I assume most of you have seen the latest Joe Thomas letter regarding the huge size of recent water bills and how GGRC is having to dig into its jeans (our jeans) for an extra $2,000.

Now, the idea of replacing the shower heads for $30 per unit is sound thinking.  We replaced ours two years ago with a $20 one from Amazon that was very highly rated by other customers – one that was both water saving and high velocity.  So, we agree with this step.

However…

Real Increases In Water Usage – Or Something Else?

Joe goes on to list the points of investigation that he is doing to help track down the source of the increase water usage.  What he doesn’t mention are his data points.

• When did the increase start?
• Could it possibly be due to the one time aberration that was caused by all the water that was used for several months to high pressure wash all buildings in preparation of all buildings at Deer Ridge being painted?
• Could it be due to an aberration caused by refilling the indoor pool when it was emptied last month for maintenance reasons?
• Could it be caused by all the massive amount of water that is used by our “commercial laundry” that is used by RML for rental units’ sheets and towels?
• Could it be caused by all of the over-watering of the pavement and flower beds where the hose is turned on but then forgotten for hours beyond the needed water that was really required?
• Or, is it that these aberrations are being used to set us all up for yet another HOA fee increase come November when the “board” will be looking for all sorts of ways to raise our HOA fees by $70-$100 a MONTH just to cover the massive ongoing hemorrhage caused by the Gang of Six keeping us in the motel business with the money losing RML operation that is bankrupting our HOA?

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort gets one bill per month from Webb Creek Utility District.  But they also have a comprehensive spread sheet that shows water usage each by unit number.  It seems to me that a 12 month variance analysis of this report would quickly identify where the changes in water usage are REALLY occurring.

Let’s See The Real Data, Joe

As owners, I recommend that you all individually request the following from our GGRC books and records:

• A copy of the Webb Creek Utility District water bill(s) for each of the past 12 months.
• A copy of the monthly water usage breakout by unit spreadsheet.

Or, better yet, request that Joey and board post the above information on the GGRC blog for all owners to see and analyze.  That way, we can all help Joe Thomas do the analysis – and maybe keep all of us from seeing yet another hike in HOA fees come November.

Note that several owners have told me that they have requested a copy of the monthly Webb Creek Utility District water bill(s) and Joey has yet to EVER give a copy of these out to ANYBODY.

Curious, huh?

The Missing Audit Numbers – A Smoking Gun???

All of this triggered a thought:  Where on our audits do we reflect that RML last year received almost $120,000 from all owners for water during calendar year 2010?

In other words, you and I and every other owner wrote a check to RML every month for $117.25.  (This was when water / sewer was billed to all owners at $117.25 before the increase by RML to $120.38 on January 1, 2011.)

This adds up to $118,188 paid into RML during 2010.

So, where’s the money showing up on the audit?

There is not a single line item on the entire 2010 audit of RML that deals with water.  Zero. Nada. Zip.  Yet, the checks were all written to RML, commingled with our payment of the cable TV bill and, for some, a telephone charge.  Here’s what the RML audit for 2010 actually shows:

Notice that all the other pass through direct costs are show above including the Cable TV, the telephone and even the Cobbly Knob dues.

But where IS the water???

There is nearly $120,000 of deposits into RML accounts that are completely unaccounted for on this audit!

And, it isn’t on the GGRC audit either.  The ONLY line item for water there is this:

Notice that the total actual water bill shown for GGRC for calendar year 2010 is only $6,952 for the whole year.  And, there is NO income item on GGRC whatsoever for water.

So, WHERE is the missing $118,188 paid into RML during 2010???

And…how much of this $118,188 paid into RML during 2010 was actually used to pay the water bill…and where did all the rest of this money go???

Could all of this be part of  the REAL reason that, after years of paying RML for the water bill, that Joey and the Gang are SO anxious all of a sudden, as a result of my lawsuit against them, to have the water be paid directly into GGRC starting this month???

What IS the reason for this change with such urgency???

Show Us The Money, Joey!

So, Joey, show up the last 12 months of water bills – and let’s see if they are REALLY averaging $10,112 per month.

It’s easy enough to prove, Joey – show us the proof – that ALL owners have a right to see.

————————————

Below is the letter sent by Joe Thomas regarding the water usage.

August 3, 2011

Dear GGRC Co-Owner:

Over the last few months, we have experienced a large increase in water usage.  While our occupancy has been up due to summer travelers, water usage has increased disproportionally.  Since we were concerned about the volume, the first step we took was to ask the Webb Creek Utility District to perform an analysis of our water usage.  We have also contacted a plumber, and asked for his expertise in searching for possible leaks.  These steps are in progress.  Another step that we plan to take very soon is to change the original shower heads that are still in place in many of the condos on the rental program.  Those original shower heads are now 25 years old, and expel far too much water at a time.  We will soon be changing the heads in the rentals units, and request that you consider doing the same.  The water saving shower heads that we will purchase will cost around $20 plus tax, and then there will be some labor involved in the installation.  If you would like our maintenance staff to change yours, please email Joe at manager@deerridge.com and we will charge you just $30.  We feel that this change is a step in the right direction toward our water usage.  Please bear in mind that if water usage continues to climb, we will have no choice other than to increase the monthly HOA dues.  Currently, GGRC has been paying the additional monies incurred, which have been $2,000 or more each month.

Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

 

Joe Thomas

General Manager

865-436-2325

manager@deerridge.com

The UnNatural Nature Trail

These photos were taken around Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Most all of these were taken on April 7, 2011. In my opinion, what you are about to see is a dismal indication of gross mismanagement by Joe Thomas, General Manager, at Deer Ridge.

How hard is it to have our existing maintenance personnel walk this trail at least once a week to pick up this kind of trash and debris? It SHOULD be done once per day by a competent property management company!  None of our 3 or 4 maintenance staff have 15 MINUTES a WEEK for this NO COST maintenance?

Inexcusable Mismanagement

This kind of gross mismanagement is totally inexcusable. How do you think this kind of mismanagement comes across to your guests and tourists? How do you think  this kind of mismanagement comes across to prospective buyers?

It’s Been Like This For Months

What you are seeing is not the result of a very recent wind storm or other act of God. What you are seeing is the state of neglect of our nature trail for MONTHS due to what I believe is irresponsible mismanagement. Virtually everything you are seeing could have been fixed for almost no cost – in less than a day.

Good First Impression, Huh?

Tourists see this mismanagement every time they walk the Nature Trail or walk the property. Tourists see this mismanagement every time they take their kids to the playground. Is this the image of Deer Ridge that you want your guests to have when they visit or rent from you?

Get It Done – Now

Solve the Nature Trail problem now. No more excuses. We WILL be watching…everything.

And, we WILL be making more movies…just like this one to hold Joe Thomas and the “board” accountable.

Below is the latest video we just posted on our new Deer Ridge Owners Channel on YouTube.com:

It details the Top Two Dozen Complaints we hear from tourists and guests who visit Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

You can read the entire review of Deer Ridge at www.DeerRidgeReviews.com along with some other videos that we have posted at YouTube, including one on the Pathetic Pavilion and a complete video I took walking the entire property a few weeks ago.

New YouTube videos coming soon on the lawsuits and upcoming motion for Summary Judgment against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, Tom Reise and David Barone.

Stay Tuned!

PS:  If you would like to see all our growing number of videos posted on YouTube.com for Deer Ridge, please click Channel.

If you need maintenance and repair work done for your condo or cabin in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, I can highly recommend Joe Sutton.

We’ve used Joe on several occassions, and he is highly knowledgeable, versatile and fast….along with great pricing.  This plug for Joe gives us no benefits of any kind – we just wanted to refer his services because of all the great work he is done for us – including a half dozen items he took care of just this week.

You can reach Joe at 865-654-4427.

New YouTube Video Added

We’ve just added a new video to our Deer Ridge Owners Channel at YouTube.com.   As always, you can watch in hi def and also full screen here or you can view it directly at YouTube.com by clicking the YouTube symbol on the bottom corner of the video.

The Pathetic Pavilion

This video shows the current state of the Joe’s Folly Picnic Pavilion at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.  These problems have been there for MONTHS…and it’s inexcusable state of disrepair is an embarrassment and a very bad reflection on Deer Ridge to owners, guests and tourists.

Inexcusable.

These photos were taken around Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, mostly on March 19, 2011. 

In my opinion, what you are about to see is a dismal indication of gross mismanagement by Joe Thomas, General Manager, at Deer Ridge.

Good First Impression, Huh?

• Tourists see this mismanagement every time they walk the Nature Trail or walk the property.
• Tourists see this mismanagement every time they take their kids to the playground.
• Is this the image of Deer Ridge that you want your guests to have when they visit or rent from you?
• It’s been INEXCUSABLY like this for MONTHS.
• Joe Thomas never walks the property any more?
• We have 3 or 4 on site maintenance people on the payroll.
• None had time during past MONTHS to have one of them fix this stuff that take less than one day?
• The maintenance staff of 3 or 4 does what they are told to do by General Manager Joe Thomas.
• In my opinion, I think it is clearly obvious that Joe Thomas, as General Manager, is doing a pathetic job of managing – and should be fired ASAP for gross incompetence and gross mismanagement.
• Instead, the “board” just gave Joey a 10% raise.

Find Out More – Watch The Video

When you look at this video, try to imagine how this same level of management incompetent translates across the entire property – and even into your own unit.

Stay Tuned For More Upcoming Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Videos

PS:  I am not an attorney and these opinions are my own.  Please be sure and refer to the full disclaimer language in the side bars and the Terms of this website. 

Summary Judgment And Temporary Injunction

 As you know from one of my recent postings, we finally have a hearing date set for my litigation against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise.  Copies of all four motions that will be heard on April 26, 2011 are shown below.  Click on each photo to download the entire Acrobat file for each document that has been filed with the Court.

We are covering several issues during this hearing that will be pivotal for this case that could cause a major, consequential and immediate impact to the way that Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is operated. We are asking that the judge issue an immediate ruling on his interpretation of the Deer Ridge Master Deed and Bylaws which we believe have been grossly and purposely misinterpreted by Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six.

 The changes resulting from a favorable ruling could include:

• The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, how everyone’s monthly assessment is calculated, including HOA fees, water and cable TV bills. If we win this one point, all 30 of the 1-1 units should no longer be overcharged 82% every month on their HOA fee!
• The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, how much, if any, will be owed by each owner on the current “special assessment” and the right amounts that should have been charged on all prior “special assessments.”
• The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, whether the current charge to all owners for this year’s portion of the “special assessment” will be blocked by our motion for temporary and permenant injunction.
• The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, whether RML and RRR (Ridge Resort Realty) are legitmate or not…and whether they were created as ultra vires acts by “board” members, making them possibly personal liable to repay all costs associated with RML and RRR for the past several years.  (My calculations show that RML alone has cost owners at least $118,000 a year…so multiply this by The Six years we’ve owned and that equates to over $700,000 that might be owed back to GGRC by the individual “board” members.)
• The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, that all improvements and alterations require both a positive vote by 75% of all owners AND 90% of all mortgagees.  If the judge rules in our favor on this, that means that about $82,000, or 23% of the entire $353,500 Asinine Assessment were illegally spent by the “board” since they adamently refused to follow the Master Deed and Bylaws on this point, even knowing it was required.  If this ruling goes in our favor, the “board” can be judged, again, to have been acting ultra vires…which means that each of the “board” members could be held jointly and severally liable for the full amount of the illegitimate expenditures.
• This same ruling should make the “board” members also personally liable for all those past improvements and alterations that were done where they ignored my demands for the past 6 years to solicit the required 75% vote of all owners.  These include:
• • Joe’s Folly – The $80,000 picnic pavillion that should have never been built.
  • New pool decking – $30,000
  • Reception area and office improvements – $25,000
  • Maintenance building improvements and addtions – $15,000
  • Chairs for weddings, etc. - $3,200
  • Playground equipment – $3,000
  • New computers and office equipment – $5,000
  • Vehicles, golf carts, etc.  ???
  • Game room equipment  ???
  • Commercial laundry room equipment for RML ???
  • All of these monies were spent by the board without proper authority and approval by the owners at Deer Ridge.
• Some of these amounts are guesses and I am sure this list of improvements and additions is not comprehensive.  But once we are finally allowed to see the real books and records as provided by Tennessee state law, we expect that we will be able to add lots more to this list and correct the numbers here.  
• Even without the addtions, the above list adds up to more than $161,200 that would be ultra vires violations by the “board.”
• All totalled, this could make the “board” members individually responsible to personally pay back over $940,000. 
• If we divide this amount by the 5 board members, that would equal $188,000 that each would be responsible to pay.  However, it is my understanding that all board members are “jointly and severally” liable for this amount…which means that each board member is fully responsible for the whole amount if and when one board member or another doesn’t pay. If this happens, I can easily envision lawsuits being filed by one “board” member against another demanding that they pay their fair share of any court ordered reimbursements back to GGRC. If lawsuits between “board” members were to happen, all kinds of “smoking guns” disclosures might be uncovered.

The Other Key Motion

We also filed a Motion to Compel so that this Despicable Gang of Six is forced by the Court to finally turn over the Deer Ridge books and records.

• It’s been nine months since we filed our motion for production of documents with the Court — but so far Joe Thomas and the “board” have not complied.
• We have been waiting for nine months for Joe Thomas to turn over the books and records on GGRC that all owners have a right to see.
• Joe Thomas keeps adamantly stating that he has properly maintained the Administrator’s Book as required by Tennessee state law.  Joey keeps saying they have this information, in the right format — but they don’t seem to be able to produce it.

I wonder why?

Now, Joey and the Gang are trying to mark all of Deer Ridge’s books and records as “confidential‘ to keep us from sharing them with YOU – all past and present owners At Deer Ridge who also have a right to see and thoroughly study the books and records concerning OUR investment in our property at Deer Ridge.

