From Bloomberg Businessweek – December 8, 2011

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

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

By Felix Gillette

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Quon is free on $50,000 bail.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luther Parker, and the rest of the Deer Ridge Board, are at it again.

Luther Parker is lying to all Deer Ridge owners when he fraudulently claims that RML is making a profit and supporting GGRC.

Of course, there are so many lies, distortions and other misrepresentations in the recent letter that went to all owners.  Luther and the rest of the Gang of Six are trying desperately to stop the flow of more owners terminating their RML contracts and signing up with Cobbly Nob Rentals.

The focal point here on this post is “The Big Lie” that Luther, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas repeat as a litany.  Their other lies will be addressed with other posts.  Luther and the Gang must be using Hitler’s Mein Kampf as their operations guide regarding RML “profitability” where they learned about “The Big Lie” – or how to use a lie so “colossal” that no one would believe that someone “could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously.”

Let me prove to you, beyond the shadow of ANY doubt, that Luther Parker is lying to all owners at Deer Ridge about RML.

The Big Lie:  RML Makes Our HOA Money

OK.  Here is a snippet from Luther’s letter of November 15, 2011 about RML and other assorted lies, distortions and other misrepresentations:

Luther states, unequivocally, that “RML does not cost the HOA.  In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year.”

He goes on to state that, “The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML.  HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Really, Luther?

Luther’s statements, less than two weeks ago, indicate to me that, in my personal opinion, one or more of the following is probably true:

1. He is lying.
2. He is senile.
3. He is either ignorant or stupid.
4. He does not understand business and math well enough to read financial statements.

I personally feel like Luther’s statements have got to be based on one or more of the above choices.  Let me show you why – and you can reach your own conclusion about Luther Parker.

The REAL Truth – Not Luther’s Bizarre “Truth”

OK, Luther, please pay attention this time.  This is the same thing I’ve showed you before based on YOUR information. If you can stay awake long enough, maybe it will finally sink in this time – and you will stop with the repeated “Big Lie.”

If you click The Real RML Facts, you can download a packet of information that I’ve assembled for all to see, including the Judge in our litigation against Luther Parker et al:

• A detailed 16.5 year history of the ACTUAL financial results for RML.  (It only goes through June 30, 2011 since we have yet to get the financial results for the last half of calendar year 2011.)
• The basis for EVERY number of my analysis only comes from THREE sources which are all included in the Real RML Facts Packet for your scrutiny.
• One of the three sources is 10 years of AUDITED financial results for RML covering the years 2001 through 2010. All of these audits were completed by GGRC’s auditors, Hickman And Company, P.C., Certified Public Accountants.
• The second source of data is from a Joe Thomas presentation at the 2005 Annual Owner’s Meeting.  As we all know, Joe Thomas is the general manager around here of both GGRC and RML…oh, and the other conflict of interest position: principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty.  You will see in your Packet Joe’s presentation on the performance of RML includes three sheets showing the income, expenses and net income and loss for all years from 1995 through 2004.  The packet also contains the underlying worksheet prepared by Joe Thomas that was used for the fancy PowerPoint presentation. (Please ignore Joe’s headline on the PowerPoint presentation that says, “Rental Company Nine-Year Performance.”  As everyone else knows, besides Joe Thomas, Years 1995 through 2004 is TEN YEARS of performance.)  In spite of Joey’s inability to do simple four function arithmetic for his headline, we will take at face value that all the number in the spreadsheets were done correctly by someone else.  Now, remember, all those numbers are Joe Thomas’ numbers – not mine.  (I did not have the audit reports before 2001.  For some reason, Joey and the board are unwilling to give me copies – but I will assume that Joe Thomas was probably not lying to owners when he prepared his 2005 Owner’s Meeting report on RML’s performance…and that the numbers for those earlier years were based on the audit numbers.)
• The third, and last source of data for The Real RML Facts Packet, is from the August 2011 “board” meeting.  The board minutes, as prepared by our own David Barone, quotes Larry Ohm, CPA, as stating that the combined RML loss for the first six months of 2011 equaled $58,077.57.  Again, these are THEIR numbers – not mine.
• All of these documents are what was handed out at annual meetings or mailed to Deer Ridge owners – and does not include any additional documents or insights that I might have been gained from the document production resulting from our current litigation against Luther Parker, Joe Thomas and the rest of the “board.”
• Your Real RML Facts Packet contains copies of ALL of these documents for your review.  Don’t take my word for it – verify that every number on my summary spreadsheet is accurate and taken from the three source documents.

Here’s the photo of Larry Ohm’s admission of the RML loss for the first six months of 2011:

The fact that the Gang’s motel business lost over $58,000 in six months time is scary – but the real and complete story is much worse.

So, Luther, the following is my PROOF – based on YOUR numbers – that you are lying when you made the above statements in your letter from two weeks ago.

The 16.5 Year History Of How RML Has Lost Deer Ridge Owners Over $1.9 MILLION – And Still Counting

Yep.  We are really talking about a TWO MILLION DOLLAR LOSS by RML.

Let’s see what happens when we take all that information from those three sources and use THEIR numbers for all of our calculations.

PLEASE CLICK IMAGE FOR THE BIG PICTURE

 You will need to click on the above image to make it big enough to get the BIG picture – and to see just how “bizarre” Luther Parker’s Big Lie has grown.

Here’s the summary from the above page so you can see the bottom line:

• Even using the straight numbers from the three sources show an aggregate net loss over 16.5 years equal to $410,840.  This, by itself, shows Luther Parker is lying to you.
• If the $58,078 that was lost during the first half of 2011 is extrapolated, this means that Joey and the Gang will lose $116,156 of OUR money for all of 2011.
• If the above 2011 extrapolation is correct, then the above $410,840 loss becomes $468,918 for the 17 years.
• Luther, in case you don’t understand, if RML loses money, there are only two sources for it to get more:  a bank loan and from the individual owners of Deer Ridge condos.  Period.  RML has a bank line of credit of about $40,000 – but it is guaranteed by OUR HOA monthly assessments.  So, again, all those losses really have to get covered just from one place:  out of the pockets of ALL owners – whether we use RML or not.
• Luther, do you realize that RML has lost $108,047 just during the past 18 months!!!
• Are you still with me, Luther?  I am trying to put this in baby talk so you can follow the logic.  Now, remember, Luther, all of this is from YOUR numbers!
• The above numbers already prove that Luther Parker was LYING with his statements in his letter from two weeks ago. Period.
• But wait – there’s more!
• If you look closely at the audits and the nine, oops, ten year RML performance compiled by Joe Thomas, there are a couple of suspect line items.
• One is “GGRC Assessments” that shows as income for RML.  What was the source of this income?  Well, the wallets of ALL Deer Ridge owners, of course!  In other words, RML assessed our HOA, GGRC, in the aggregate amount of $200, 556 during that 16.5 year period.  So, that increases the real loss from RML by another $200,556.
• But wait – there’s more!
• The other line item is “GGRC Charged – Management Fees.”  This is not for managing the condos of owners. They currently charge owners a 50% management fee for that.  This ”GGRC Charged – Management Fees” is what they are charging to “manage” GGRC! If you remember, this is something we can outsource to a professional HOA management company for $1,680 a month – and that includes all the accounting!  This approach would have added up to less than $333,000 over 16.5 years.  Click Fire Joe Thomas for the details of this bid.
• Instead, Joey and the boys, chose to charge OUR HOA a whopping $1,305,538 for them to oversee and manage our tiny 84 unit complex.  Again, this has nothing to do with the needs of RML and it’s own management needs – this was just another way for Joey and the Gang to gouge ALL owners to help support their motel business.
• So, just like “GGRC Assessments”, the “GGRC Charged – Management Fees” shows as “income” into RML.  And, just like with the ”GGRC Assessments”, every cent of it comes out of the pockets of ALL owners at Deer Ridge!
• Still, with me Luther?  You haven’t dozed off or had another one of those “senior moments”, have you?
• The important part for you to finally get is that the “income” from ”GGRC Assessments” and “GGRC Charged – Management Fees” are bogus income items.  They are not monies earned from outside tourists or cabin owners.  Every cent of it has come out of the pockets of OWNERS at Deer Ridge!
• What this means is that, over the past 16.5 years, all owners have lost $410,840 as a net loss, PLUS the “GGRC Charged – Management Fees” that cost ALL of us $1,304,538 PLUS the ”GGRC Assessments” that cost ALL of us another $200,556.
• This equals a GRAND TOTAL LOSS CAUSED DIRECTLY BY RML = $1,915,934.  And counting!
• Again, Luther, all of this is from YOUR numbers.  It also does not include a lot of “hidden” costs that you have wrongly misrepresented and attributed to GGRC as operating costs when, in fact, they were really RML related operating costs.  These hidden amounts are massive – but have been left off this analysis until we can finally see the really books and records from ALL accounts. But, I bet you know the real truth, don’t you, Luther?  I wouldn’t be surprised when all those misallocations of expenses are taken into account, that our RML motel business has cost all GGRC owners more than $3 MILLION.  Is that about right, Luther?

