Comments Welcome From All Visitors You are welcome to leave your comments on the various posts on the blog. You no longer have to be registered to comment. (Even regular contributors had trouble remembering their log on passwords!)
Note that SPAM blockers are in place - and all comments require approval to be visible.
So, let's hear from you on these topics!
To view the comments, you need to click on the post topic to see the entire post and the comments.
Welcome to All Deer Ridge Owners Welcome to all owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort condos in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
My goal is to help all Deer Ridge owners to have a voice in the management and operation of your property.
Click on the TITLES of any of the following subjects to read the whole posting - and see the comments made by your co-owners. You can also type any term into the below search box, or any word or term in the search cloud.
Click the big image at the top of the page to return to the front page at any time.
Investment Analysis For A Rental Condo At Deer Ridge
Will you really lose $40,000 cash if you buy a rental condo at Deer Ridge and use Ridge Management Ltd?
As an owner-occupied home, Deer Ridge is an incredible value with THE best view in the Smokies and great amenities.
However, several owners and would-be owners of Deer Ridge condos have asked me if these units are a good rental property investment or not. To help answer that question
objectively, I had to analyze the real moving parts of buying and owning here.
Get my complete, detailed investment analysis based on buying a rental condo unit at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It shows what you MUST do to make money when you buy a rental unit at Deer Ridge.
Just click the picture or click
Investment Analysis
Gross Negligence – Or Is It Fraud? Legalese On
GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR ALL PAGES AND POSTS
Note: The following, and the information on any and all other posts and pages by me about General Manager Joe Thomas, GGRC, RML and /or the Board of Directors and its members, or any related topics, are my personal opinions based on my ongoing investigation into the actions and inactions of the GGRC and RML Board of Directors and / or Joe Thomas, General Manager.
While I believe these allegations to be true based on my objective analysis, these opinions remain as only allegations until I, or others, prove things in court.
My goal is to offer all owners all the information and evidence that I have available so that everyone can reach their own conclusions.
Legalese - And Powered Wig - Off
----------------------------
Every Dollar You Pay For Deer Ridge Is The WRONG Amount!
Please read the various posts here on this Deer Ridge Owners Blog - and see my evidence and analysis which I believe shows conclusively that EVERY dollar of HOA Fees, EVERY dollar EVERY special assessment, EVERY water bill and cable TV sent out for YEARS to ALL Deer Ridge Owners has been wrong!
In many cases at least ONE THIRD of ALL owners have been GROSSLY overcharged. My calculations show that I have been overcharged more than TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the past 50 months I've owned at Deer Ridge.
The Board has been WRONGLY and arbitrarily ignoring the requirements of the Master Deed and the Bylaws for YEARS.
If my analysis is correct, the Board has zero choice. They MUST abide by the Master Deed Percentages.
But they haven’t.
However, if the Board knowingly ignored the clear directives of the Master Deed and the Bylaws when allocating costs to various unit types, and overcharging certain unit types on a regular basis, my opinion is that the Board and Joe Thomas may have acted fraudulently.
If they have not been fraudulent, then they have been, at the very least, grossly negligent.
Read the various blog postings - and judge for yourself.
Please Register To Log In And Leave Your Comments Please register first - so you can participate in the discussions by making comments that reflect YOUR opinion.
When you register, please include your unit number so we can confirm you are really an owner!
You are welcome to submit as many comments as you want on any of the topics - or even on a new topic. This is the time and the place to finally have YOUR voice heard with regard to your investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
I would ask that you include your Deer Ridge unit number at the end of each of your posts so other owners get to know you - however, it is not required. I understand some owners may want anonymity for a variety of reasons - but I will need you to show me that you are an owner.
I may post non-owner comments from time to time if I believe they add to the discussion. When this happens I will note that it is a non-owner comment.
Bear in mind, any and all comments you make here can be seen by all one billion folks on the Internet, worldwide!
Thanks!
|
"We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert." — J. Robert Oppenheimer. This includes the Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Do you realize that you and I – and every one of the 30 one bedroom owners (36% of all units) at Deer Ridge – are currently being overcharged by 82% every single month? And, Luther Parker, the “board” president, said in a recent board meeting that he believes that this 82% overcharge for 1-1 [...]
Joe Thomas and the board make a big deal out of the fact that we have audited financial statements for GGRC and RML – and that, because of this, owners don’t have any need for copies of the books and records.
They make out that this “comprehensive oversight by an outside accounting firm” should give all [...]
This is an open letter to Luther Parker and the Board regarding what we see as ongoing mail tampering at Deer Ridge.
As a result of this blog, and the efforts of other full time residents at Deer Ridge, we were able to finally force Joe Thomas and the Board to erect private postal boxes like [...]
Will you really lose $40,000 cash if you buy a rental condo at Deer Ridge and use Ridge Management Ltd?