They claim these books and records and the emails between the six Gang members “… may cause injury, prejudice or [particularly] embarrassment” to Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Baron and Tom Reise.

As our Motion states, these “embarrassing” consequences fall in the category of “sometimes the truth hurts.”

Additionally, our motion to block their “protective” order stipulates we completely agree that obvious information such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and the like will be treated as confidential….but NOT all the rest of the information that we will find in these documents.

We fully expect to find all kinds of “embarrassing” actions and statements, done and made, by this Gang of Six.

We fully expect to also find all kinds of other questionable activities that have been committed by these individuals.

And, we, and several other Deer Ridge owners, plan on looking VERY carefully and diligently for any and all signs of any potential civil and/or criminal malfeasance that might have, just maybe, been committed by any, or all, members of the Gang. As of now, we’ve not seen any documentation that proves malfeasance — but then again, we have yet to get the full books and records we’ve been requesting for over five years. Right now, we only have our overwhelming intuition that screams about ongoing malfeasance.

Maybe we won’t find any such malfeasance — but if we do, any and all guilty parties will suffer a whole lot more than simple “embarrassment.”

Maybe that’s why the Gang members are continuing their desperate FIVE YEAR long attempts to keep this information secret. They seem terrified their secrets are going to finally see the light of day.

We believe that’s one of the reasons that Joe Thomas and the Gang have fought so hard, for so many years, to keep this information out of the hands of the owners who deserve full visibility, full disclosure and full accountability from those who have been handling over $1 million a year on this property for a decade.

• What IS it that terrifies them so much about what we will find in those books and records?
• We ARE going to get to the bottom of this.
• We ARE going to get access to all the books and records that Joey and the board have tried for years to keep secret.

And, we intend to do everything we can to block their motion for “protective” order — so that we can share ALL of this information with EVERY owner At Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Note – Temporary Injunction To Block Special Assessment Payment – Should You Pay?

Notice that Section 4 of the Motion For Summary Judgment includes wording that we “seek a temporary and permanent injunction prohibiting and restraining the Board from attempting to make any alterations or additions to the Common Elements except in compliance with the seventy-five (75%) percent and ninety (90%) percent requirements of Article XII subsection 2 set out above, including the $340,000 “Special Assessment .. currently being billed to Association members.”  (The $340,000 is a typo that is being corrected to reflect the full $353,500.)

Bottom line:  We believe this wording blocks any and all collection by GGRC for the “special assessment” if the judge agrees with our motion. You should be your own judge of this document and its intent and decide for yourself if you are required, in light of this pending court action, to make the currently due special assessment payment.  We believe it is germaine that 23% of this special assessment is for walkway railings and lighting improvements that did not have the required 75% / 90% vote.  Also, germaine is that the calculated amount for every unit does not abide by the Master Deed Percentages – which means that the amounts of all payments due from all owners would be significantly different.

This seems like two very good reasons to me that the Judge should award both a temporary and permanent injunction against this Asinine Assessment.

Lots More Info

Please check out the following links for more information on these issues – and what we hope to gain from our $3 million lawsuit against  Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise.

• Date Set For Summary Judgement And Motion To Compel Filed Against GGRC, Joe Thomas And Board 
• Videos on Deer Ridge Owners Litigation Coming To This Blog AND To YouTube!
•  HALF Of Your Annual Deer Ridge HOA Fees Pay To Support RML’s Negative Cash Flow 
• Deer Ridge Board – You Better Learn A New Latin Term – Ultra Vires
• How To Fire Joe Thomas And Save GGRC Tens Of Thousands $$$ Each Year
• Independent Legal Opinion: GGRC Board Guilty Of Numerous Violations / $353,500 Assessment Is Null And Void

Copies Of Motions Filed with the Court

Motion For Summary Judgement & Temporary Injunction - Click For Document	Motion To Compel - Click For Document
Motion To Dismiss and Judgment on Pleadings - Click For Document	Motion For Protective Order - Click For Document

Stay Tuned! 

We live in interesting times!

Tick…tick…tick.

PS:  I am not an attorney and these opinions are my own.  Please be sure and refer to the full disclaimer language in the side bars and the Terms of this website. 

PPS:  Be sure and watch this blog for upcoming news about our new domain name:  HOABoardAbuse.com and our two new video channels on YouTube.com:  DeerRidgeOwners.com and HOABoardAbuse.com.  In-depth videos are being produced to fully explain, to all Owners and the World, exactly what is happening both at Deer Ridge and at other abusive HOA Board run properties across the Nation.  These videos will be posted on both DeerRidgeOwners.com and YouTube.com. 

 Stay tuned – you never know what videos might go viral!

News Flash:

Hearing Date Finally Set For Summary Judgement And Motion To Compel Filed Against GGRC, Joe Thomas And The “Board”

  We finally get this case before the Judge on April 26, 2011.  This is a copy of a letter sent by our attorney to the Court:

This first court date is not for everything – but it is for some very pivotal motions and especially for a Summary Judgment on THREE issues – instead of just the two issues that we originally included in our first motion for Summary Judgment that was filed back in November:  

1. The Master Deed Percentages must be followed – that these clearly stated ratios contained in the Master Deed must be followed for all assessments and common expenses for all owners at Deer Ridge.
2. Establish the Illegitimacy of RML and Ridge Resort Realty – there is no provision whatsoever in our Master Deed for owners at Deer Ridge to support and fund, and be exposed to the business risks of operating two small businesses.  This is not the purpose of a real estate investment in a residential home.
3. Article XII of the Master Deed must be followed - it requires that the board must have both a 75% vote by homeowners AND a 90% vote by all mortgagees involved with the ownership of Deer Ridge units before any alterations, additions or improvements are made to the common elements of the property.
4. We have also filed Motions to Compel Joe Thomas and the “board” to finally provide us the books and records of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in the exact format that is required by Tennessee state law.
5. We have also filed a Motion for Temporary Injunction to block the currently due second phase of the Asinine Assessment payment.

We believe that the Three Summary Judgment issues are clear cut interpretations of the Master Deed and Bylaws – and do not require findings of fact.  As a consequence, a Summary Judgment can be pursued on these three issues.

• As such, we are asking the Court to read the controlling documents of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and rule on the spot on the proper interpretation of the GGRC controlling documents and Tennessee State Law. Since many of our claims rests solely on the proper interpretation of the master documents, there is no need for discovery, depositions or testimony for this part of our litigation. Instead, the controlling documents speak for themselves — and only require the Court to read the 90 pages of our Master Deed and Bylaws and make a ruling based on the Judge’s sole interpretation of these documents.
• We are highly confident that our interpretations will prevail — and the strained, manipulated and flatly wrong interpretations that Joey and the Gang have depended on for years will be denied by the Court.
• The first issue for Summary Judgment will be that the Master Deed Percentages MUST be followed for all cost allocations and assessments — instead of being based on the “arbitrary and capricious” methods that Joey and the “board” use to illegitimately overcharge all 30 1-1 units by a whopping 82%  every single month!
• If we win on this one point, this means EVERY assessment – including the monthly assessments and the expenses for water, cable TV, etc. - for EVERY unit has been wrongly charged for YEARS – including, of course, the amounts for the Asinine Assessment and all other past assessments.
• If we win on this one point, we believe that this will have FAR reaching consequences to EVERY current owner at Deer Ridge – especially all 30 of the 1-1 unit owners who have been victimized for years.
• If we win on this one point, ALL the current, and many past, 1-1 unit owners should be owed a SUBSTANTIAL amount of money refunding the gross monthly overcharges that Luther Parker amazingly stated, “were fair and equitable.”
• We would expect that these 1-1 unit owners would also be awarded interest and penalties. All of these refunds, interest, penalties may also be owed to dozens, if not hundreds, of past owners, thereby making the claims against the counter defendants even more substantial.
• If we win this one point during our Motion for Summary Judgment, it should stop all future violations by The Gang of Six as well as any new board from trying to circumvent the GGRC documents.
• Likewise, we are asking the Court to rule that RML and RRR are illegitimate – and all the monies that have been squandered over the years supporting these companies are not admissible Common Expenses. We believe that a review of the controlling documents by the Court will quickly establish that there is NO provision in our Master Deed and Bylaws for all homeowners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort to be subjected to the costs and risks that are inherent with starting and running small businesses.
• If we win this one point, we will take expedited legal steps so that RML and RRR will be immediately shut down and disposed of by selling those companies to the highest bidder out of any and all potential buyers with the proceeds paid to those owners who were not a part of RML.
• By winning this one point of Summary Judgment, we get rid of RML and RRR, and the hemorrhage of HALF our current monthly assessments will be finally stopped — and we’ll finally be out of the motel business.  This one point alone will dramatically change the way GGRC and Deer Ridge Mountain Resort have been managed, or rather mismanaged, for over a decade – and allow for a MAJOR reduction in the HOA fees for most all homeowners.
• Article XII of the Master Deed clearly provides that there shall be no alterations or additions to the common elements or any part thereof except as authorized by the Board of Directors and approved by not less than 75% of the total vote of co-owners AND not less than 90% of the mortgagees. First, I had to fight the Gang of Six with regard to the requirement that a 75% vote of the total co-owners was required for any alterations or addition or improvements at Deer Ridge.  I finally won this point during a board meeting in which the board’s attorney, Chuck Sexton, was present. However, the Gang of Six continues to refuse to pursue the 90% vote of the mortgagees as required by our Master Deed.
• If we win this one point during our Motion for Summary Judgment on April 26, we intend to aggressively and immediately pursue forcing reimbursement directly from the members of the “Board of Directors” for their ultra vires acts of illegitimately squandering over $120,000 of owners’ money…including all monies recently spent on the walkway railings.  Even as recently as the vote on the walkway railings, Luther Parker and the rest of the “board” categorically refused to even pursue the required 90% vote of all mortgagees and gaveled me out of order at a board meeting to stop my insistence that the governing documents required it.  If we win this one point during our Motion for Summary Judgment, it should stop all future violations by The Gang of Six as well as any new board from trying to circumvent the GGRC documents.
• It will also be interesting to see what happens to the defense of Joe Thomas and the “board” by the insurance company if we are successful in proving that this Gang of Six was acting ultra vires since all indemnifications of them defined in the Master Deed and Bylaws are null and void.  This would make all members of the Gang of Six jointly and severally libel and fully responsible for their own legal costs in defending themselves against our $3 million lawsuit…along with them being jointly and severally libel and fully responsible for any repayments, penalties, interest, punitive damages, etc.

These are just the first three issues for Summary Judgment. If we are successful with these, we expect to move for Summary Judgment on other fundamental interpretations of our Master Deed and Bylaws that will stop the Gang’s abuse of it power.

We believe that pursuing the Summary Judgment is in the best interest of all parties, including all homeowners, to expeditiously resolve some of the more outstanding issues regarding our litigation.

Other Ongoing Litigation

We intend to continue to pursue our litigation on all other areas of our lawsuit too…some of the other areas will entail findings of fact that will require depositions and testimony and, as a consequence, are not subject to Summary Judgment. These will require in-depth litigation and may include damages, interest and penalties, along with payment of all of our legal fees, as we continue to pursue this matter.

We expect, in the near term, to be taking the depositions and interrogatories of Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Tom Reise, Margie Duncan and other members of the “board.”  Depositions and interrogatories will probably be taken from past and current employees and past “board” members.

(I personally can’t wait to get Joe Thomas and Luther Parker and some of the other “board” members to testify under oath – and ask some very specific questions concerning their decision-making process and ask them for very detailed explanations about several entries in the books and records!)

So, all you Gang Members — get ready to give your depositions and interrogatories — and get ready to testify in Court.

Joey And the Gang Are Worried About Being ”Embarrassed”

We also filed a Motion to Compel so that this Despicable Gang of Six is forced by the Court to finally turn over the Deer Ridge books and records.

It’s been seven months since we filed our motion for production of documents with the Court — but so far Joe Thomas and the “board” have not complied.

We have been waiting for seven months for Joe Thomas to turn over the books and records on GGRC that all owners have a right to see.

Joe Thomas keeps adamantly stating that he has properly maintained the Administrator’s Book as required by Tennessee state law.  Joey keeps saying they have this information, in the right format — but they don’t seem to be able to produce it.

I wonder why?

Now, Joey and the Gang are trying to mark all of Deer Ridge’s books and records as “confidential‘ to keep us from sharing them with YOU – all past and present owners At Deer Ridge who also have a right to see and thoroughly study the books and records concerning OUR investment in our property at Deer Ridge.

They claim these books and records and the emails between the six Gang members “… may cause injury, prejudice or [particularly] embarrassment” to Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Baron and Tom Reise.

As our Motion states, these “embarrassing” consequences fall in the category of “sometimes the truth hurts.”

Additionally, our motion to block their “protective” order stipulates we completely agree that obvious information such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and the like will be treated as confidential….but NOT all the rest of the information that we will find in these documents.

We fully expect to find all kinds of “embarrassing” actions and statements, done and made, by this Gang of Six.

We fully expect to also find all kinds of other questionable activities that have been committed by these individuals.

And, we, and several other Deer Ridge owners, plan on looking VERY carefully and diligently for any and all signs of any potential civil and/or criminal malfeasance that might have, just maybe, been committed by any, or all, members of the Gang. As of now, we’ve not seen any documentation that proves malfeasance — but then again, we have yet to get the full books and records we’ve been requesting for over five years. Right now, we only have our overwhelming intuition that screams about ongoing malfeasance.

Maybe we won’t find any such malfeasance — but if we do, any and all guilty parties will suffer a whole lot more than simple “embarrassment.”

Maybe that’s why the Gang members are continuing their desperate FIVE YEAR long attempts to keep this information secret. They seem terrified their secrets are going to finally see the light of day.