Grand Total Loss Caused By RML Over 16.5 Years = Nearly Two MILLION  Dollars In Provable Losses

Whew.

I know that was a lot for you to grasp, Luther, even with me putting it into baby talk for you.  I know you need a nap – but please stay with me for just a little longer so I can tie the ribbon on it for you.

As you can see, using ONLY your numbers, it is BIZARRE how you can even lie with a straight face that, “RML does not cost the HOA.  In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year.” and ”The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML.  HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Wake up, Luther!  Pay attention!  Have someone explain financial statements and business to you so you can “get it” and not be embarrassed by your ongoing BIZARRE behavior that forces you to lie to all owners.

Do you realize, that the verified loss of $1,915,934 out of the pockets of ALL Deer Ridge owners means RML is losing money.

Do you understand, now?

Do you realize that if you and Joey and the rest of the board had not lost all that money, every owner at Deer Ridge could go OVER SIX YEARS without making ANY monthly HOA fee payment!

Do you realize that without this RML motel business burden that everyone’s HOA monthly fees could be cut in HALF?

If you still don’t get it, find a sixth grader to explain it to you.

That’s MY Proof – Where’s YOUR Proof, Luther?

Luther, I’ve laid out every line item of MY proof, using YOUR numbers, to show that the real loss from RML is at least $2 million…and climbing – as long as you try to keep your motel business operating out of the wallets of ALL owners.

It is not “false light” when there is proof of your lies!  And, I believe you, and ALL owners, will find the above analysis to be inarguable proof of those two lies in your latest letter.  (As I said, there are SO many lies by Luther and the Gang, that I have to break them apart to step through the proof like I did here.)

But, where is YOUR proof?  No more arm waving allowed, Luther.

Let’s see YOUR detailed analysis that proves that “RML does not cost the HOA.  In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year.” and ”The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML.  HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Prove it, Luther.

Show all the owners why you are not the liar you appear to be.

Or, man up and admit you lied because you just didn’t understand business and how to read a financial statement – and that you have been bluffing your way through life as someone who actually knew something.  Based on how badly and completely inappropriately you have misdiagnosed me as “bizarre” and “anti-social”, I have very serious doubts that you have that PhD in psychobabble that you claim.

Since you lied about RML, maybe you are lying about your own credentials – including the claim that you have some kind of doctorate – or maybe it is one of those mail order degrees.

Once And For All – ALL Owners Can Now See The Truth

Now, Luther, you and the Gang have equal access to all of this same information.  You even have Larry Ohm, who claims he is a CPA, on the “board.”  Most of us would expect that if you combine all six brains that are part of the Gang of Six, you all would have been able to do this same level of analysis that I’ve done.

The disturbing part is that either answer is not good for the owners at Deer Ridge.

If you all were incapable, between all six brains, to do this simple analysis, then none of you have any business running GGRC since you are obviously grossly incompetent and/or grossly negligent.

If you were capable of doing this analysis, and knew the truth, but still chose to all lie to all owners about the real cost of running your motel business, then that level of misrepresentation and misappropriation should be considered criminal in my personal opinion.

Either way – stop telling The Big Lie, Luther – and start shutting down RML immediately before it continues to lose all owners even more millions of dollars.

You, and every individual “board” member has an individual fiduciary duty to protect the assets of ALL owners.

The FACT that you are losing MORE millions of dollars by keeping us in the motel business is more proof that you all are violating that fiduciary duty with your continued gross incompetence and gross negligence.

It’s a bad real estate market out there.  I know – you heard it here first.

According to the latest analysis of home price trends in 384 markets based on the Fiserv/Case-Shiller Indexes, it will be well into the second quarter of 2013 before median home prices across the nation probably bottom out. Click Housing Recovery Slips Out of Sight to read the CNN report.

That’s two more years where the general real estate market will get worse – with prices probably falling ANOTHER 15% to 25%.  If we go into a double dip recession, which is now appearing likely, additional price drops could end up being more severe.

As bad as that is, the situation for selling condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee is even worse.

Selling A Deer Ridge Condo – Reality Check

Besides it being the worst real estate market since the depression, Deer Ridge owners have several other MAJOR strikes against them that make our units virtually unsaleable to anyone:

• Deer Ridge has THE highest monthly HOA fees, per square foot, of ANY condo in the entire Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge / Sevierville or Knoxville area.  At $410 to nearly $500 a month, we simply are pricing our units out of the marketplace – especially when comparing the ratio of HOA fee to the price of the condos.
• These outrageously high HOA fees will probably rise by $70 to $100 a month MORE when the “board” sets the budget for 2012.  This could end up making our monthly HOA fees a staggering $500 – $600 a month on properties that sell for $35,000 to $90,000.
• Buyers for Deer Ridge units have the inexcusable burden and liability of having to support and fund a motel business, RML, that is losing all owners over $150,000 a YEAR and is bankrupting our GGRC HOA.

For many folks who could afford a Deer Ridge condo with a normal mortgage, the HOA fees here knock them out of qualifying for financing and reduces, yet again, the small universe of potential buyers who might, just maybe, have an interest in owning a condo at Deer Ridge.

The Glut – At Least 43% Of Deer Ridge Owners Want To Sell

If all of that wasn’t bad enough, there is “The Glut.”

As of now, there are 23 known units at Deer Ridge that are already officially on the market for sale.  21 properties are shown on the MLS listing (click image to get a copy of the document) – PLUS another owner listed his unit last week – and another owner is trying to sell her unit as a For Sale By Owner. 

On top of all of that, we know of at least another 13 owners who have indicated that they want to sell their Deer Ridge condo – but see it as currently pointless to even list it for sale.  This is known as shadow inventory.

This means that out of the 84 total units at Deer Ridge:

• 27% of the units are officially on the market.  This, by itself, is a HUGE red flag to most buyers when that high a percentage of units at one development are on the market at one time.
• 43% of the owners want to sell – when you count both those on the market plus the shadow inventory of those who really want to sell.
• That’s nearly HALF of the owners of ALL condos at Deer Ridge want to sell!
• And, you are directly competing with other owners to grab the attention of very few prospective buyers for Deer Ridge.
• On top of that, all owners at Deer Ridge are having to compete with the mass of sellers dumping their properties all over Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge as a result of the economic and real estate downturn.

Folks, that 43% of all units at Deer Ridge represents a Glut – and creates even more red flags that are waving in the faces of any prospective buyer of a Deer Ridge unit.

My guess is that many of the shadow inventory units will desperately and aggressively come out of the shadows and be placed on the market if the board has their way and raises the HOA fee by $70 or more in the next three months so they can continue to cover the massive hemorrhage caused by RML’s huge negative cash flow.

If that happens, more and more owners will try slashing their asking price just to try and dump their units at Deer Ridge – with everyone trying to out slash all the other, competing sellers at Deer Ridge.

Another Disadvantage:  Selling Through Joe Thomas and Ridge Resort Realty

So, how do you compete to get your unit sold when almost half of all owners are trying to sell basically the same unit?

For one thing, don’t list with Joe Thomas and Ridge Resort Realty.

Surely, by now you know that he is ONLY interested in selling any units to non-residents who will use their unit for a few weeks a year and list it with RML for rental income.  In my opinion, he will NOT try to sell to anyone who does not fit this tourist / motel rental profile, folks!  He will NOT try to sell to anyone who might use a different rental company.

This is especially true if you are currently using RML since he knows he gets management fees from you as long as you are stuck with your unit.  If your unit sells, it is a financial risk to him since the new buyer might not sign that RML agreement that keeps a non-competitive 50% of rental collections.

This means, in my opinion, if you are listing your unit for sale with Joe Thomas, you have a much WORSE chance of finding a buyer than if you list your property with someone else.  Other owners are using other brokers – so they have a competitive advantage over you if you are using Joe Thomas.  The other brokers don’t care who buys your unit or if they plan on renting out your condo after they buy it.

Recommendation:  Terminate your listing agreement with Ridge Resort Realty and list your unit with another broker.  At least this one disadvantage would be solved – and you would gain an advantage over all the other owners at Deer Ridge who don’t understand this issue.

