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.

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
A-202

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 deserve the following from their General Manager and Board of Directors:

• Transparency?
• Full accountability?
• Open and responsive communications?
• Right to audio recordings of all board meetings?
• Genuine access to copies of all books and records (except credit card info)?
• Copies of documents that prove that $353,500 is needed for the upcoming assessment (including $50,000 for “nuts and bolts”)?
• Genuine and through auditing?
• No special favors and illegal compensation for board members?
• Fair assessments and HOA fees?
• Adherence to all aspects of the controlling documents under which ALL owners purchased their units – The Master Deed and Bylaws?
• Fair treatment for all owner types:  RML owners, non-RML owners and residents?

If these are reflective of your belief system, then I invite you to help us achieve these goals.

The consistent and predictable actions of Joe Thomas and the current Board make it clear that they are opposed to every one of the concepts described in the above bullet points.  As a consequence, we have no choice but to pursue the above goals with legal action.

If you would like to help us achieve these goals, your contribution to our legal fund would help accelerate our success.

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!  Just click the button below to donate to the cause.

Thank You!

I want to thank the growing number of owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort who are supporting this blog and its primary goals. Those goals include making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.

These documents are the “law of the land” for Deer Ridge – and these “laws” have been systematically, substantively and repeatedly violated by Joe Thomas and the current and past boards of Deer Ridge.  As more of you have become acquainted with these laws and your rights as owners, as a result of this blog, your sense of outrage over these ongoing, intentional violations by Joe Thomas and the Board has joined with the voices of other owners who are now demanding long needed changes be made immediately at Deer Ridge.

This growing, vocal demand has finally gotten a response from Joe Thomas and the Board.

You will be receiving an unsigned letter purportedly from the GGRC / RML Board of Directors concerning some of my efforts to accomplish the above goals.  Not surprisingly, their 8 page letter is solely focused on their ongoing villainization and disinformation about me that has been going on for years – attacking me and my ever constant demand for implementing the above goals.

Fortunately, so many of you have started to call, email and otherwise voice your own demands to Joe Thomas and the board that the Deer Ridge Owners Blog goals be met, that they have felt compelled to generate this most recent attack letter in an attempt to deflect the growing complaints against the old way, their way, of doing things.

Here’s a hint for Joey and the Board:  Your attempted deflection won’t work.  Your violations of Deer Ridge Law will no longer be tolerated.

Joey And The Board Have No Authority To Be Thought Police Overseeing All Owners At Deer Ridge

Joey and the Board continue to believe that they are the ONLY people who can have an opinion about Deer Ridge and its operations…and they consistently set out to attempt to discredit and alienate ANY owner who does not agree to abide by their warped sense of proprietary and priorities.

My guess is that many other owners would agree with me that the board is completely out of line trying to censure ANY owner from expressing their rights to freedom of thought and expression.  For some reason, Joey and this board think it is alright to try and tell an owner how to think and behave – even when they have no authority whatsoever to do so.

Thought Police is NOT one of the authorized duties of either the general manager or the board.

The board members, as individual owners, have a right to their own ideas and opinions – but have ZERO right as the board of directors to use HOA fees to prepare and mail out any document on GGRC letterhead attempting to censure individual owners for expressing their opinion.

If individual board members wish to mail all owners their PERSONAL opinion about me or anything else, they are welcome to do so – WITHOUT using GGRC letterhead and without HOA fees being used for the postage.

Here’s another hint for Joey and the Board:  A growing number of us will no longer tolerate your attempts to control and intimidate owners.

Your lies and secretive actions will see the light of day and be fully exposed for the coordinated deception they are.  Each owner is fully entitled to their own ideas and opinions regarding Deer Ridge – and no one is required to follow your dictatorial wishes with regard to their opinions about Joe Thomas and the board and use and enjoyment of THEIR property as long as they abide by the Master Deed and Bylaws.  And no where in those controlling documents are you empowered in any way to be Thought Police for every owner at Deer Ridge.