We believe that’s one of the reasons that Joe Thomas and the Gang have fought so hard, for so many years, to keep this information out of the hands of the owners who deserve full visibility, full disclosure and full accountability from those who have been handling over $1 million a year on this property for a decade.

• What IS it that terrifies them so much about what we will find in those books and records?
• We ARE going to get to the bottom of this.
• We ARE going to get access to all the books and records that Joey and the board have tried for years to keep secret.

And, we intend to do everything we can to block their motion for “protective” order — so that we can share ALL of this information with EVERY owner At Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

April 26, 2011

The Court date is set.  April 26, 2011.  After nearly 9 months of litigation, this will be our first hearing before the Court. We now have a fixed hearing date – less than two months from now.

If the Court agrees with us on these motions, we may be able to short circuit a lot of the Gang of Six BS and delays — and finally get rulings on these issues and effectuate major changes at Deer Ridge.

If Joey and the Gang really want quick resolution of this, they should be all in favor of getting an expedited ruling on the three issues in the Motion for Summary Judgment.

What do you want to bet that they will do EVERYTHING in their power to drag this out — and try their best to delay any ruling of any kind?

If so, that is just more proof to me that they KNOW they are NOT doing things the right way.

I will try to make the time this week to post copies of the new motions we have just filed so all of you can review them in detail.

What will be interesting will be the report that the Gang has to made at the “annual meeting” on April 30th, which is the weekend immediately following the Court date.  Will they prepare two different meeting agenda and presentations – depending on what they may win or lose a few days earlier?

Resignations and “Retirement”

Also, we have overheard gossip that Joey and other members of the Gang of Six believe that they can simply walk away from being held responsible for their past acts and actions by either resigning or retiring…or even selling their unit at Deer Ridge. 

Just to be clear,  resignations and retirement will not absolve ANY wrongdoings  by Joey and the Gang…and if we discover ANY malfeasance of ANY kind by ANY “board” member or employee, we will do everything we can to enforce ALL appropriate justice.

Stay tuned — We Live In Interesting Times!

The rulings on the upcoming Motion for Summary Judgment on April 26, 2011, along with our other motions, could end up drastically changing  the current way virtually everything is done at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.   Plus, once we finally get the books and records on this property….well, we fully expect to find all sorts of “interesting” facts about actions and monies paid that might not have been in the best interests of ALL owners.

Hey Joey and the Gang…less than two months until our Court date….when, as Galatians 5:1 sort of states, ”Deer Ridge Owners shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free.”  Of course, the freedom of The Gang of Six might depend on what we find once we finally get to see the books and records!

Tick…tick…tick.

PS:  I am not an attorney and these opinions are my own.  Please be sure and refer to the full disclaimer language in the side bars and the Terms of this website. 

PPS:  Be sure and watch this blog for upcoming news about our new domain name:  HOABoardAbuse.com and our two new video channels on YouTube.com:  DeerRidgeOwners.com and HOABoardAbuse.com.  In-depth videos are being produced to fully explain, to all Owners and the World, exactly what is happening both at Deer Ridge and at other abusive HOA Board run properties across the Nation.  These videos will be posted on both DeerRidgeOwners.com and YouTube.com. 

 Stay tuned – you never know what videos might go viral!

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort cited for 42 important structural code violations!

Below is a letter sent by the Chief Building Inspector for Sevier County notifying Joe Thomas of 42 major code violations at Deer Ridge. That’s FOUR TWO.

As I understand it, the county inspector repeatedly used the term “death trap” as he walked the property citing instance after instance of structural code violations.

These were the same structural problems that the “board” had been told about TWICE – and they chose to completely ignore the issue both times.

I don’t know about you, but to me this is crystal clear evidence of both gross incompetence AND gross negligence by Joe Thomas and the so called “board” – and will be used as such in our lawsuit against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Tom Reise, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan and David Barone.

In my opinion, their lack of any and all action – even after a written inspection report by a Certified Building Inspector was provided to them over a year ago - is unconscionable and continues, to this day, to place owners and guests in needless peril.

Just so there is no misunderstanding, here is a copy of the actual letter from the Office of Sevier County Building Inspectors that was received by Joe Thomas almost a month ago:

Interestingly, as of today, almost a month after the date of this letter, there is still NOTHING about these 42 code violations posted on the GGRC web site – and there has been no notice to all owners about these structural defects. 

What is posted on the front page of the GGRC web site is Luther Parker’s insightful, breaking news that the view is still good at Deer Ridge. 

Thanks, Luther.

If those who control the GGRC web site don’t disclose something as important as these kinds of structural violations to all owners – it makes me wonder what else they are NOT telling owners about their investment at Deer Ridge? 

Once Upon A Time…

Deer Ridge owner Todd Novak, who has a background in construction and real estate, had been concerned for some time about the construction problems at the property.  Using his own money, Todd had hired and paid for a building inspection company to review those construction concerns. 

You can read the whole report and see all two dozen photographs that were provided by Certified Building Inspector Daniel Gabriel by clicking “Inspection Report – Building A and E – Another Failure By Joe Thomas At Deer Ridge.”  Note that my posting to this blog, including all photos and a copy of the full written report, was provided to all owners on November 12, 2009 – only three days after the date of the report.  

The “board” was presented with this written report less than a week later at the November 2009 budget meeting.  It was even mentioned in the minutes of the meeting.  But Joey and the Gang completely ignored this report - irrespective of its potential impact on safety for every owner and visitor to Deer Ridge.

The closed and controlled GGRC Blog has yet to include a copy of either the full report or the 24 photos - anytime in the past 14 months the Gang has had that information.  Wonder why they didn’t want all owners to see that information? 

Todd, once again, brought up the matter a year later at the November 2010 budget meeting.  Not only was the matter once again rudely ignored by Joey and the Gang – but they also threatened legal action against Todd for being a trouble maker “acting in concert” with me.

This inspection was performed on November 9, 2009 – more than a YEAR ago, and Joey and the Gang have STILL done nothing about it. 

This Is No Fairy Tale

It remains to be seen what will happen as a result of these 42 structural violations now that the Sevier County government has gotten involved. 

Hopefully, the Gang’s GROSS incompetence and GROSS negligence will stop – at least on this point and these safety hazards will finally be addressed - with money being rightfully spent on this – instead of Joey wasting our money on buying $800 pumpkins for his Fall Festival. 

Besides this initial structural inspection, it is my understanding that Sevier County will be performing a detailed and comprehensive electrical inspection of Deer Ridge.  Several of us owners are highly concerned that there are multiple, major issues with the way the electrical wiring for this property has been handled – especially for the illegitimate Joe’s Folly Pavilion and the equally illegitimate annex to the maintenance building. 

Do You REALLY Want This Kind of Incompetence and Threats To Owners?

Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Tom Reise, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan and David Barone are the ones responsible for ignoring these dangerous, structural defects. 

• This Gang of Six refused to do anything even after having been provided with the building inspection report submitted to them in November 2009. 
• This Gang of Six, instead of being motivated by facts to fix serious problems at Deer Ridge, responded by threatening legal action against Todd. 
• This Gang of Six has yet to even disclose this issue on the GGRC web site. 

I don’t know about you, but to me this is crystal clear evidence of both gross incompetence AND gross negligence by Joe Thomas and the so called “board.” 

Do YOU really want people running your Deer Ridge investment who ignore safety issues and who attempt to use coercion and intimidation of owners to keep things quiet and covered up? Are these the kind of people that YOU feel you can trust with YOUR money?

These guys depend on the Master Deed and Bylaws to indemnify them from legal actions taken as a result of their “position” with GGRC. 

What they will find, if they read the documents carefully, is that they are NOT protected in cases of gross incompetence or gross negligence.  We expect to use this debacle as another example of how this Gang of Six has evidenced an ongoing pattern of both gross incompetence AND gross negligence.

In my opinion, Joe Thomas should be fired on the spot just for this one incident – and all “board” members should summarily resign.  Of course, this is on top of all the many other reasons I’ve listed that are grounds for firing Joe Thomas.

Thanks To Todd!

Many thanks to owner Todd Novak for his diligence in pressing this matter for the safety of all owners and guests. 

Todd assures me that he will continue to pursue the structural and electrical issues that plague Deer Ridge – until they are properly and professionally solved – and that he will NOT be intimidated by Joe Thomas’ and the Gang’s attempts to silence him. 

Bravo Todd!

Stay tuned.  We live in interesting times.

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.

Summary:  Do you realize that HALF of all HOA fees collected each YEAR from ALL Deer Ridge Owners are illegitimately used to pay the $152,000 a year negative cash flow of RML???

No wonder we never have ANY reserves for Deer Ridge – and the illegitimate “board” tries to force all owners to fund an illegitimate $353,500 Asinine Assessment to help cover up their lie that RML fully supports itself.

I have completed a GGRC and RML budget analysis that we intend to use in our $3 million lawsuit against GGRC and Joe Thomas and the “board” – and I thought you might find it overwhelming indicative of the lies and misrepresentations that are being perpetrated here at Deer Ridge.

It shows that RML actually has, in reality, a NEGATIVE CASH FLOW of $152,000 EACH YEAR - not the $12.000 “positive” cash flow that Joe Thomas and the “board” lied to you about with the budget mailing to all owners last December.

OK.  Fair warning:  This post is all about numbers and budget analysis which I know is a total bore to many of you.  So, in an effort to make it easy for you, I am going to give you, up front, the Executive Summary and bottom line of all that follows.  All the data is there if you would like to plow through it to understand where each and every number comes from.

The key question to remember:  For every operating cost associated with Deer Ridge, would that cost, or that full cost, be there IF Deer Ridge was not operated as a motel?  Would that cost, or that full cost, be there if we were operated solely as a small, 84 unit residential condo complex owned by over 78 owners with diverse needs and goals?

Bear in mind that there is NOTHING in the Master Deed or Bylaws that indicates this property is anything other than a small, 84 unit residential condo complex – so there is nothing in our regime documents that sets Deer Ridge out as a motel or as a predominately rental property.  Therefore, when folks buy a condo at Deer Ridge, there is NOTHING in any of the legal documents that provide for RML or running the property as a motel. Each owner can choose to rent or not rent their unit out – but any and all costs associated with renting a unit is that unit’s responsibility.

Hence, the Common Expenses that are funded by all of our HOA fees can ONLY relate to operating Deer Ridge as a small, 84 unit residential condo complex.  So, the point of this analysis is to break out any and all expenses or partial expenses that would not be required of a small, 84 unit residential condo complex.

The Executive Summary – The Dirty Dozen Secrets Of RML

All of the following is my personal opinion based on my detailed analysis of the audits and budgets provided by the “board.”

Joe Thomas and Larry Ohm and the rest of the “board” have been LYING to you for years that RML is profitable – and that RML is the part of Deer Ridge that really supports the real costs here.

All of that is a lie.

1. The real truth is that RML has a NEGATIVE CASH FLOW of over $152,000 just for 2010, assuming all the budget numbers are hit. (Last year they missed their revenue budget number by almost $100,000 – so, if they miss this year’s number by the same amount, that means the RML Negative Cash Flow could be over $252,000 just for 2010!)
2. The 2009 actual numbers show that the NEGATIVE CASH FLOW for all of 2009 was over $130,000 according to the numbers in the audits handed out at the 2010 “Annual Meeting.”
3. The reasons that the budget numbers and the audits show otherwise is that these guys have been playing games with at least 14 line items of expenses totaling nearly $164,000 that are falsely shown as GGRC expenses when they, in fact, have nothing to do with operating and administrating a small 84 unit residential condo community.  Those 14 line items, instead, are related to being in the motel business that is run by RML.
4. Joey and the “board” know that the truth of this would be unacceptable to a significant number of Deer Ridge owners – so they lie to all the owners about which company is really responsible for each line item – hoping that their “artful dodger” arithmetic will go by unnoticed.  This is one of the reasons for their disinformation campaign and lies trying to discredit me – because they KNEW that I was going to expose these secrets for all Owners to see and understand.
5. Assuming the last six years was the same level of negative cash flow for RML, then RML has squandered OVER $1 Million of our HOA fees!
6. This is almost THREE of the current Asinine Assessments!  No wonder we don’t have any money in any of our reserve accounts!  No wonder that Deer Ridge has the HIGHEST HOA fees in the entire area.
7. This ANNUAL NEGATIVE CASH FLOW represents over HALF of the total HOA fees collected from ALL owners at Deer Ridge – each and every year.
8. This $152,000 NEGATIVE CASH FLOW each year equates to a cost of over $1,800 to each and every owner at Deer Ridge – including the 20 plus units that do not use RML.  If just those who use RML were to pay this $152,000 negative cash flow each year, they would have to pay $2,375 a year EXTRA just to keep RML out of bankruptcy.  If you think in terms of NET dollars to each owner per year, you can see that RML is not a good deal for ANY owner at Deer Ridge.
9. This means that RML has wrongly robbed me of over $9,000 just for my unit during the past five years we have owned here.
10. On top of the financial impact, RML is a illegitimately formed and operated “for profit” corporation owned by a non-profit organization.  There was never even the guise of a vote authorizing its formation – and there is zero provision in the property’s master deed and bylaws that provide even a nickel for paying for RML out of our Common Expense – and here it is, taking over HALF of our HOA fees each and every month from ALL owners.
11. If GGRC were operated correctly, without RML, and using a professional HOA management company, GGRC would generate a POSITIVE CASH FLOW each year of over $118,000 with current HOA fees in place.  This would have equaled approximately $600,000 over the past five years!  This is almost enough to cover TWO Asinine Assessments – without requiring owners to dig in their pockets for even more money.
12. The GGRC “board” has a fiduciary duty to ensure that GGRC, not RML,  is operated properly for ALL  Owners in accordance with the Master Deed and Bylaws.  Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six are GROSSLY violating their fiduciary duty to GGRC by trying to protect RML’s negative cash flow from being discovered – and continuing to deplete hundreds of thousands of dollars of HOA fees to do so.  It is past time to hold every member of the Gang Of Six personally and financially responsible for their wanton disregard for their fiduciary responsibility to every owner at Deer Ridge.

