Manager. Please see Exhibit C for copies of all audits and a comprehensive analysis of the audited numbers.

3. This RML loss of $1,915,934 over the past 16.5 years equates to an average RML loss of $116,117 every year.

4. This annual average RML loss of $116,117 has been funded directly out of the pockets of all 84 Deer Ridge owners under the guise of increased, mandatory monthly HOA fees charged to all condo owners at Deer Ridge who happen to also be the stock holders of RML. Instead of the required capital for the operating deficit being funded by an optional capital call to all stockholders, the needed funds are fraudulently included in the monthly HOA fees that are required of all owners. These hidden equity payments continue to equal more than 40% of the contrived monthly HOA fee. Please see Exhibit D for a list of all current owners.

5. This annual average RML loss of $116,117 equals 40% of the $290,540 annual HOA fees collected from all owners of the 84 units at Deer Ridge. As a consequence, nearly half of all HOA fees paid in by the mostly unaccredited and unsophisticated owners are being squandered by this illegitimate corporation’s need for monthly capital infusions.

6. I contend that the actual RML losses are, in fact, much higher than the annual average RML loss of $116,117 shown on the audits. This is because the audits indicate various expense items that should rightfully be associated with and cost accounted with the motel operation of RML are, instead, spurious costs that are listed as expenses of GGRC. I believe that this is being done in order to intentionally deceive owners as to the actual losses that accrue each year from RML’s unprofitable motel operation.

7. RML was illegitimately formed by the board of directors of GGRC in 1987 without a vote of owners – and without providing owners any kind of disclosure or offering document that detailed the risks, management compensation, etc. of the unregistered security. In spite of it not being an approved Common Expense of GGRC, funding for this new corporation, RML, was pulled from the general operating account of GGRC, a non-profit corporation, which in turn was, and is, fully funded by the 84 owners of the condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. As such, RML has offered and continues to offer, unregistered securities to Tennessee residents along with residents of at least 18 other states. Please see Exhibit D.

8. Under the Securities Act of 1933, it is against the law for any company, or “issuer,” to sell securities without either registering the securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 5 of the Securities Act or relying upon a valid exemption from the registration requirements. Similarly, pursuant to each individual state’s “Blue Sky” laws, it is generally against the law to sell securities within a state without either registering the securities with the state’s securities regulatory agency or relying upon a valid state exemption from registration.

9. At no time has RML or GGRC ever issued any kind of Reg D private placement memorandum or any other offering document or any type of disclosure documents to the stockholders of RML. There has never been any discussion of risk factors, management compensation or limitations of transfer of ownership that could have tax consequences to both the stockholders and the corporation. Additionally, no investors were ever asked to complete any prospective purchaser questionnaires that asserted that they were accredited. Additionally, no Form D was filed with either the state of Tennessee or with the SEC in Washington, D.C. nor was there any filing fee paid in Tennessee for RML or GGRC to qualify for any securities exemptions. As a consequence, any securities offering made by RML or GGRC does not qualify for any exemptions contemplated by Tenn. Code. Ann. §48-2-103.

10. TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-102 provides that a security is defined to include investment contracts. An investment contract is an agreement wherein initial value is given and subjected to the risks of an enterprise, with a valuable benefit of some kind, over and above the initial value, being promised, but the investor does not receive meaningful rights to exercise practical or actual control over the managerial decisions of the enterprise. I believe that this definition of an investment contract includes an investment in a vacation home.

11. Please note from Joe Thomas’ current Real Estate Sales Package that is available to the general public, shown as Exhibit E, that he sells condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort as a “personal or corporate investment.” Joe Thomas is also currently advertising these investments in Deer Ridge condos in the mainstream media, thereby, in my opinion, publicly offering unregistered securities to Tennessee residents and engaging in securities fraud every time that he attempts to broker a real estate transaction at Deer Ridge.

12. In examining Exhibit E, “Joe Thomas Deer Ridge Sales Package, December 2011,” note the following reference: “GG&RC HOA Fees cover maintenance and upkeep of all commonly owned areas including but not limited to exterior lighting, parking lot, landscaping, playground, tennis court, picnic pavilion, recreation building including indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, game room, offices, golf membership and multi-peril insurance on the same.”

In spite of Joe Thomas’ insider knowledge and review of the annual audits, nowhere in his “disclosure” is any reference to the fact that 40% or more of the HOA fees listed are used to fund the average annual operating deficit of $116,117 of RML based on the corporation’s audits.

As a consequence, potential buyers are never told of major, unexpected, undisclosed risk factors prior to their purchase of a of a Deer Ridge condo: Their required ownership of stock in RML and their required ongoing, monthly capital infusions into a money losing venture called RML – and that their non-payment of these capital infusions into this money losing venture would result in foreclosure of their Deer Ridge real estate and contingent personal liability for any potential deficiency.

13. Buyers and owners of condos at Deer Ridge are given no choice of owning shares of RML. All owners must own a share of RML and are required to fund RML’s large operating deficits under the guise of required HOA fees that are nearly twice what would be required if RML were not funded by HOA fees. If owners object to this ongoing monthly capital call and do not pay, those owners are threatened with foreclosure of their home at Deer Ridge. This includes the 24 owners who do not use RML’s services – many of whom object to this illegitimately required monthly capital call funding into RML.

14. For example, when I bought my unit, Joe Thomas acted as both listing and selling broker on the transaction. At no time did Joe Thomas disclose any requirement for us to own a participating share of RML nor did he disclose that nearly half of the property’s annual HOA fees would be used to support a motel management company’s negative cash flow – even if we were not users of RML’s motel services. It is our understanding from recent property sales that Joe Thomas continues his historical lack of disclosure, his willful misrepresentations and his deceptive trade practices.

15. Additionally, Joe Thomas and the board of RML and GGRC have conspired to modify the required monthly HOA fees so that they do not match those percentages shown in the Master Deed and Bylaws. For example, the currently charged HOA fee for a one bedroom, one bath condo at Deer Ridge is, in fact, 82% higher each and every month than the percentages that would be paid according to the regime documents provided by Joe Thomas to us and other new buyers of 1-1 units.

In spite of his insider knowledge of this massive 82% discrepancy, Joe Thomas does not disclose this gross overcharge to new buyers of 1-1 units. (36% of all units at Deer Ridge are 1-1 units.) Most buyers would have a reasonable expectation that the property’s Master Deed and Bylaws would be followed by the HOA’s board. As general manager of GGRC, the property’s HOA, Joe Thomas clearly understands this discrepancy – especially in light of Joe Thomas, GGRC and each individual board member being named as co-defendants in a lawsuit in which this 82% overcharge is a key issue. In spite of Joe Thomas’ crystal clear knowledge of this 82% overcharge, the fact is still not properly disclosed on Deer Ridge sales in which he is a participating broker. Likewise, Joe Thomas does not disclose the existence of this current, potentially significant, litigation against the HOA to any new buyers of any sized units at Deer Ridge.

16. The fact that Joe Thomas also served then, and continues to serve, as General Manager of both GGRC and RML, as well as the principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty (a DBA of RML), gave and gives him complete knowledge and insights into the true operation of both corporations. As such, I contend that Joe Thomas knowingly and deviously omits these disclosures as part of his deceptive trade practices as a Tennessee real estate agent since many buyers, ourselves included, would have never bought a Deer Ridge condo if proper disclosure of these risk factors and gross overcharges had been properly made.

17. It is my contention that most buyers of small condos under $90,000 do not expect that they will also be unwilling stockholders in a money-losing motel business that will squander almost half of each year’s HOA fees. As such, the lack of this disclosure by broker and General Manager Joe Thomas is especially nefarious and fraudulent.

18. It is my contention that Joe Thomas , as General Manager and Principal Broker, is aided and abetted by all five members of the board of directors of RML, all of whom are co-conspirators in securities fraud and other securities law violations and have breached their fiduciary duties to all owners. The board members are President Luther Parker of Memphis, TN, Vice President Thomas Reise of Friendship, WI, Treasurer Larry Ohm, CPA of Grant Park, IL, Secretary David A. Barone of Monroe, NY and Director Margie Duncan of Florence, KY. General Manager of RML is Joseph Thomas of Kodak, TN. Please see Exhibit F for a complete listing including each individual’s home address, home telephone number and personal email address.

19. It is my contention that all five board members and Joe Thomas have conspired for years to fraudulently deceive owners at Deer Ridge regarding the profits and losses of RML in order for them to continue to operate their motel business for their own personal gain and benefits – none of which are disclosed to owners. These six individuals are concerned about the growing complaints of owners regarding having the highest HOA fees in the entire East Tennessee area. These six individuals are concerned that if the owners knew the truth about more than 40% of the HOA fees were used to cover the exorbitant annual losses of RML, these owners would take action to shut down this illegitimate corporation and cut their HOA fees in half. These six individuals are concerned that with an RML shut down, the benefits they uniquely receive from their motel business would be lost. I contend that this is the primary reason that Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, CPA and Joe Thomas lead this conspiracy to fraudulently lie to all owners about the profitability of RML.

20. TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-121 provides that it is unlawful for any person, in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of any security in this state, directly or indirectly, to make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading. In spite of the corporations’ audits showing a $2 million loss during the past 16.5 years, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas continue to falsely assert that RML is a profitable operation in order to intentionally mislead owners.

21. As a result of his inherent conflicts of interest from being the General Manager of RML from which he receives his primary compensation, Joe Thomas, as principal broker for RRR, has consistently discriminated against potential buyers of condos at Deer Ridge who he believed would be a resident owner or who would otherwise not use RML for rental activities. As such, I contend that Joe Thomas was, and is, wrongly acting for more than one party in Deer Ridge transaction without the knowledge and consent in writing of all parties. As such, sellers were not able to have all possible prospective buyers bid on their property. As such, many buyers who were interested in becoming a full time resident were directly, or through subterfuge, strongly discouraged from buying a condo at Deer Ridge. I contend that these malicious acts were, and are, motivated by Joe Thomas’ expectations of increased personal gain at the expense of owners wishing to sell their units.

22. Additionally, those owners who choose to not use RML’s motel services, such as the 24 current owners, continue to be subjected, under the direction of Joe Thomas, to significant discrimination, retaliatory actions and malicious slander and libel as well as being burdened with financial costs not borne by RML participants.

23. Many of these same board members and Joe Thomas have been in complete control of the board and the operation of Deer Ridge for a decade or more.

24. The company’s treasurer is Larry Ohm who claims to be a CPA in Illinois. I contend that because of his profession-required understanding of financial statements, Larry Ohm fully understands the audits and the nearly $2 million aggregate loss they show for the past 16.5 years. Yet, he continually and fraudulently misrepresents that RML is making the stockholders money. Please see Exhibit G which clearly shows Larry Ohm falsely stating that, “This clearly contradicts the accusations by anyone that HOA fees and special assessments are being utilized to pay for the costs of operating RML. In truth, in the past, it was RML that was providing a subsidy to GGRC.”

This fraudulent and misleading statement by Larry Ohm, CPA, was made to all owners in spite of 16 years of audits of the corporation clearly showing a $2 million loss, or an average loss of $116,117 every year for 16 years!

25. Exhibit H includes my Warranty Deed, complete closing statement package and my fully executed purchase contract with all attachments showing Joe Thomas as the only broker involved.

These documents show that there was never any disclosure of any kind made to me prior to closing that indicate in any way that I would be fraudulently forced to support a money losing corporation such as RML as part of my purchase or a residential condo. Again, if this had been properly and legitimately disclosed, I would have never considered closing on this transaction.

26. During the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have documentation that repeatedly pointed out to Joe Thomas and these board members that they are lying to the owners about RML’s profitability in light of the attached annual audits that they themselves commission each year. Therefore, there can be no legitimate claim by any board member or General Manager Joe Thomas that they had no knowledge of the facts.

27. In spite of numerous attempts, during the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have never received a copy of the Administrator’s Book that lists all income and disbursements, along with supporting vouchers. This Administrator’s Book, in this specific format, is required by the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act (§66-27 -113.) It is my understanding that Joe Thomas and the board have never made this Administrator’s Book available to any owner. Ever. As a consequence, no owner or stockholder in RML has ever been allowed to see the books and records as required by Tennessee state law. It is my contention that this stonewalling is driven by the conspiring board’s strong desire to hide certain transactions from the scrutiny of the stockholders – and it is my belief that these hidden transactions hide multiple acts of malfeasance.

Again, based on my 15 plus years of experience from acquiring $100 million of income property and managing 45,000 rental units – and my many years of experience from owning a NASD broker-dealer and my involvement with numerous private placement offerings and the applicable state and federal securities laws that control such offerings, I strongly believe there may be major, ongoing malfeasance that is negatively impacting the owners of condos at Deer Ridge.

The owners at Deer Ridge are mostly unaccredited investors who, in my opinion, are being consistently and deliberately deceived and victimized by a conspiracy of Joe Thomas and the board of directors of both RML and GGRC who are personally benefiting from these deceptions. I believe that these ongoing activities, deceptive trade practices and material misrepresentations are violations of the Tennessee Securities Act of 1980, as amended, and violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973, as amended, and put the public at significant risk of immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage.