As an owner-occupied home, Deer Ridge is an incredible value with THE best view in the Smokies and great amenities.
However, several owners and would-be owners of Deer Ridge condos have asked me if these [...]
Did you rent your Deer Ridge Mountain Resort unit through Ridge Management Ltd., RML, for all of 2009?
Wonder how your unit’s performance stacked up against the other units for rental? Well, here’s a chance to find out.
An owner of one of the 2-2 units at Deer Ridge provided me a copy of their year end [...]
Jim and Wanda Goebel mailed the following letter to the GGRC and RML Board of Directors yesterday and copied me on their letter. With their approval, I have included it below.
What about you?
Is Deer Ridge, as we currently know it – with its insider deals, secrecy, ongoing violations of our Master Deed and insidious conflicts [...]
Just a quick note about firewood for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in particular and Gatlinburg area in general – we’ve found a great guy for firewood for this cold winter.
We just got our second order from Matthew Roark and highly recommend him for both great prices and total dependability. He lives near Deer Ridge and [...]
All Owners Are Negatively Impacted By Joe Thomas’ Actions As Principal Broker At Deer Ridge
Joe Thomas serves as General Manager of both Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club HOA (GGRC) and Ridge Management Limited, Inc. (RML) property management company and as Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty, another affiliated company of RML – creating a HUGE [...]
Hot Off The Press
Watch your mail. You will be getting a copy of the latest diatribe from President Luther Parker – this one regarding the Walkway Railing Alteration. To read Luther’s letter now, just click Fiasco or check under Documents You Can Download located in the left column of this blog.
Joey and The Board Finally [...]
Today, I officially filed the following complaint and request for criminal investigation with the FBI regarding Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and the GGRC HOA.
After the last “board” meeting, I, along with several other owners, are totally fed up with the board not providing copies of all books and records that we all deserve. Based on [...]
**** GUEST POST ***
Note: The way blogs work is that one person makes posts and others can add comments to each of those posts. Since I want to give ALL owners a REAL voice in the their property and investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, I will sometimes elevate a comment to a [...]
One of the multitude of Board of Director violations that seems to occur in significant amounts is with regard to compensation. There seems to be a major issue of entitlement by the current “board” members that is in direct violation of Article IX Section 1 Paragraph D of the Bylaws:
“Serve without compensation” means NO compensation, [...]
Tags: secrecy, fire the board, Fire Joe Thomas, books and records, secret deals
At this weekend’s board meeting, my presence was warmly anticipated by the Board making sure that Chuck Sexton, the GGRC attorney, was there while I was there. He, unfortunately, left right after I left.
While Chuck was argumentative about many of my 17 issues, as it turns out, his presence worked in our favor in several [...]
*** UPDATE ***
With the help of three other owners, we were able to investigate who it is that is benefiting from Joe Thomas butchering our trees. If you watch the following video you will see that Joe Thomas cut himself a deal by cutting the trees owned by ALL Deer Ridge owners.
The ONLY property [...]
Luther,
Thank you for allowing me to ask 17 questions during the Board meeting this weekend. While your need for frisking regular owners before they attended struck me as very negative, insulting and paranoid, I obliged since it was apparently the only way to get a chance to actually receive any kind of response from you [...]
During this weekend’s Board meeting, I specifically asked Luther Parker, Deer Ridge Board president, if he considers the 82% OVERCHARGE to all 30 1-1 owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort to be “fair and equitable?”
Luther responded, “Yes, the 82% IS fair and equitable.”
Amazing.
I wonder how high the OVERCHARGE has to be – for him to [...]
During the Board meeting this weekend, I made the following motion before the Board – while looking directly at Joe Thomas:
Considering the following actions, inactions, mistakes and gross negligence of General Manager, Joe Thomas, why has the Board not yet fired him “for cause?”
Complete lack of fiscal performance by completely missing budget targets.
Ineffective ability to [...]
Yes, I am serious.
Your Deer Ridge Board of Director led by Luther Parker and Joe Thomas, the General Manager are SO paranoid that they actually had a police officer blocking entrance to this weekend’s Board and Budget Meeting.
No “regular” owners were allowed to attend the meeting – until they were literally frisked and all of [...]
It has just come to our attention that our trash is actually being opened and READ by RML personnel. We are investigating whether this goes all the way to the top or not.
We have heard unsubstantiated reports that Joe Thomas has special software to intercept and read what is being sent and received on the [...]
Some Blog Statistics
I started this Deer Ridge Owners Blog about six weeks ago.
During that time, we have had:
38 posts with 82 comments, six pages and 20 different categories. (I am getting a LOT of other, mostly encouraging, email from owners and others who support our cause – but who prefer, currently, to remain anonymous.)
We have [...]
I just added a new Deer Ridge document that you can download: The Monthly Newsletter for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Home Owners’ Association between October 2005 to August 2009.