All owners should be outraged at this despicable lie that has been perpetrated by Joe Thomas for YEARS just for his own self-serving reasons to keep employed and paid all the money he unjustifiably gets from our small 84 unit complex.

All owners should be outraged that Luther Parker and Larry Ohm and the rest of the “board” are either so incompetent and grossly negligent to understand this – or are in collusion with Joe Thomas to intentionally misrepresent these facts to all the owners.

We expect to hold Joe Thomas and every member of the “board” fully accountable for every dollar of Owners’ money they have wasted on RML with our $3 million lawsuit – and believe that the jury in our case will have no difficulty in understanding and believing the following analysis that proves their lie – and the extent to which it has been covered up.  And, since these Dirty Dozen Secrets About RML have affected EVERY OWNER, past and present, for the last decade, this will probably be the basis for a SECOND Class Action Lawsuit against Joe Thomas the rest of the Gang of Six.

An Alternative – Professional HOA Management of Deer Ridge

My previous posting How To Fire Joe Thomas And Save GGRC Tens Of Thousands $$$ Each Year gives details on a bid we received from a professional HOA management company that specializes in providing the managerial, administrative and maintenance services required of home owner associations in the Knoxville and Gatlinburg areas.  Their bid provides for:

• A one time set up fee of $1,680 to audit the books and records
• A monthly management fee of $1,680 per month plus any and all late fees they collect
• Maintenance done at $25 per hour for individual homeowners’ repairs.
• Maintenance for common areas at $40 per hour without a maintenance contract and at $20 an hour with a maintenance contract.
• All monthly bookkeeping included, which would also save GGRC thousands of dollars per year.
• All personnel would be their people – not ours – so there would be no cost to us for all personnel related costs. This also means that they provide the back up folks for vacation, illness and resignations and firings.

You can see their full bid by clicking Bid and view their brochure by clicking Brochure.

Bear in mind, that all of these activities are strictly GGRC related and have nothing to do with the illegitimate RML and its’ activities.

Their company:

• Has been providing HOA services in the area for over a dozen years.
• Has managed over $800 million in HOA property at over 50 different locations throughout East Tennessee.
• Has their own accounting and maintenance people along with their own lawn care experts.
• Prepares the annual budget for the HOA.
• Collects HOA fees and assessments.
• Includes all the bookkeeping in their charges.
• Generates management reports that include monthly management summaries, balance sheet, income and expense statements, budget performance, collection report and bank reconciliation.
• They maintain the state-required HOA “Administrator’s Book” that seems to be so difficult to produce with the current management team led by “full time” General Manager Joe Thomas.

Again, you can see the whole previous posting by clicking How To Fire Joe Thomas And Save GGRC Tens Of Thousands $$$ Each Year.

By tapping the expertise of this, or some similar company, GGRC ends up with a HUGE positive cash flow each year of nearly $120,000 each year!  That kind of surplus would have been able to fully fund even the absurd Asinine Assessment of $353, 500 in under three years without the need for any additional pay in by all the owners.

Doesn’t it make sense for GGRC to have this kind of positive cash flow each year – instead of using HALF of our HOA fees each and every year from ALL owners to feed the RML negative cash flow???

The Detailed Analysis For Your Review

The following detailed analysis shows you exactly how all of the above conclusions were reached.  I invite you to pour over each of the numbers yourself so that you understand each line item and its implications for our property.

Here are the “claimed” budgets as done by Joe Thomas and the “board” last November and mailed to all owners in December 2009.

Notice that both RML and GGRC magically show a slight positive cash flow for each year.

However…

The Intentional Misrepresentation To Hide RML’s Negative Cash Flow

There are at least 14 line items on the GGRC Budget that have nothing to do with operating a non-rental 84 unit residential condo association.  These 14 line items are listed below:

If you examine each of the above 14 line items, you will see that our small 84 unit complex needs none of many of those cost factors – or in some cases, like utilities and insurance, we are paying a major premium for being in the motel business – BUT – those incremental costs are not properly shown as an RML expense.

• Except for the gas for those expensive-to-operate commercial laundry machines, RML has no line items for all the utilities they use – including  for the water or for the very expensive electric part of those expensive-to-operate commercial laundry machines, nor for all the office equipment, the game room (GGRC gets none of those funds), Joe’s office, the break room, the lighting for all that area, etc.  So, I have attributed one-third of our annual common area utilities to RML to cover their use of water and electricity.
• Likewise, 25% for insurance has been allocated to RML ($8,000, or 14%, of the $58,000 annual premium alone is spent on errors and omissions, director and officers and criminal fraud coverage that is not a part of the usual multi-peril coverage.)
• One of the key differences is that our small 84 unit condo doesn’t need those full time employees – with all of their employee benefits.  These folks are clearly used in RML-related endeavors for the most part.  (Don’t worry – we add back in the RIGHT level of personnel for GGRC below.)
• Our small 84 unit complex does NOT need a vehicle and we don’t need a $2,000 a year computer
• We don’t need a bunch of chairs that are used for RML related meetings, reunions, etc.

The above shows that if all the costs are properly attributable to RML that are genuinely RML related, the financial picture that Joey and the “board” try to falsely project changes dramatically.

Now, we show the REAL cost – and risk – of owning a real estate management company:  a NEGATIVE CASH FLOW of over $152,000 EACH YEAR.

Where does this huge amount come from each year?

Out of the pockets of ALL the owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!

• This amounts to $1,811 being paid each year by EVERY owner to support RML – including the same amount being illegally charged to the 20 or so owners who have nothing to do with RML.
• This means that for the five years I have owned here, and assuming the above numbers are indicative of all five years, I have been illegitimately charged nearly $9,000 to support RML!  (This is in addition to the nearly $11,000 I, and all other 29 1-1 owners have been overcharged by the “board” not abiding by the Master Deed Percentages.)
• This means, in total for both rip offs, Joe Thomas and these illegitimately conceived “boards” have taken over $20,000 out of just my pocket in direct cash.

The only things missing are the masks and guns.

How much have they “inappropriately taken” from YOUR bank account over the years?

The Real GGRC Budget

So, what does all of this mean to the REAL budget for GGRC?

The following budget assumes that we hire a professional HOA management company and have them provide the personnel we really need for our property.  It shows that GGRC, with the current HOA fees, SHOULD be positively cash flowing over $118,000 a YEAR or nearly $600,000 over five years.  Now, that would be a reserve account that would never require any kind of special assessment!

Doesn’t it make sense for GGRC to have this kind of positive cash flow each year – instead of using HALF of our HOA fees each and every year from ALL owners to feed the RML negative cash flow???

Backup Data – Snapshots Of The “Claimed” Budget From Joe Thomas And the “Board” Sent To All Owners

OK.  Here are the actual budgets as provided by your friends Joe Thomas and Larry Ohm – and blessed by the rest of the “board.”

Kind of makes you wonder what else they may be lying to all the owners about, huh?

All of the yellow highlighted entries are the ones in question that should be fully or partially attributable to RML.

That’s it.

Now, you see how the numbers should REALLY be done.

Maybe there’s some quibble room of a few thousand dollars.  Maybe even $20,000.  But the bottom line implications of all these years of lies, all the HUGE negative cash flows for all these years, is massive.

Give or take, about $1 Million has been squandered over the past six or seven years from hard-earned money paid by ALL owners at Deer Ridge.

In my opinion, most of this was done to fund The Joe Thomas Continued Employment Act of 2000-2010.

Here’s the same executive summary as you saw above.  Look at it again so you can better understand how massive the lies have been from Joe Thomas, Larry Ohm and the rest of your “board.”

The Executive Summary – The Dirty Dozen Secrets Of RML

All of the following is my personal opinion based on my detailed analysis of the audits and budgets provided by the “board.”

Joe Thomas and Larry Ohm and the rest of the “board” have been LYING to you for years that RML is profitable – and that RML is the part of Deer Ridge that really supports the real costs here.

All of that is a lie.

1. The real truth is that RML has a NEGATIVE CASH FLOW of over $152,000 just for 2010, assuming all the budget numbers are hit. (Last year they missed their revenue budget number by almost $100,000 – so, if they miss this year’s number by the same amount, that means the RML Negative Cash Flow could be over $252,000 just for 2010!)
2. The 2009 actual numbers show that the NEGATIVE CASH FLOW for all of 2009 was over $130,000 according to the numbers in the audits handed out at the 2010 “Annual Meeting.”
3. The reasons that the budget numbers and the audits show otherwise is that these guys have been playing games with at least 14 line items of expenses totaling nearly $164,000 that are falsely shown as GGRC expenses when they, in fact, have nothing to do with operating and administrating a small 84 unit residential condo community.  Those 14 line items, instead, are related to being in the motel business that is run by RML.
4. Joey and the “board” know that the truth of this would be unacceptable to a significant number of Deer Ridge owners – so they lie to all the owners about which company is really responsible for each line item – hoping that their “artful dodger” arithmetic will go by unnoticed.  This is one of the reasons for their disinformation campaign and lies trying to discredit me – because they KNEW that I was going to expose these secrets for all Owners to see and understand.
5. Assuming the last six years was the same level of negative cash flow for RML, then RML has squandered OVER $1 Million of our HOA fees!
6. This is almost THREE of the current Asinine Assessments!  No wonder we don’t have any money in any of our reserve accounts!  No wonder that Deer Ridge has the HIGHEST HOA fees in the entire area.
7. This ANNUAL NEGATIVE CASH FLOW represents over HALF of the total HOA fees collected from ALL owners at Deer Ridge – each and every year.
8. This $152,000 NEGATIVE CASH FLOW each year equates to a cost of over $1,800 to each and every owner at Deer Ridge – including the 20 plus units that do not use RML.  If just those who use RML were to pay this $152,000 negative cash flow each year, they would have to pay $2,375 a year EXTRA just to keep RML out of bankruptcy.  If you think in terms of NET dollars to each owner per year, you can see that RML is not a good deal for ANY owner at Deer Ridge.
9. This means that RML has wrongly robbed me of over $9,000 just for my unit during the past five years we have owned here.
10. On top of the financial impact, RML is a illegitimately formed and operated “for profit” corporation owned by a non-profit organization.  There was never even the guise of a vote authorizing its formation – and there is zero provision in the property’s master deed and bylaws that provide even a nickel for paying for RML out of our Common Expense – and here it is, taking over HALF of our HOA fees each and every month from ALL owners.
11. If GGRC were operated correctly, without RML, and using a professional HOA management company, GGRC would generate a POSITIVE CASH FLOW each year of over $118,000 with current HOA fees in place.  This would have equaled approximately $600,000 over the past five years!  This is almost enough to cover TWO Asinine Assessments – without requiring owners to dig in their pockets for even more money.
12. The GGRC “board” has a fiduciary duty to ensure that GGRC, not RML,  is operated properly for ALL  Owners in accordance with the Master Deed and Bylaws.  Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six are GROSSLY violating their fiduciary duty to GGRC by trying to protect RML’s negative cash flow from being discovered – and continuing to deplete hundreds of thousands of dollars of HOA fees to do so.  It is past time to hold every member of the Gang Of Six personally and financially responsible for their wanton disregard for their fiduciary responsibility to every owner at Deer Ridge.

All owners should be outraged at this despicable lie that has been perpetrated by Joe Thomas for YEARS just for his own self-serving reasons to keep employed and paid all the money he unjustifiably gets from our small 84 unit complex.

All owners should be outraged that Luther Parker and Larry Ohm and the rest of the “board” are either so incompetent and grossly negligent to understand this – or are in collusion with Joe Thomas to intentionally misrepresent these facts to all the owners.

We expect to hold Joe Thomas and every member of the “board” fully accountable for every dollar of Owners’ money they have wasted on RML with our $3 million lawsuit – and believe that the jury in our case will have no difficulty in understanding and believing the following analysis that proves this lie – and the extent to which it has been covered up.  And, since these Dirty Dozen Secrets About RML have affected EVERY OWNER, past and present, for the last decade, this will probably be the basis for a SECOND Class Action Lawsuit against Joe Thomas the rest of the Gang of Six.

In response to their meritless, retaliatory $1 Million defamation lawsuit against me, I have now  filed a $3 Million lawsuit against Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club HOA and Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise, all as individuals.

The lawsuit against GGRC et al is best summed up by the following on the front page of the suit:

The Defendant would show to the Court that the Complaint filed in this cause is a retaliatory effort by an illegitimately constituted board of directors to stifle legitimate criticism of the Plaintiffs in violation of the United States and Tennessee Constitutions as well as the Defendant’s rights under the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporation Act, T.C.A. §48-51-101 et seq., the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act, T.C.A. §66-27 -101 et seq. as well as the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, T.C.A. §47-18-101 et seq.