However…all owners have a right to demand COMPLETE transparency about the way their investment is being handled – and to demand that the elected board provide that transparency AND that the board abide FULLY with the controlling documents that are part of the purchase documents for each and every condo at Deer Ridge.  Every owner has the right to demand full accountability of Joe Thomas as general manger and every board member to account for every penny – and follow every article and bylaw of our controlling documents.

As such, I demand that Joe and each board member reimburse GGRC for the time, postage and all other expenses incurred as a result of them sending this completely inappropriate attack letter to all owners and to go on record apologizing for completely overstepping their authority with their letter of attempted intimidation and censure.

If you want to send the same letter to every owner again, fine – but have the forthrightness to send it yourself, under your individual signature, using your own postage.   Don’t hide behind some unsigned letter and charge all owners.  Or, set up your own private blog at your own cost, unaffiliated with Deer Ridge management, and rant away to your heart’s content.

Welcome To New Visitors To This Blog

Most of you who are regular readers of this blog are already aware of the multitude of mistakes, errors and misrepresentations, intentional or otherwise, that are contained in this most recent attack letter.  However, since their letter references our blog so many times, I am hopeful that many of you now reading this posting are here for the first time, trying to find out for yourselves if the claims in the attack letter are true.  If you are here for the first time…or the first time in a long time, welcome!

I invite you to read all the postings and all the many dozens of comments made by your fellow owners at Deer Ridge.  I also invite you to join in the dialogue by registering and adding your own comments to each individual posting that interests you.

Unlike the new Joe Thomas and Board Blog, where they do not allow ANY comments and discussions by owners, but only post their own propaganda, this Deer Ridge Owners blog is specifically set up to give ALL owners a voice in their property and investment in Deer Ridge.

In the last three months since it started, this blog has had over 2,800 unique visitors, many visiting multiple times, with over 20,000 page views, 7,200 search engine robot visits and over 3,400 feeds.  We continue to average about 1,500 visits a month to the blog.  Not bad for zero advertising and a small 84 unit property!

Some Points of Issue With Their Current Attack Letter

There are SO many errors, false statements, half-truths in the board’s attack letter, I won’t bore you with refuting them all except to ask you to explore this massive blog to find your own answers.  However, some of the points are so flagrant, I will respond to the following, along with providing specific links where you can get more information to make your own decisions.

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

  “That statement is mostly true.

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

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

  This one point is the crux of a majority of my complaints – and that complaint has been there since Day 1 and continues to this day.  For me, this is such a critically important issue, it is worth filing a lawsuit over – so ALL owners can see what is going on with their investment in Deer Ridge.

• “He earlier wanted RML sold, and that is still one of his goals.”

  Absolutely.  In my opinion, RML and Ridge Resort Realty are operating companies that put all owners at risk of running small companies – and is a violation of the Master Deed and Bylaws.  Everyone who needs rental income would be better served by selling RML to a larger, better property management company – plus if sold correctly, could generate several hundreds of thousands of dollars to GGRC.

• Should Deer Ridge HOA Sell Ridge Management Limited?
• Sale of RML To An Unaffiliated Company Pro / Con List
• What Is RML REALLY Worth If We Sell It?
• Marketing Steps For Selling RML
• Joe’s Gypity Do Dah Song to Deer Ridge Owners

• “He wants the current Board and Joe Thomas fired.”

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

• Deer Ridge Board Meeting Motion – Fire Joe Thomas For Cause
• Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?
• File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission
• Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner
• Open Letter To Luther Parker and Board: Joe Thomas Accosts Owner In Laundry Room

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

  This is false.  Completely false.

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

  Joe has always been threatened by me since I have significantly more real estate and property management experience than he does.  Even though I’ve gone out of my way to make it clear that I don’t want his job, his apparent paranoia over this has been the root of a lot of his conniving and devious behavior toward me since we bought at Deer Ridge.

• “Without a single substantiating fact he posted the picture on his website with the accusation that the Board was preparing to run a “secret” test for the demolition and replacement of the railings at one of the buildings and that Deer Ridge had already spent monies on parts for this test run.”