Based on the above allegations and the enclosed exhibits, I believe that your investigation will find that Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA and the rest of the board continue to perpetrate willful misrepresentations, conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent or dishonest dealings and numerous and substantial securities law violations to the financial determent of past, current and future owners of condos at Deer Ridge.

I have already filed a complaint for securities fraud with the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee asking that they investigate this complaint for the protection of the current and future owners of stock in RML. They have already assigned an investigator who has initiated a comprehensive review of the facts from a securities perspective.

Additionally, I have hired an attorney and we have filed several court actions against Joe Thomas as a result of his willful misrepresentations, deceptive trade practices, violations of securities laws and other nefarious acts.

I am not looking to the Tennessee Real Estate Commission for any recovery of funds to which I may be entitled. I shall look to the courts for that relief.

However, it is my strong belief that the public needs to be protected from Joe Thomas – and that he should not only be sanctioned and substantially fined by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission – but should have his Tennessee real estate license permanently revoked to prevent him from continuing to victimize, mislead and deceive any more real estate buyers and sellers in our great State.

I will be glad to be of help to your investigation and will gladly testify at any hearings concerning this matter.

Not only can I provide your department with numerous additional documents and evidence not contained on the enclosed CD-ROM, I will gladly meet with you at your convenience or discuss these allegations on the phone in order to expedite your review of the facts concerning the multitude real estate violations of Joe Thomas.

Thank you for your consideration of my complaint.

Sincerely,

Robert Goodman

PS: Much of this legal fight is fully documented at my blog www.DeerRidgeOwners.com. This blog has between 35,000 and 50,000 page views per month – with interested viewers all over the country watching to see what justice can be found in the great State of Tennessee.

I hope that the actions of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission will show the nation that we Tennesseans will not tolerate real estate fraud, deceptive trade practices, securities fraud and other securities law violations – and that even unaccredited and unsophisticated real estate buyers will be protected.

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Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times. And, hopefully, with the help of the State of Tennessee Securities Division and the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, we will make 2012 VERY interesting for the Gang of Six!

Investigator Assigned In Deer Ridge Securities Fraud Complaint

Robert — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:43:58 +0000

FLASH NEWS!

As you have read here, I have filed a securities fraud complaint against RML, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas and all “board members” of Ridge Management Ltd, Inc.

This first complaint for securities law violations was filed with the State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Securities Division in Nashville.

I received a letter from them yesterday stating that an investigator has been assigned to the case.

Obviously, this is only the first step in their determining if there is probable cause to believe there has been a violation, or violations, of the Tennessee Securities Act of 1980 in order for them to refer evidence of violations for criminal or administrative action.

You can read all about my securities fraud complaint against RML, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas and all “board members” of Ridge Management Ltd, Inc. by clicking “Book ‘em Danno!”

There, you can also see how you can file your own securities fraud complaint against the Gang of Six!

Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times….and things, I hope, may get VERY interesting VERY soon!

Securities Fraud Complaint Filed Against RML, Luther Parker, CPA Larry Ohm, Joe Thomas And All Board Members

Robert — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:35:04 +0000

The first of several securities fraud complaints was filed today against RML, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas and all “board members” of Ridge Management Ltd, Inc.

This first complaint for securities law violations was filed with the State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Securities Division in Nashville. Below you can see the completed form. Attached to the form was the following information along with an included CD-ROM that provides copies of nearly 300 pages of applicable documents and evidence.

Since the current ownership of all 84 units at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort include domiciles in 19 states, I intend to file similar complaints for securities fraud, and other securities law violations, with each of those additional 18 individual states securities divisions. Additionally, since four of the five board members live outside of Tennessee and since ownership is spread across 19 states, I intend to file a similar complaint for securities fraud and other securities law violations with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington D.C. since the geographically diverse ownership makes it a federal case. (Note: If an owner’s home address is in any particular state, then almost always, that state’s unique and specific securities laws must also be followed to the letter – as well as the securities laws of the state of Tennessee.)

As I have previously mentioned here, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas all have continued to falsely represent that RML makes money and does not cost our GGRC HOA and the Deer Ridge owners money. In spite of me showing my proof that RML has lost us $2 million during the past 16.5 years BASED ON THEIR AUDITS, the Gang of Six refuses to admit their lies.

I have asked Luther Parker for his proof of his statements in his November 15, 2011 letter that was sent to all owners, “RML does not cost the HOA. In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year. The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML. HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Folks, these statements by Luther Parker are lies.

And I am tired of Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan intentionally misleading all owners regarding this hugely important and pivotal matter. Luther has not come forward with any proof. So, I intend to force him to prove his statements were true to state authorities – in lots of states.

Based on my experience gained from starting and owning my own National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) broker-dealer corporation and being a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SPIC), and having raised $25 million from investors and venture capital, I know something about state and federal securities laws. And it is my opinion, based on all of that experience, that these kinds of lies told repeatedly by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan should be considered securities fraud.

Additionally, since buying any condo at Deer Ridge requires that any owner become a de facto stockholder of RML, at least 40% of all owners’ HOA fees will be squandered by feeding RML’s massive negative cash flow. Since every new owner, along with all existing owners, are forced to fund this ongoing need for capital contributions into the illegitimate RML, I believe that additional, ongoing major securities fraud is committed by Joe Thomas every time he sells a condo.

This is because Joe Thomas NEVER tells buyers they will be forced to own part of RML and fund these huge negative cash flows. I believe that this despicable and intentional lack of disclosure by Joe Thomas probably violates multiple other state and federal securities laws as well as being violations of the rules and regulations of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.

RML Is A Corporation That Issued Shares And Is Required To Abide By Securities Law

Whether the Gang of Six likes it or not, Ridge Management Ltd, Inc. is a corporation that is governed by securities laws in Tennessee and elsewhere. As such, these securities laws regulate what can be done, how it can be done and what can be said or not said with regard to RML.

One of the things officers and directors cannot do is lie and mislead investors in the corporation.

If I am showing, based on the corporation’s own audits, that RML lost $2 million during the past 16.5 years, you can easily verify my statement and my math by reviewing the same audits. The same is true for the Securities Division of Tennessee, and all other securities agencies and the SEC.

Luther Parker made his above statements about a month ago. I’ve asked him to prove it. He has chosen once again to ignore owners’ demands of proof – and has not provided an iota of proof of his statement. Again, this is Luther Parker’s most recent published lie, “RML does not cost the HOA. In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year. The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML. HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Uh huh.

Now, he can try to prove every nuance of those statements to the Securities Division of Tennessee. And, they won’t take his empty, arm waving and name calling as proof of anything! Plus, they have their own forensic accountants and forensic computer experts who know how to find malfeasance and ferret out the REAL truth.

Better get ready, boys, they are from the government – and they are here to help you!

Securities Division of Tennessee – An Agency With Big Teeth

Just so you know, the Securities Division of Tennessee is not some toothless state agency without power to force compliance. Actually, it is just the opposite. It can fine both the corporation and/or the individuals associated with the corporation for all sorts of securities law violations.

A review of recent actions taken by the Securities Division of Tennessee shows that they have forced consent decrees, taken away licenses, shut down companies and have fined individuals involved with various securities law violations, including securities fraud, with personal fines exceeding $500,000 for EACH person involved and for EACH violation. These are for civil violations. If they uncover criminal violations, those charges and actions are dealt with separately and IN ADDITION to the punishments and fines for civil violations.

I would call that some major teeth, n’cest pas?

Just The Start

Virtually every state has a securities division or agency similar to the Securities Division of Tennessee. And each one has similar kinds of teeth for similar kinds of securities fraud.

Of course, if you think that’s bad – well, then we also have the Securities Exchange Commission to help us out since Deer Ridge and RML fall under federal scrutiny too. The SEC has monster teeth.

These are the same folks that sent Martha Stewart and Bearnie Madoff to prison after charging them with securities fraud and other securities law violations. The SEC has already charged 87 CEOs, CFOs and other senior officers and their banks and mortgage companies in the 2008 Financial Crisis with securities violations and have already fined these officers and directors with nearly $2 billion in penalties, disgorgement and other monetary relief.

The Word of Today For The Gang of Six: Disgorgement

Disgorgement is repayment of ill-gotten gains that is imposed on wrong-doers by the courts. Funds that were received through illegal or unethical business transactions such as securities law violations are disgorged, or paid back, with interest to those affected by the action.

Individuals or companies that violate Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations are typically required to pay both civil money penalties and disgorgement. Civil money penalties are punitive, while disgorgement is about paying back profits made from those actions that violated the SEC’s regulations. However, disgorgement payments are not only demanded of those who violate securities regulations. Anyone profiting from illegal or unethical activities may be civilly required to disgorge their profits.

My expectation is that the SEC and the various state securities agencies will take this same approach of disgorgement with regard to the $2 million Luther Parker lie, and all the OTHER lies and misrepresentations, and force this kind of repayment to ALL past and current owners at Deer Ridge. (Yes, folks, even those of you who have already sold your unit or lost it in foreclosure or forced to sell at a loss may be covered by the complaint process – so be sure and file your own complaint! See below.)

Based on everything I know about securities law – and the MANY ways that things are wrongly done at Deer Ridge and the way lies have been told for years along with all the massive, misleading misrepresentations – I think the SEC might find it interesting to research ALL the ways that this fiefdom has been run for so many years – and the millions of dollars it has cost past and current owners.

Allegations

Remember, as of now these are just my allegations of securities wrong doing by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan. I believe that I am 100% correct on these allegations based on my years of experience in the business. We will have to wait and see if any, or all, of the 19 states and/or the SEC agree with me.

Below the line is what I filed with the official complaint form for the Securities Division of Tennessee. If you would like to file your own securities law violations complaint against RML and/or the individual members of the Gang of Six with the Tennessee Securities Division, just click “Book ‘em Danno!”

Note: It costs you nothing to file a securities law complaint against RML and the Gang of Six. The great State of Tennessee will take care of it all for you, start to finish, without you having to spend a penny. The same is true for the SEC – and probably every one of the other 18 states where Deer Ridge owners live.

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Investor Complaint For Securities Fraud And Other Securities Law Violations Filed Against Ridge Management LTD, Inc.
and
President Luther Parker, Treasurer Larry Ohm CPA, General Manager Joe Thomas, Vice President Tom Reise, Secretary David Barone and Director Margie Duncan

Summary

Luther Parker, of Memphis, Tennessee, serves as the President of both GGRC and RML.

RML is a rental company that provides motel services for certain Deer Ridge owners, and other real estate owners who do not own a Deer Ridge unit, who wish to rent their individual condo or cabin. Only about 60 of the 84 units at Deer Ridge currently use the motel services of RML. The other 24 owners do not rent their condo or use another rental management company. It is important to note that RML is not solely focused on providing motel services to Deer Ridge owners – but is, instead, a motel service that aggressively pursues cabins and other rental properties which are completely unaffiliated with Deer Ridge. However, in spite of RML expending up to $100,000 and more each year in advertising and marketing, this high risk small company has not been successful in competing in the motel business marketplace and has only signed up about a half dozen additional rental properties.

As a consequence, based on corporate audits, RML has lost $2 million during the past 16.5 years. As the following will show, this $2 million loss was funded by illegitimate capital calls.

By way of background, for the past six plus years, I have been an owner of one of the 84 condo units governed by GGRC. As such, I am one of the 84 de facto shareholders of RML.

As an MBA, and the founder and past owner of a NASD Broker/Dealer company which was also a member of SIPC, I believe that I have the necessary credentials and background to recognize that RML has committed, and continues to commit, what I believe are major state and federal securities law violations including securities fraud exceeding $2 million.

I believe that many of these violations may include current criminal conduct as well as blatant civil violations including ongoing securities fraud happening on a monthly basis.

It is my contention that these securities law violations, which have been going on for more than two decades, have already resulted in many past and current stockholders being forced into personal bankruptcy and/or losing their Deer Ridge condo in foreclosure or have been forced to sell their unit at a significant loss.

Currently, the owners of the 84 units at Deer Ridge are comprised of approximately 14 owners who live in Tennessee and 70 who have domicile addresses in 18 other states.

As such, since securities laws for other jurisdictions are clearly involved, we intend on contacting the state agency for securities laws in each of those 18 other states as well as the Securities Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. for issues regarding federal law. We intend on sending those agencies this same information in this letter along with a copy of the enclosed CD-ROM that contains the supporting documents and evidence.

However, since I am a born and raised Tennessee resident, and since the corporations involved are domestic and under your jurisdiction, I wanted to first contact your department regarding these securities violations so that you could have a head start on enforcement and compliance.

As such, I respectfully request that the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee thoroughly investigate this complaint for the protection of the past, current and future owners of common stock in RML.