The Lawsuit – The Executive Summary

The Executive Summary of our Counter Suit includes that:

1. This will be a jury trial.
2. All of the claims in the specious defamation lawsuit brought by the “board” be dismissed since the illegitimately constituted “board” had, and has, no authority whatsoever to bind GGRC in any action – or to waste owners’ money on a self serving lawsuit.
3. I get all of my legal fees and court costs paid by GGRC and / or the individual board members and Joe Thomas.
4. The Court certify our claim as a class action lawsuit – so that ALL current AND past 1-1 owners at Deer Ridge can be compensated for the discriminatory gross overcharges that the current and past “boards” have forced on all one bedroom owners.
5. The Court declare this to be a derivative action – which means that we will represent GGRC in a lawsuit against all the individuals “board” members and Joe Thomas so that THEY pay for much of these transgressions instead of GGRC – and that they get NO indemnification protection for their illegitimate actions.
6. We get an injunction stopping the illegitimate Asinine Assessment and forcing Joe Thomas and the “board” to turn over ALL monies to the Court that have been already collected for payments of the Asinine Assessment.  That way, those funds paid by owners are protected from being squandered by Joe Thomas and the “board.”
7. We get a declaratory judgment that all members of the illegally constituted board be removed permanently from office.
8. We will unwind ALL of the decisions made by all of the current and past illegitimate boards for GGRC for the past 22 years since ALL boards have been illegitimately constituted.
9. A court appointed receiver take over all operations and management of GGRC and RML and until the Court is able to determine if GGRC should be dissolved – or that an untainted Board can be elected, with said new board receiving guidance from the Court enforcing the governing documents of GGRC.
10. RML and Ridge Resort Realty, as illegitimate entities, be dissolved and eliminated – with all assets transferred to GGRC.
11. The Court declares that there is no authority for GGRC to operate a rental or brokerage business and issue a permanent injunction prohibiting inclusion of any real estate rental or brokerage expenses as part of the Common Expenses.
12. The Court rule that GGRC and the “board” participated in the “unfair and deceptive trade practice within the meaning of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, T.C.A. 47-18-101, et seq. entitling the Defendant to treble damages and attorney’s fees pursuant to T. C.A 47-18-109 for willful and knowing violations of the act. In addition, the Defendant maintains these actions by the Plaintiffs are intentional, malicious and fraudulent entitling the Defendant to punitive damages.”
13. The Court award me compensatory damages for the illegal assessments in the amount of $1 million and punitive damages of $2 million for violations of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, for a total owed to me of $3 million, plus attorney fees, etc.
14. The Court declare that the Master Deed Percentages MUST be followed with strict compliance with respect to ALL Common Expenses and assessments, including the water and cable bill.
15. The Court force GGRC and Joe Thomas and all “board” members to finally abide by Tennessee state law in providing the chronological Administrators’ Book and supporting chronological vouchers, including the right to make copies of all such records.
16. The Court issue an injunction and declaration prohibiting and restraining the board from making any alterations or additions to the Common Elements without both the 75% vote of all owners AND the 90% vote of all mortgage holders for all units at Deer Ridge.
17. All six counter defendants, including Joe Thomas, be required to pay back the approximate $120,000 illegally spent by them on unapproved alterations and additions such as the picnic pavilion, pool building, maintenance building and office space.  This amount will probably be increased by about $50,000 as a result of Joe Thomas and the current “board” ignoring the 90% vote requirement for all mortgage holders and proceeding, without proper authority, to replace the walkway railings that are currently under construction at Deer Ridge.

The above are my non-attorney opinions and interpretations of the $3 million lawsuit.  There are other, significant nuances and major impacts to GGRC that are contained in our counter suit.  I invite all owners to click Counterclaim to read the entire lawsuit and interpret the paragraphs for yourself.

Some Of The Goals Of Our Counter Suit

So, basically, if we win, our just filed lawsuit will hopefully accomplish ALL of the following:

• We will do away with RML and Ridge Resort Realty as illegitimate entities and stop the $152,000 a year loss to GGRC each year.
• We will force GGRC to abide by the Master Deed Percentages and stop overcharging the 30 1-1 owners by 82% each month.
• We will stop the Asinine Assessment – including an injunction stopping the illegitimate filing of liens and potential foreclosure of owners’ units and any illegal interference with the use of the Common Elements.
• We will unwind many, if not all, of the decisions made by ALL the illegitimate boards for the past 22 years.
• We will force Joe Thomas and the “board” members to pay back all of the money squandered on unapproved projects including the current walkway railing project.
• We will create a class action lawsuit for all past and present 1-1 owners who have been financially discriminated against with gross overcharges.
• We will force Joe Thomas and the “board” out of power and control on this property.
• We will force Joe Thomas and the “board” to finally abide by state law and provide copies of the Administrator’s Book to any and all owners.
• We will keep Joe Thomas and the “board” from continuing to illegally expend major funds on unapproved projects, forcing them to personally pay back those funds to GGRC.
• We will prove their defamation suit to be worthless and a waste of GGRC money.
• $3 million plus legal fees will be paid back to us for the “board’s” deceptive trade practices and for some of the abuses, including the abuse of power and capricious and arbitrary decisions that Joe Thomas and all those illegitimate boards have tried to enforce for the past six years we’ve owned here.
• By making this a derivative action, we hope to make GGRC the plaintiff and Joe Thomas and Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise, all as individual defendants, pay most if not all of the above.

Stay tuned for a LOT more about this over the coming weeks.  But I wanted to let you all know about this – and give you all a copy of the Counter Suit as quickly as possible.

Interesting Times

Be sure and watch for the upcoming post where I will show you how Joe Thomas and the “board” have been lying to you about RML being a positive cash flow company.  Stay tuned for the right numbers that will show how RML is losing $152,000 a year in NEGATIVE CASH FLOW right out of ALL of our pockets!

And, speaking of numbers…all of the above does NOT include potential, additional, significant legal actions that may be required against certain individuals once we start looking over EVERY entry in the REAL Administrator’s books and records…and the front and back of every check…for the last 10 years…

“There is a Chinese curse which says ‘May he live in interesting times.’  Like it or not, we live in interesting times.”  Robert Kennedy.

The next few months at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort are guaranteed to be “interesting times” for many.Stay tuned for more interesting times!

Well, the illegitimate “board” is at it again – continuing their ongoing attempts to coerce and intimidate ANY and ALL owners who dare to object to their abuse of power and attempts to continue their illegal fiefdom by breaking both Deer Ridge Law and Tennessee State Law.

This time, it is yet another mailing to the entire ownership at Deer Ridge, wasting ALL of our money, with Joey and the “board” trying desperately to hold on to their positions.

They are so panicked by so many owners who are starting to see “the light” that the Asinine Assessment is invalid and that the “board” itself is illegitimate.  Since the “board” is continuing to violate Tennessee State Law by blocking access to the books and records, it isn’t clear how many of us have not paid their special assessment.  But our guess is that there is a SIGNIFICANT number who refuse to pay.  So, their threats and attempted intimidation have increased.

Let’s dissect the latest Luther letter attacking me so we can all find out the real truth.

First Point

As you can see, they are trying deflection as a defense against their own illegal activity. Luther, you ought to know all about Deflection Defense Mechanisms as a common “reactive” response to feedback.  I give you guys feedback you are breaking the law and violating the Deer Ridge Master Deed and Bylaws – and you all try to deflect it by claiming now that I am somehow doing something illegal.

They aren’t trying to protect the owners – they are spending OUR money on legal fees to protect and cover their own collective asses.  They already know when this thing goes to trial that their stretched and flawed misinterpretations of the Deer Ridge Documents will NOT stand up to the light of day.

For whatever reason, Joey and the “board” will spend whatever legal fees that they need to spend just to try and support their contrived, stretched and flawed misinterpretations of the Deer Ridge Documents as their way of blocking access to the records we have a right to.

Just why do they do that?

Why do Joey and the “board” even try to block access to books and records that Tennessee Law guarantees we have a right to access?

Why, on earth, not just say, “Of course…help yourself.  You have a right to them.  Be sure and let us know if you find any problems or issues.”

Shouldn’t THAT be the response of an open board operating within Deer Ridge and Tennessee Law – instead of them wasting every one’s time and energies looking for every contrived and illegitimate loophole to block every owner’s access to the financial records of OUR investment?

Since Joey and the “board” are NOT responding the obvious way they should, what conclusions do YOU reach about the ways things are being done – and what secrets they are trying to hide?

Well, let’s keep looking at their most recent attack letter in detail.

They accuse me of name calling and insults – yet they refer to my “aggressive anti-social behavior.”

Firstly, when I voice my opinion, I state it is my opinion.  As a matter of fact, every single blog page at my site has the following disclaimer in the left column:

Legalese On

GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR ALL PAGES AND POSTS

Note: The following, and the information on any and all other posts and pages by me about General Manager Joe Thomas, GGRC, RML and /or the Board of Directors and its members, or any related topics, are my personal opinions based on my ongoing investigation into the actions and inactions of the GGRC and RML Board of Directors and / or Joe Thomas, General Manager.

While I believe these allegations to be true based on my objective analysis, these opinions remain as only allegations until I, or others, prove things in court.

My goal is to offer all owners all the information and evidence that I have available so that everyone can reach their own conclusions.

Legalese – And Powered Wig – Off

I would say that is pretty clear with regard to my opinions about things.

However, in the case of Luther’s personal attack letter, his statement regarding my “aggressive anti-social” behavior is a medical and psychological diagnosis that is given as a statement of fact, not opinion.  As such, their statement qualifies as libel and defamation of character that is without disclaimer, without proof nor supporting predicate.  If you look up the actual meaning of the term, “aggressive anti-social behavior,” you get something like this:

“The human that should be most feared is the one that has Anti-Social Personality Disorder or in psychology terms the sociopath and or psychopath. The psychopath is probably the most deviant mind that exists and treatment is not very successful because there is not a cure or drug to control it.”

Gee, guys, do you really think I am THAT bad just because I want to see the books and records?  Neither will a court of law when this issue of libel and defamation of character is included in the lawsuit.

This is just another example out of many where Joe Thomas and the “board” have resorted to vilification of me as a way to attempt to sway other owners at Deer Ridge that my justifiable points are not valid complaints about the way things are done in the Fiefdom just because I do not goose-step to the beat of their drummer.

Likewise, their statement that what they are doing with regard to “suspension of membership privileges is clearly sanctioned in our By-laws” is patently a lie.  There is NOTHING in the Deer Ridge Master Deed and Bylaws that blocks an owner AT ANY TIME from their right to review the books and records in accordance with Tennessee State Law.  They are using this LIE as their last-ditched attempt to block me from discovering their “secrets” from the thrice-demanded review notice that I have sent them.  They KNOW that I will find their secrets – and they fear that their carefully constructed apparition at Deer Ridge will be exposed for all to see.

Second Point

Back to Luther’s Attack Letter:

Funny, I don’t see ANYTHING in the minutes issued by David Barone that show ANY of the above discussion occurred.  If David didn’t include it in the minutes, it must not have been discussed, right?  Luther, do you have an audio recording of the meeting that we could depend on for clarity of this claim?

Actually, my answers to those three questions is Yes, Yes, And Not So Fast.

• Fire Joe Thomas?  Absolutely.  Details were previously given and are posted at my blog.  Click Fire Joe Thomas for more than 15 specific reasons for firing Joey WITH CAUSE.
• Yes, fire the “board” – for being illegitimate, for ultra vires violations of their duties even if they were a legitimate board, for continued violations of both Deer Ridge law AND Tennessee State Law.  And that’s just the start.  This blog is filled with uncountable other reasons that this entire “board” should be fired.
• Eliminate the rental program?  No.  Eliminate RML as an albatross around the neck of GGRC?  Absolutely.  According to the independent legal opinion we received, RML is NOT a legitimate business for GGRC to own and fund.

So, again, Luther has misstated the conversation.  Again, another example where it would be nice to have an audio recording of our board meetings, huh?

Third Point

Again, they falsely claim my “illegal activity” as a deflection from my identifying their own ongoing violations and illegal activity.

Luther claims he wants to take legal actions regarding the accusation of fraud, theft of services and dishonest actions.  Gee, Luther, all you have to do is open up the books and records as REQUIRED by Tennessee State Law.  The fact that you will not, and will fight tooth and nail to prevent it, is pretty strong evidence of the very issues of fraud, theft of services and dishonest actions you are pounding your chest about.

Open up the books and records, Luther. If you have nothing to hide, why do you try even laughable loopholes in your ongoing attempt to conceal your secrets?  I believe the judge will find your ongoing refusal to abide by Tennessee State Law a very strong justification for MANY owners to believe that you and Joey and the rest of the “board” are guilty of something.  Trust me when I tell you, we WILL find out.

As to the legal assistance being costly – again, it is brought on by you and Joey and the rest of the “board” – not as a need for the Owners.  You will be the ones who will be held responsible for those legal costs.

There is more support for justice at Deer Ridge than just me, Neil and Jim.  Others have joined in with us and our goals for Deer Ridge to abide by both Deer Ridge Law and Tennessee State Law.  None of us are interested in you and Joey and the “board” doing all you can with our money to “preserve Deer Ridge as we know it”  We are ready for the Fiefdom to end, for “Deer Ridge as we know it” to end – and for the power on this property to be returned to ALL the owners.

Fourth Point

Again, we have more than just two supporters – and it WILL be an issue for the courts. 

“Board” Meeting Minutes

The following is Luther and Joey and the rest of the “board’s” threat to counter sue me, individually, as a way of attempted intimidation as a last ditch effort to stop the upcoming lawsuit for which they will have little, if any, defense.  Here’s a clue, guys:  I am not intimidated.  Also, your claims are so frivolous on every level, that be assured that I will seek sanctions against your attorney for even attempting to pursue these ludicrous points.

But, let’s take them, one by one:

If you read the law, you will see that it does not apply with regard to my contacting other CO-owners about an issue of dispute on OUR property.  Furthermore, the mailing list of all owners of Deer Ridge – both names and mailing addresses – are a matter of public record to anyone in the entire World.  Please click Deer Ridge Owners: TN Public Record – Your Home Address, Purchase Price and Date, Etc. The GGRC mailing list is NOT privileged information since ANYONE can get it – hence there is NO violation of the law.

Again, as a CO-OWNER questioning the validity of illegitimate actions taken by an illegitimate “board”, this action is not interference with contracts.  If I was not a CO-OWNER, there might, just maybe, be a flicker of hope that they could even then claim this part of contract law.  The fact that I am a CO-OWNER questioning the validity of illegitimate actions taken by an illegitimate “board” makes this a totally spurious and frivolous claim – and I believe any judge would see it as grounds for sanctions against any attorney who would even attempt a suit or counter suit on these issues.

I’m willing to find out.  How about you all?