Another Disadvantage:  Give RML A 60 Day Notice – And Save Yourself Up To $1,000 A Year Or More.

As you all know, RML raised its management fee to a whopping 50% of all dollars they get from renting your unit.  The market is, at most, 40%.  RML is continuing to charge non-owners 40% to manage their properties – but raping owners with their above market 50% fee.  This represents a 25% increase in the dollars out of your pocket and into the pockets of Joe Thomas.

Clearly, Joey and the rest of the Gang don’t give a damn about owners or they wouldn’t have raised your fee from 40% to 50%.

It may seem “convenient” to just use RML to manage your condo rentals – but there are a LOT of other rental companies in Gatlinburg that want your business.  These other rental companies would compete for your business with a better rate and better service than you are going to get from Joe Thomas and RML.

Don’t be passive for false “convenience.”  That’s what Joe Thomas counts on: That you will be too passive, too lazy, too complacent to find a better management company where you get to keep $1,000 or more in your own pockets each year.

Give Joey the required 60 day boot – and get a better rental company!

(See below about how one company only charges 35% – and on a property that has half of  our HOA fees for a much nicer and even smaller complex.

The Only Solution – If You Ever Want To Sell Your Deer Ridge Unit

The only solution to the gross disadvantage that Deer Ridge condos have in the market requires four steps:

1. Sell or shut down RML and get out of the motel business and stop the $152,000 a year hemorrhage that is bankrupting GGRC. (Be sure and give your 60 day notice to RML and have your unit already listed with another rental management company!)
2. Fire Joe Thomas – this small 84 unit complex can’t afford his $100,000 employment package.
3. Hire an independent HOA management company for $20,000 a year – including all bookkeeping. Click Bid to see an actual bid by one company to manage Deer Ridge for only $1,680 per month including all bookkeeping!
4. After the above three steps are done, cut all monthly HOA fees in HALF – and still have a positive cash flow for GGRC!

All of the above can be done over the next 60 days with the support of over half of the owners.

Another Reality Check:  You ARE Stuck With Your Deer Ridge Unit

Even with the above steps, you are probably stuck owning your Deer Ridge unit for at least two more years.

But with the above Four Step Plan, your HOA fees are cut in HALF while you still own…your property value will go up and your property is immediately more marketable once the real estate market improves.

Doesn’t it make sense to immediately implement that Four Step Plan – and cut our HOA fees in half NOW?

Stay Tuned For The Four Step Proxy

We are having our attorneys draft a proxy in accordance with Article XI of the Bylaws requiring a special meeting and vote strictly to cover the Four Point Plan.  With your help, we won’t have to wait for our lawsuit to shut down RML and stop the negative cash flow.

If you agree with this and want your HOA fees cut in half, and are willing to sign such a proxy, let me know and we will notify you as soon as the proxy is ready.

PS:  Want To See A Sample Of How A Gatlinburg property should be run:   The Highlands Condos of Gatlinburg, Tn.

The owners at The Highlands in Gatlinburg are not at risk for covering a property management company’s negative cash flow like we are with RML – even though they have an onsite management company.

Werner Enterprises, Inc. is located on premises and only charges a 35% management fee (versus 50% at Deer Ridge.) Werner Enterprises does extensive marketing and furnishes housekeeping, linens and supplies in each unit. But by having a totally independent property management company from the HOA, the HOA Board can focus on the owners’ interests and not to be involved in a “For Profit” business that has MANY interests that are contrary to the real interest of the owners.

Their HOA Fees:

• 1 bedroom $225.00 per month / paid quarterly
• 2 bedroom $282.00 per month / paid quarterly
• 3 bedroom $338.00 per month / paid quarterly

Their HOA Fees Include: Water, sewer, cable TV, building insurance, trash collection, common area electricity, pest control, pool and hot tub operations and even firewood (in season).  Compare their 1 bedroom charge of only $225 to the outrageous HOA fees here at Deer Ridge where we pay $410 a month for the same things – but we don’t get the firewood included.

That means we are paying 82% higher monthly fees than they pay for their 1 bedroom units. And that’s before the “board” tries to raise our HOA fees AGAIN in November by another $70 a month.  That would make our fees 113% higher than the Highland’s fees.

Hmmmm….isn’t that interesting – since our Master Deed shows that Luther Parker and the rest of the “board” are currently overcharging all 30 owners of 1 bedroom units at Deer Ridge (36% of ALL units) by this same 82%!!!!

The Highlands have only 54 units to share in common expenses…which should make each unit’s HOA fees higher…but it doesn’t since they don’t have to support Joe Thomas‘ $100,000 plus compensation package and the massive negative cash flow of a money losing motel operation like RML.

This is what we at Deer Ridge compete with – even though these condos sell for $140k – $325k.  and the views rival ours here at Deer Ridge.  See the details by clicking The Highlands.

Folks, this should show you that it is PAST time for a MAJOR change at Deer Ridge. Vote to implement the Four Step Plan!

I assume most of you already know that the “board” just had an emergency meeting – scrambling to cover GGRC’s cash flow problems produced by RML’s ongoing massive cash hemorrhage caused by us continuing to be in the motel business.

During this unannounced and secret meeting, the “board” raised the management fee from the going market rate of 40% to a whopping 50%!

This represents a 25% increase in the management fee currently being paid by Deer Ridge owners who use RML.  This means that if your unit generates $10,000 a year in gross rentals, using RML will now cost you an ADDITIONAL $1,000 a year in management fees.

Hey, we all have got to somehow cover the 10% raise the “board” awarded to Joey earlier this year…irrespective that he was already being paid over THREE TIMES the going rate for his skill sets and responsibilities for this sized property in the Gatlinburg area.

By my calculations, over TWO THIRDS of the annual RML negative cash flow of $152,000 goes to pay all the approved salaries, perqs and benefits that end up in the pockets of Joe Thomas.

Another Negative Review On Trip Advisor

In spite of the raise, in spite of the triple rate pay, it is my professional opinion that Joe Thomas should be immediately fired, for cause, as a result of the many examples of gross incompetence and gross mismanagement cited throughout this web site.

Want to see what your 50% management fee gets you through RML?

Here’s a typical negative review that is the latest Deer Ridge posting on Trip Advisor:

This is just one of the bad reviews.  Click Deer Ridge Reviews to see several other examples of how RML is viewed by many of the tourists who stay here.

You never hear about all of these bad reviews during the “annual meeting” or in the propaganda sent out by the office to all owners.  But we hear this stuff all the time as we walk around the property.

Is this what you want tourists saying about Deer Ridge after they stay in your unit?  Is this the kind of management you want for your rental property – especially when RML is overcharging you at a rate of 50% of every dollar you make with your condo?

Other Alternatives

It is my understanding that RML is continuing to charge only 40% management fee to cabin owners.  I’ve even heard that they have offered some cabin owners a rate of 35% management fees.

RML has to offer these kinds of rates in the highly competitive property management business in order to compete for customers for their services.

Then, why is RML overcharging Deer Ridge owners a whopping above-market rate of 50%???

I believe it’s because Joey and the Gang think they have you locked in as a captive market – no matter how bad a job they do or how much they want to charge you.

Here’s the secret they are praying you do not discover:  You DO have a choice!

There are several other property management companies in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge that would love to have your business – at a competitive rate.

There is NOTHING whatsoever that prevents you from using any management company you want to use for your property rental business.

We know of one owner who has already turned in their 60 day notice to RML.

Maybe, you should be the next.

Recommendation

Do NOT sign the new RML management agreement and lock yourself into a 50% management fee!

Instead, shop around and see if you can save yourself a $1,000 a year more for YOUR pockets – versus Joe Thomas’ pockets – by using another management company.

Then, let’s shut down RML, get out of the motel business and stop the horrific cash flow hemorrhage caused by Joe Thomas’ salaries, perqs and benefits.

PS:  Here Are The Notices

The following is a copy of an email sent to the entire board and Joe Thomas on June 18, 2011 regarding “accusations” and the board’s evasiveness on providing direct answers regarding the Master Deed required insurance escrow account and funding. ( Click Insurance for details about this issue.)

Hey Luther, Board,

In reference to your last e-mail to me below:

Please, If there is an “Accusation” in my e-mail, Please point it out to me..

If any of the questions and / or assumptions I have made regarding the past failure to pay Workman’s Compensation Insurance premiums is incorrect or the amount of money needed from the owners to pay the settlement for the non insured, injured former employee, please let me know.