Investor Complaints

My investor complaint includes the following allegations:

Luther Parker, President of both GGRC and RML, continues to perpetrate a fraud on all stockholders by fraudulently claiming, as recently as 30 days ago, that RML has continually made money for the owners. Please see Exhibit B, Luther Parker Letter, dated November 15, 2011 and mailed to all Deer Ridge owners on or about December 1, 2011.
In spite of the fraudulent claims by Luther Parker, CPA audits commissioned by the corporation clearly show that RML has lost nearly $2 million of investors’ money during the past 16.5 years. This loss of $1,915,934 is calculated based on CPA audits completed by Hickman and Company, CPAs under the direction of Luther Parker, President, Larry Ohm, CPA and Treasurer and Joe Thomas, General Manager. Please see Exhibit C for copies of all audits and a comprehensive analysis of the audited numbers.
This RML loss of $1,915,934 over the past 16.5 years equates to an average RML loss of $116,117 every year.
This annual average RML loss of $116,117 is funded directly out of the pockets of all 84 Deer Ridge owners under the guise of increased monthly HOA fees to all condo owners at Deer Ridge who happen to also be the stock holders of RML. Instead of the required capital for the operating deficit being funded by an optional capital call to all stockholders, the needed funds are fraudulently included in the monthly HOA fees that are required of all owners. These hidden equity payments continue to equal more than 40% of the contrived monthly HOA fee. Please see Exhibit D for a list of all current stockholders.
This annual average RML loss of $116,117 equals 40% of the $290,540 annual HOA fees collected from all owners of the 84 units at Deer Ridge. As a consequence, nearly half of all HOA fees paid in by the mostly unaccredited and unsophisticated investors are being squandered by this illegitimate corporation’s need for monthly capital infusions.
I contend that the actual RML losses are, in fact, much higher than the annual average RML loss of $116,117 shown on the audits. This is because the audits indicate various expense items that should rightfully be associated with and cost accounted with the motel operation of RML are, instead, spurious costs that are listed as expenses of GGRC. I believe that this is being done in order to intentionally deceive stockholders as to the actual losses that accrue each year from RML’s unprofitable motel operation.
RML was illegitimately formed by the board of directors of GGRC in 1987 without a vote of owners – and without providing owners any kind of disclosure or offering document that detailed the risks, management compensation, etc. of the unregistered security. In spite of it not being an approved Common Expense of GGRC, funding for this new corporation, RML, was pulled from the general operating account of GGRC, a non-profit corporation, which in turn was, and is, fully funded by the 84 owners of the condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. As such, RML has offered and continues to offer, unregistered securities to Tennessee residents along with residents of at least 18 other states. Please see Exhibit D.
Under the Securities Act of 1933, it is against the law for any company, or “issuer,” to sell securities without either registering the securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 5 of the Securities Act or relying upon a valid exemption from the registration requirements. Similarly, pursuant to each individual state’s “Blue Sky” laws, it is generally against the law to sell securities within a state without either registering the securities with the state’s securities regulatory agency or relying upon a valid state exemption from registration.
At no time has RML or GGRC ever issued any kind of Reg D private placement memorandum or any other offering document or any type of disclosure documents to the stockholders of RML. There has never been any discussion of risk factors, management compensation or limitations of transfer of ownership that could have tax consequences to both the stockholders and the corporation. Additionally, no investors were ever asked to complete any prospective purchaser questionnaires that asserted that they were accredited. Additionally, no Form D was filed with either the state of Tennessee or with the SEC in Washington, D.C. nor was there any filing fee paid in Tennessee for RML or GGRC to qualify for any securities exemptions. As a consequence, any securities offering made by RML or GGRC does not qualify for any exemptions contemplated by Tenn. Code. Ann. §48-2-103.
TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-102 provides that a security is defined to include investment contracts. An investment contract is an agreement wherein initial value is given and subjected to the risks of an enterprise, with a valuable benefit of some kind, over and above the initial value, being promised, but the investor does not receive meaningful rights to exercise practical or actual control over the managerial decisions of the enterprise. I believe that this definition of an investment contract includes an investment in a vacation home. Please note from Joe Thomas’ current Real Estate Sales Package that is available to the general public, shown as Exhibit E, that he sells condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort as a “personal or corporate investment.” Joe Thomas is also currently advertising these investments in the mainstream media, thereby, in my opinion, publicly offering unregistered securities to Tennessee residents and engaging in securities fraud.
In examining Exhibit E, “Joe Thomas Deer Ridge Sales Package, December 2011,” note the following reference: “GG&RC HOA Fees cover maintenance and upkeep of all commonly owned areas including but not limited to exterior lighting, parking lot, landscaping, playground, tennis court, picnic pavilion, recreation building including indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, game room, offices, golf membership and multi-peril insurance on the same.” In spite of Joe Thomas’ insider knowledge and review of the annual audits, nowhere in his “disclosure” is any reference to the fact that 40% or more of the HOA fees listed are used to fund the average annual operating deficit of $116,117 of RML based on the corporation’s audits. As a consequence, buyers of condos at Deer Ridge are never told of this ongoing capital call requirement, and major risk factor, prior to their purchase of a condo.
Buyers and owners of condos at Deer Ridge are given no choice of owning shares of RML. All owners must own a share of RML and are required to fund RML’s large operating deficits under the guise of required HOA fees that are nearly twice what would be required if RML were not funded by HOA fees. If owners object to this ongoing monthly capital call and do not pay, those owners are threatened with foreclosure of their home at Deer Ridge. This includes the 24 owners who do not use RML’s services – many of whom object to this illegitimately required monthly capital call funding into RML.
Additionally, there continues to be a complete lack of any disclosure whatsoever regarding the required, ongoing, monthly capital call funding for RML’s negative cash flow when a new owner purchases a condo at Deer Ridge. For example, when I bought my unit, Joe Thomas acted as both listing and selling broker on the transaction. At no time did Joe Thomas disclose any requirement for us to own a participating share of RML nor did he disclose that nearly half of the property’s annual HOA fees would be used to support a motel management company’s negative cash flow – even if we were not users of RML’s motel services. It is our understanding from recent property sales that Joe Thomas continues his historical lack of disclosure.
The fact that Joe Thomas also served then, and continues to serve, as General Manager of both GGRC and RML, as well as the principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty (a DBA of RML), gave and gives him complete knowledge and insights into the true operation of both corporations. As such, I contend that Joe Thomas knowingly and deviously omits this disclosure as part of his deceptive trade practices as a real estate agent since many buyers, ourselves included, would have never bought a Deer Ridge condo if proper disclosure of this risk factor had been properly made.
It is my contention that most buyers of small condos under $90,000 do not expect that they will also be unwilling stockholders in a money-losing motel business that will squander almost half of each year’s HOA fees. As such, the lack of this disclosure by broker and General Manager Joe Thomas is especially nefarious and fraudulent.
It is my contention that Luther Parker, president, is aided and abetted by all four other members of the board of directors and the company’s general manager, all of whom are co-conspirators in securities fraud and other securities law violations and have breached their fiduciary duties to all stockholders. The board members are President Luther Parker of Memphis, TN, Vice President Thomas Reise of Friendship, WI, Treasurer Larry Ohm, CPA of Grant Park, IL, Secretary David A. Barone of Monroe, NY and Director Margie Duncan of Florence, KY. General Manager of RML is Joseph Thomas of Kodak, TN. Please see Exhibit F for a complete listing including each individual’s home address, home telephone number and personal email address.
It is my contention that all five board members and Joe Thomas have conspired for years to fraudulently deceive owners at Deer Ridge regarding the profits and losses of RML in order for them to continue to operate their motel business for their own personal gain and benefits – none of which are disclosed to owners. These six individuals are concerned about the growing complaints of owners regarding having the highest HOA fees in the entire East Tennessee area. These six individuals are concerned that if the owners knew the truth about more than 40% of the HOA fees were used to cover the exorbitant losses of RML, these owners would take action to shut down this illegitimate corporation and cut their HOA fees in half. These six individuals are concerned that with an RML shut down, the benefits they uniquely receive from their motel business would be lost. I contend that this is the primary reason that Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, CPA and Joe Thomas lead this conspiracy to fraudulently lie to all owners about the profitability of RML.
TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-121 provides that it is unlawful for any person, in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of any security in this state, directly or indirectly, to make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading. In spite of the corporations’ audits showing a $2 million loss during the past 16.5 years, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas continue to falsely assert that RML is a profitable operation in order to intentionally mislead stockholders.
Additionally, those who choose to not use RML’s motel services, such as 24 current owners, are subjected to significant discrimination, retaliatory actions and malicious slander and libel as well as being burdened with financial costs not borne by RML participants.
Many of these same board members and Joe Thomas have been in complete control of the board and the operation of Deer Ridge for a decade or more.
The company’s treasurer is Larry Ohm who claims to be a CPA in Illinois. I contend that because of his profession-required understanding of financial statements, Larry Ohm fully understands the audits and the nearly $2 million aggregate loss they show for the past 16.5 years. Yet, he continually and fraudulently misrepresents that RML is making the stockholders money. Please see Exhibit G which clearly shows Larry Ohm falsely stating that, “This clearly contradicts the accusations by anyone that HOA fees and special assessments are being utilized to pay for the costs of operating RML. In truth, in the past, it was RML that was providing a subsidy to GGRC.” This fraudulent and misleading statement by Larry Ohm, CPA, was made to all owners in spite of 16 years of audits of the corporation clearly showing a $2 million loss, or an average loss of $116,117 every year for 16 years!
Exhibit H includes my Warranty Deed, complete closing statement package and my fully executed purchase contract with all attachments showing Joe Thomas as the only broker involved. These documents show that there was never any disclosure of any kind made to me prior to closing that indicate in any way that I would be fraudulently forced to support a money losing corporation such as RML as part of my purchase or a residential condo. Again, if this had been properly and legitimately disclosed, I would have never considered closing on this transaction.
During the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have documentation that repeatedly pointed out to these board members that they are lying to the owners about RML’s profitability in light of the attached annual audits that they themselves commission each year. Therefore, there can be no legitimate claim by any board member or General Manager Joe Thomas that they had no knowledge of the facts.
In spite of numerous attempts, during the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have never received a copy of the Administrator’s Book that lists all income and disbursements, along with supporting vouchers. This Administrator’s Book, in this specific format, is required by the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act (§66-27 -113.) It is my understanding that Joe Thomas and the board have never made this Administrator’s Book available to any owner. Ever. As a consequence, no owner or stockholder in RML has ever been allowed to see the books and records as required by Tennessee state law. It is my contention that this stonewalling is driven by the conspiring board’s strong desire to hide certain transactions from the scrutiny of the stockholders – and it is my belief that these hidden transactions hide multiple acts of malfeasance.

Again, based on my many years of experience from owning a NASD broker-dealer and my involvement with numerous private placement offerings and the applicable state and federal securities laws that control such offerings, I strongly believe there may be major, ongoing malfeasance that is negatively impacting the stockholders of RML.

The owners at Deer Ridge are mostly unaccredited investors who, in my opinion, are being consistently and deliberately deceived and victimized by a conspiracy by the board of directors of both RML and GGRC who are personally benefiting from these deceptions. I believe that these ongoing activities and material misrepresentations are violations of the Tennessee Securities Act of 1980, as amended, and put the public at significant risk of immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage.

Based on the above allegations and the enclosed exhibits, I believe that your investigation will find that Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA and the rest of the board continue to perpetrate numerous and substantial securities law violations to the financial determent of past, current and future stockholders of RML.

I respectfully request that the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee investigate this complaint for the protection of the current and future owners of stock in RML.

I will be glad to be of help to your investigation.

Thank you for your consideration of my complaint.

Sincerely,

Robert Goodman

I hope that the actions of the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee will show the nation that we will not tolerate securities fraud and other securities law violations – and that even unaccredited and unsophisticated investors will be protected.

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Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times. And, hopefully, with the help of the State of Tennessee Securities Division, we will make 2012 VERY interesting for the Gang of Six!

King of All Vegas Real Estate Scams – From Bloomberg Businessweek

Robert — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:50:38 +0000

From Bloomberg Businessweek – December 8, 2011

This article was recommended by one of readers. Ron said, “I thought you might find this article instructive, especially about the kneecap job! I don’t have a dog in your fight, but I’m rooting for you.” You can draw your own parallels with regard to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!

A twisted tale of how homeowners were bilked by those they least suspected: their neighbors!

By Felix Gillette

Before the market crashed and home prices tumbled, before federal investigators showed up and hauled away the community records, before her property managers plead guilty for conspiring to rig neighborhood elections, and before her real estate lawyer allegedly tried to commit suicide by overdosing on drugs and setting fire to her home, Wanda Murray thought that buying a condominium in Las Vegas was a pretty good idea.

At first glance, Murray doesn’t look much like the type of person who would arrive in Las Vegas only to get tangled up in and eventually help unravel a complex criminal conspiracy. At 65, she stares out at the world through thick glasses. She is legally blind. Her eyes never quite seem to focus on any one thing. On a recent Friday morning, she sits at her dining room table wearing a zip-up leopard-print sweatshirt and recounts how she helped to foil a group of lawyers and contractors running amok in Sin City. “They didn’t think there would be four old ladies who wouldn’t put up with their stuff,” says Murray. “They really pissed me off.”

Before moving to Las Vegas, Murray and her husband ran a children’s dance studio in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Every so often, they would travel to Las Vegas on vacation. They loved the warm, dry weather. A poolside condo, far away from the Minnesota winters and a short drive from the Bellagio fountains, seemed like the perfect place to retire.