Again, here goes Joey trying to deflect his own, multiple issues of mail tampering.  Click Joe Thomas Mail Tampering Evidence for details.

We invite him to file whatever complaint he thinks he has since it has to do with a Deer Ridge bill that was delivered to us by Deer Ridge office staff with our mail – and it was a bill that we, as owners, had a right to have a copy of it in the first place.  Hence, there was no tampering and we never violated anything.  Additionally, we have already discussed this issue with the Gatlinburg Postmaster at the same time the Joe Thomas Mail Tampering Evidence was turned over to the same Postmaster.  The Postmaster’s response to the “smoking gun” hand written notations by Joey on those four individual envelopes was that “he wanted to keep those originals as evidence.”

Again, just more attempts to try to deflect the focus away from Joey’s own mail tampering – and more attempts to dredge up ANYTHING they possibly can so they can create noise to obscure the silence of their secrets they are so desperately trying to hide in the books and records of GGRC.

Now, this really IS laughable.  RML is barely hanging on by a thread already.  From everything we are hearing, it appears to us that they are even having trouble making payroll.  So, this is just that much more attempted intimidation that they will remove ANYBODY from the RML rolls.

However, as one owner found out, they WILL keep your share of the rentals if you have not paid your illegitimate Asinine Assessment.  In that owner’s case, he gave Joey 60 day notice that he was no longer going to use RML.  If we can just get another 10 or 12 other owners to do the same thing, RML will crumble under its own weight – and even the “creative accounting” of the “board” will no longer be able to hide how much money from GGRC it takes to support the RML albatross.

Do yourself a favor:  Give your own 60 day notice to Joey – and find another management company to rent your unit – so you get to keep YOUR money.

The Truth Shall Set You Free

As John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  I hope the above sets you free from the diatribe and lies of Luther’s latest attack letter to all owners at Deer Ridge.

Now that you know the truth, help free GGRC and do something about this illegitimate power hungry “board” who ignores Deer Ridge Law and Tennessee State Law – let’s finally get rid of a “board” with secrets that dare not be told.

Donate today to the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.

You can now download one document that is a complete scan of one Deer Ridge owner’s notebooks of all his documents related to GGRC and RML from 1987 through 2009.

This may or may not be comprehensive – there were probably other documents during that time frame that didn’t make its way into this notebook.

To get your own copy of this document, just click History.

This Information Is Yours – And Can’t Be Blocked By Joe Thomas And the “Board”

However, as hard as Joe Thomas and the Board make it for owners to get copies of anything, we thought it would be worth the hours of effort it took us to scan in these 825 pages of history – so that all owners could have a digital version of their own.  This way, this information will never get lost, misplaced or destroyed – but live on forever – making folks accountable.

These 825 pages took us over 16 people-hours to pull pages from the notebook, remove staples and flags, scan in and convert the pages to searchable text, replace flags, return pages in the same order to the notebooks and to post the prepared Acrobat file on the Deer Ridge Owners blog at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com as a “Document You Can Download.”

That is a LOT of time and effort – but something we wanted to do for all Deer Ridge Owners.

Keyword and Key Phrase Searchable!

In case you don’t know, if you download this document or any of the Acrobat files we provide and add it on your own computer’s hard drive, you can do key word and key phrase searches of the entire document!

When we do these scans, we took the time to convert them into text.  It slows things down a lot – but it makes these documents a highly useable gold mind of information.

For example, if you search this document for the term, “Joe Thomas” you find his full name occurs 387 times and the word “Joe” occurs 654 times. Likewise, the word “assessment” occurs 105 times.

We have already spotted several “smoking guns” – which Joey and the Board are going to have a VERY hard time refuting since we plan on also using these History documents in our upcoming litigation.

Enjoy the history lessons.

This is an open email to Joe Thomas regarding the new hot water heaters that we were all forced to install last summer.

Our old one worked perfectly – but with the new one, we are only getting less than 17 gallons of hot water out of our 30 gallon tank.

If you haven’t been here for a while or stayed very long, you may not realize you even have a problem with your unit.  But your guests and renters may have noticed – and you may be paying a penalty with guests not wanting to stay in your unit on any return visits.

I recommend that you all run your own scientific test on your own Deer Ridge hot water heater next time you visit your investment.  It just takes a gallon container and 10 minutes.  Please email me your own test results.

Joe,

By now, I am sure you have heard all the complaints of rental guests and other owners here at Deer Ridge regarding insufficient hot water ever since you and the “board” forced that virtually all hot water heaters be replaced.

It is our understanding from the front desk staff that at least 18 of the 84 units here have ongoing, multiple complaints about running out of hot water.

We have complained before…but all your maintenance staff has ever done was to tweak the temperature settings on the tank.  This has not solved the problem.

We finally did some scientific testing:

• No hot water was used for four hours to make sure that there was plenty of recovery time.
• With the tub tap set solely to hot, we used a gallon container to measure the amount of hot water until it turned cold.
• Our new 30 gallon water heater tank only produced 16.8 gallons of hot water before it went completely cold.
• This means that we only getting slightly above HALF of the hot water we should be getting.
• This means that either our Rheem hot water heater and at least 17 other hot water heaters that were installed by your staff were either defective OR wrongly installed.
• The statistical probability that 18 or more hot water heaters out of 84 are defective is remote.
• Ergo, it means that these hot water heater most probably have a flawed installation by Deer Ridge staff.
• Ergo, it means that Deer Ridge staff should stand behind their work and get these damned things fixed right.

So, are you, Joe Thomas, and the Deer Ridge staff, going to fix these – or are you going to deny your responsibility over so many owners NOW having bad hot water heaters – especially when the ones we had before worked so well before we were FORCED to replace them by you and the “board?”

Robert
A-202

PS To All Owners:   I recommend that you all run your own scientific test on your own Deer Ridge hot water heater next time you visit your investment.  It just takes a gallon container and 10 minutes.  Please email me your own test results.

Hopefully, the sooner more owners that identify their own problem with hot water, the sooner we can get this fixed right.

The following comment was added by Deer Ridge Owner James Goebel regarding the David Barone / “Board” “Suspension of Membership” Letter that Joe Thomas and the illegitimate “board” are using to attempt to intimidate owners who refuse to pay the equally illegitimate Asinine Assessment.

I appreciate Jim speaking up – and wanted to upgrade his comment to a full post here on the blog.

I got my “Suspension” letter today.

Minor blow, I’ve only used the golf course once which makes my golf playing once in the last twenty years.

All we need is a couple of thousand dollars more to move this into the courts.

Let’s bring this to a speedy and just resolution. Getting it on the docket before the April meeting is a great goal.

Those who haven’t contributed yet, I say: getting involved in a law suit is a messy thing but is sometimes necessary. It may be that some of us are Christians and have no desire to get involved. I understand that – being a Christian myself.

However, two things: I want to be a steward of the money I have, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to allow people to just waste our money.

Secondly, Jesus said, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

I hope and pray my heart is dove like, and my serpentine wisdom tells me to hold those in power accountable.

Therefore, I think my assessment money is best used in resolving this matter in court ASAP.

Pastor James Goebel

Do you have an opinion about the David Barone / “Board” “Suspension of Membership” Letter?  Post your comments here.

Did you get a letter in the mail from GGRC regarding your “Suspension of Membership” on Deer Ridge?

If so, don’t let them intimidate you with their threats.  Don’t let them illegally take away YOUR rights as an owner!

A LOT of owners are refusing to pay this illegitimate “special assessment.”  So, a lot of other owners are probably getting this same form letter from Joey and “the board” as they try and scramble and use their typical intimidation tactics to force more owners to pay.  Don’t be one of the few who is paying the “special” assessment.  Don’t let them continue to squander your money.

Don’t let them bully you into paying a dime.

If you’ve already paid the 2010 assessment, your payment may end up getting squandered by Joe Thomas before the Court can freeze those funds – which may make it very difficult for you to get your money back.

Please click Letter To Attorney to see my response regarding this invalid letter.  The “special assessment” is invalid for at least FOUR REASONS – hence the “suspension” is invalid.

Also, under what authority does the “board” have a right to define what rights and privileges owners lose if an Assessment is not paid?

I see NOTHING in the Master Deed or Bylaws that states that an owner cannot inspect Association records or lose golf and recreation center privileges when an Assessment is not paid. As such, I see Barone’s letter as an attempt to ILLEGALLY deny owners their rights under Tennessee State Law.

The best thing you can do is help us get this lawsuit filed ASAP so the court can issue an injunction legally stopping the “board” and this Asinine Assessment – AND stop their intimidation tactics against the owners who OWN Deer Ridge.

Contributing $500 to $1,000 is  a LOT cheaper than paying the Asinine Assessment – and the ONLY way this “special assessment” will be stopped is by you contributing your fair share of the legal fees to fight the “board” and save yourself THOUSANDS of your own dollars.

We only need $2,000 more to get this legal action started.  So, please contribute TODAY.

You can pay via credit card by clicking the Donate Button below – or mail a check to me at A-202, at Deer Ridge.  Please make the check payable to the escrow account, “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

Don’t let Joe Thomas, and this clique who calls themselves a “board,” continue to intimidate and bully you.

Please contribute today to the “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

PS:  Also, DO NOT send in your ballot or your proxy to anyone!  If you have already sent it, revoke it in writing!  More about this in an upcoming post!

Joey and the “board” are running scared – scared that the owners will all find out just how few of them are paying their illegitimate Asinine Assessment.

Joey and the “board”are trying all they can to block both Neil and I from having access to the GGRC books and records that the laws of the State of Tennessee guarantee us that we can see.  They know that once we see the books and know how few have paid the assessment and we report that information here on the blog, they will have a major problem trying to force other owners to pay.

The usual abuse of power by the “board” typically has to do with multiple, major violations of Deer Ridge Law – those contained in our controlling documents – The Master Deed and The Bylaws.

This Time Joe Thomas and Luther Parker Are Breaking The Law – Tennessee State Law – By Blocking Owner Access To Deer Ridge Records

This time they are directly breaking Tennessee state law by blocking our access to these records. I just emailed Joey, Luther Parker, Charles Sexton (attorney for GGRC and who knows who else involved with Deer Ridge? – but that is a different potential conflict of interest that we will get to soon.)

What I emailed them, and other interested owners, was a SECOND NOTICE. See below.

Ignore The Notices And Threats of Late Fees From Joe Thomas?

It is up to you – but I advise you to do what I am doing – to ignore the late letters, threats of late fees, etc. regarding your non-payment of the Asinine Assessment.

As describe before, the recent independent legal opinion we just obtained indicates that this “Special Assessment” is completely illegitimate on at least FOUR major points.

Note that, in spite of multiple requests, Joey and the “board” have not been able to produce ANY independent legal opinion as a counterpoint to the one we have obtained. We believe this is HIGHLY indicative that Joey and the “board” have NO authority for either the “special assessment” or for their blustering demands for payment.

Don’t give in to their illegitimate bullying about an illegitimate assessment.

Instead, use some of that money to help pay the necessary legal fees to block the assessment and force Joe Thomas and the “board” to stop breaking both Tennessee State Law AND Deer Ridge Law.  Once we get a court to issue a permanent injunction, you won’t have to pay the assessments, any interest, etc. on this illegitimate special assessment.

But we need your help.

Helping us pay for this litigation is a LOT less expensive than paying for $50,000 for “nuts and bolts” and a LOT less than paying your two year total assessed amount.

If we can get $500 or a $1,000 from more Deer Ridge owners, we can immediately stop their demands and harassment.

Please mail your check to me at A-202, 3710 Weber Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738 – please make the check payable to the “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund” OR click the link below to pay via credit card or echeck.

We Just Need $5,000 More To Stop The Assessment

We just need $5,000 more from other owners to add to what we have already collected from participating owners.

Once we received this additional $5,000, we intend to IMMEDIATELY file the lawsuit with ALL of our claims in this one lawsuit. Part of this lawsuit will immediately seek a temporary injunction stopping the Asinine Assessment and all threats from Joey and the “board.” The same lawsuit will also quickly pursue a summary judgment on at least 10 of the major points in the independent attorney’s letter – including making the injunction against the Asinine Assessment permanent!

Once this is out of the way, we will pursue the other part of this lawsuit – including our claims against Joe Thomas and this abusive and illegitimate “board” – making them individually responsible for their gross negligence and abusive, arbitrary and capricious decisions that were outside the scope of their authority.

The sooner we get your donations to the “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund” – the sooner we can cut off the harassment from Joey and the “board” over non-payment of the Asinine Assessment.

Donate Now

***  SECOND NOTICE  ***

I have not received a response to the below email….this is your second notice.

Failure to provide this information to ANY owner in a timely manner is a violation of Tennessee State Law.

I demand to have access to ALL of the requested information during the week of March 15, 2010.

Robert Goodman
A-202

At 10:40 AM 3/11/2010, Robert wrote:

Luther Parker and Joe Thomas,

In accordance with the Tennessee Horizontal Act, 66-27-113, I hereby request an immediate review of the GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty “Administrator’s Books” as defined by the Act:  This is a single book that contains 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.

My request is to see these “Administrator’s Books” AND “the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon” for the past four and a half years.  This request is NOT to see general ledgers, financial statements,  etc. – but to only see the “Administrator’s Books” that contains a detailed account in chronological order as specifically defined and REQUIRED by the Act.

Since the “Administrator’s Books” must be accurate, completed and ALWAYS up to date, I require that they cover the time frame of August 8, 2005 through the day before the scheduled day for my examination of the “Administrator’s Books.”

Since, again, the “Administrator’s Books” must ALWAYS be up to date and specifically in THIS format, this should present Joe Thomas with NO difficultly immediately complying with the LAW.

Note that the LAW requires that: “Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge.”

Just so there is no confusion about exactly what GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty MUST provide any and all owners at Deer Ridge, I have copied the exact wording of the Act and include it below.