If in the past, without a formal request given 2 weeks in advance, and after signing a non disclosure agreement and only being able after all this, to view the documents on a Wednesday ….has Joe or the board ever shown any owner, any first hand proof “Original Documents” of any GGRC business.  If so, please remind me….

Asking for proof of the Master Deed Guidelines “Requirements” on Insurance Payments and other important matters should not be such a formal procedure.. The Board either is, or is not escrowing for the upcoming premiums in the prescribed way, or not. For you and Joe and the rest of the board to dance around the issues is unacceptable and you should  be forthright enough to answer these questions, EVEN IF you DEEM Them Trivial, Trite, and coming from a person who’s personality you do not care for.

This is no reason to avoid answering, No reason to spend THOUSANDS of our dollars to shut someone up and intimidate others…….. Just be open with the owners.  Just bring all into view.  Take care of business without spending owners money needlessly.

Please, just be open, be better stewards of the owners money. “Lawyer Fees,” – Are they really necessary in order to stop the questions, or is it a personal vendetta against someone whom the board and the manager view as a potential problem?

Engaging several $250.00 an Hr. lawyers could / should have been avoided by simply having had a very open discussion on these matters, so that we could have put them behind us long ago – With thousands of OUR dollars saved.

I believe GGRC, RML the board were the ones that first hired lawyers and filed law suits in all this, is that correct?

In my opinion, this all has caused a ridiculous level of Aggravation for all concerned, and at very high expense.

All of this because of the board’s unwillingness to be Transparent / Open as you had promised in the past….

Please answer these “Accusations” point by point, so as to be Clear Concise, Non Political.

Is that too much to ask ?

Thank you, Neil Blair C-208

That’s Neil’s June 18th email to Luther Parker and the board. As far as I know, here on July 5th, he has yet to receive his deserved point by point answers.  And, that is why he asked me if he could make this guest post.

I personally believe that Luther Parker, Joe Thomas and the rest of the board have not answered because they don’t want to admit that they are violating yet another provision of our Master Deed by not funding the property insurance escrow account – thereby putting ALL owners at major economic risk.

As owners, what do YOU think?  Post your comments below.

UPDATE:

Probably in response to the below posting and the growing outcry from other owners, Joey and the “board” just uploaded an insurance “quote proposal” from 10/07/10 onto the GGRC Blog.

Click Insurance Quote for a copy.

We have no idea if this “quote proposal” is, in fact, the policy that is currently in place, or if the payments are current, or if the annual premium shown on it as $45,480 that was due last November is correct.  My guess is that the final real policy was for more money than is shown on this “quote proposal.”  However, if this proposal turned out to be the real policy, GGRC according to the Master Deed, is required to have the full $45,480 in a separate insurance escrow account by September 1, 2011.

This means that there should be $36,384 in the escrow account as of June 1, 2011.  (I am taking bets that they don’t even have an escrow account – let alone having a segmented $36,384, thereby putting ALL owners at financial risk.)

The GGRC blog posting only has the document posted without any narrative discussion – so there is no word in the posting by Joey and the Gang as to the escrow account or its required funding.

Funny, you would think if they were doing things right, they would have gloated that I was wrong about the escrow account and the required funding.  Go figure.  However, in light of the new posting about Bouncing Payroll Checks, the below information is even more critical to all owners at Deer Ridge!

END OF UPDATE

An Additional MAJOR Risk To All Deer Ridge Owners

As previously mentioned in a prior post, we believe that there is very strong evidence that Joe Thomas and the “board” have, once again, put ALL Deer Ridge Owners at economic risk – this time with our property insurance.

Our annual insurance premium is approximately $45,000 to $60,000.

To protect all owners, the Master Deed (see below) requires that all premiums are escrowed in a separate escrow account to ensure that the funds are available when the annual premium becomes due…and that the full amount of the premium is required to be totally escrowed at least 60 days prior to the due date of the annual insurance premium.

New, Upcoming Motion With Court

By our calculations, the amount that needs to be immediately escrowed probably ranges from $30,000 to $42,000.

As a consequence, we plan on filing a new motion with the Court to force Joe Thomas and the “board” to immediately transfer these funds from the current GGRC operating account into a separate court administered escrow account for the protection of all owners.

What will be very interesting to see:  If the board even has sufficient amounts in our operating account to meet this required obligation of our Master Deed.

If these amounts are not escrowed, it is my opinion that this, by itself, is sufficient reason to fire Joe Thomas and the entire board for “cause” for gross negligence and gross incompetence.

However, if these amounts are not available in our operating account at this moment in time, it is my opinion that this, by itself, is sufficient reason to fire Joe Thomas and the entire board for “cause” for MASSIVE gross negligence and MASSIVE gross incompetence.

PRIOR POSTING

Below is the information we had previously posted that gives the proof of the requirement and the list of documents we are immediately demanding from Joe Thomas.

Insurance Escrow Account – Another Violation By The “Board”?

I am highly concerned about the economic viability of GGRC in light of RML’s huge $152,000 negative annual cash flow. Even Larry Ohm’s admitted loss of $55,000 for RML for all of 2010 would cause this same concern.  With that concern in mind, I am highly concerned that Joe Thomas and the Board of Directors have been negligent with regard to Article X of the Master Deed.

Article X, entitled “Insurance”, provides in Section 3 that all owners are to pay a separate check for their pro rata share of the Common Expense for insurance so that it can be deposited into a separate trust account.

I am highly concerned that there has never been any requirement of any kind by Joe Thomas and the board for any owner to abide by this requirement since my purchase in 2005.

I am further concerned that all owners at Deer Ridge are not being afforded the economic protection provided by Article X Section 3 of the Master Deed. I believe there may not be any separate escrow account established and properly funded in accordance with Section 3 of Article X.

Since the annual insurance premium is substantive at approximately $60,000, my calculations show that approximately $6,000 should be escrowed each month so the amount of the account balance should be sufficient to pay the annual $60,000 sixty days prior to the due date as required by the Master Deed.

Proof Of Protection For ALL Owners Against A Lapse In Insurance Coverage

It is critical for ALL owners that we have sufficient funds to pay our property insurance annual payment when it is due – and not risk ANY potential lapse in coverage that could very detrimentally affect us all.

By way of verifying that Joe Thomas and the board have properly abided by the Master Deed on these issues, I, will be IMMEDIATELY requesting the following be provided to me, in accordance with the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act:

• A copy of the current, and most recent three years, annual insurance policy cover page, showing due date of insurance premium, coverage and coverage dates.
• A copy of the current and past 24 months of bank statements for the separate escrow account that is required to be maintained for the insurance payment.
• Since I am also concerned that Joe Thomas and the board have fulfilled their commitment and promise to maintain a separate escrow account for the “special assessment”, I also request a copy of the current and past 15 months of bank statements for the separate escrow account that is required for the “special assessment.”

By my count, this should only require copying fewer than a hundred pages.

Assuming that Joe Thomas and the board have, in fact, properly abided by The Master Deed and Bylaws, I would assume there would be no problem in immediately providing these relevant and reasonable requests for information on my investment at Deer Ridge.

As a matter of fact, I would recommend that YOU, as an owner at Deer Ridge, immediately request these documents yourself since you also have a right to see them.  If you get them, please send me a copy.

What’s Your Experience With These Documents?

As to whether these documents and accounts exist, let me ask all owners:

• Have YOU ever written a separate check to the Insurance escrow account as required by our Master Deed?

If your answer is NO, then I think we probably already know the answers as to whether Joe Thomas and the board have been violating yet MORE parts of the governing documents for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Even More Evidence of Gross Mismanagement and Gross Negligence By Joe Thomas And The Board?

It will be interesting to see if these documents and accounts exist – or, more expectantly, are yet again even more violations of our Master Deed and Bylaws by Joe Thomas and the board.  If these documents and accounts don’t exist in their proper format, it is my opinion that this, by itself, is sufficient reason to fire Joe Thomas and the entire board for “cause” for gross negligence and gross incompetence.

Stay Tuned – We Live In Interesting Times!

David Barone Lied To You

David Barone, Secretary of the GGRC Board of Directors, lied to you and all other owners at Deer Ridge about the status of our counterclaim $3 million lawsuit.

In the recent mailing to all owners at Deer Ridge, David Barone made the following statement in the Annual Meeting minutes on his OWN report, ”On April 26, 2011, Judge Rex Henry Ogle dismissed Robert Goodman’s counterclaim.”

This is actually a double lie:  David Barone, as Secretary, was reporting on what David Barone said in the meeting.  Here is the excerpt from the mailing:

This statement, marked in yellow, is a lie.  Want proof?