  Actually, there were several substantiating facts.

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

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

  Now, please note several things in the board’s own minutes:

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

  But, wait there is more….proof.

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

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

  Subject: RE: Questions

  From: parker.luther@gmail.com

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

  Neil,

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

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

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

  Sincerely,

  Luther

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

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

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

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

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

  Uh huh.  Talk about Doublespeak.

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

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

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

  AND IF THEY ARE LIARS  – WHAT ELSE ABOUT DEER RIDGE ARE JOE THOMAS AND LUTHER PARKER AND THE REST OF THE BOARD LYING TO THE OWNERS ABOUT – ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT?  ABOUT THE BUDGETS?  ABOUT THE REAL OPERATION OF RML?  ABOUT BOARD COMPENSATION?  ABOUT EVERYTHING?

• “How can this man state that he has the support of many owners in his quest to completely destroy the beautiful mountain resort that has been more than 23 years in the making?”

  Read the blog to see some of the support.  See the proxies that I will bring to the February 6th meeting on the Walkway Railings Vote.  Read the emails you are getting from other owners complaining about how you are not abiding by the Deer Ridge The Master Deed and Bylaws.  Read the other, upcoming letters from other owners that will be mailed to all owners in the next few weeks.  There are now many of us owners who are joining together to bring about long needed changes to Deer Ridge that will do just the opposite of destroying our beautiful mountain PROPERTY.

• “On December 23, 2009 he stated on his website his intention to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.”

  This is true – although it just went in the mail in the last couple of days since the official complaint had to be notarized.  You can read all about this complaint at File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the State of Tennessee.

• “On December 12, 2009 he stated on his website that he had filed an official request to the FBI to investigate alleged criminal activity by Deer Ridge Manager and Board for suspected crimes of: white collar crime; corruption; financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement; illegitimate Board member compensation; and securities fraud.”

  This is true.  You can read all about this complaint at FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board.  If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the FBI.

• “The Board has made the decision to not provide,nor allow to be made, copies of detailed financial records which could be disseminated to parties that might use them to the detriment of the orderly operation of GG&RC and/or RML.”

  Again, this is the crux of the problem.

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

  If we have to go to court over this, we WILL go to court over this.  Additionally, exactly what detrimental consequences does the board fear from these financial records?  The ONLY ones I can think of relate solely to any malfeasance and misuse of HOA funds – which is exactly why I believe the Board and Joey are fighting, tooth and nail, to keep these copies out of the hands of owners.  Please see:  Yes Or No, Luther Parker? An Open Letter To Luther Parker, President of Deer Ridge – GGRC and RML.

• “It is for this very same reason that the Board has made the decision to not allow audio recording of any of the Board meetings…”

  Again, this is another case where the board refuses to be transparent and accountable to all owners.

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

• “On November 15,2009, on his website, he posted pictures along with the allegation ‘Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit of Non Deer Ridge Owner’ …What his cursory investigation failed to reveal was that one of the cabin owners on Moonshine Ridge, which overlooks Weber Road, also wanted some trees topped that were located on the south side of the road. Through the Maintenance staff, Joe contacted the landscaper that does contract work for Deer Ridge and referred him to the persons wanting the trees cut. The property line is very close to the road at this point and GG&RC only owns a 25 ft right of way from the center line of Weber Road. The topped tree closest to the road is 33 ft from the center line. Therefore, it appears that most, if not all, of the trees topped in this area were not on GG&RC property.”

  From our analysis of the plat, the above “convenient” calculations by Joey and the Board appear to be very wrong and these trees are, indeed, on our property.

  Do you believe it a coincidence that these trees were butchered at virtually the same time that this one cabin, the ONLY one that benefited from the butchering, signed on to be managed by RML?  Please see:  Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner,   Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner – Chapter 2 and Tree Trimming At Deer Ridge: A Guest Post By Tina.

• “On September 20, 2009 he filed a complaint with the local US Postal authorities.”

  True.  Many of us have had way too much mail tampering.