In 2002 they bought a two-bedroom condo for $105,250 in a new gated community, the Vistana, on the southwest outskirts of the city. The development’s architecture consisted of vaguely Spanish-style stuccoed buildings with ruddy tiled roofs. All told, there were 732 units in the subdivision, hundreds of imported palm trees, three swimming pools, and one cloudless Nevada sky.

Condominium complexes such as the Vistana were springing up across the city. Fueled by low interest rates and feverish demand, there were 32,964 closings on new condominiums and apartment conversions in Las Vegas from 2002 to 2007, according to Restrepo Consulting Group. At the same time, the building boom was creating a growing market for the contractors who fixed the construction problems, such as leaky roofs or faulty electrical outlets, that emerged at the hastily built developments.

In Las Vegas these large-scale repair jobs often involved lawsuits. There were a handful of lawyers in town who specialized in such suits, which pitted the collective owners of a gated community—in the form of nonprofit neighborhood corporations known as homeowner associations—against their developers.

As Las Vegas’s housing supply exploded, so did the competition among lawyers and contractors to represent new homeowner associations in so-called construction-defect lawsuits. It was in this environment, according to plea agreements recently unsealed in an ongoing FBI investigation, that a shadowy outfit cooked up a brazen scheme.

When a new development was nearing completion, the group would buy a couple of units in the community and then transfer partial ownership of the condos to individuals secretly on its payroll, according to court documents. While pretending to be residents of the communities, these “straw buyers” would run for leadership positions on boards of the new homeowner associations. By paying off community managers, hiring private investigators to find dirt on legitimate candidates, and rigging elections, the documents allege, the straw buyers were able to infiltrate boards at several new developments in Las Vegas from 2003 to 2008. Once in control of the boards, the straw buyers would then use their governing positions to steer millions of dollars in construction and legal fees back to their co-conspirators. Targets included the Chateau Nouveau, Chateau Versailles, Park Avenue, Palmilla Townhomes, Jasmine, Pebble Creek, Mission Ridge, Mission Pointe, Horizons at Seven Hills, Sunset Cliffs, and the Vistana.

An FBI spokesperson says that for the time being the agency is not commenting on the case. But already the investigation has provided a window into yet another layer of corruption that took place amid the national housing boom and its subsequent hangover—a period that saw a surge in real estate malfeasance of every imaginable variety, including false loan applications, predatory lending schemes, illegal property flipping, equity skimming, and “air loans” (loans for property that doesn’t exist). According to FBI data, the number of suspicious activity reports related to real estate fraud filed by financial institutions jumped to 67,190 in 2009 from 6,936 in 2003.

To this history, Las Vegas has managed to add another florid chapter. So far, prosecutors have reached plea agreements with 10 co-conspirators. Many more are expected to appear in front of judges in the coming months. Says Murray: “We’re all going to be sitting in the front row, watching.”

Not long after moving into the Vistana in 2002, Murray got a letter in the mail from Nancy Quon, a partner at the local law firm Quon Bruce Christensen. Parts of the development hadn’t even been painted yet, and already Quon was soliciting homeowners for a possible construction defect suit.

Among her drab fellow attorneys, clerks, and paralegals, Quon stood out. She had long dark hair, hazel eyes, and pale skin. She drove a red Lexus convertible. During her 10-year marriage to an insurance attorney, she had two daughters and worked as a legal secretary. After a divorce in 1988 she went back to school and earned a law degree. One of her best friends was a Las Vegas judge. At night they did Pilates together.

For years, Quon co-hosted a TV show on Channel 2, Homeowner Talk, in which she gave viewers advice about the city’s razzle-dazzle real estate market. A wine connoisseur, Quon sometimes gave bottles she had collected to charity.

After moving into the Vistana, Murray volunteered to fill a temporary vacancy on the community’s fledgling homeowner association board. The five-member board would be responsible for governing the day-to-day operations of the development. At the time, she says, there wasn’t much competition over the unpaid positions, which were low on perks and high on potential hassles.

In those early days, according to three longtime residents, construction problems at the Vistana were numerous but relatively minor. Some of the units had leaky roofs and windows. There were civil engineering issues involving the sidewalks. The internal fire and security systems didn’t work. Insulation, soundproofing, and plumbing needed fixing in some units.

In July 2003 the board members voted to retain the law firm Angius & Terry—rather than Nancy Quon’s firm—to represent them in a construction defect suit against their developer, Rhodes Homes. According to Murray, Quon told the Vistana residents, “I’ll be back.” Through her public-relations representative, Quon declined an interview request.

In the summer of 2004, Angius & Terry initiated the suit against Rhodes Homes. At the time, says Murray, the potential for a speedy settlement seemed promising. Rhodes Homes has since declared bankruptcy, and a representative for developer James Rhodes declined an interview request.

Murray first sensed trouble the following October, when the Vistana held its annual board election. The results were surprising. Two newcomers, an ex-cop and a union foreman, won spots on the board. It was odd, if only because nobody recalled seeing much of either man around the neighborhood. Shortly after, the two appointed another stranger to a vacant position.

In Nevada, state law requires that to serve on a homeowner association board, an individual must own property in the development. On a hunch, Murray and a group of her neighbors pulled some property records. As it turned out, the newest appointee had recently purchased a mere 0.5 percent of a single condo at the Vistana. Digging around a little bit, the Vistana residents claim they found records that the new board members were employees of Silver Lining Construction.

Murray wasn’t sure why somebody who didn’t actually live in a condo community would want to serve on its unpaid board. It seemed suspicious. In the weeks to come, Murray, along with three other like-minded ladies at the Vistana, formed a kind of amateur detective agency. They searched state property records. They dug deep into Google (GOOG) search results. They even did the occasional stakeout. The more they investigated, the more arrows they found pointing to Silver Lining Construction.

The change at the Vistana came fast that winter. In January 2005 the three new board members on the five-person board canceled a mediation session with Rhodes Homes, fired their attorneys from Angius & Terry, and replaced them with a firm called Spilotro & Kulla. John Spilotro was well known in Vegas not only because of his success as a criminal lawyer but also because of his famous uncle, Anthony “The Ant” Spilotro. During the ’70s, Anthony Spilotro moved from Chicago to Vegas allegedly to help run various mob-related businesses, including the Stardust Resort & Casino. In the years to come he ran roughshod over the city, forming a notorious burglary outfit called The Hole in the Wall Gang and touching off a spasm of street violence that drew national attention, and ultimately, a federal crackdown on organized crime in Vegas.

In 1986 police found Anthony Spilotro’s body several feet under an Indiana cornfield. They suspected he’d been buried alive. In the 1995 Martin Scorsese-directed movie Casino, Joe Pesci plays a character based on Spilotro. A quarter-century later, the surname Spilotro still gives some people in Vegas the heebie-jeebies. “When I heard that name,” recalls Murray, “I went, ‘Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.’ ” (Spilotro did not respond to a request for comment. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing.)

That January the new members of the Vistana board hired a property management group, Platinum Community Services, run by Lisa Kim. Her husband, Vistana residents would later discover, was Ben Kim, a member of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept.’s fraud unit. On the side, Ben Kim owned and operated the Courthouse Cafe, a cafeteria inside the city’s regional justice center. He had two partners in the business, lawyer David Amesbury and Leon Benzer, head of Silver Lining Construction.

Murray and her posse of neighborhood sleuths had seen enough. They went to the Las Vegas police, who referred them to the Nevada Real Estate Division, a governmental agency charged, in part, with investigating real estate fraud. The Vistana residents filed a formal complaint and in February 2005, hoping to reclaim control of their board, conducted a recall election. When the votes were counted, their efforts had failed. Suspecting the ballots had been tampered with, Murray organized a second recall election in which the votes were tallied at the neighborhood pool rather than at the association office. This time all the board members connected to Silver Lining Construction lost. Afterward, however, they refused to step down.

In response, the original members of the Vistana board helped to file a civil suit aimed at removing the suspected interlopers. According to Murray, when they showed up in court for the first hearing, they were shocked to see a robust team of eight or so lawyers to defend the “straw buyers.” She couldn’t believe so many billable hours were being racked up to protect a handful of unpaid volunteer positions.

In the end, the jumbo team of lawyers triumphed, the homeowners lost the suit, and the Silver Lining-connected board members carried on.

In the meantime, Spilotro & Kulla hired Nancy Quon, the convertible-driving TV lawyer, to restart the Vistana’s construction defect suit.

In March 2005, on the advice of Quon, the Vistana homeowner association took out a $1 million loan to pay for some emergency repairs while they waited for the lawsuit to move forward. The board hired Benzer of Silver Lining Construction to make the repairs.

All across Nevada, people knew that if you needed to win a tricky election you might want to call a political operative named Steven Wark. In 1988 as a state campaign manager, Wark helped Pat Robertson win Nevada’s Republican Presidential caucus. In 2004, according to his interviews with several news organizations at the time, Wark raised money to help get Ralph Nader on the ballot in Nevada as a way to siphon off votes from Democratic hopeful John Kerry; George W. Bush went on to narrowly win the state. Over the years, Wark had also served as chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, hosted a fundraising event for Rudolph Giuliani, and managed several successful campaigns for Mike Montandon, the former mayor of North Las Vegas.

In spring 2005, having proven his value in Presidential and mayoral campaigns, Wark focused on a smaller political battleground. He joined the homeowner association board at the Vistana. Like the members of the board who appointed Wark to the vacant position, he did not live in the community but had recently purchased a 1 percent share of one Vistana condo.

It didn’t take long to discover that Wark, too, had a connection to Benzer. According to records from the Nevada Secretary of State, Wark and Benzer co-owned a business called Allied Environmental Solutions. Through his lawyer, Wark declined to comment.

By the time Wark arrived on the scene in 2005, the community meetings were growing increasingly heated. As a result, Wark and his four fellow allies on the board began arriving at meetings inside the cabana near the front gates of the Vistana, which everybody called the clubhouse, accompanied by entourages of burly men.

According to Murray, residents who asked the board too many pointed questions risked getting hit with fines on trumped-up charges of violating association rules. Residents recall that when confronted with the intimidation tactics, Wark would habitually drop the names of his powerful allies in Nevada politics. “They acted like they were bulletproof,” says Vistana resident Bruce Wallace.

In the fall of 2007 the Vistana board announced it had reached a $19.1 million settlement with Rhodes Homes. Of that—according to a recent accounting by current Vistana board members—about $11 million in legal fees and reimbursement expenses went to two firms: Spilotro & Kulla and Quon Bruce Christensen. That left $8.1 million for repairs.

One night that September, Amesbury, a lawyer for Silver Lining Construction, stood up at a meeting in the clubhouse. Amesbury, who owned a small firm in Las Vegas, specialized in criminal law. He was also a co-owner, along with Benzer and Kim, of the Courthouse Cafe. That night, Amesbury told the Vistana residents that in 2005 the board had signed a “right-of-first-refusal” contract with Silver Lining Construction. The contract essentially guaranteed Benzer’s company 100 percent of the construction remediation money from the settlement. Moving forward, he said, there would be no competitive bids with other contractors. Amesbury did not respond to a request for an interview sent to his attorney.

Over a roughly six-month period, from the fall of 2007 through the spring of 2008, various teams of subcontractors working for Silver Lining Construction came and went from the Vistana—painting buildings, replacing windows, and patching roofs. By May 2008, all but $450,000 of the $8.1 million was gone.

Shortly after, as the money ran out, the board members connected to Silver Lining Construction stopped showing up at meetings. “They just disappeared,” says current board member Wallace.

On Sept. 24, 2008, the day Murray had been anticipating finally arrived. That morning, and in the days that followed, agents from the FBI served search warrants and confiscated records at several businesses, including the offices of Silver Lining Construction, Platinum Community Services, and Quon Bruce Christensen.

Murray learned about the raids from a report on TV by Channel 8 investigative reporter George Knapp. “It blew me away,” she says. “I was so relieved that it was finally happening.”

While the FBI didn’t go into much detail about the investigation, it was clear from media reports that the scope extended far beyond the Vistana. “We had no idea how far-reaching it was,” says Murray. There were more surprises ahead.

On the morning of Oct. 28, 2010, Daniel Webb, a corrections officer with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept., was awakened before dawn by a phone call. It was his younger brother, William Ronald Webb (who goes by “Ron”), calling from San Diego. He wanted to know if Daniel could get up, drive across the city, and check in on Ron’s girlfriend, a well-to-do attorney named Nancy Quon. Ron was worried something had happened to her. She hadn’t been answering her phone all night.

Webb later testified to a grand jury that at first he was reluctant to indulge his brother, who sounded drunk. There was a history of mental illness in their family, and Ron had been acting paranoid recently, particularly about the FBI’s investigation into his girlfriend’s law firm.

Eventually, Webb gave in and drove over to Quon’s two-story house in a tony gated community on the west side of town. He retrieved the spare key from under a rock and let himself into the house. Among other amenities it had a wine cellar, a fire pit, a swimming pool, and a Jacuzzi. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw smoke. The house was on fire. He ran outside and called 911.