How Many Lies Have There Been?  How Many More Will They Make?

As you can see below, the Judge did NOT dismiss our counterclaim and Barone’s lie is at best a categorical and self-serving misrepresentation of the facts. At worse, it is just that much more malicious disinformation and false propaganda that is spread by the “board” in their ongoing efforts to maintain their fiefdom and to keep us in the motel business – no matter how much it is bankrupting our HOA.

To me, the David Barone lie about the dismissal of our counterclaim is on a par with the Larry Ohm, CPA and Treasurer, lie that RML is a money maker for GGRC.  Please click  Liar Larry for all the details about THAT lie – and how he is finally being forced to admit in front of God and everyone that RML is losing LOTS of money for ALL owners at Deer Ridge.

It kind of makes you wonder how many other statements by Larry Ohm, Luther Parker, Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six might, just maybe, be even more lies.  This includes all that they say, all that they write and all that they claim are supposed to be accurate minutes of the meetings and accurate accounting.  And, with David Barone being the Secretary who is supposed to accurately report all meeting minutes, it kind of makes you wonder about EVERYTHING that he writes.

You can decide for yourself…but my personal opinion about all six of them:  “If their lips are moving…” and also, in this case, “If their fingers are typing…”

The REAL Status Of The Lawsuit – Part 1 – New Motion To Void The Asinine Assessment

Part 1 of the REAL status on the lawsuit is that we have JUST filed a follow up motion for a partial summary judgement against GGRC and these same individual “board” members under the SAME counterclaim.

In this instance, the new motion deals specifically with my defense for the “board’s” lawsuit against me for my complete and total non-payment of the “special assessment.”

If you click on the below image, you can download the full 17 page motion to see just how much Barone’s statement was false.  Note that this is still the SAME case number!

Note the parts highlighted in yellow – showing that the file date was May 25, 2011 – nearly a month after David Barone falsely claimed that the Judge dismissed our counterclaim.  Does that look like it was dismissed to you…or do you agree with me that David Barone, and probably the whole “board”, was lying to you with his rendition of the minutes?

The above is the first page of the motion for partial summary judgement in which we are defending ourselves on the “special assessment” lawsuit on two fundamental issues:

• That the percentage used to calculate every one’s proper pro rata share is wrong.
• That the “board” ignored the required 90% mortgagee vote requirement for all improvements and alterations.

The motion requests that the Judge review the Master Deed and Bylaws of GGRC and, based on his interpretation of these documents, void the “special assessment” and rule against GGRC on their lawsuit against me regarding my non-payment.

Get Ready For A “Run On The Bank” If We Win This Partial Summary Judgment On Voiding The Special Assessment

If we win just one of the two major defenses in this partial summary judgment AND win this one part of our ongoing lawsuit, it may probably have the effect of negating the “special assessment” for everyone – especially those who push the issue in Court like we have.

The problem for the “board” is that they and Joey have already spent your money!

In our case, we already have our money – because we were smart enough to not pay it to them in the first place.  For all owners who have paid, if we win even one of the two points, I would recommend that you hurry up and get in line to get your money back as soon as you can.

Note: I am NOT an attorney and do not give legal advice ever.  Period.

However, from a business perspective, I would strongly advise you try and get your special assessment back ASAP.  You might consider taking the above 17 page document to your own attorney and have them use this as the basis of your own lawsuit against GGRC and the board for recovering your own two payments made on the “special assessment.”  By using our document as a starting point, you might be able to save yourself some legal fees.

Better yet, and even cheaper, see the other solution below.

Repayment of $200,000 By Board Members As Individuals

If we win on the 90% mortgagee issue on this motion for partial summary judgement, it is my hope that this will make the individual board members personally responsible to repay the more than $92,000 (26% of the total “special assessment”) that was illegitimately spent on the walkways and lighting improvements and alterations since their actions were ultra vires.

Of course, this partial summary judgement ruling will just deal with the $92,000 of illegitimate Article XII funds that have been spent without proper authority. Based on my initial analysis of several expenditures made by the board, I calculate that all illegitimate Article XII funds spent already exceeds $200,000.  These are monies that required a 75% vote of ALL owners AND the vote of 90% of ALL the mortgage holders for all mortgages at Deer Ridge.

My personal goal if we win on this 75% / 90% issue is to force the individual board members to repay ALL $200,000 back to GGRC along with interest, etc. with our derivative action part of our countersuit.

The REAL Status Of The Lawsuit – Part 2 – Derivative Action

The judge did not dismiss the lawsuit…but he did rule that, for the declaratory judgement part of our counterclaim, we are required to either make all owners a party to the lawsuit, ie, sue all owners, or to get 5% of the voting shares to join with us as a co-plaintiff so that we qualify as a derivative action suit…so the Judge will rule on the declaratory motions we have filed such as RML is illegitimate and squandering half of each month’s HOA fees every month for every owner.

Because of the actions and objections filed by the “board”, we don’t have any choice but to immediately have 4-7 owners join my lawsuit as co-plaintiffs to get us to a total of at least 8 votes out of the 154 available votes in GGRC in order to meet the requirements of a derivative action suit against the individual board members for their violations of the Master Deed and Bylaws and Tennessee state law.

For our derivative action part of the lawsuit, the Judge is requiring us to go ahead and document that at least 5% of the ownership is in favor of the issues we want heard in our lawsuit, e.g., to stop RML from taking half of each month’s HOA fees from EVERY owner to feed it negative cash flow and to stop them from raising every one’s HOA fees by $70 a month as proposed by Larry Ohm in the last board meeting a couple of weeks ago.

This required 5% is something, with your help, that I hope we can do ASAP.

The good news is that we already have 7 votes in hand!  With ONE other owner, we get to the required 8 votes.

But this derivative action suit will ONLY work if one other owner will agree to immediately join in as a co-plaintiff.

Below is the one page document drafted by our attorney for other owners to join the litigation as a co-plaintiff so we can finally get these issues resolved. This is the same signed document we have in hand representing 7 votes by Deer Ridge owners.  As you will see, there is no cost obligation to you – unless you want to consult directly with the attorney for some reason.

Do You Want To See The REAL Books And Records Of GGRC and RML?

Do you want a copy of all the GGRC and RML books and records it’s taken me nearly six years to get? Would you like to help stop RML from squandering half of our monthly HOA fees that are bankrupting GGRC?

Unfortunately, the Judge ruled in favor of Joey and the board regarding their request for a “protective order.”  With the protective order in place, I won’t be able to share with other owners ANY of the books and records, email correspondence, payroll information, RML rental info or other information, unless you are a co-plaintiff by signing the above form.

On top of that, I can’t even discuss my findings with you.  Even if I were, hypothetically speaking, to uncover major fraud or other malfeasance, I couldn’t tell all the Deer Ridge owners what I found.  That’s what Joey and the board want with their protective order.

We hope to get the Judge to change this at a future hearing but that is the current status.  I STRONGLY believe that ALL owners should have a right to see the books and records for Deer Ridge but I have to abide by the Judge’s ruling.

The important thing you should be asking yourself is WHY?

• Why is it that Joey and the board have fought tooth and nail for nearly six years against providing copies of the REAL books and records to ANY owner in the format that is REQUIRED by Tennessee state law?
• Why is it that Joey and the board have pushed so hard for the protective order to keep us from sharing these documents with all other Deer Ridge owners?
• What are they SO afraid that owners will discover and uncover once they have complete access to copies of the REAL books and records?
• Why shouldn’t YOU have a right to see the REAL books and records on your investment at Deer Ridge?

The good news is that we have figured out a legitimate, no cost, way around the games that Joey and the board have been playing to prevent you and other Deer Ridge owners from seeing the books and records.

All you have to do is complete the above form and mail or fax it to me so that you join our counterclaim as a co-plaintiff at zero cost to you.

As a co-plaintiff, you will get to see EVERYTHING that I get to see with our court ordered production of documents.  We also, along with your fellow co-plaintiffs, will be able to fully discuss what we discover and uncover – and together develop the best strategies and tactics for our next steps to protect all of our investments in Deer Ridge.

If this sounds good to you, please complete the above form and fax, email or mail me the completed document TODAY.  Click Contact to email me any questions your have or to get my fax number for your completed form.

Together, we can finally hold this Gang of Six accountable…stop the lies, see the REAL books and records and increase the market value of our property.

Check Out Our Deer Ridge Owners YouTube Channel!

We are currently up to 18 videos that we’ve posted on our DeerRidgeOwners Channel… and are adding more videos every week.  Click DeerRidgeOwners Channel to see what’s new!

