Welcome to All Deer Ridge Owners Welcome to all owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort condos in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
My goal is to help all Deer Ridge owners to have a voice in the management and operation of your property.
Click on the TITLES of any of the following subjects to read the whole posting - and see the comments made by your co-owners. You can also type any term into the below search box, or any word or term in the search cloud.
Click the big image at the top of the page to return to the front page at any time.
Investment Analysis For A Rental Condo At Deer Ridge
Will you really lose $40,000 cash if you buy a rental condo at Deer Ridge and use Ridge Management Ltd?
As an owner-occupied home, Deer Ridge is an incredible value with THE best view in the Smokies and great amenities.
However, several owners and would-be owners of Deer Ridge condos have asked me if these units are a good rental property investment or not. To help answer that question
objectively, I had to analyze the real moving parts of buying and owning here.
Get my complete, detailed investment analysis based on buying a rental condo unit at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It shows what you MUST do to make money when you buy a rental unit at Deer Ridge.
Just click the picture or click
Investment Analysis
Gross Negligence – Or Is It Fraud? Legalese On
GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR ALL PAGES AND POSTS
Note: The following, and the information on any and all other posts and pages by me about General Manager Joe Thomas, GGRC, RML and /or the Board of Directors and its members, or any related topics, are my personal opinions based on my ongoing investigation into the actions and inactions of the GGRC and RML Board of Directors and / or Joe Thomas, General Manager.
While I believe these allegations to be true based on my objective analysis, these opinions remain as only allegations until I, or others, prove things in court.
My goal is to offer all owners all the information and evidence that I have available so that everyone can reach their own conclusions.
Legalese - And Powered Wig - Off
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Every Dollar You Pay For Deer Ridge Is The WRONG Amount!
Please read the various posts here on this Deer Ridge Owners Blog - and see my evidence and analysis which I believe shows conclusively that EVERY dollar of HOA Fees, EVERY dollar EVERY special assessment, EVERY water bill and cable TV sent out for YEARS to ALL Deer Ridge Owners has been wrong!
In many cases at least ONE THIRD of ALL owners have been GROSSLY overcharged. My calculations show that I have been overcharged more than TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the past 50 months I've owned at Deer Ridge.
The Board has been WRONGLY and arbitrarily ignoring the requirements of the Master Deed and the Bylaws for YEARS.
If my analysis is correct, the Board has zero choice. They MUST abide by the Master Deed Percentages.
But they haven’t.
However, if the Board knowingly ignored the clear directives of the Master Deed and the Bylaws when allocating costs to various unit types, and overcharging certain unit types on a regular basis, my opinion is that the Board and Joe Thomas may have acted fraudulently.
If they have not been fraudulent, then they have been, at the very least, grossly negligent.
Read the various blog postings - and judge for yourself.
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"We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert." — J. Robert Oppenheimer. This includes the Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
The following letter was certified mailed, emailed, faxed and hand delivered to Luther Parker’s home, the GGRC’s attorney’s office and the Deer Ridge office.
You get to decide what is right for you with regard to the “special” assessment – but this is my position and I am ready to fight Joe Thomas, Luther Parker and [...]
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,
[...]
We have been told by several owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort that they are NOT going to make the March 1, 2010 assessment payment in light of the written legal opinion by Howard and Howard which states among other things, that the assessment if invalid for multiple reasons.
It’s Up To You
Your decision to pay [...]
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:
The GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws do NOT [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
RML Illegally Formed – Board Decision Only – No Owner Vote!
If you click RML Minutes and Bylaws, you can finally have a copy of this important document that you probably have never been able to get from Joe Thomas. It even shows a stock certificate for the company.
These documents, which include the [...]
We have a new, major document you can download from the “Documents You Can Download” Section in the left column of this blog – or by clicking Deer Ridge History 1987-2006.
This document is a complete scan of one Deer Ridge owner’s notebook of all his documents related to GGRC and RML from 1987 through 2006.
This [...]
We have just been presented with two massive notebooks of historical documents on Deer Ridge that date back to about the time the property was built!
This 11″ stack of papers make absolutely fascinating reading – board minutes, incorporation papers for RML, annual meeting presentations, promises, excuses, provisional hiring, political force outs, side deals – the [...]