  However, I am please to say that I have now been successful at forcing Joey and the Board to install private mailboxes where keys will only be given to the individual owner and the US postal person who delivers the mail.  Please see:  Postmaster Says We Have A Right To Demand Individual Mailboxes and Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win! We should get our individual keys personally delivered to us sometime this week by Scott, the Gatlinburg Postmaster.

• “On December 21, 2009 a copy of an invoice mailed by the Cobbly Nob Property Owners Association to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort appeared on his website and his cry is “Deer Ridge behind in payments to Cobbly Nob -Over $31,000!…RML is not in arrears to Cobbly Nob.”

  Please see:  Deer Ridge Behind In Payments To Cobbly Nob – Over $31,000!

  Note in spite of what Joey and the Board claim in the letter about being caught up…that Cobbly Nob is offering a payment plan that just happens to start when the Asinine Assessments are due in March!  If they are so caught up, why is a payment plan even being offered?  Kind of makes you wonder, huh?

• “In every instance the (GGRC) attorney did not find fault with the decisions of the Board and rebuked him for trying to micro-manage the Board’s operation when the Master Deed and By-Laws clearly granted the Board the authority to manage the property in a manner which is fair and equitable.

  This is false.

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

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

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

  Please see:

  • Deer Ridge Owners Mailing Labels Now Available To ALL Owners

  • Major Win On Deer Ridge Article XII Bylaws – Thoughts and Implications

  • Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win!

    Also, there is the whole issue of all 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge being grossly overcharged by 82% on monthly HOA fees and all other assessments.  When asked in the meeting, Luther Parker said this was “fair and equitable.”  We obviously disagree and will take this matter to court and see if the court agrees that an 82% overcharge is fair and equitable.

  • Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting

  • Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable

• “We believe the majority of owners do not want Deer Ridge Mountain Resort to become another small residential complex as he has suggested and would like it to become.”

  Scott, the Postmaster for Gatlinburg has told us that based on trends in this city and specific trends and current pricing at Deer Ridge, within two to five years, he expects that all of Deer Ridge will become a residential complex.  This has nothing to do with me – and has everything to do with micro and macro economic trends specific to this geography.

  However, think about the statement in their attack letter.

  If these units are fairly marketed to all potential buyers, many of those buyers will be interested in Deer Ridge as their primary home.  So, “the majority of owners” mentioned in the attack letter do not get a vote on this either – even though Joe Thomas has done all he can to try and accomplish this by only trying to sell units to those who will use RML.  This is a MAJOR disservice to those who are trying to sell their units – and his tactics have greatly suppressed prices of all units here for years.  This is one of the reasons we filed a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Boards.   You can read all about this complaint at File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the State of Tennessee.

• “He blatantly abused the pooling system, staying in his unit for a month at a time while still collecting rent via the pooling system.”

  Our “abuse” was staying in OUR unit, that we own, for the month of October right after we bought the unit in August.  However, we did NOT collect rent from the pooling system.  We were fully agreeable that no rent was owed.  The fact that Joey and the board could even consider this as abuse is almost laughable.  However, when RML instituted a “prime time tax” – charging owners an absurd and outrageous daily charge on top of no rental income  is why we took our unit out of RML.  That is when additional “abuse” occurred by Joe Thomas RENTING our unit AFTER it was no longer in RML.  He has done this to other owners too – fully demonstrating his lack of ethics and trustworthiness.

  It is this kind of mindset by Joey and the Board that this property and every unit here is for their Little Joe’s Notel Motel empire – and not an aggregation of 84 units with about 80 owners who have varying and totally justifiable reasons to own at Deer Ridge that may have NOTHING to do with renting their units via RML.

• “On February 10,2007, a committee formed by the Board to study and make recommendations with respect to Joe Thomas’s group’s offer, met in Luther Parker’s unit (B202). On this day Robert , a member of the committee, focused his contribution to the meeting on selling RML to an outside interest at a future point in time fora great deal of money…The charge would be 7% of the total selling price … “.