New Video Posted On Our DeerRidgeOwners Channel On YouTube!

Summary Judgment Goals On Our $3 Million Lawsuit

Issue: The GGRC HOA Board Is violating the Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Master Deed and Bylaws by overcharging all 30 owners of one bedroom units by a whopping 82% per month!  This means that all 30 owners have been overcharged during the past 68 months an aggregate $408,540.

This is just the overcharge — not the total paid!

We have filed a $3 million lawsuit against Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Gatlinburg, Tennessee, its General Manager and all individual board members. Several of these issues may be decided very soon in response to our Motion for Summary Judgment.

Our $3 Million HOA Lawsuit is against the HOA, Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club (GGRC) HOA. It is also against General Manager and “board members” Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise, all as individuals.

Full details on lawsuit at: http://DeerRidgeOwners.com.

Primary Goals of Lawsuit:

1. Force HOA Board and General Manager to abide by both Tennessee State Law and Deer Ridge governing documents.
2. Do away with RML and Ridge Resort Realty as illegitimate ultra vires entities – and stop the $152,000 a year loss to our HOA, GGRC, each year caused by RML.
3. Force the HOA, GGRC, to abide by the Master Deed Percentages and stop financial discrimination against 36% of all owners.
4. Force the HOA to stop overcharging the 30 one bedroom owners by a whopping 82% each month.
5. Force the HOA to stop overcharging the 30 one bedroom owners for assessments, water, and other services.
6. Stop the board from making any alterations or additions to the Common Elements without both the 75% vote of all owners AND the 90% vote of all mortgage holders for all units at Deer Ridge.This is a specific requirement of our Master Deed but has ALWAYS been ignored by the Board. Over $200,000 illegitimately spent in last 5 years.
7. Force the HOA, GGRC, to abide by Tennessee State Law and finally provide the REAL books and records in the format required by the Horizontal Property Act of Tennessee.The Board has continuously fought providing these books and records to owners for more than FIVE YEARS. (Makes you wonder why, huh?)

This presentation deals specifically with just one of those four issues up for Summary Judgment: The GGRC HOA Board Is violating the Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Master Deed and Bylaws by overcharging all 30 owners of one bedroom units by a whopping 82% per month!  This means that all 30 owners have been overcharged during the past 68 months an aggregate $408,540.

This is just the overcharge — not the total paid!

This amount also does NOT include the OVERCHARGE for water, cable TV and special assessments!

This is just ONE of MANY reasons behind our $3 million lawsuit against the HOA, Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club (GGRC) HOA. It is also against General Manager and “board members” Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise, all as individuals.

We will have separate presentations on the other three issues for Summary Judgment — so stay tuned for those videos!

We have filed a $3 million lawsuit against Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Gatlinburg, Tennessee, its General Manager and all individual board members.  Several of these issues may be decided in the next two weeks as a result of our Motion for Summary Judgment hearing scheduled for April 26, 2011.

The following  movie gives the background on one of these issues: The illegitimacy of RML, a wholly owned subsidiary of our HOA costing us $152,000 / year.  Watch this movie to see how RML has squandered and lost $1.3 MILLION of our HOA fees on trying to run their property management company.  That’s $1.3 Million that we would have had in reserves to cover the Asinine Assessment.

Be sure and check out the movie to see the SMOKING GUN we uncovered that proves the “board” has been lying to all owners about the “profitability of RML all of these years.

Our $3 Million HOA Lawsuit is against the HOA, Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club (GGRC) HOA. It is also against General Manager and “board members” Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise, all as individuals.

Primary goals of lawsuit:

• Force HOA Board and General Manager to abide by both Tennessee State Law and Deer Ridge governing documents.
• Do away with RML and Ridge Resort Realty as illegitimate ultra vires entities – and stop the $152,000 a year loss to our HOA, GGRC, each year caused by RML.
• Force the HOA, GGRC, to abide by the Master Deed Percentages and stop financial discrimination against 36% of all owners.
• Force the HOA to stop overcharging the 30 one bedroom owners by a whopping 82% each month.
• Force the HOA to stop overcharging the 30 one bedroom owners for assessments, water, and other services.
• Stop the board from making any alterations or additions to the Common Elements without both the 75% vote of all owners AND the 90% vote of all mortgage holders for all units at Deer Ridge. This is a specific requirement of our Master Deed but has ALWAYS been ignored by the Board. Over $200,000 illegitimately spent in last 5 years.
• Force the HOA, GGRC, to abide by Tennessee State Law and finally provide the REAL books and records in the format required by the Horizontal Property Act of Tennessee. The Board has continuously fought providing these books and records to owners for more than FIVE YEARS. (Makes you wonder why, huh?)

This presentation deals specifically with just one of those four issues up for Summary Judgment: The illegitimate and ultra vires RML – Ridge Management, Ltd.

We will have separate presentations on the other three issues for Summary Judgment – so stay tuned for those videos!

PS: Oh, you wanted to see the specifics of the SMOKING GUN we uncovered?

The board continues to falsely claim that RML “helps” GGRC by making money for the HOA.

But we just found a “Smoking Gun.”  This is a document completed by Joe Thomas, himself, and given to owners showing the financial performance of RML over a 10 year  period. Click the image to see the BIG picture!

If you add up all these bottom line figures, you find out that RML was only marginally profitable for 3 years and rip roaringly unprofitable for 7 of the 10 years.  If you add up all the numbers, you find out that RML lost and squandered $359,000 during this period – all taken out of the HOA fees that all owners pay every month.

 Based on our analysis described above, RML is actually losing $152,000 a year for the six years since the Smoking Gun Report.  This equals a loss of $912,000.

• This loss of $359,000 is lost money out of the reserves of our HOA.  Lost – and gone forever – to support a company that should never have been started, let alone continued.
• Right now, this same board wants every owner to fund a special assessment for $353,500.
• All those funds, every penny, would have been in our reserves if not squandered on feeding RML!

As you can see, even though their own document shows a whopping $359,000 loss, it is still based on RML misapplying certain charges back to GGRC thereby understating how much they were REALLY losing during that 10 year period.

Add to this, their admitted loss of $359,000 for the prior ten years.

This RML Loss  Of GGRC HOA Fees Over The Last 16 Years = $1,270,000 = ALL Taken From Owners.

This is the kind of HOA Board Abuse we are trying to stop with our $3 million lawsuit.

Please watch the movie for other interesting facts!

Note To Self:  Be sure and investigate another tidbit of info given away in Joey’s 10 Year Performance Review – Why did all income in Ridge Realty magically stop completely in 2003?  Into whose pockets did those brokerage commissions go since they were obviously no longer going to benefit RML?  I wonder who might have gotten all that money for the past nine years???

New YouTube Video Added

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

The Pathetic Pavilion

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

Inexcusable.

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

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

Good First Impression, Huh?

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

Find Out More – Watch The Video

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

Stay Tuned For More Upcoming Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Videos

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

Joe Thomas was quick to unequivocally blame me personally, by name, in the recent “Annual Meeting” for being responsible for the slow sales at Deer Ridge.

Gee, really, Joe?

It has been my personal belief that through his position as Principal Broker of the on site real estate company, Joe Thomas has attempted to overtly control the ownership of units here by encouraging ONLY those potential buyers who indicate a willingness to rent their units through RML while STRONGLY dissuading others potential buyers who want to live in their unit, not rent it, or if they want to rent it themselves.

It is my opinion that these actions by Joe Thomas have had SUBSTANTIALLY more negative impact on the sales of Deer Ridge units than anything I have ever done or published at this blog.

Because of his inherent conflict of interest, I believe that the market values of units at Deer Ridge have been severely depressed when it comes to resale, thereby penalizing all owners.

Want proof?  Consider that the real, closing price current market values of Deer Ridge units is virtually unchanged from the original selling prices of Deer Ridge in 1986!  24 years and no substantive increase in APPARENT value???

But the real story is even worse.

1986 Dollars v. 2010 Dollars At Deer Ridge

Let’s take a concrete example.  Tom Reise is one of the supposed “board members” at Deer Ridge who was one of the original buyers.  Based on the Tennessee public tax records, Tom bought his 2-2 unit on May 15, 1986 for $78,900.  If you average the asking price (not selling price) of all 7 of the 2-2 units currently on the market with Ridge Resort Realty you end up with an average ASKING price of $76,640.   Even though this is $2,000 less than Tom paid 24 years ago, it only tells part of the story.

Tom bought his unit with 1986 dollars.  I think all of us can agree that a dollar today is not the same as a dollar yesterday – and certainly not the same as the buying power of a dollar in 1986 when gas was 89 cents a gallon, a first class stamp was 22 cents and the average price of a new car was $9,300.