We have just hired an established real estate-focused law firm in Knoxville to begin our legal pursuits against GGRC, Joe Thomas and the current Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
We have already paid the necessary retainer – so watch this blog closely for upcoming developments.
Do YOU believe that ALL owners of Deer Ridge [...]
This post is in specific response to ONE of the many lies and gross misrepresentations contained in the Deer Ridge Board Attack Letter sent to all owners about me.
They are apparently SO desperate to discredit me, and the truths told here on this blog, that they are out on a vendetta to attempt to discredit [...]
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 [...]
Thank You!
I want to thank the growing number of owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort who are supporting this blog and its primary goals. Those goals include making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.
These documents are the “law of the land” for [...]
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 [...]
Deer Ridge – The Mind Map
A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. I use these all the time to work with my clients as a way to convey complex planning ideas.
I decided to use [...]
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 [...]
Yesterday, we have very heavy winds – probably gusting t0 60 MPH. One fatality was a 30′ tree in the island as you drive into Deer Ridge. It was quickly cut up and removed by our maintenance staff – even while the storm was still raging.
Nature has a way of destroying things like this tree [...]
The JUST released Deer Ridge Mountain Resort 2010 Budgets and Board of Directors Minutes are now available as a Document You Can Download. Please click CROCK to download your own copy of this very special document.
At least, I assume these are supposed to be the minutes of Deer Ridge AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, [...]
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, [...]
Even though the “Board’s” own attorney told the “Board” that they HAD to give any and all owners the names, addresses and unit number of every current owner, Joey and the “Board” are bending over backwards to make it as hard as possible for owners.
Instead of simply forwarding the existing Word document that directly prints [...]
*** UPDATE ***
Chuck,
I am writing you directly as a representative of several owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
The reason for this direct contact is that, based on our meeting with you last weekend at the “board” meeting, the resulting conclusion of the conversations was that Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club (“GGRC”) currently [...]
On the advice of an attorney, we waited – wanting to see what might happen during the board meeting. Now that we know, we have no choice but to continue to aggressively pursue our lawsuit against GGRC, et al.
In spite of some good gains we made for the benefit of all Deer Ridge owners during [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
*** Updated Post – Now With Photos By Inspector ***
The following is an inspection report dated November 9, 2009 that was ordered and paid for by Todd Novak, one of the permanent residents and owners here at Deer Ridge.
Todd has been very concerned about the deplorable repairs that were completed by Joe Thomas’ chosen contractors. [...]
Twenty Percent Of US Population Live Under HOA Rules
Here is an interesting stat:
“Today, according to the Community Associations Institute, nearly 60 million Americans live in a planned development, condominium complex or some other form of housing governed by an association.
The number continues to grow. Firm statistics are hard to come by, but anecdotal evidence suggests [...]
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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!
Deer Ridge Litigation Fund Do you, as an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, believe we are ALL entitled to have access and be able to copy the books and records of our Homeowner's Association?
So, do I.
But, apparently, Employee Joe Thomas and President Luther Parker and the Board disagree - and are doing all they can to block access, publication and candid discussion of the Asinine Assessment, special deals and favored treatment - at the expense of all Owners.
What ARE they so afraid of us finding out?
Maybe it has to do with the HUGE $10,000 overcharge for my HOA Fees, special assessments, water and cable TV bill - which, in my personal opinion, is due to fraudulent intent or at least gross negligence by the Deer Ridge Board of Directors and / or General Manager Joe Thomas. Please see the posts for details.
We have no choice but to file a lawsuit against GGRC and RML in order to finally, once and for all, make it clear that OWNERS do have a right to all the information about our property and our investment at Deer Ridge.
If you have thoughts and ideas and suggestions, please post them here on this blog.
If you have any clout with the Board, convince them to stop the charade - and let the owners have the information that all owners own!
If you want to help cover the legal costs to get us the right to see the bids for $50,000 for nuts and bolts - and the other background documents for the $353,500 Asinine Assessment, please click on the Donate Button below.
With enough in donations, we can hire BOTH an attorney AND a forensic accountant for the whole process through the Court in Sevier County to make absolutely certain we win EVERY point - and never have to fight Employee Joe and the Board on this stuff again.
Even a $100 contribution will help show that you are in favor of an open and FULLY transparent homeowners' association at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!
Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed!
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Owner Comments