With an ambulance on the way, Webb rushed back into the house to look for Quon. A few minutes later, in the TV room off the kitchen, he reached into a pile of blankets heaped on a puffy couch and felt a leg. It was Quon. Her eyes were open, and her face was gray. He picked her up, carried her out to the front yard, and began CPR. On the second cycle, she started to cough.

The paramedics arrived shortly. They checked Quon and found she was breathing shallowly, had pinpoint-size pupils, a strong pulse, and was unresponsive. All were signs, one paramedic would later testify, of a narcotic overdose. They treated her with a “narcotic antagonist” drug called Narcan.

A few hours later, Daniel Webb went to the intensive care unit where Quon was being treated. He later testified that Quon was thankful and tried to explain to him what had happened. She allegedly told him that she took some sleeping pills, climbed in the Jacuzzi, and drank a can of Four Loko—a highly caffeinated, fruity malt beverage typically more popular with rebellious teenagers than wine connoisseurs such as Quon.

Afterward, she told Webb, she felt dizzy. She went upstairs, lit some candles, and drew a bath. It was all hazy, but at some point she must have gone downstairs to lie down in the TV room, she allegedly told Webb. Perhaps her bathrobe had accidentally knocked over a candle.

In August 2011, 10 months after the fire, a Clark County grand jury indicted Quon on multiple felony charges, including first-degree arson and insurance fraud.

According to prosecutors, Quon, 51, had taken some sleeping pills, drank a Four Loko, and set her house on fire in an attempt to kill herself. She wanted to take her life, they argued, to avoid the embarrassment of being arrested in the FBI investigation. They further argued that she was trying to do so in a way that would pay out a hefty insurance policy to her two adult daughters, whom she supported financially.

The prosecutor’s case included extensive testimony from Robert Justice, a 45-year-old mechanic and occasional drinking buddy of Quon’s boyfriend, Ron Webb. Justice told the grand jury that weeks before the fire, Webb had tried to hire him to buy the couple a lethal amount of the so-called date-rape drug GHB. According to Justice, Webb wanted the GHB because he thought it wouldn’t turn up in an autopsy. Justice told Webb there were better ways to kill yourself without arousing suspicion. He suggested eating some sleeping pills and then downing a couple cans of Four Loko. Ron Webb is currently in jail, facing multiple charges including conspiracy to commit murder. He has pled not guilty to all charges.

The police arrested Quon in Henderson, Nev., on the afternoon of Aug. 17. At the time of her arrest, she was carrying her passport and $7,000 in cash.

In subsequent court filings, her lawyers have denied that Quon set the fire and have rejected the prosecutor’s assertion that she wanted to kill herself for insurance money and to escape arrest. Her attorney, Thomas Pitaro, has told reporters the prosecutor’s case is based on an “Alice in Wonderland” theory.

Quon is free on $50,000 bail.

These days, life is much quieter at the Vistana clubhouse. Amid the seasonal decorations, there are signs the residents are happily moving on from their ordeal, even as they savor the prospect of watching their former attorneys, property managers, and board members shuffle off to jail.

On one side of the clubhouse, a poster marked “Before and After” leans against the wall. The “before” section features photos of the Vistana during the years when the straw buyers were managing the community. The images show untrimmed palm trees, broken barbecue grills, cracked pool decks, patches of dead grass, dented carports, and a busted front gate. The “after” photos show the gradual, physical recovery of the Vistana in the time since homeowners who actually live in the community regained control of the board.

On bulletin boards a few feet away, dozens of newspaper clippings from the Las Vegas Sun and Las Vegas Review-Journal chronicle the expanding number of individuals who have pled guilty in the FBI investigation. The display is labeled “Wall of Shame.”

The condominium schadenfreude hit a new high on Aug. 30 when Wark, the former chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, appeared before a federal judge and pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. The maximum sentence is 30 years in prison. He is awaiting sentencing.

In court documents filed as part of the plea agreement, Wark admits to helping rig elections at the Vistana. Like most condominium complexes built in Las Vegas during the boom, the Vistana had a high percentage of owners who were investors living out of state. According to the court documents, Wark and his crew won the elections, in part, by targeting out-of-state owners unlikely to participate in board elections. They would fill out a ballot on the owner’s behalf without the individual’s knowledge, transport the documents to the owner’s home state, then mail the ballot back to Nevada. The ballots would arrive bearing the correct postmarks, lending the votes credibility.

The fake absentee ballots were used to tilt the campaigns in favor of the straw buyers. When homeowners became suspicious, the court documents reveal, the conspirators would bring in supposedly independent “special election masters” to preside over the vote counting. According to several plea agreements, the election overseers were paid off, too.

Over the past three months, nine more guilty pleas have followed. So far, the ranks of the admitted conspirators have included Deborah Genato of Platinum Community Services, which worked as property manager for the Vistana; Daniel Solomon, a straw purchaser who served on the Vistana board; and Amesbury, Kim and Benzer’s former partner in the Courthouse Cafe. Neither Ben nor Lisa Kim have been charged with a crime.

On the morning of Nov. 16, a few weeks after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, Amesbury was found on the streets of a Las Vegas suburb severely beaten with multiple injuries, including two broken kneecaps. According to a story by Jeff German in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, police have so far found no evidence linking the beating to the FBI investigation.

On a recent Thursday evening at the clubhouse, the Vistana board members met with their lawyer, Richard Haskin, to discuss the the community’s civil suit alleging that the straw buyers, in cahoots with Benzer, vastly overpaid for Silver Lining’s services. Haskin is working on an amended civil RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) complaint that will add Quon as a defendant and seek upwards of $8 million in damages. “I was privy to the repairs,” says Vistana resident Tony Kneip, himself a retired general contractor. “They were outrageously high.”

Lawyers for Silver Lining Construction continue to allege the homeowner association owes Benzer’s company $750,000. “It’s a classic breach-of-contract, failure-to-pay case,” says Benzer’s attorney, Sigal Chattah.

Whether the Vistana can retrieve any money remains to be seen. The criminal fire investigation revealed that although her law firm has shut down, Quon still possesses significant assets. (No one else at Quon Bruce Christensen has been indicted.) During a court hearing in August, prosecutors told the judge that in 2009, Quon made transfers of $2.7 million and $2.9 million into an offshore bank account. Last year she bought her daughter an apartment in New York City, paying $750,000 in cash.

“The bottom line for the homeowners is we’d like to see a lot of pain and suffering on their end,” says board member Larry Fitch.

In the meantime, thousands of people who bought condos during the boom are still coping with their own financial hardship. Two-bedroom, two-bath condos at the Vistana were going for $200,000 in 2007. In November a 929-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath unit sold for $59,000.

Murray and her husband moved out of the Vistana in 2008 and now live in a nearby development. “I couldn’t take the pressure anymore,” says Murray. “Everything we did, they came after us. I’d had enough.”

Eventually, she and her husband let their dream home slip into foreclosure. “The reputation was out there, and nobody wanted to live there,” says Murray. “So we let it go. … I took a big hit.”

These days, Murray stays as far away from homeowner associations as possible. She is, however, looking forward to seeing where the FBI’s investigation ultimately leads. Many mysteries remain.

To this day, Murray has never laid eyes on Leon Benzer. No matter how many times they typed his name into Google or drew up elaborate maps linking him to members of their homeowner association, the residents of Vistana never seemed to get a glance of Benzer in person. He always kept his distance. (Through his lawyer, Benzer declined an interview request.)

Benzer’s primary business, Silver Lining Construction, has likewise kept a low profile. In 1998 a rare article about the company in the Review-Journal reported that Silver Lining Construction had been hired to renovate the Pioneer Club, a historic building in downtown Las Vegas that had served as everything from a restaurant to a casino to a brothel. Benzer’s job was to turn the space into a gift shop. “A lot of contractors are afraid of this kind of work because of the hidden nightmares you can run into,” he told the paper. “We like the challenges. We spent six months in preplanning, and our philosophy has always been Murphy’s Law—anything that possibly could go wrong will.”

Over the years a lot seemed to go right for Benzer. He formed a charity called the Benzer Autism Foundation; a music production company, Benzermusic.com; an investment group, Silver Lining Investment; and a boutique liquor brand, Benzila Tequila, that was reportedly made from agave plants that grew on Benzer’s ranch in Mexico.

Although he has not been charged with any crime, Benzer’s businesses are now all shuttered. “Basically, between the economy and the federal investigation, there’s not much left,” says Chattah, his attorney.

Benzer, who is in his mid-40s, continues to live in Las Vegas, she says, and has a source of income. When asked about the rumor that Benzer now works as a local cab driver, Chattah responds, “He might be.”

In 2008, before the FBI raided his offices, Benzer created a channel on YouTube where he posted clips of celebrities giving red carpet shout-outs to Benzila Tequila and his foundation. You can still watch the likes of Tom Jones, Anthony Michael Hall, and Patrick Swayze tossing out paeans of support for Benzer and his charity work. “It’s God’s plan,” says ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith in one video. “If you want to make it to heaven one day, this is a good way to start.”

Gillette is a staff writer for Bloomberg Businessweek in New York.

First Request For Deer Ridge Documents Filed With Court

Robert — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 22:55:23 +0000

As of today, we have filed our first request for documents as part of our response to the $1 million lawsuit brought by GGRC and the Gang of Six and the $3 million lawsuit I have filed against GGRC, and individually against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Tom Riese, David Barone and Margie Duncan.

As you can see by clicking each of the pages, we are finally going to get the documents that ALL Deer Ridge Owners should be able to easily get from their home owners’ association. This Request For Documents includes the following requirements of Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six:

You are requested to produce and make available for inspection and copying all bank account information pertaining to any and all bank accounts of Gatlinburg Golf And Racquet Club Condominium Association, Inc. CGGRC“) for the past ten years, including without limitation bank statements, check registers and all cancelled checks.

You are requested to produce and make available for inspection and copying all bank account information pertaining to any and all bank accounts of Ridge Management LTD., Inc. (“RML“) for the past ten years, including without limitation bank statements,check registers and all cancelled checks.

You are requested to produce and make available for inspection and copying all bank account information pertaining to any and all bank accounts of Gatlinburg Golf And Racquet Club Condominium Association, Inc., d/b/a Ridge Resort Realty (“RRR”) for the past ten years, including without limitation bank statements, check registers and all cancelled checks.

Note that all of the above also requires them to give us a copy of the front AND back of every check.

You are requested to produce for inspection and copying the book required by 1″. C.A. §66-27 -113 of the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act providing that the Association ” … shall keep a book with a detailed account, in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the building and its administration and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred. Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereon shall be available for examination by all co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and be announced for general knowledge” (emphasis supplied and the Defendant Counterclaimant does respectfully insist that the book and the supporting vouchers be provided in chronological order as required by the statute).

In addition to the above, we are also requiring:

The individual Counterdefendants Joseph Thomas, Luther Parker, Thomas Reise, Larry Ohm, David Barone and Margie Duncan are hereby requested to produce all correspondence, memoranda, or written communication of any type or nature, including any electronically stored/transmitted information such as: (i) e-mails, to or from one another pertaining in any way to GGRC, RML, or RRR, and ii) to third persons/entitles pertaining in any way to GGRC, RML, or RRR.

The Truth Shall Set You Free

It is my understanding we have a right to this information as owners without the need of a lawsuit….but this Gang of Six has done everything they can to try and block owners from accessing this state law required disclosure. Now, the Court will FORCE them to give us these documents or to be held in Contempt of Court.

Once we have them, we will make copies available to all owners at Deer Ridge. With several sets of eyes pouring over these documents, we should be able to uncover any malfeasance that may have occurred.

Stay tuned!

Wonder Why Your Electric Bill At Deer Ridge Is So High?

Robert — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:50:22 +0000

Three Ways To Cut Your Electric Bill At Deer Ridge Mountain Resort

The cost of electricity has been going though the roof. Yeah, I know, you heard it here first.

But, have you wondered why your electric bill at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is so high? Well, we’ve identified three possible reasons.

#1: Apparent Theft Of Services

One of the claims that Joe Thomas, Luther Parker and the rest of the Gang of Six made in their $1 Million lawsuit against me was that I “falsely” accused them of “Theft of Services.”

Well, as the following photos show, it appears that we have “smoking gun” proof of their Theft of Services that we will probably use in court against them.

It seems to me that Joe Thomas et al have no problem with the phrase, “Mi casa es su casa.” Rather in Joey’s case, “Su casa es mi casa” – which means, “Your house is MY house.”

Apparently, Joey has NO compunction about entering YOUR condo to use YOUR electricity whenever it is convenient to him. No wonder he wants a key to every unit.

It looks to me like Unit A-201 next to ours was vacant at the time and was opened so that a very long extension cord could be run to allow some of the workmen to use this Owner’s electricity. (Plus, I can only imagine the amount of gnats and other bugs that got into their unit during the many hours the door was left open…let alone the security risks of unauthorized entry and theft of contents by any one who happened to be on property, but I digress…)

Maybe the A-201 Owner was contacted before the fact – but we have seen this same thing done several times before here at Deer Ridge during the past few weeks and my guess is that this is done on a very frequent basis – without even thinking and considering that owners do NOT want their electricity STOLEN without their consent. As a matter of fact, we have seen workmen here do this same thing for EVERY walkway railing replacement done so far – using the electricity from at least 8 different owners to feed their extension cords.