  The Attack Letter implies I was making money from the sale of RML.  Please see the full text, which they conveniently edited, by clicking Marketing Steps For Selling RML.  There you will see that I clearly state, out of all available options for selling, that “Using a competent, knowledgeable business broker is probably the best approach for the sale of RML.”  I also add that instead of using me, “While this approach is an alternative for the Board, the business broker approach may be the best approach since it is a total third party dealing with no potential for any conflicts of interest.”  As you can see, their attack letter is intentionally misleading on this point – and I would suggest that it is equally intentionally misleading on all the other points too.

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

  Also, think about this:  If Joey thought it was such a good idea that GGRC sell RML, then why is he SO opposed to it being sold for a fair price to a larger management company that has the economies of scale to operate RML and the units in RML at Deer Ridge?  The implications of this logic gap by Joe Thomas speaks volumes about how much he doesn’t care about what is good for Deer Ridge Owners!

• “Shortly before the April 2008 Owner’s meeting, Robert sent a 9 page; “An Open Letter to the Deer Ridge Board and All Owners”, via email and his website (www.DeerRidgeOwners.com/prediction). The title of this letter was “Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – An Economic Prediction for 2008-2010″.

  True.  We still have one year to go – but check out my original prediction to see how good a job I did.  Click Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – An Economic Prediction For 2008-2010.

• “Fellow owners is it a coincidence that much of Robert’s negative commentary materializes as meetings are about to take place? Or is the timing well orchestrated to disrupt, distort, distract, divide and subsequently destroy Deer Ridge as we know it today?”

  It is to try and finally get these critical issues on the agenda since the Board has a four year history of NOT answering questions and emails and NOT being held accountable for its actions and inactions.
  

• “Interestingly, during the summer of 2009, Robert became our 7th permanent resident.”

  Partially true.  We are here as full time residents enjoying the beauty of Deer Ridge – until such time as we can get the goals of this blog accomplished.  We decided we have to be here to effectuate change since so much is hidden from owners who do not spend a lot of time here.  That is how and why we are seeing so much more going on here like the tree butchering.  Our presence here is also required for the upcoming litigation against GGRC and RML.  Once these goals are met, we will return home to Clearwater Beach, Florida – whether that takes 3 months or 33 months.

  Here’s another hint for Joey:  We will not be leaving until AFTER you are gone.
  

• “In a 19 page diatribe posted on his website on October 19, 2009 he is seeking legal representation for his HOA Class Action Lawsuits wrote the following. “All recent annual meetings and the election of officers and board members, approval of all budgets, etc. are null and void.” “That an independent auditor be hired and paid for by GGRC and placed under my administration and direction … ” “That RML and Ridge Resort Realty be expeditiously sold under my administration and direction …Ownership note Robert’s statements, particularly “under my [Robert] administration”.”

  Please see the following links for the full REAL story on all of the above sound bites taking out of context:

  • Deer Ridge Problems – The Mind Map

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

  • Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win!

  • Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting

  • Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable

• “On November 6, 2009, the Board received a letter from Mr. Sexton (the GGRC attorney) responding to Robert’s allegations. The following are excerpts from that letter, ‘The first question regards the Board’s authority under the Master Deed and Bylaws. It is my understanding that he is taking the position that various owners at Deer Ridge are being assessed monthly dues and allocation of common expenses and repairs at a percentage disproportionate to the ownership interest . . The last half of the sentence in Article III, Paragraph 9(c) beginning with the word “however” clearly gives the Board authority to allocate common expenses using a method other than percentage of ownership. The qualifier is “provided such method is fair and equitable”. It is my understanding that Robert is complaining that current owners ‘fees and assessments are being assessed in a ratio different than the percentage of ownership set out in Exhibit 2-1 to the Master Deed. This document clearly assigns to each unit design a specific percentage of the vote to which they are entitled. The percentage of vote likewise corresponds to their percentage of ownership interest in the common elements. “

  This is one of two fundamental issues I have with the way things are done and not done at Deer Ridge.  This one alone is worth taking GGRC to court over. Joey and the Board make claim to Article III, Paragraph 9(c) as their sole justification for ignoring the real intend and requirements of The Master Deed and Bylaws. It is their intentional misinterpretation of this clause that has allowed Joey and the Board to OVERCHARGE all 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge by 82% on monthly HOA fees and other assessments.  There are several postings at the blog that describe this issue.