So, if you take into account the average annual inflation of 2.88% between 1986 and 2010, the $78,900 that Tom paid for his Deer Ridge condo in 1986 had about the same buying power as $155,886 does in 2010.  Bear in mind that the $155k does not offer ANY profit.  It just represents getting back the same buying power of dollars. The problem is that Tom’s condo is probably only worth $76,640 in 2010 dollars, at best, since that is the average current asking price of 2-2 units at Deer Ridge.  That’s represents HALF of what he originally paid for his unit at Deer Ridge – and that’s only if he gets the average asking price!

I would say that is pretty indicative that this property’s resale values have not done well with regard to inflation – even long before my blog was born.

If you would like a detailed Investment Analysis on owning a unit at Deer Ridge that is managed by RML, click Good Deal?

Why Would Joe Thomas Only Want RML Buyers?

Since RML is, at best, BARELY holding on right now – Joe can’t afford to lose even one unit from RML.  If all 14 units that are currently listed for sale on the Ridge Resort Realty site sold to non-RML owners, the RML party would finally be over – and even Joey and this “Biased Board” could no longer hide the huge cash drain that RML has caused for all owners.  (More on the REAL cash drain of RML coming up soon as a new blog post.)

Think about you trying to sell your unit in today’s environment.

If my personal suspicions  are right and Joe Thomas is really AGGRESSIVELY trying to keep a MAJOR portion of interested buyers from buying at Deer Ridge – just because he thinks they might not use RML – that means MUCH fewer contracts get submitted and owners have less chance to raise prices.

As a matter of fact, less demand means long periods between contracts and sellers who are motivated by this Great Recession to sell – are forced to lower prices – and even fire sale their units.

Remember, Joe makes a lot more money for his little empire from getting a unit in the clutches of RML than he will make off the sales commission here – especially if there is another broker involved who is taking half the commission.

All of that is my personal opinion of course – but doesn’t it make logical sense based on the antics and actions you have seen from Joe Thomas?

Another Smoking Gun:  The Board Minutes of April 2004

If you have any doubts that this RML focus is the prevailing mindset of the power elite and Joe Thomas, I invite you to click BOD Meeting 043004 to download a complete copy of the minutes from that “board” meeting.  What you will find on page 3 is the following:

Maybe it is just me – but that sure looks like it is clearly the intent of the board at that time, along with its general manager Joe Thomas, to illegitimately gerrymander prospective buyers of all condos for sale at Deer Ridge.

It is my personal belief that Joe Thomas and the “boards” of directors who have ruled Deer Ridge decided that they could not get the necessary 100% vote to accomplish the above goal of changing the Master Deed directly.  Instead, it is my personal belief that Joe and the “board” have, instead, conspired to pursue their illegitimate goal of having all owners use RML.  It is my opinion that  they are wrongly attempting to manipulate every listing that comes up at Deer Ridge that uses  Ridge Resort Realty – and even some listings that don’t use Ridge Resort Realty.

You can imagine how a few negative comments by a broker to a prospective buyer could often easily dissuade that buyer from serious consideration of buying at Deer Ridge.

Tennessee State Law For Brokers

If you are selling your unit, you might want to take a look at the web site for the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions by clicking Site.  This is the state agency in charge of regulating real estate transactions and broker for Tennessee.  You also might want to download the Official Manual of TREC while you are there.

If you read through those 210 pages of prose, you will find the following two excepts

Now, what this part in yellow means to me is that your broker owes you a fiduciary duty to protect your interest, even above his own, in the sale of your property.  If your broker doesn’t do that – it is also my personal interpretation that a broker who is  not protecting your interests, above his own or above any “organization or business entity in which the licensee has a personal interest…” is violating Tennessee state law and that broker could be subject to all kinds of penalties – including losing his license, etc.

Is it just me – or does anyone else see a possible conflict here if Joe Thomas and the “board” are REALLY conspiring to pursue their illegitimate goal of having all owners use RML by manipulating sales at Deer Ridge?

Only wanting to sell Deer Ridge units to those buyers who will use RML seems to me to be apparent violations of the law that should be fully investigated.

If you are selling your unit at Deer Ridge, you probably don’t care a hoot whether your unit is sold to an owner occupant or to some one who will rent it out using RML.

If you are selling your property and all your participation with Deer Ridge, you probably only care that you sell your unit as fast as possible for as high a price as possible.

Could it be that selling through Joe Thomas might, just maybe, be negatively impacting your sales goal for your unit?

It might be worth discussing this with Joe.  He might even have a good excuse or a rational reason that might be believable.  I don’t think so – but who knows?

How To Protect Yourself

If I was going to sell my unit at Deer Ridge, I would personally NEVER use Ridge Resort Realty or Joe Thomas because of all the above reasons.  But that is just my personal opinion.

There are lots of great brokers in the Gatlinburg area – though you should pick one who knows Deer Ridge and all the problems and issues here.

One such Realtor is Crystal Chasan.  I have never worked with her or even talked with her – but I know other Deer Ridge owners who have used her successfully and they were happy with her results.  Her number is (865) 712-3026.   I get zero compensation for recommending her – but wanted to at least give you a name of someone you can work with who is not influenced with the RML agenda at Deer Ridge.

Use whoever you think is best for YOU and your wallet – and best of luck with your sale.

The following is a Guest Post by Neil Blair regarding his notice to Quit RML.

I just told Joe Thomas and the “board” that -IF- they were planning to withhold our portion of the rental income to cover the Very Special Assessment, then we were giving our required 60 Day Notice to terminate our Rental Management Agreement with RML….

I really think RML will miss the approx. $4,000 in commissions our unit generated last year – not to mention ALL the other Misc. fees and repair referrals they get from us…

I have a feeling that a two person cleaning service will have some new accounts and VRBO.com may have several new Deer Ridge websites up VERY soon if Management and board continue to drive RML participants away with all their Tom Foolery…

How many RML rental units are they willing to lose, to keep all their secrets safe????

Thanks,

Neil Blair  C-208

The Most Recent Attack Letter And Your RML Rents

In the most recent Attack Letter by Joey and the “board”, they stated, “Joe Thomas proposed that GGRC owners under contract with RML who have not paid their assessment due March 1, 2010 be removed from the RML rental program. The Board will consider putting this proposed action to vote at the April 23, 2010 Board Meeting.  Discussion: All Board members agreed.”

Notice the wording in their threats to Owners:  “Joe proposed…”  and they “will consider putting this proposed action to vote…”

Folks, RML is barely hanging on by a thread right this minute.

Joe Thomas and the “board” had counted on this Asinine Assessment to cover their cash flow short fall in RML – and so many owners are NOT paying, that they can’t seem to rob Peter to pay Paul and all the other folks they had promised.

Even though they had committed to escrow all the assessment money received, I am willing to bet a lot of money that we find those funds have already been invaded by Joey and the Boys to prop up RML’s negative cash flow from operations.  Once we get the lawsuit filed and demand our production of documents, I bet we will find proof of this.

S0, for them to even threaten Owners with kicking them off of RML, is ludicrous.  Hence, all the waffle words in their Attack Letter.  They can’t afford to lose even one unit’s income – let alone all the folks who are not paying the Assessment who are currently on RML.

They May Already Be Grabbing YOUR Income

But Neil brings up a great point – they may just start taking all of your rental income if you don’t go ahead and send them your 60 day notice now when rentals are virtually non-existent anyway.

What do you want to do with YOUR unit and RML?

My guess is that once another 8 to 12 owners come to the wise decision that RML is NOT in their best interests – but only in Joey’s Fiefdom’s best interest, then RML will quickly crumble under its own weight.

Make sure you have  a better solution already in place for the upcoming high occupancy summer months.  Make your change now.

Most folks don’t realize how much information is part of the public record when you buy real estate.

Did you know that you, me or anyone in the entire World can find out that you own a condo at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, when you bought it, how much you paid for it, and how much it sold for during the entire time since it was constructed?  On top of that, anyone can even find out your home address.

Don’t believe me?  Let me show you how it is done – and how YOU can find out this same information on ANY condo at Deer Ridge.  It’s ALL a matter of public record.

First, just click on http://www.assessment.state.tn.us to see all property transactions at Deer Ridge.  By the way, this is not one of MY sites – This official government site is set up and maintained by the Comptroller of the Treasury of the State of Tennessee.  This is the splash page you will first see:

(By the way, you can click on any of these images to see the BIG picture so you can more easily read the information.)