You really think Joey got prior permission from all 8 owners?

I am not an attorney nor a police officer – but it seems to me, in my personal opinion, that this might, just maybe, qualify as a criminal act of theft of services, according to the following Tennessee state law:

The Tennessee Code Annotated defines “services” for the purposes of theft of services in T.C.A. section 39-11-106(35). The term “services”:

“includes labor, skill, professional service, transportation, telephone, mail, gas, electricity, steam, water, cable television or other public services, accommodations in hotels, restaurants or elsewhere, admissions to exhibitions, use of vehicles or other movable property, and any other activity or product considered in the ordinary course of business to be a service, regardless of whether it is listed in this subdivision (35) or a specific statute exists covering the same or similar conduct”

Maybe, Joey has written permission from the owner of A-201 – AND the other 8 plus owners but my very strong intuition is that he did not – this time, nor for all the other times we have seen this same thing done here. Granted, it probably doesn’t cost any particular owner more than $10 or $20 each time they do this – but, for me, it is the principle that is my concern – along with the disgusting, unethical entitlement attitude that Joe Thomas seems to evidence in so many ways.

And, evidence is exactly how these photos will be used during the trial. We’ll see if the jury agrees with us about this being a theft of services.

(We have other photos of this kind of activity somewhere – but I can’t find them right now in time for this blog post. If we find them, we will post them too. And, use them in court against the Gang of Six.)

To me, in my opinion, this is just more proof that Joe Thomas considers all of Deer Ridge as his personal fiefdom and domain – with private property to be used at his whim with no regard for the Owner’s rights – or their bank account.

In my opinion, the way to cut this kind of electric use is to fire Joe Thomas. I personally doubt any other approach will work.

#2: If You Are Using RML – You Are Being Charged Sales Tax And Commercial Rates For Your Electricity

We just had an electric audit run on our own unit with the goal of replacing our old energy hog A/C unit.

When their representative Lucas was here, he reviewed our bill and pointed out that we were being charged both sales tax and commercial rates as a result of having signed up for RML when we first bought here.

Lucas said that all we had to do was call Michelle (865-774-6246) at their office and she would take care of it for us. She was GREAT – not only saving us about $250 a year with the change to our bill – but also getting us a credit of $735.85 for these charges for the past three years! (See the electric bill we got this week showing the credit.)

Between the refund and the cost savings over the next 12 months, this adds up to almost $1,000.

I have to say, everyone we have dealt with at Sevier County Electric is terrific to work with – friendly and willing to help in every way. Amazing in general – and for a public utility, even more amazing. Kudos!

Considering how little you are actually netting from RML, does it make sense to pass up these kinds of savings?

#3: Special Energy Efficient Financing and Tax Credit To Replace Your A/C

Right now, TVA and Sevier County Electric have a GREAT program to motivate folks to upgrade their HVAC to a more energy-efficient system. If you get a new unit with a SEER of 14 or more, they will finance 100% of the cost of the new system – and fully amortize the cost over 10 years at only 6% simple interest. If you get a unit with a SEER of 15 or more, you can also qualify for a $1,500 tax credit if done this year.

We highly recommend Mark Watson of Watson Electric in Gatlinburg for all your A/C work. He gave us a great price and provided us with very professional and reliable service and installation. His number is 865-430-7534.

For us, the TVA financing package equaled a a monthly cost of $42. I am not a big fan of debt – but the beauty of this is that the cost savings from the improved energy efficiency will cut our average monthly bill by almost this full amount each month – making it a self-liquidating debt. This means that the cost savings virtually pays for the new system – and we get a band new Trane system with a 10 year parts and labor warranty. Add the nearly $20 a month savings that Lucas found from the old RML commercial rate and sales tax – and this upgrade and financing deal was a no-brainer.

Besides, financing the $3,800 cost for replacing our system gives us that much more cash to invest in legal fees in our $3 million lawsuit against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Tom Reise, David Barone and Margie Duncan.

Deer Ridge History – Historical Documents And Smoking Guns – Coming Soon

Robert — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:03:36 +0000

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.”

(Click the headline to leave comments.)

New Official Mail Tampering Complaints Filed Against Joe Thomas At Deer Ridge

Robert — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:08:21 +0000

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.

This Is A Violation of Federal Law: Destruction, Obstruction and Delay of Mail (18 USC 1700, 1701, 1702 & 1703)

These laws state:

Sec. 1701. Obstruction of mails generally

-STATUTE-

Whoever knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

The full law on this matter can be viewed by clicking TITLE 18 – CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE PART I – CRIMES: CHAPTER 83 – POSTAL SERVICE

We will not tolerate these actions by a petty tyrant like Joe Thomas – and will do all we can to ensure that it no longer happens to us or to any other Deer Ridge resident. We will also do all we can to see that Joe Thomas is fully prosecuted for these ongoing acts of retribution.

You, as the Board, are responsible for the actions of your employee. Act accordingly. Now. Or, be held liable.

Robert

We recommend that all residents at Deer Ridge double check on their mail to make sure Joe Thomas is not doing the same thing with your mail.

If he is, and he probably is, then I recommend you also file a complaint with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service by clicking Complaint Against Joe Thomas.

You are welcome to reference our complaint we just filed with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Reference number is: 14953047.

By connecting the dots between your complaints and the one we have already filed, the common thread of abuse by Joe Thomas can be clearly identified by the Postal Inspection Service – and they can quickly initiate their criminal inquiry into Joey’s intolerable, despicable actions.

My Response To The Board’s Attack Letter

Robert — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:33:52 +0000

Thank You!

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.

“Robert’s emails questioned the actions of the Board and Manager and he demanded that he be provided detailed financial records so he could advise the Board and Manager the correct manner in which to run the day to day operations at Deer Ridge.
“That statement is mostly true.

As an owner, I have a right to receive copies of ALL the books and records concerning MY ownership and investment at Deer Ridge. ALL owners have this right.

The current and past boards have adamantly refused to provide copies to any owner.Instead, all they offer is to let an owner set up an appointment with Joe Thomas to quickly VIEW whatever documents Joe Thomas is willing to show (they are unwilling to even show many underlying documents) while Joe is looking over your shoulder. They know that forcing this approach, they can’t be held accountable – and any analysis is all but impossible. It is also unworkable for all the folks who own at Deer Ridge who do not visit often. How are they supposed to see the books and records if they can’t have copies?

This one point is the crux of a majority of my complaints – and that complaint has been there since Day 1 and continues to this day. For me, this is such a critically important issue, it is worth filing a lawsuit over – so ALL owners can see what is going on with their investment in Deer Ridge.
“He earlier wanted RML sold, and that is still one of his goals.”
Absolutely. In my opinion, RML and Ridge Resort Realty are operating companies that put all owners at risk of running small companies – and is a violation of the Master Deed and Bylaws. Everyone who needs rental income would be better served by selling RML to a larger, better property management company – plus if sold correctly, could generate several hundreds of thousands of dollars to GGRC.

Should Deer Ridge HOA Sell Ridge Management Limited?

Sale of RML To An Unaffiliated Company Pro / Con List

What Is RML REALLY Worth If We Sell It?

Marketing Steps For Selling RML

Joe’s Gypity Do Dah Song to Deer Ridge Owners

“He wants the current Board and Joe Thomas fired.”
Absolutely! There are SO many reasons that Joe Thomas should be fired – and I read the whole list to his face during the last board meeting. Please see:

Deer Ridge Board Meeting Motion – Fire Joe Thomas For Cause

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?

File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission

Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner

Open Letter To Luther Parker and Board: Joe Thomas Accosts Owner In Laundry Room

“He has indicated he would like to take over our HOA and run it on his whim of the moment.”
This is false. Completely false.

I have zero interest in running the HOA, being on the board or having Joe’s job. Zero interest.

Joe has always been threatened by me since I have significantly more real estate and property management experience than he does. Even though I’ve gone out of my way to make it clear that I don’t want his job, his apparent paranoia over this has been the root of a lot of his conniving and devious behavior toward me since we bought at Deer Ridge.
“Without a single substantiating fact he posted the picture on his website with the accusation that the Board was preparing to run a “secret” test for the demolition and replacement of the railings at one of the buildings and that Deer Ridge had already spent monies on parts for this test run.”
Actually, there were several substantiating facts.

One, is the long history of Joey and the Board spending over $120,000 of OUR money on unapproved projects without having the same kind of vote they are currently having on February 6th about the ridiculous and completely unnecessary Walkway Railings replacements. Joey and current and past boards have often moved ahead with projects with no authority whatsoever, such as The Joe’s Folly Pavilion.

Secondly, there is the magic wording in the Board’s own minutes from the November budget meeting that were sent to all owner around December 1, 2009. This is the section about the test run and timelines for the walkway railings:

Now, please note several things in the board’s own minutes:
- “Joe Thomas mentioned that contractors want to do a test run on a walkway in January.” Hmmm…I guess we all didn’t just imagine that January test run date after all, huh?
- They already knew and were taking into account that I had forced them to abide by the Master Deed and Bylaws, so they had to have the damn 75% vote.
- Even if the owners decide it makes no sense to spend over $49,000 to replace perfectly good walkway railings, we are being warned by El Presidente Luther that our assessment won’t go down! How is that for Joey and the board trying to railroad something through – even if the owners vote they don’t want it? The cost of this boondoggle is 14% of the total assessment. But hell or high water, Joey and the board need all that money – even if it isn’t going to be used for its stated purpose! Does anyone else see this as outrageously unethical as I do?
- But wait…there’s more: Even knowing that the vote was not going to occur until February 6th, Point 5 repeats their intent of doing a test run AND having all walkway railings DONE by the April Owner’s Meeting. Now, not the ambiguous parenthetical (if approved). If you diagram the sentence, you will see that the wording meant approval of the whole project, not the test run. Which is exactly the intent of the board.
- Also, look at the timeline. If they were really going to do the test run AFTER the vote…and then do all the demolition and complete reconstruction AFTER the test run was tested, there wouldn’t be time to do it right. However, if they were going to do the test run in January, as the plan shows above, then they might be able to get it all done in time for the meeting.
- Also, Point 5 even WARNS the owners: “Ownership 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.” Now, to me that wording speaks volumes. They are telling us that they are illegitimately moving forward NOW with the test run BEFORE the vote. Otherwise, why should the owners be cognizant?
- Maybe it is just me, but I think the above minutes make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that Joey and the boys were going to move ahead with the secret test run in January. What does your intuition tell you?
But, wait there is more….proof.

Thirdly, Neil Blair received the following email from Luther Parker, El Presidente regarding this project:

Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:15:37 -0600

Subject: RE: Questions

From: parker.luther@gmail.com

To: openroad12@hotmail.comCC: mickmargie@zoomtown.com; DavidBarone@optonline.net; larryo@skdocpa.com; tomtrip@verizon.net; manager@deerridge.com

Neil,

The Buiding and Grounds Committee had identified the walkway problems prior to Mr. Novak’s presentation to the Board. The project of replacing the walkway railings and up-dating the lighting is well underway. Presently, the general manager has been given the task of taking precautionary measures until the walkway project gets underway.

Neil, I must conclude that you are clearly saying to me (e-mail) “We will let a judge decide”. Additionally, you stated that you would be contacting the FBI for an investigation of the Board.

Since you desire representation by a third party, I will respond to those agents representing you.

Sincerely,

Luther

Now, how would YOU interpret that email – especially the part in red – especially considering the long history of costly, illegitimate projects at Deer Ridge? That is why I got a panicked telephone call from another owner asking me to please do whatever I could with my blog to stop this illegitimate act before it was too late.

Note that this email was sent by Luther Parker on December 24th – exactly a week before our posting about the dumpster. From what we have been told by insiders, our posting did, indeed, keep their illegal walkway railing test from happening. Please also see: Deer Ridge Board: What Part of No Do You NOT Understand? and Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?

So, let’s look again at the Board’s attack letter claims, “Without a single substantiating fact he posted the picture on his website with the accusation that the Board was preparing to run a “secret” test for the demolition and replacement of the railings at one of the buildings and that Deer Ridge had already spent monies on parts for this test run.”

I think we have triple and quadruple “substantiating facts” to believe Joey and the boys were moving ahead, spending OUR money on their ridiculous pet project – even before the owners voted. And, I believe that the ONLY thing that stopped them was this blog posting – and they are especially aggravated by it.

In spite of the protests by Joey and the board in their attack letter, do you think that I might, just maybe, be right about their illegitimate test run and why that first dumpster showed up on property after all?

Uh huh. Talk about Doublespeak.

Irrespective of whether they were going to use the actual dumpster shown in the photo or some other dumpster, I think it now surely seems obvious to God and everybody that not only were Joey and the boys going to violate the Master Deed once again by spending our money without the proper vote and approval – they are now CLEARLY guilty of trying to cover it up with a LIE.

Joey and the boys have been hoisted with their own petards and documentation. Maybe we can call it JoeGate instead of WaterGate.

And, consider this: if Joe Thomas and Luther Parker and the rest of the board are willing to manufacture lies like this in their attack letter against me, it kind of makes you wonder how many more outright lies all of them are trying to tell all the owners in the rest of that attack letter.