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

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

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

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

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

  Please check out the following links on this critical issue:

  • Open Letter to Chuck Sexton – Attorney for GGRC – That GGRC and Deer Ridge Has NO Current Board of Directors

  • Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting

  • Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable

  • We Are * In Play * – As They Say On Wall St. – Attorney Contacts Commenced For Deer Ridge HOA Lawsuit

  • Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits

  • Class-Action Lawsuits – Coming Soon To A HOA Near You

  • RML Is Illegal! Pavilion Is Illegal! April Annual Meetings Are Illegal! More Major Flagrant Master Deed Violations

  • Deer Ridge – Your Monthly HOA Fee And Special Assessment Are WRONG! Open Letter to Deer Ridge Board: Lawsuit Being Prepared Against GGRC and RML

    Please note that this section of the attack letter refers to an “excerpt.”  Since the thought processes seem to abruptly end, it makes you wonder if the parts they left out were in fact critical to understanding what their attorney REALLY said. 
    
    

• “He does not have the right to demand to be a junior board member double checking all the work done by each Board member. ”

  I do not want to be either a junior or senior board member.  What I want is to have the same rights for all Deer Ridge Owners:  Making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.

• “He is working hard to destroy Deer Ridge as we know it today.”

  False,  Deer Ridge is a beautiful property and the only things I want to destroy are the antithesis of our goals that include making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.

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

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

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

Deer Ridge – The Mind Map

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.  I use these all the time to work with my clients as a way to convey complex planning ideas.

I decided to use one for the current pivotal problems at Deer Ridge to better convey the issues to the attorneys we will be working with on our lawsuit(s) – and even as a way to make things clearer to the FBI once they start to investigate the activities of Joe Thomas and the GGRC HOA Board.

This image version is hard to see – so click on the image to get a much more readable Acrobat version.

Once you see it in Acrobat, use the magnification controls to zoom in – and then use the Hand control to move around the image.  Sorry it is so big – but then again, so are the problems we have at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Please let me know of other issues I should include on Version 2.

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

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 that 80 percent of new housing being built in urban and suburban areas is in common-interest developments governed by covenants, conditions and restrictions, said Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for the institute.”

With this kind of growth, it is easy to see that HOA communities will quickly go from the current 20% – to a majority of households in the next decade or so.  With that many more folks subject to the kind of HOA Board abuse that we see at Deer Ridge, there are an increasing number of new laws being passed by states to protect the people who live under HOA regimes.  Tennessee just updated their condominium laws in 2008.

Part of our current legal investigations includes whether GGRC, Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, is in compliance with these new condo laws.

As more folks tap the power of the blog and the Internet, these petty tyrants who attempt to usurp the power of HOAs will be publicly exposed for their violations of controlling property documents – and violations of state and federal laws.

Recording Board Meetings

As readers already know, several of us want to have the all board meetings for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort recorded so that all owners have a right to hear everything that ACTUALLY happens at those meetings – instead of the sanitized and biased “minutes” that are sent to owners.

As other owners who have reported here on this blog, when they read the minutes that are sent to all owners – they have commented that those minutes in no way reflect what actually happens at board meetings they attended – completely leaving out topics that are discussed for hours – and touting what might have been a minor discussion as a major part of the minutes as long as it might advance the bias of the board and Joe Thomas’ agenda.

I am receiving email from folks all over the country supporting our efforts to finally return the power of decision making to ALL owners at Deer Ridge.  One reader just sent me a link to a Chicago newspaper article about a HOA there that wanted to stifle First Amendment Rights by trying to fine owners $10,000 for recording their board meetings.

While the following reflects Illinois law, I think it is probably indicative of our own legal rights in the upcoming lawsuits against GGRC and the individual board members and Joe Thomas.