Also, note that page 1 of the independent attorney’s legal opinion letter (see attached) reaffirms my right to this information – and the usual Joe Thomas stupid “games” will not be tolerated.  The same legal opinion also provides that I have a RIGHT to COPIES of any of this information.

Any non-compliance by you and/or Joe Thomas will have immediate legal ramifications with the Attorney General of Tennessee – along with other judicial implications.

The following is also a comment left by Neil, C-208, about another property he owns.  This was an email he sent tonight to the entire “board” and Joey.”

Judge for yourself:  Which property is operated better?

Please bear with me… And Yes, WAY, WAY Down the Thread, after my Rant,
Is the Example the Daily Report…. From Leonard…..

This is an example of a Gulf Highlands Board member giving an almost daily, clear, complete reporting of activities, ” Most Days Photos,” Kinda Like Robert and his blog, AND an example of a well run clearly defined use of Association Fees, RESERVE FUND usage and availability, “Yes it is a property with many more owners/members, BUT even more expenses, more complexity, more personalities, some are abrasive, some are very agreeable folks, some so financially uptight they squeak, and make others squeak….

It is a pleasure to visit the office, and REALLY have a conversation with the manager and all assoc. employees:  no stress, no past foibles, no wondering if you…

By the way, We have an independent VERY profitable property management Company ON SITE.  They pay market rent to the Owners Association, and a percentage back to the Owners Assoc.  THEY have only a 28% management fee – and sill make a nice profit, and bid yearly to stay on site…

About 7 other companies manage units, some charge as little as 25% some as MUCH as 35% All inclusive.  Yes, some owners even rent using V.R.B.O.com, Vacations4U.com. etc. thereby keeping all the Unit Rental Dollars.  They pay an independent cleaning service a fee of about $35-40, not giving up a 30-40% a DAY… It is amazing, all really get along…mo one accuses an owner of “stealing” from other owners, if they use an outside rental company or means of rental of their choice.

This thing called competition makes every one better, and accountable to the folks that have a financial interest in them…

The board members in a situation like that, don’t have to worry if the independent management company. has cash handling issues, has any personnel problems, any late or unpaid workmen’s comp premiums, any occupancy worries, any advertising costs, any legal liabilities for an accident involving guests.  The board doesn’t waste time and energy on anything to do with PROPERTY MANAGEMENT RISKS OR HEADACHES…

The board there has ONLY the well being of the OWNERS interests, it makes for a nice reserve account balances and there has been NOT ONE Assessment for road paving, Painting, Nuts Bolts, Fencing, Beach Erosion, Tearing out of Strong, Stable, Sturdy Walkway Railings –ALL– Large Predictable, Normal Maintenance & Financial concerns have a Fully Funded RESERVE Account and the board understands that they have an OBLIGATION To keep the OWNERS on an even, steady monthly fee of……… a Giant $143.00!

Not having to spend TIME figuring out how to JUGGLE /SWAP/ BORROW OWNERS money back and forth from a NOT SO PROFITABLE Rental Management Company and the HOME OWNERS Association lets the board concentrate on the property and the owners.

That Property also has 18 hour a day security guard force, 3 controlled entry gates.   The Manager at a $48K/yr salary keeps all 7 of the employees, $7.00 to $18.00/hr.  busy doing scheduled PREVENTIVE maintenance, and Yes, they do pick up the trash from All 703 townhouses ONCE a day also.  Unlike Deer Ridge, it is not a 3 times a day pick up, which leaves almost no time for PREVENTATIVE Maintenance here in the mountains…

Another RANT from the OLD GRUMBLE BOX Neil…. Can’t help myself… it’s a Sad Sad Way To Have To Live….

See below for Leonard the Board Members Daily Report, Looks like Guests there really enjoy the Shuffle Board Courts there…

I remember an Owner / Resident here at Deer Ridge VOLUNTEERING ALL LABOR to Build a Shuffle Board Court asking the board ONLY For The Cement Costs.  He was turned down but more importantly, the reasons were talked about after he left the room, and guess what….

What the board and Joe said, Was NOT in the OFFICIAL MINUTES….

Interesting … Why are the Board Members –SO– Opposed to Digitally Recording and sharing what they say in the Meetings???

Best regards, Neil

——————————————————————————–

From Leonard…..

Have you ever wondered what all our snowbirds do here in the winter besides walk on the beach and go play golf?  I have compiled a list from channel five and this may not be all events done in the resort.

• Shuffleboard is a big draw to our northern friends, they have leagues at the six Damon courts.
  • Monday Shuffle League
  • Tuesday Shuffle League
  • Wednesday Shuffle League
  • Thursday Shuffle League
  • Friday Shuffle League
  • Saturday Shuffle League
  • Sunday Shuffle League

  We are sorry that we don’t have more practice courts around the resort but maybe in the future.

• The exercise room is available 8-11 all week with a $10 deposit for a key
• Putt putt is available everyday but on Tuesday they have a miniature golf tournament at 1 pm
• They have social Tennis at all tennis courts, they meet regularly but I didn’t catch the times and dates
• Darts are on Tues and Thurs evenings
• Aerobics is every morning Mon – Fri
• Line dancing late morning on Weds & Fri
• Wood Carving on Thurs noon
• Crafts on Thursdays late morning
• Bridge on Wed & Fri
• Cribbage on Mondays
• Dance night every Tues evening
• Tai Chi on Tues
• Bid Euchre on Thurs & Sun

That is a good portion of their activities, we used to have water aerobics in the past so their is room for more activities. I believe it isn’t posted but their is Dominoes on Fridays. Bottom line is there is a lot to do here and the happy hours parties are all over the place.

Now for some assoc notes.

• There is a property Committee meeting March 15th at 1 pm at Grand Island Club House. I didn’t join this year so I may have to drop in as a guest, join me and lets see what is up.
• BOD meetings this year will be on April 17th, June 5th, August 21st, Oct 8th. Annual meeting is Oct 9th this year.   Don’t forget to put your name in to run to replace me on the board. We will be holding a special phone conference meeting in mid March to discuss and make funds available from reserves for these items if approved. I’ll let you know when it has been posted. Leonard

• Porcelain tile in conference center
• Resurface parking lot at new office building and new parking areas
• Two new golf carts for maintenance
• Two new heating and cooling systems for new building. The one large one that used to take care of our new office and Emerald Coast has bite the dust. Each section will receive a new unit instead of sharing.

Robert here….thanks Neil!   Folks, compare all of that to Deer Ridge – and the secrecy, insider deals, illegitimate activities, Master Deed and Bylaw violations, illegal board compensation, wasted money, attempted intimidation and complete lack of transparency by the current “board” and Joe Thomas.

It is past time for a change at Deer Ridge.  There is a MUCH better way to do things here, like Neil described.

Get rid of the current “board” members.  Get rid of Joe Thomas.

Donate to the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund by clicking the graphic below – or send a check to me made out to “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed!

We already have a separate bank account set up for these donations which will only be used to help get us the injunction against this Asinine Assessment and to have  a judge force boards and general managers at Deer Ridge to abide by our controlling documents.  BTW, all contributing owners DO get to see all of THESE books and records related to the litigation!

Please donate today.  Thanks!

I strongly recommend you do NOT make your March 1, 2010 OR your 2011 “special” assessment payments to Deer Ridge.

Based on an independent legal counsel review of our Master Deed and Bylaws, his legal opinion is that this “special” Deer Ridge assessment is invalid for at least FOUR reasons:

1. The GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws do NOT allow for ANY kind of “special” assessment of any kind.  They only allow for monthly assessments that are set before December 1st of each year.
   
2. The amount of the assessment for every owner is WRONGLY calculated.  The “board” has applied what the attorney calls “arbitrary and capricious” cost allocations for ALL charges currently being paid by ALL owners at Deer Ridge.  This includes your monthly HOA fee, the amounts for water, cable TV, telephone AND the calculated amounts that are being charged for this “special” assessment.  The attorney says that ALL of these items MUST be in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages.  Hence, any amounts currently being charged to each and every owner for this “special” assessment is wrongly calculated and should not be made!
   
3. The “board” was required to provide COPIES of the detailed bid requests and bids to any and all owner to substantiate the Asinine Assessment’s outrageous $353,500 price tag – and NOT to just list, “Nuts and Bolts – $50,000!”  Since they were unwilling to do so, this assessment is voided.
   
4. The attorney has stated that the “board” is NOT the board.  The board is required to be elected at the annual meeting and the annual meeting is REQUIRED to be held in the first three months of the year – not in April.  The attorney states that the board is not the board and is powerless to implement ANYTHING.

For at least these four reasons, do NOT make your assessment payment for GGRC.  You can read the full legal opinion from outside counsel by by clicking Legal Opinion.

Declaratory Judgment And Injunction

Instead of each of you paying $3,400 to $5,500 for this illegitimate assessment, join with us in obtaining a court ordered injunction to legally STOP this illegitimate “special” assessment and get a declaratory judgment from the court that will force this “board” to finally abide by our Master Deed and Bylaws.

To get an injunction, we need to file a lawsuit asking the court to rule on the interpretations of the GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws.  We need your help with the legal fees that will be required to stop this assessment – and also to have the injunction and declaratory judgment provide for the full and complete return of monies paid in by owners who have already paid.

We ask that each owner to join with us and contribute $1,000 to cover legal fees and court costs to finally get this stuff resolved.  If you can only do half of that amount or even less, those contributions would also be helpful and appreciated.  The more contributions by owners, the more that can be litigated and the more likely we will win the case.  (Bear in mind, nothing in court is ever a 100% sure thing!)

Our goal will be to also have the lawsuit go after recovery of all of our legal costs so those monies can be repaid to the owners who are willing to stand up and fight this fight.  You can pay securely online via credit card or echeck by clicking Donate or mail a check to me at the address shown below and making the check payable to “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

This $1,000 is a LOT cheaper than paying the outrageous amounts ranging from $3,400 to $5,500 for this illegitimate “special” assessment. Any unused funds will be returned, pro rata, to those Deer Ridge owners who contributed.

We have received several indications that monies already paid by owners into this “special assessment” are being squandered for other purposes – and we want to help make sure that all owners get all of their money back BEFORE it is completely squandered on a multitude of “uses” that were not even listed on the notice from the “board.”

Judge For Yourself

I have my opinions about things. Luther Parker and the “board” have their opinions about things.  Here, for the first time, we have a LEGAL opinion from an independent attorney about what is really happening with your investment at Deer Ridge.  The “board” has not shown any comparable, independent legal opinion.  I am not an attorney – and neither is any member of the “board.”

I invite you to read the entire five page letter from Senior Partner Lewis Howard, Jr. at the law firm, Howard and Howard (www.howardhowardlaw.com).

Also read my open letter to Luther Parker and the “board” titled “Independent Legal Opinion: GGRC Board Guilty Of Numerous Violations / $353,500 Assessment Is Null And Void” and judge for yourself and reach your own conclusions.

You can find both at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com.

Questions / Want To Help Block The Assessment With An Injunction?

Please contact me ASAP at litigation@deerridgeowners.com if you would like to help stop this illegitimate assessment.  Time really is of the essence on this!

With your help, we can stop what the attorney calls “the ongoing abuse of power” by the current “board” and return Deer Ridge to operating legitimately within the legal documents of our Regime.

It is past time to stop this “ongoing abuse of power.”

It is time to replace all of the current “board” with owners who will not abuse their power – and who will abide by the controlling documents of Deer Ridge.

Independent Legal Opinion:   GGRC “Board” Guilty Of Numerous Violations / $353,500 Assessment Is Null And Void

The following is a copy of an email sent to Luther Parker, other “board” members and Joe Thomas on February 18, 2010 describing the legal findings of a real estate law firm concerning Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club – GGRC – and its subsidiaries RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

The findings of the law firm will probably change EVERYTHING about the way Deer Ridge is operated and managed.

Luther and the Board:

As I mentioned during the Special Meeting of February 6, 2010, I had personally hired a Knoxville-based real estate law firm to review many of the major conflicts and issues that have arisen between myself (and other owners) versus the Board, Joe Thomas and the decisions and policies you have been attempting to implement.

My instructions to the law firm, Howard and Howard ( www.howardhowardlaw.com/ ) and Senior Partner Lewis Howard, Jr. were to objectively and candidly evaluate these issues with the goal of determining the legal validity and the merits of our pursuing a lawsuit against GGRC and/or the individuals who make up the current board along with Joe Thomas, the general manager.  This firm does not currently represent us for any pending litigation – but may be hired should we move forward.

The full legal opinion I received from them is attached to this email – with each and every part shown and discussed below – with my comments for each section.  Note:  I am not an attorney and do not practice law – so these are my interpretations of the sections of the attorney’s letter – trying to convey the realistic meaning from the necessary legalese.