AND IF THEY ARE LIARS – WHAT ELSE ABOUT DEER RIDGE ARE JOE THOMAS AND LUTHER PARKER AND THE REST OF THE BOARD LYING TO THE OWNERS ABOUT – ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT? ABOUT THE BUDGETS? ABOUT THE REAL OPERATION OF RML? ABOUT BOARD COMPENSATION? ABOUT EVERYTHING?
“How can this man state that he has the support of many owners in his quest to completely destroy the beautiful mountain resort that has been more than 23 years in the making?”
Read the blog to see some of the support. See the proxies that I will bring to the February 6th meeting on the Walkway Railings Vote. Read the emails you are getting from other owners complaining about how you are not abiding by the Deer Ridge The Master Deed and Bylaws. Read the other, upcoming letters from other owners that will be mailed to all owners in the next few weeks. There are now many of us owners who are joining together to bring about long needed changes to Deer Ridge that will do just the opposite of destroying our beautiful mountain PROPERTY.
“On December 23, 2009 he stated on his website his intention to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.”
This is true – although it just went in the mail in the last couple of days since the official complaint had to be notarized. You can read all about this complaint at File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the State of Tennessee.
“On December 12, 2009 he stated on his website that he had filed an official request to the FBI to investigate alleged criminal activity by Deer Ridge Manager and Board for suspected crimes of: white collar crime; corruption; financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement; illegitimate Board member compensation; and securities fraud.”
This is true. You can read all about this complaint at FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the FBI.
“The Board has made the decision to not provide,nor allow to be made, copies of detailed financial records which could be disseminated to parties that might use them to the detriment of the orderly operation of GG&RC and/or RML.”
Again, this is the crux of the problem.

ALL owners should be able to have copies of ALL books and records related in any way to the operation of their property and their investment.

If we have to go to court over this, we WILL go to court over this. Additionally, exactly what detrimental consequences does the board fear from these financial records? The ONLY ones I can think of relate solely to any malfeasance and misuse of HOA funds – which is exactly why I believe the Board and Joey are fighting, tooth and nail, to keep these copies out of the hands of owners. Please see: Yes Or No, Luther Parker? An Open Letter To Luther Parker, President of Deer Ridge – GGRC and RML.
“It is for this very same reason that the Board has made the decision to not allow audio recording of any of the Board meetings…”
Again, this is another case where the board refuses to be transparent and accountable to all owners.

Interestingly, the State of Nevada just implemented a new law affecting all HOAs that now REQUIRE them to audio record ALL board meetings and keep those recordings available to all interested parties for at least 10 years. Other states are expected to follow suit. So, if so many state governments see this as a requirement that is to the benefit of all owners, why does Joey and the Board at Deer Ridge fight it so much?
“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.

Do you believe it a coincidence that these trees were butchered at virtually the same time that this one cabin, the ONLY one that benefited from the butchering, signed on to be managed by RML? Please see: Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner, Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner – Chapter 2 and Tree Trimming At Deer Ridge: A Guest Post By Tina.
“On September 20, 2009 he filed a complaint with the local US Postal authorities.”
True. Many of us have had way too much mail tampering.

However, I am please to say that I have now been successful at forcing Joey and the Board to install private mailboxes where keys will only be given to the individual owner and the US postal person who delivers the mail. Please see: Postmaster Says We Have A Right To Demand Individual Mailboxes and Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win! We should get our individual keys personally delivered to us sometime this week by Scott, the Gatlinburg Postmaster.
“On December 21, 2009 a copy of an invoice mailed by the Cobbly Nob Property Owners Association to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort appeared on his website and his cry is “Deer Ridge behind in payments to Cobbly Nob -Over $31,000!…RML is not in arrears to Cobbly Nob.”
Please see: Deer Ridge Behind In Payments To Cobbly Nob – Over $31,000!

Note in spite of what Joey and the Board claim in the letter about being caught up…that Cobbly Nob is offering a payment plan that just happens to start when the Asinine Assessments are due in March! If they are so caught up, why is a payment plan even being offered? Kind of makes you wonder, huh?
“In every instance the (GGRC) attorney did not find fault with the decisions of the Board and rebuked him for trying to micro-manage the Board’s operation when the Master Deed and By-Laws clearly granted the Board the authority to manage the property in a manner which is fair and equitable.
This is false.

We had to fight to get Vic and Joey to release the mailing labels back in 2006 – and the same attorney told them they did not have a choice – that I was right in my demand that they had to provide it!

Also, at the most recent board meeting, the same attorney had to remind Joey and the Board that, again, they do not have a choice about providing mailing labels – which Luther had been denying access to. Also, in the same meeting, the same attorney agreed with me that the board HAD to abide by Article XII and get the required 75% vote of owners before doing ANY alteration or improvement.

This alone is a MAJOR win for all owners – with their attorney in fact finding MAJOR fault with the decisions of the Board. Their current vote on February 6 requiring a 75% vote for the ridiculous replacement of perfectly good walkway railings is an admission of Joey’s and the Board’s GUILT over not requesting the same kind of vote before illegitimately squandering over $120,000 on other projects just as Joe’s Folly Pavilion. I would say that is a clear case of their statement being proven completely false, wouldn’t you?

Please see:
- Deer Ridge Owners Mailing Labels Now Available To ALL Owners
- Major Win On Deer Ridge Article XII Bylaws – Thoughts and Implications
- Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win!
  
  Also, there is the whole issue of all 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge being grossly overcharged by 82% on monthly HOA fees and all other assessments. When asked in the meeting, Luther Parker said this was “fair and equitable.” We obviously disagree and will take this matter to court and see if the court agrees that an 82% overcharge is fair and equitable.
- Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting
- Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable
“We believe the majority of owners do not want Deer Ridge Mountain Resort to become another small residential complex as he has suggested and would like it to become.”
Scott, the Postmaster for Gatlinburg has told us that based on trends in this city and specific trends and current pricing at Deer Ridge, within two to five years, he expects that all of Deer Ridge will become a residential complex. This has nothing to do with me – and has everything to do with micro and macro economic trends specific to this geography.

However, think about the statement in their attack letter.

If these units are fairly marketed to all potential buyers, many of those buyers will be interested in Deer Ridge as their primary home. So, “the majority of owners” mentioned in the attack letter do not get a vote on this either – even though Joe Thomas has done all he can to try and accomplish this by only trying to sell units to those who will use RML. This is a MAJOR disservice to those who are trying to sell their units – and his tactics have greatly suppressed prices of all units here for years. This is one of the reasons we filed a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Boards. You can read all about this complaint at File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the State of Tennessee.
“He blatantly abused the pooling system, staying in his unit for a month at a time while still collecting rent via the pooling system.”
Our “abuse” was staying in OUR unit, that we own, for the month of October right after we bought the unit in August. However, we did NOT collect rent from the pooling system. We were fully agreeable that no rent was owed. The fact that Joey and the board could even consider this as abuse is almost laughable. However, when RML instituted a “prime time tax” – charging owners an absurd and outrageous daily charge on top of no rental income is why we took our unit out of RML. That is when additional “abuse” occurred by Joe Thomas RENTING our unit AFTER it was no longer in RML. He has done this to other owners too – fully demonstrating his lack of ethics and trustworthiness.

It is this kind of mindset by Joey and the Board that this property and every unit here is for their Little Joe’s Notel Motel empire – and not an aggregation of 84 units with about 80 owners who have varying and totally justifiable reasons to own at Deer Ridge that may have NOTHING to do with renting their units via RML.
“On February 10,2007, a committee formed by the Board to study and make recommendations with respect to Joe Thomas’s group’s offer, met in Luther Parker’s unit (B202). On this day Robert , a member of the committee, focused his contribution to the meeting on selling RML to an outside interest at a future point in time fora great deal of money…The charge would be 7% of the total selling price … “.
The Attack Letter implies I was making money from the sale of RML. Please see the full text, which they conveniently edited, by clicking Marketing Steps For Selling RML. There you will see that I clearly state, out of all available options for selling, that “Using a competent, knowledgeable business broker is probably the best approach for the sale of RML.” I also add that instead of using me, “While this approach is an alternative for the Board, the business broker approach may be the best approach since it is a total third party dealing with no potential for any conflicts of interest.” As you can see, their attack letter is intentionally misleading on this point – and I would suggest that it is equally intentionally misleading on all the other points too.

However, since they brought up the offer by Joe Thomas to buy RML, I strongly suggest you read what really happened by clicking: Joe’s Gypity Do Dah Song to Deer Ridge Owners. There you will see how Joe wanted to buy all of RML for $100,000, 90% financed by GGRC with NO PERSONAL LIABILITY by Joey – and he takes over bank accounts with more than $10,000 in them. That way, he grossly underpays for RML, gets it with no personal liability, can walk away from it when and if it doesn’t work for HIM any longer and drains the acquired bank accounts to pay for the complete down payment. See why I thought this was such a bad deal for the owners at Deer Ridge?

Also, think about this: If Joey thought it was such a good idea that GGRC sell RML, then why is he SO opposed to it being sold for a fair price to a larger management company that has the economies of scale to operate RML and the units in RML at Deer Ridge? The implications of this logic gap by Joe Thomas speaks volumes about how much he doesn’t care about what is good for Deer Ridge Owners!
“Shortly before the April 2008 Owner’s meeting, Robert sent a 9 page; “An Open Letter to the Deer Ridge Board and All Owners”, via email and his website (www.DeerRidgeOwners.com/prediction). The title of this letter was “Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – An Economic Prediction for 2008-2010″.
True. We still have one year to go – but check out my original prediction to see how good a job I did. Click Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – An Economic Prediction For 2008-2010.
“Fellow owners is it a coincidence that much of Robert’s negative commentary materializes as meetings are about to take place? Or is the timing well orchestrated to disrupt, distort, distract, divide and subsequently destroy Deer Ridge as we know it today?”
It is to try and finally get these critical issues on the agenda since the Board has a four year history of NOT answering questions and emails and NOT being held accountable for its actions and inactions.
“Interestingly, during the summer of 2009, Robert became our 7th permanent resident.”
Partially true. We are here as full time residents enjoying the beauty of Deer Ridge – until such time as we can get the goals of this blog accomplished. We decided we have to be here to effectuate change since so much is hidden from owners who do not spend a lot of time here. That is how and why we are seeing so much more going on here like the tree butchering. Our presence here is also required for the upcoming litigation against GGRC and RML. Once these goals are met, we will return home to Clearwater Beach, Florida – whether that takes 3 months or 33 months.

Here’s another hint for Joey: We will not be leaving until AFTER you are gone.
“In a 19 page diatribe posted on his website on October 19, 2009 he is seeking legal representation for his HOA Class Action Lawsuits wrote the following. “All recent annual meetings and the election of officers and board members, approval of all budgets, etc. are null and void.” “That an independent auditor be hired and paid for by GGRC and placed under my administration and direction … ” “That RML and Ridge Resort Realty be expeditiously sold under my administration and direction …Ownership note Robert’s statements, particularly “under my [Robert] administration”.”
Please see the following links for the full REAL story on all of the above sound bites taking out of context:
- Deer Ridge Problems – The Mind Map
- Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?
- Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win!
- Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting
- Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable
“On November 6, 2009, the Board received a letter from Mr. Sexton (the GGRC attorney) responding to Robert’s allegations. The following are excerpts from that letter, ‘The first question regards the Board’s authority under the Master Deed and Bylaws. It is my understanding that he is taking the position that various owners at Deer Ridge are being assessed monthly dues and allocation of common expenses and repairs at a percentage disproportionate to the ownership interest . . The last half of the sentence in Article III, Paragraph 9(c) beginning with the word “however” clearly gives the Board authority to allocate common expenses using a method other than percentage of ownership. The qualifier is “provided such method is fair and equitable”. It is my understanding that Robert is complaining that current owners ‘fees and assessments are being assessed in a ratio different than the percentage of ownership set out in Exhibit 2-1 to the Master Deed. This document clearly assigns to each unit design a specific percentage of the vote to which they are entitled. The percentage of vote likewise corresponds to their percentage of ownership interest in the common elements. “
This is one of two fundamental issues I have with the way things are done and not done at Deer Ridge. This one alone is worth taking GGRC to court over. Joey and the Board make claim to Article III, Paragraph 9(c) as their sole justification for ignoring the real intend and requirements of The Master Deed and Bylaws. It is their intentional misinterpretation of this clause that has allowed Joey and the Board to OVERCHARGE all 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge by 82% on monthly HOA fees and other assessments. There are several postings at the blog that describe this issue.

The key is that the section they hang their hats on ONLY relates to the DEVELOPMENT PLAN phase of the property that ended 23 YEARS ago.

Even IF the Board were to prevail by convincing the Judge that Deer Ridge is still in the Development Phase after 23 years, we have the other part of Article III, Section 9 Paragraph C: “…provided such method is fair and equitable…”

The fact that all 30 1-1 units are charged 82% more than the Master Deed Percentages would almost certainly be deemed to be UN”fair and equitable” – especially when the 2-2-L should be charged 50% more than they have been charged by the current Board!