Marina City News – MTCA Bans Recording Of Board Meetings – Article on November 12, 2008

• Resolution “unlawful on several grounds,” says attorney
• “Gross dereliction of fiduciary duty,” says former MTCA president
• Unit owners not allowed to comment before rule is put into effect
• Board members again exposed to lawsuit and personal liability

12-Nov-08 – In defiance of state law and the First Amendment, Marina Towers Condominium Association has banned “taping, filming or recording“ of its board meetings.

The resolution was announced at the September 24 meeting and put into effect immediately. A tape recorder in use at the time was then confiscated.

Recording would only be allowed if the unit owner signed a written agreement. The recording could only be for the owner’s personal use. The recording could not be given to anyone else. And the condominium association would retain ownership of the recording.

Violation of the rule would result in a $10,000 fine – against either the unit owner recording the meeting or any “unit owner, tenant or resident” who publishes, rebroadcasts or distributes the recording.

While acknowledging the right of unit owners under the Illinois Condominium Property Act to record the open portion of a condominium board meeting, subject to reasonable rules and regulations, the resolution points to other parts of the Act that says only unit owners may attend meetings and obtain meeting minutes.

A Chicago attorney who specializes in real estate law says the resolution violates the Condominium Property Act, Illinois Constitution, and the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

According to R. Kymn Harp, an attorney with Robbins, Salomon and Patt, Ltd., “Although the MTCA board…purports to rely upon Section 18(a)(9) of the Condominium Property Act for authority to restrict the recording of the open portion of board meetings and the dissemination thereof, the…interpretation [of the section] is not based upon sound legal grounds.”

Harp says there are six criteria that must be used to make a rule enforceable. For example, the rule must be reasonably related to the purposes for which the association was formed and necessary to protect a legitimate association interest. The rule must not conflict with the Condominium Property Act. And the rule must be adopted by proper board action and made public to all owners and residents before its effective date.

“Additionally, Illinois case law requires that rules adopted by the board must be objective, evenhanded, nondiscriminatory, and uniformly applied,” says Harp. (Left) R. Kymn Harp

The resolution claims it would be circulated to unit owners prior to a vote on its inclusion in MTCA rules and regulations. However, with the rule in place now, it’s been seven weeks since it was announced and unit owners still have not received a copy of the resolution.

Rule stymied by First Amendment

The First Amendment is troublesome for the MTCA ban. The Illinois Condominium Property Act says that “no rule or regulation may impair any rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America or Section 4 of Article I of the Illinois Constitution.”

Besides the U.S. Constitution, freedom of speech is protected by the Illinois Constitution.

Two other attorneys, who did not want to be identified, have said the resolution violates the First Amendment. The resolution has been described as “over-the-top,” adopted improperly, and unconstitutional, with the obvious purpose to suppress dissent.

The $10,000 fine, says Harp, is not reasonable or proportionate to the severity of the violation.

“The proposed rule of the MTCA board is unlawful on several grounds. It appears to serve no legitimate association interest; is not narrowly drafted; conflicts with Section 18 of the Condominium Property Act in that it violates Section 4 of Article I of the Illinois Constitution; purports to impose a fine that is not proportionate to the violation; and is not reasonably related to the purpose for which the condominium association has been formed.”

Harp also maintains that the rule appears to conflict with the responsibility of the board to act in a manner reasonably related to the exercise of its fiduciary duty – to the association as a whole and to individual members. “The rule is a clear attempt to chill the free and open discussion and criticism of board actions in violation of the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.”

Harp says if challenged, the proposed rule would be found in court to be invalid and unenforceable.

“It may also form a basis for board member liability for seeking to deprive citizens of their constitutional right to free speech and dissent.”

Marina City Online to blame for this one

The resolution refers indirectly to Marina City Online. We have obtained recordings of MTCA meetings from unit owners, written a news article about each meeting, and then made available on our web site the original audio. MCO provided the only timely coverage of MTCA board meetings. It can take months for the MTCA’s coverage of its board meetings to appear in the MTCA newsletter. As of November 12, for example, on the MTCA web site the current newsletter is dated June 2008.