There are a few missing newsletter but most of them are there. If anyone has any that are missing or predate our ownership, they can mail [...]
***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! *****
The following is a standard, automated email that I plan on sending to 200-400 law firms in Knox, Blount and Sevier Counties with the goal of soliciting the best legal representation in our upcoming class action lawsuits concerning Deer Ridge Mountain [...]
At approximately 3:45 PM on Friday October 16, 2009, Employee, and General Manager of GGRC, Joe Thomas accosted my wife Janet in the laundry room of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Janet had been talking with Janice, head of housekeeping, while she did laundry. A few minutes after Janice left, while Janet was alone in the laundry [...]
Want to see what your $22,000 for Holiday Decor bought you for your investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort? The following video was taken ONE WEEK after the decorations were first put up.
Last December, we were all mailed copies of the budget for GGRC and RML for 2009. But how many of you REALLY looked [...]
We have pretty much decided that Small Claims Court is, well, too small…for all of our claims we keep uncovering at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Based on our research, we are now aggressively pursuing either one and probably two class-action lawsuits against GGRC, RML, and individuals who we believe have been guilty of either gross negligence [...]
***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! *****
Yep….I am still having a good old time plowing through the Master Deed and Bylaws of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort (AKA GGRC and RML.) Such fun! But I have found THREE more pivotal, and ongoing violations of the Deer Ridge documents [...]
This is a copy of an email sent to Luther, The Board of Directors and Joe Thomas on Sunday, October 4, 2009:
Luther,
I have not had ANY response back from you – in spite of my investigation uncovering MAJOR problems with GGRC and RML with the way things have been and are being done at Deer [...]
I have special postcards on order right now that will be mailed to all owners at Deer Ridge.
The goal is to let all owners know about the new Deer Ridge Owners Blog – so they can know what is going on with their property, participate in the online discussions and get to know their co-owners.
You [...]
***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! *****
This gets a little involved but could have MASSIVE consequences to everything happening at Deer Ridge, money wise.
I promise you – this is SO major – it is worth your time to read and understand because of the immediate, huge impact [...]
|
Help Us Fight The $1 Million Lawsuit If you believe in free speech as much as we do, we need your help - no matter where in America you may live.
The Deer Ridge HOA board and individual board members have filed a $1 Million Lawsuit against me in their ongoing attempts to stop this blog and have its contents removed. Click Press Release for details.
This power clique wants to continue to block free speech on this property and to keep their illegitimate secrets hidden from other owners.
They are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars of other owners' money on legal fees to keep themselves in power while they continue to break both Tennessee state law and Deer Ridge property law.
We need your help with the legal fees that will be required to force them to abide by the law - and insure that Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is entitled to free speech like the rest of America.
If you would like to join with others who believe in free speech and believe that all of the 305,000 Home Owner Associations across the nation should be protected from tyrannical boards that ignore the laws, please click the
Donate Button below.
Even a donation of just a few dollars would be very greatly appreciated as a way of showing that we have financial support from thousands of Americans for these important issues!
Thanks so much to all of those of you who have already contributed!
Please help us broadcast this Press Release to others you know who can spread the word. You are welcome to link to this site from Twitter, Facebook or other sites.
With your help we can fight and win this $1 Million lawsuit - and keep this blog active - and an inspiration and model for other HOA Abuse Blogs across the nation.
Deer Ridge Litigation Fund Do you, as an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, believe we are ALL entitled to have access and be able to copy the books and records of our Homeowner's Association?
So, do I.
But, apparently, Employee Joe Thomas and President Luther Parker and the Board disagree - and are doing all they can to block access, publication and candid discussion of the Asinine Assessment, special deals and favored treatment - at the expense of all Owners.
What ARE they so afraid of us finding out?
Maybe it has to do with the HUGE $10,000 overcharge for my HOA Fees, special assessments, water and cable TV bill - which, in my personal opinion, is due to fraudulent intent or at least gross negligence by the Deer Ridge Board of Directors and / or General Manager Joe Thomas. Please see the posts for details.
We have no choice but to file a lawsuit against GGRC and RML in order to finally, once and for all, make it clear that OWNERS do have a right to all the information about our property and our investment at Deer Ridge.
If you have thoughts and ideas and suggestions, please post them here on this blog.
If you have any clout with the Board, convince them to stop the charade - and let the owners have the information that all owners own!
If you want to help cover the legal costs to get us the right to see the bids for $50,000 for nuts and bolts - and the other background documents for the $353,500 Asinine Assessment, please click on the Donate Button below.
With enough in donations, we can hire BOTH an attorney AND a forensic accountant for the whole process through the Court in Sevier County to make absolutely certain we win EVERY point - and never have to fight Employee Joe and the Board on this stuff again.
Even a $100 contribution will help show that you are in favor of an open and FULLY transparent homeowners' association at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!
Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed!
|
Owner Comments