And, here we have our fearless leader, Luther Parker, stating straight-faced at the board meeting a few days ago that, “Yes, the 82% IS fair and equitable.” Luther, thankfully, I don’t think ANY judge is EVER going to agree with your logic and math.

And, I bet a VAST majority of the 30 owners of 1-1 units, representing 36% of ALL units at Deer Ridge will STRONGLY disagree that your “82% IS fair and equitable” overcharge for their HOA fees they have to pay each and every month IS fair and equitable.

Please check out the following links on this critical issue:
- Open Letter to Chuck Sexton – Attorney for GGRC – That GGRC and Deer Ridge Has NO Current Board of Directors
- Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting
- Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable
- We Are * In Play * – As They Say On Wall St. – Attorney Contacts Commenced For Deer Ridge HOA Lawsuit
- Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits
- Class-Action Lawsuits – Coming Soon To A HOA Near You
- RML Is Illegal! Pavilion Is Illegal! April Annual Meetings Are Illegal! More Major Flagrant Master Deed Violations
- Deer Ridge – Your Monthly HOA Fee And Special Assessment Are WRONG! Open Letter to Deer Ridge Board: Lawsuit Being Prepared Against GGRC and RML
  
  Please note that this section of the attack letter refers to an “excerpt.” Since the thought processes seem to abruptly end, it makes you wonder if the parts they left out were in fact critical to understanding what their attorney REALLY said.
“He does not have the right to demand to be a junior board member double checking all the work done by each Board member. ”
I do not want to be either a junior or senior board member. What I want is to have the same rights for all Deer Ridge Owners: Making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.
“He is working hard to destroy Deer Ridge as we know it today.”
False, Deer Ridge is a beautiful property and the only things I want to destroy are the antithesis of our goals that include making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.

Well, those are the top points about their attack letter…I personally think this letter was sent to all owners as a smoke screen by Joey and the Board to lower the heat factor they are feeling from all the complaints from other owners over the Asinine Assessment of $353,500 – and the fact they will not provide an iota of documentation and proof that these monies need to be spent – especially $50,000 on “nuts and bolts” and $49,000 to replace perfectly good walkway railings just because Joey wants a different design.

I don’t have time to even address the rest of their trivial points and other lies – but do invite you to read everything at this Deer Ridge Owners Blog and make your own decision of whether you think I am trying to destroy Deer Ridge Mountain Resort or help it finally succeed.

PS: If you haven’t already done so and can’t make the meeting, please mail me your signed proxy to represent you at the upcoming February 6th special meeting about the ridiculous and completely unnecessary Walkway Railings replacements.

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?

File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission

Robert — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:55:59 +0000

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.

You can join us by filing a complaint – all you have to do is click Tennessee Real Estate Commission Complaint Form and mail the completed document to the address shown.

Still not yet convinced to file?

Then, please read on to see if perhaps, just maybe, I can convince you.

Joe Thomas Broker Information

The following information was found at the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions web site today http://www.state.tn.us/commerce/boards/trec

Since that may be too small to see, here’s the same info only bigger:

But Is Joe Complying With The Tennessee Real Estate Commissions?

Note that the list of courses Joey has taken stopped in November 2007. Well, according to the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions web site, there is a continuing education requirement for all Tennessee real estate brokers:

Two years ended a five weeks ago and I see no new 16 hours of continuing education completed by Joey. Does that mean that Joe Thomas is violating the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions rules?

Maybe. Maybe he’s taken the required courses and they just haven’t yet been posted by TREC. Then, again, maybe he hasn’t done the required work. Either way, we will mention this in our filed complaint and we suggest that you do the same. If he’s done the work, then no harm no foul. If he has NOT done the work…well, TREC will find that very interesting.

This is just part of the myriad of rules and regulations that have to be followed to comply with Tennessee Real Estate Law. Another one, for example is the Vacation Lodging Service License that can be viewed by clicking License. See Number 9. It requires ALL having a financial interest in the vacation / lodging company to be listed. If GGRC owns RML, it might mean that ALL Owners should be listed. It may also mean that if Joey didn’t do it right, all owners could be possibly liable for his mistakes.

You Are At Increased Risk If Joe Thomas Did Not Disclose What He Should Have When You Bought At Deer Ridge!

Did you, as an owner, buy at Deer Ridge with the understanding that you were AT RISK for running a real estate brokerage company?

What about being AT RISK for operating a property management company?

Neither of these are normal risk factors when you buy a condo. Operating any small company, particularly in today’s economy, is a very risky venture. A lot has to go right for most any company to both survive and thrive. Often, small companies can’t afford to even make payroll and require the owners to kick in even more operating capital just to keep the doors open. This is especially true with real estate oriented companies.

Well, guess what?

If you own at Deer Ridge, you are not just buying your own condo and having to worry about HOA fees and special assessments for maintenance of the property and whether the property will enjoy SOME level of value appreciation. Here, with any condo you buy at Deer Ridge, you are saddled with additional risk since you also have to worry about TWO small operating companies – and whether they are making or losing money.

These two companies are RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

And both of these have been soaking up our operating reserves for years as a result of their ridiculously high overhead that all owners, whether they use RML or not, have to pay for out of their own wallets.

Neither of these risk factors were disclosed to me, nor probably to you, when we bought our unit at Deer Ridge from Joe Thomas.

And this lack of major risk disclosure by Joe Thomas will be part of our filed complaint with TREC.

Ridge Resort Realty License Expired!

Interestingly, even if Joe Thomas’ license is still valid in spite of the above, the one thing that our research shows is that the license of Ridge Resort Realty expired in 2002!

It brings into question whether Ridge Resort Realty, which is a part of RML as I recall, can even represent that it is in the “realty” business?

Assuming it can even do this, one thing is clear: Ridge Resort Realty CANNOT be paid any real estate commissions since its license expired seven years ago.

That Means That Joe Thomas Gets All The Income And We Pay For All The Expenses

That probably means that the only way that RML gets paid any commissions is through Joe Thomas’ license. This brings up the following issues:

We have to depend on Joe Thomas honestly reporting all his real estate transactions to RML and the GGRC Board since he is the only one getting the money. Uh huh.
Joe Thomas gets the benefits of being in the real estate business, but not having to pay ANY of the overhead or take ANY of the risks associated with owning and operating a company for a profit. Pretty sweet deal, huh? I wish I could have had that kind of deal with all of the companies I’ve owned. That would have certainly lowered some stressful times as the economy cycled.
Here’s another key issue though: If Joey, as an individual, is the broker, then how is he paying either Ridge Resort Realty or RML its “portion” of those real estate commissions? It is a violation of TREC to pay a commission to any non-licensed entity or person. So, is Joey doing this? Or, is Joey keeping ALL of the brokerage commissions for himself with us paying all the bills – including for all the expensive full page ads like this one:

Exactly, what ARE the arrangements that the Board has with Joe Thomas when it comes to Ridge Resort Realty and RML? They won’t talk – and they block OUR rights to get copies of all the books and records that would disclose all of these dealings to the light of day.

Suspicious, huh?

Other Issues That Will Be Included In Our Filed Complaint Against Joe Thomas

It is our understanding from new buyers and prospective buyers that Joe Thomas is not disclosing both parts of the upcoming Asinine Assessment of $353,500 nor is he disclosing our pending lawsuits against GGRC et al.

Both of these actions represent significant funds relative to the purchase prices at Deer Ridge and, if proven true, I believe that TREC will find them a substantive disclosure violation.

Want To File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas?

If you want to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions, you might want to make it VERY easy on yourself. Just print out this whole blog posting and make it an attachment to your complaint form. That will probably provide most of the information you want to include.

Besides Deer Ridge owners, this blog seems to have a very high viewership by many in the Gatlinburg area – including a LOT of real estate brokers who are monitoring the happenings here closely. If you are a real estate agent who has had problems because of Joe Thomas when it came to trying to buy or sell Deer Ridge units for the benefit of your clients, I especially request that you also file a complaint against Joey.

If we can all get past the biased, stranglehold that Joe Thomas has on the buying and selling of units at Deer Ridge, we should all FINALLY benefit from increasing values for all unit types.

File Your Complaint ASAP

The more of us who file a complaint, the more likely it is that TREC will investigate what has been happening here at Deer Ridge.

Who knows?

Maybe TREC and the FBI will both show up on property the same day – both wanting to chat with Joseph W. Thomas about what has REALLY been happening all these years at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Deer Ridge Problems – The Mind Map

Robert — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 01:37:07 +0000

Deer Ridge – The Mind Map

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.

PS: This is also now under Documents You Can Download.

FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board

Robert — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:01:33 +0000

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.

To be clear, all of these allegations are currently unsubstantiated since we have been completely blocked by Joe Thomas and the board in all of our combined attempts to get copies of the needed books and records. However, the more adamantly resolved the general manager and the board are about providing owners with copies of all books and records, the more strongly indicative it is that they are fighting with all of their efforts to hide probable illegal activities from the very owners they are suppose to represent.

My background in real estate gives me particularly keen insights into the multiple signs of rampant malfeasance at this property. Before I retired, I personally spent three decades as CEO of multiple companies – including 15 years as founder and CEO of my own property management company managing 45,000 rental units. As a result of that experience, and the internal audits we had to constantly run on our own managers, my very strong intuition is that this board and general manager are attempting to hide major criminal activity in the possible aggregate range of $250,000 to $2 million.

The Alleged Suspects

The Board members include Luther Parker, President, Memphis, TN; Thomas Reise, Vice President, Friendship, WI; Larry Ohm, Treasurer; Grant Park, IL; David Barone, Secretary, Monroe, NY; Margie Duncan, Director, Florence, KY. Complete home addresses and phone numbers of these board members can be provided upon request.

The General Manager is Joseph W. Thomas whose home phone number and address are believed to be: (865) 932-1669 3229 Autumn Lane, Kodak, TN 37764. It is my personal belief that this long term manager may be the primary source of much of the alleged activity.

Request For Criminal Investigation

As a result, I and other concerned owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, formally request that the FBI instigate a preliminary criminal investigation of Joe Thomas and the current members of the GGRC Board of Directors to determine if a comprehensive investigation and criminal charges should be pursued against these individuals.

With the Board’s demand that all owners now contribute half of the $353,500 special assessment prior to March 1, 2010, many of us fear is that these monies also will be immediately misappropriated. As a consequence, your quick investigation would be appreciated. We are going to pursue civil litigation on many other issues but are concerned that the civil courts will not respond in a timely enough manner to prevent major misappropriation of the special assessment funds.

You have my complete contact information on this form. Please contact me directly if you have any questions or need more information from me or other concerned owners. You might find my blog about these issues informative: www.DeerRidgeOwners.com. Various documents and comments from multiple owners can be viewed there.

Thank you for your consideration of this criminal investigation.

As I mentioned, nothing has happened yet. I just filed this request for a criminal investigation today.

It is just a request and there is no known currently active criminal investigation with regard to Joe Thomas or any board member. The FBI may decide there is insufficient information. They may decide that I and my strong intuition are completely wrong – and that everything and everyone involved with the management of Deer Ridge is legitimately doing everything right – properly crossing every T and dotting every I.

I don’t think so – but hopefully, the FBI will help us even come to those conclusions as a result of any investigation they might initiate.

Stay tuned. We live in interesting times.

Deer Ridge Owners - Deer Ridge Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, Tennessee » Criminal Investigation

Tennessee Consumer Affairs Complaint Filed Against Joe Thomas – Attorney General Action Requested

Tennessee Real Estate Commission Complaint Filed Against Broker Joe Thomas – License 281040

Complaint: Deceptive Trade Practices, Securities Fraud And More Against Tennessee Real Estate Broker Joseph Thomas – Tennessee License 281040

Summary

Specific Complaints Against Joe Thomas

Investigator Assigned In Deer Ridge Securities Fraud Complaint

Securities Fraud Complaint Filed Against RML, Luther Parker, CPA Larry Ohm, Joe Thomas And All Board Members

Investor Complaint For Securities Fraud And Other Securities Law Violations Filed Against Ridge Management LTD, Inc. and President Luther Parker, Treasurer Larry Ohm CPA, General Manager Joe Thomas, Vice President Tom Reise, Secretary David Barone and Director Margie Duncan

Summary

Investor Complaints

King of All Vegas Real Estate Scams – From Bloomberg Businessweek

First Request For Deer Ridge Documents Filed With Court

Wonder Why Your Electric Bill At Deer Ridge Is So High?

Deer Ridge History – Historical Documents And Smoking Guns – Coming Soon

New Official Mail Tampering Complaints Filed Against Joe Thomas At Deer Ridge

My Response To The Board’s Attack Letter

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?

File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission

Deer Ridge Problems – The Mind Map

FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board

Complaint: Deceptive Trade Practices, Securities Fraud And More Against Tennessee Real Estate Broker
Joseph Thomas – Tennessee License 281040

Investor Complaint For Securities Fraud And Other Securities Law Violations Filed Against Ridge Management LTD, Inc.
and
President Luther Parker, Treasurer Larry Ohm CPA, General Manager Joe Thomas, Vice President Tom Reise, Secretary David Barone and Director Margie Duncan