Although MTCA claims this hinders people attending board meetings from expressing their opinions, comments from audience members at condo board meetings have not been allowed for the past year.

Former MTCA board president Dr. Martin Flynn says recordings are permitted. “You do not need advance permission. I suppose they can have you sign a form that you will not disrupt the meeting or walk around, or intimidate, and that they have a record of who recorded the meeting but other than that I can’t think of any restriction that does not infringe on your right to record a meeting.”

Dr. Martin Flynn

Flynn, who was on the board from 2000 to 2002, is dubious of MTCA claims that it would own the recording. “Are they laying claim to notes that might be written? Also, state law only addresses the recording of meetings. It does not state, nor can one infer, that the board can determine what is done to the recording afterwards. Would they deny publication of a transcript? And finally, the fine itself is so large as to be egregious and again, cause pause and therefore hinder an owner from even attempting to record. It is a gross dereliction…of their fiduciary duty.”

Flynn recalls that in the 1990s, all board meetings were recorded and transcribed at a cost of $15,000 to $20,000 per year.

If you click Recordings you can read the article at their web site.

No More Trampled Rights At Deer Ridge

It is past time that Deer Ridge was properly managed by property owners who care about the rights of ALL owners.  It is past time to FIRE every current board member and General Manager Joe Thomas – and elect owners who will run Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club in compliance with the Master Deed and Bylaws of our property – and in compliance with our First Amendment Rights.

Please leave YOUR comments below.

NOTE:  New Page Added At Top Of Blog – Click I Want To Hear What REALLY Happens! to hear the quality of a sample recording with the proposed recorder.

Why is the Board sooooo dead set against having audio recordings of all Board meetings made available to all owners to hear?

I personally have the Olympus DS-30 shown in the photo.  It does a GREAT job and is under $90 at Amazon.  With the way that the Board squanders money on RML, wouldn’t it be worth $90 total for all owners to be able to REALLY hear what happens at Board meetings – especially when they are spending YOUR money?

On top of that, Neil has offered to even buy the digital recorder…and I have offered to take the digital recordings and post them for zero cost on this site so ALL owners can play them online or download them and play them on their own computer, iPod or other MP3 players.  That way, EVERYONE could know everything that occurs during the meetings that affect OUR property and OUR personal investment.

So, what POSSIBLE excuse can the Board have for saying NO???

This is all that was reported during the last Board Meeting Minutes reported by Luther:

Digital Recording of Board Meetings. Larry Ohm and Marge Duncan both stated they felt the minutes of the Board meetings are being recorded well. The Board decided it is at its discretion as to how the minutes of the meetings are recorded. At this time the current methods of recording have been deemed sufficient.

Well, golly gee whiz, Larry and Marge – you all are THERE.  Most owners are not.  You would think anyone could understand that difference.

Likewise, I understand that the Board has gone on record that an Owner can’t even record any Board meeting using their own equipment.   Do any other Owners find this position as outrageous as I do?

The current haphazard, incomplete and I believe intentionally vague recap of the meeting shenanigans are NOT sufficient by a long shot – and the ONLY reason I can think of why soooooo much resistance to this ZERO cost issue is SECRECRY and SIDE DEALS and LIES to all the owners.  There simply can’t be any other reason NOT to provide this record to all owners.

Could it be that the Board knows if the meetings are recorded, then the subterfuge about the assessments are being partly done as  a way to cover “operating deficit” caused by the Board continuing to feed OUR cash into RML?

I suggest that Owners consider filing a lawsuit to force the Board to provide this record.

At our condo in Florida, not only do they digitally record the meetings – they just started doing a live webcam broadcast than ANY owner can watch from anywhere in the world.  Plus they are recorded, so, like You Tube, owners can watch the Board meeting videos anytime they want – as often as they want.

Isn’t it about time that Deer Ridge joined the new millennium for the benefit of ALL owners – and be COMPLETELY transparent?

NOTE:  New Page Added At Top Of Blog – Click I Want To Hear What REALLY Happens! to hear the quality of a sample recording with the proposed recorder.