Executive Summary Of Attorney’s Findings

For those who prefer to start with an executive summary, here are the bottom line findings by the attorney with regard to GGRC and the actions of the “Board” and Joe Thomas:

• You are REQUIRED to charge all owners ONLY in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages for everything:  monthly assessments, water, cable TV, etc.   This means no more 82% overcharge to all 1-1 owners.
• You are REQUIRED to provide all owners with COPIES of everything they request including invoices, check stubs, bids, etc.
• You are REQUIRED to get BOTH the 75% positive vote by owners AND the 90% positive vote by mortgage holders of all condo loans at Deer Ridge.  Therefore, ANY monies you spend on walkway ramps will be your personal responsibility to pay.
• You are NOT allowed to ever have ANY special assessments – hence, the Asinine Assessment of $353,500 is NULL and VOID.  No owners are required to fund a penny of this money – and any monies received MUST be returned to those owners who have already paid.
• You and other board members are going to be liable to repay ALL overcharges to both current and past 1-1 owners, along with interest.  (This means you will be required to pay us back over $10,000 in our case – and more or less the same to other 1-1 owners – past AND present.)
• RML and Ridge Resort Realty are NOT legitimate – and must pay back every penny of GGRC’s money ever used for them – and these companies must be expeditiously sold.
• All “annual meetings” held in April are not official Annual Meetings – hence, all decisions, and votes made, INCLUDING board member elections, are NULL and VOID.  This means that Luther Parker and every other member of the “board” are, in fact, NOT members of the Board and have no power whatsoever including setting assessments, making special assessments, setting rules and regulations, agreeing to any contracts about anything, etc.  We will sue to have a special master appointed by the court.
• No board member or committee member may receive ANY compensation INCLUDING reimbursements for travel, meals, maid service, free storage or special remodeling of board member’s OR committee member’s units.  When we do our review of the books and records, we are going to add up every penny that has ever been paid and individually sue each of you for the full and complete reimbursement of all of this money.
• The entire current “board” has committed multiple ultra vires acts that were outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws even if you were a legitimate board.  As such, these acts show gross negligence on your part and on the part of your “unified board that speaks with one voice.”   As noted in the attorney’s answer to Question 12, these illegitimate acts of yours are actionable with all monies recoverable from you and all other “board members” and Joe Thomas personally – probably on a “joint and several” basis. That means we are going to go after the FULL amount for each illegitimate act from you and each of the board members until we collect EVERY penny that was spent on decisions that were outside the scope of authority.  Based on my prior blog postings, I have already identified over $120,000 that has been spent without the proper Article XII approvals.

Those are pretty much the highlights – and as you can see, most of the above will have a MASSIVE impact on GGRC, RML, Ridge Resort Realty and each member of the “board” personally.  It will also rightfully put $10,000, more or less, back into the pockets of all PAST AND PRESENT 1-1 owners who join with us in the lawsuit against those responsible for our gross overcharge of fees.

The above issues are the way things SHOULD have been done all along – and we WILL hold those accountable who have capriciously and arbitrarily chosen to ignore the controlling documents of Deer Ridge and GGRC Regime.

You all will NOT be able to claim ignorance on these issues – all of these issues have been brought to your attention multiple times over multiple years.

What Say You Luther?

You are hereby put on notice to immediately resolve all of the above issues.

If you do not, one of our expected remedies will be to file a derivative action suit on behalf of GGRC naming each of you, individually, as defendants in that lawsuit.  This particular lawsuit will allow us to recover funds from all of you, individually, and require that the entire board be fired, with cause, for gross negligence.  And, since this will be GGRC suing you, none of you will be able to use any past or current attorney who has represented GGRC.

Another legal action we intend to take will be to immediately gain an injunction blocking the special assessments and inter-pleading any and all funds already received to a court controlled account.  Another legal action we intend to take will be a declaratory judgment suit over the above interpretations of the Master Deed and Bylaws.

Another legal action we intend to take will be for multiple past and current 1-1 owners, such as myself, to sue the board members, individually, for the 82% overcharge of all costs going back for years.  Other, additional litigation is planned as needed.  Bear in mind that we intend to also sue each of you for full recovery of all of our legal and court costs – and since it is fairly apparent we will win the issues, we expect to win on the legal fee recovery too.

Discovery motions will be immediately made that will require GGRC to turn over COPIES of ALL books and records related to GGRC and RML, et al.

So, Luther, are you going to continue to try to self-servingly block full and complete implementation of all of the above issues – or do you want to save everyone time, hassle and money by settling all of these issues here and now before we take the next steps?  If you attempt to delay the above by squandering GGRC money for legal fees to protect yourself and other board members and Joe Thomas, you will be held accountable for this waste of money also.

You have THREE DAYS to satisfactorily respond to this email before I move forward with the necessary steps to accomplish all of the above.  This process will start with a postal mailing to all owners, providing them with a copy of the attorney’s letter, advising them that they should not make any assessment payments and asking for them to join with me as co-plaintiffs against you and the rest of the “board.”

So, what say you, Luther?  How do you want to get to the inevitable Point B?

The Attorney Letter – And Analysis

The following dissects the letter from the attorney with snapshots of each part of the entire document.

This first image shows the law firm, date, attorney and that it deals with GGRC issues.  The letter responds to 13 sets of questions I posed with regard to Deer Ridge and the operation and management of GGRC, the property and with regard to RML.

This point discusses that all owners have a right to COPIES of all the books and records.  Wanting to make sure it was even more clear, I received the following email from the attorney:

This makes it crystal clear that ALL owners have a right to COPIES of books and records related in any way to GGRC.  Period.

Bear in mind that as soon as we file any of our planned litigation, we WILL produce a motion for discovery FORCING you to turn over COPIES of all of these documents.

Also, bear in mind, Luther, if we have to litigate this and go for a declaratory judgment, you will most certainly lose on this point.  This should not even be a point of issue with a Board that was open, transparent and honest.

So, based on the above, are you and the Board going to continue to interfere with the owners have their legal rights to copies of the GGRC et al books and records?

Luther, this is the crux of most of the intolerable abuse of power by Joe Thomas and the Board.  You all have claimed reliance on these two sections to blatantly ignore the requirements of the Master Deed and Bylaws.  As you can see, the attorney is saying exactly the same thing I have been telling you – Article III, Section 9(c) does NOT let you get away with your “arbitrary and capricious reallocation of ownership in the common elements or the common expenses.”  Likewise, the same thing for Article V – which means you cannot simply charge the same amount to all unit sizes for any of the expenses.

Luther, ALL allocations and common expenses, including the HOA fees, the water, cable TV, telephone, etc. MUST be charged in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages.  Period.  You all do NOT have a choice.  You all CANNOT be arbitrary and capricious. You MUST abide by the Master Deed Percentages.  This should not even be a point of issue with a Board that was open, transparent and honest.  So, based on the above, are you and the Board going to continue to be arbitrary and capricious – or are you going to IMMEDIATAELY adjust all costs to reflect the Master Deed Percentages?

Point 3 relates to your statement in the November budget meeting that, “an 82% over charge to the 30 1-1 owners was ‘fair and equitable.’”

Clearly, it is NOT.

So, based on the above, are you and the Board going to continue to be arbitrary and capricious – or are you going to IMMEDIATELY adjust all costs to reflect the Master Deed Percentages – and stop overcharging all 30 1-1 owners by 82%?

Uh oh.  Trouble in River City for the Board.  Could it be that special assessments are NOT authorized whatsoever???  See the interesting details below.

As you can see, all of those overcharges you guys have made for years can be recouped by me and all the other victims of your “arbitrary and capricious” wrongly calculated assessments.  For me, that adds up to over $10,000 and I want all my money back with at least interest.  It doesn’t look like I can get monetary damages – at least on this point – though it may depend on what type of litigation we pursue.

NOTE:  All 1-1 owners now, and in the past, will have a CLAIM for the board’s arbitrary and capricious overcharges – to get back your money and interest and probably legal fees to sue them!  If you want to join with me as a co-plaintiff, please email me ASAP!

Here is a BIGGIE – RML and Ridge Resort Realty are NOT legitimate, just as I have claimed for years.  RML was illegally formed by the board in 1987 with zero vote of the owners for one thing – but even beyond that point, it is NOT an appropriate use of any funds as described above.

We expect to file a derivative action suit, as GGRC, against you, individually, and all the board members and Joe Thomas, individually, to force the IMMEDIATE divestiture of both RML and Ridge Resort Realty and for reimbursements of any and all costs associated in any way with the formation and operation of these two illegitimate companies.

I personally want every penny of MY money back that was ever spent in any way to support RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

If you would like me, with my 15 plus years of real estate experience to help with the quick and IMMEDIATE divestiture of these companies, please let me know.

As I have claimed, all Annual Meetings held in April are NOT Annual Meetings as defined by the Master Deed.  And, since the Master Deed REQUIRES that the Board of Directors is ONLY elected at the Annual Meeting, you, Luther Parker, and the rest of this current “Board” were NOT properly elected and any and all decisions made by you all are null and void and without effect.  As such, I intend to file suit to have the Court appoint a Special Master to oversee all operations of GGRC and the immediate divestiture of both RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

Now, if you really hurry, since this is February 18th, you COULD get a quick 30 day notice out to all owners moving the April “Annual Meeting” to the first quarter as required by the Master Deed.  That would allow for the proper election of the new board without the need for a court-appointed Master.  However, if you wait or still try to hold the “Annual Meeting” in April, and I am successful with my point of law, this means that the Master would be running GGRC until the first quarter of NEXT YEAR.

So, what say you Luther?  Are you going to quickly try to abide by the controlling documents of our Regime – or are you going to toss it all into the court appointed Master’s hands?

There are SEVERAL very interesting parts to the attorney’s response to this Question 8.

First of all, just to be clear to Tom Reise – you guys are NOT in the “driver’s seat” and you cannot simply ignore the provisions of Article XII REQUIRING you to get the 90% vote of the mortgage holders of all condo units at Deer Ridge!   If you all proceed in ANY way with the demolition or construction of your aluminum walkway railings, you will be in direct violation of the Master Deed.  Period.  You have been WARNED.

The second interesting concept here is the one mentioned in one of my recent blog postings:  ultra vires acts.  I warned you all in that posting that you had each better talk with your individual attorneys because ANYTHING you do, or HAVE ALREADY DONE, that are outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws, subjects EACH of you personally to be grossly negligent.  This means that you will NOT be able to rely on the D and O insurance to protect you, nor to use legal counsel of GGRC to defend you.

It also means that some owners, me included of course, can name you all individually in a derivative action suit.    You all need to really understand how a derivative action suit works – since that means we can sue each of you, on behalf of GGRC as our plaintiff.  Now, that sounds interesting.  And, it means that all the owners would get paid back from your pockets – not from GGRC’s bank account.  For me, that will be most fitting – considering the long term abuse of power that has existed at Deer Ridge.

Now, are you SURE you want to start spending YOUR money replacing those walkway railings?

Alas, this was the one point that did not YET go our way.   We are still investigating ways to get this one to happen too, but we may have to wait until we replace three of the current board members.  We also expect that Tennessee and other states will follow Nevada’s lead in REQUIRING all HOA board meetings be digitally recorded.

Now, things get very interesting.

NOTE TO ALL – BASED ON INDEPENDENT LEGAL OPINION,
IT LOOKS LIKE NO ONE IS REQUIRED TO FUND ANY PART
OF THE $353,500 ASSESSMENT!

That felt good to say.  This part was so amazing that I even went back to the attorney and asked for clarity.   He assured me saying he stands by this answer.  What this means folks is that the board, even if they were properly elected – which this one is NOT – can never do a special assessment.  They can only raise the monthly fees to properly build a reserve fund (the monies that were in the reserve fund as recently as three years ago have seemingly disappeared – probably in covering the negative cash flow from operations of RML.)

Additionally, even if it had been legal, the Board’s unwillingness to provide us copies of all the records tied to this Asinine Assessment would have invalidated the assessment.

If you would like to join with me in blocking your upcoming assessment, please let me know ASAP.  We intend on filing an injunction against GGRC and the Board from even attempting to enforce this assessment until full resolution of our lawsuit(s).

Clearly, the “Board” has not acted fairly and equitably with regard to me, or other full time owners at Deer Ridge.  Stay tuned for a LOT more about this.

Luther, we believe that there will be a massive amount of evidence that will show that you and the other “board” members and Joe Thomas have repeatedly committed ultra vires acts that were outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws.  As such, these acts will hopefully show gross negligence on your part and on the part of your “unified board that speaks with one voice.”   As noted in the attorney’s answer to Question 12, these illegitimate acts of yours are actionable with all monies recoverable from you and all other “board members” and Joe Thomas personally – probably on a “joint and several” basis.

That means we are going to go after the FULL amount for each illegitimate act from you and each of the board members until we collect EVERY penny that was spent on decisions that were outside the scope of authority.  Based on my prior blog postings, I have already identified over $120,000 that has been spent without the proper Article XII approvals.  I am sure as we dig into the records, we will discover a LOT more.  Would you like to write us a check for the full $120,000?  Or, would you rather have Margie or David pay all of that for you?

This Question 13 answer is pretty crystal clear Luther.  No one gets a penny for serving on the Board.  This means NO reimbursement for anything including travel, meals, maid service, free storage or special remodeling of board member’s OR committee member’s units.  When we do our review of the books and records, we are going to add up every penny that has ever been paid and individually sue each of you for the full and complete reimbursement of all of this money.

For example, let’s talk about Margie since she seems to have been on the Board for years.   If she got $300 per meeting for travel and attended 5 meetings a year, which is $1,500.  Let’s assume other stuff added up to another $500 a year for a total of $2,000 a year in illegitimate benefits.  If she had gotten these ill gotten gains for say 10 years, this means that Margie will immediately owe us $20,000.

If this same amount was paid out to ALL board members and some committee members, the total amount that could be owned back could exceed $200,000.  That’s almost enough to get all the work done at Deer Ridge that REALLY needs to be done.

Of course, my personal intuition is that she and other board members have received a LOT more quid pro quo that will have to be paid back – but we will see.

Have You Noticed A Trend Here?

I assume you have noticed that I have been spot on RIGHT on everything I have been saying for years on my blog – and that your vilification, slander and libel contained in your diatribe letter you recently mailed to all owners was obviously full of lies and disinformation as a way to attempt to falsely discredit me.  This objective legal opinion validates virtually EVERYTHING I have been saying for years.  And, if need be, we will take the board members to court to prove it with finality.

I, along with many other owners, are sick and tired of the board’s “arbitrary and capricious ways” of illegitimately running GGRC and Deer Ridge – and I continue to be highly motivated to resolve these issues once and for all so that this property is finally properly governed by its Master Deed and Bylaws.

Luther, if you want these matters settled, you have three days.  The clock is already ticking.

Govern yourself accordingly.

Robert
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