To see the next page, be sure and select SEVIER as the county of choice and then click SEARCH.  When you do, this is the next screen you will see.

Here, just type in Deer Ridge as the Subdivision Name and then choose if you want the list sorted by Owner name, sale date, etc.  Then click SEARCH.  Note that the below information was last updated on 3/24/2010 – or, about a week ago from the date of this posting.

Margie Duncan

The list goes on to show all the units at Deer Ridge but the above is all that would fit on my screen at one time.  As you can see, it shows who owns which unit at Deer Ridge and the purchase date by the current owner.  But there is more.  Lots more.  So, let’s click on Margie Duncan’s unit since she is supposedly one of our illustrious “board” members.

Here, we can see Margie’s home address (matches the one given as her address on the list of “board” members), that she owns D-204, that she paid $33,000 for her unit on 5/17/2002 and that her unit had previously sold for $55,900 in 1986 (Doesn’t say much for how the units at Deer Ridge have appreciated much over the years, does it?)

David Barone

Let’s look at another example, say another “board” member, David Barone:

Here, we can see Barone’s home address (matches the one given as his address on the list of “board” members), that he owns D-303, that he paid $87,000 for his unit on 4/3/2006 and that his unit had previously sold for $60,000 in 1993 and for $99,900 back in 1986. (Doesn’t say much for how the units at Deer Ridge have appreciated much over the years, does it?)

Tom Reise

Let’s look at one more example, say another “board” member, Tom Reise:

Here, we can see Reise’s home address (matches the one given as his address on the list of “board” members), that he owns B-204, that he paid $78,900 for his unit on 5/15/1986 and that he is the only owner for that unit. (Doesn’t say much for how the units at Deer Ridge have appreciated much over the years, does it?)

Now, you can see how much of this is online, PUBLIC information for anyone to access and use.

The “Board’s Mistaken Belief That This Information Is Privileged

The “board” would have you believe that the list of owners is privileged and private information.  As you can see for yourself, not only can any Deer Ridge Owner get this information – but ANYONE, even someone in Timbuktu, can have every bit of this information in a matter of a few minutes – to use in any way they may deem worthwhile, productive and useful.

Yet, this abusive and arrogant “board” of directors and general manager, who think they are empowered to be petty tyrants in their own private fiefdom, will do anything to try and intimidate owners at Deer Ridge to keep them from having a free and open dialog about the rampant mismanagement of GGRC.

I, for one, REFUSE to be intimidated – and will do whatever it takes to have Deer Ridge managed in full accordance with both Tennessee State Law and Deer Ridge Law, as properly defined by our Master Deed and Bylaws.

How about YOU?  Are you going to let them intimidate YOU?

That choice is yours to make – but choose wisely.

Do you realize that you and I – and every one of the 30 one bedroom owners (36% of all units) at Deer Ridge – are currently being overcharged by 82% every single month?  And, Luther Parker, the “board” president, said in a recent board meeting that he believes that this 82% overcharge for 1-1 owners is “fair and equitable!”

Do you also know that all the 2-2-Loft units should be paying 50% MORE each month – but are getting a free ride on the checkbooks of all 30 of the 1-1 owners?  Does that sound “fair and equitable” to you?

A February 12, 2010 independent, written, legal review of GGRC documents shows that all 1-1 Owners are ALL being overcharged by at least $2,350 each and every year.  For me, this adds up to more than $11,000 in overcharges since I bought here.  How much have YOU overpaid, in total, over the years, for your home at Deer Ridge?

How many more months, and years, do you want to be wrongly overcharged like this?

Would you like to immediately change this monthly bleed from excess charges?  With your help, we can probably force a permanent change on this overcharge within the next 60 days.

What The Attorney Says

Based on the February 12th independent attorney review of our Master Deed and Bylaws, his written legal opinion is that the amount of monthly assessments for EVERY Deer Ridge owner is WRONGLY calculated.

The “board” has applied what the attorney calls “arbitrary and capricious” cost allocations for ALL charges currently being paid by ALL 1-1 owners at Deer Ridge.  This includes your monthly HOA fee, the amounts for water, cable TV, telephone AND the calculated amounts that are being charged for this “special” assessment. Our monthly HOA fee for all 1-1 owners should be $148 per month instead of $270 – and our share of water and cable TV should be $62.73 instead of $136.42 each month.

These overcharges for ALL 1-1 Owners add up to $2,350 / yr.

Also, on top of that, this means that even if the current “special assessment” was valid, each 1-1 owner at Deer Ridge should be charged a total of $2,156 instead of the currently billed $3,400 – an additional overcharge of $1,244!

So, JUST over the next two years, the “board” wants to overcharge you and me and all other 1-1 owners $5,944 – assuming we have to pay anything for the “special assessment.”

That’s not how much you have to pay – that’s JUST the overcharge!

Folks, that is almost $6,000 STOLEN out of your bank account by Joe Thomas, Luther Parker and the rest of the “board” during the next two years!

Could you benefit from holding on to that $6,000 that rightfully belongs to you?

The attorney says that ALL assessments MUST be in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages.  Hence, any amounts currently being charged to you each and every month is wrongly calculated!

You can read the full, five-page legal opinion by clicking Legal Opinion.

Help Us Get A Declaratory Judgment And Injunction To Change YOUR Monthly Fees Now

Instead of each of us continuing to pay this outrageous, illegitimate monthly overcharge, we need you to join with us in obtaining a court ordered injunction to legally STOP this illegitimate “special” assessment and get a declaratory judgment from the court that will force this “board” to finally abide by our Master Deed and Bylaws.

The “board” has made it clear that they will not voluntarily abide by the recent legal opinion.  So, they leave us no choice – but to take legal action to get a court to force them.

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

We ask that each owner join with us and contribute $1,000 to cover legal fees and court costs to finally get this stuff resolved.  If you can only do half of that amount or even less, those contributions would also be helpful and appreciated.  This ongoing overcharge will not change without this lawsuit.

Our goal will be to also have the lawsuit go after recovery of all of our legal costs so those monies may be repaid to the owners who are willing to stand up and fight this fight.  You can pay via credit card by clicking the Donate Button below – or mail a check to me at A-202, at Deer Ridge.  Please make the check payable to the escrow account, “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

This $1,000 legal fund contribution is a LOT cheaper than you paying the $5,944 in overcharges over the next two years that Luther Parker thinks is so “fair and equitable” for YOUR 1-1 unit.

Any unused, or reimbursed, legal funds will be returned, pro rata, to those Deer Ridge owners who contributed to the fund.

Judge For Yourself

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

And, just because Joe Thomas and Luther Parker say something is so – does NOT make it so – especially in light of an independent legal opinion clearly stating what they say is NOT so!

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

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

Questions / Want To Help Block The Assessment And Lower Your Monthly HOA Fees?

Please contact me ASAP at litigation@deerridgeowners.com if you would like to help stop YOUR 82% MONTHLY overcharge.

Time really is of the essence on this! 

As a One Bedroom Owner, don’t let Joe Thomas and Luther Parker overcharge YOU $6,000 during JUST the next two years!

It is past time to stop this “ongoing abuse of power” so that all of us One Bedroom Owners can start paying only our fair share for Deer Ridge.

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

We have been told by several owners that they are NOT paying the Asinine Assessment payment that Joey and the “Board” claim was due March 1st.

Joe Thomas is telling some owners that their payment will be late if not paid by the 10th.  He is telling other owners that all late fees are waived until April Fool’s Day.   (Come on, Joey, you gotta use the same rulebook for ALL owners!)

Four Reasons The “Special Assessment” Is Invalid And Should Not Be Paid

Joey and the “board”  claim that they are delaying the late fee because of the “confusion” my letters and blog have caused by identifying not one – but FOUR reasons – that the independent attorney said the “Special Assessment” was illegitimate and violated the GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws in four, count them four, different ways.

Click Four Reasons to see the reasons and make up your own mind about paying your part of this Asinine Assessment.

Joey And “The Illegitimate Board” Can’t Find Their Own Reputable Attorney

The “board” has yet to produce ANY written, independent legal opinion, whatsoever, that shows that this “special assessment” is valid in ANY of those four ways.

The reason? They can’t find a single reputable attorney who is willing to risk being disbarred by misrepresenting that they are right!

I don’t know about you – but I am NOT paying ANY assessment – unless they can prove to me with an independent legal opinion that those Four Reasons by the law firm of Howard and Howard are invalid.

Joey And “The Board” Are Trying To Hide How Few Are Paying The Assessment

Neil Blair has been trying to find out how many owners have paid – and how much has been collected.  He isn’t trying to find out WHO – just how MUCH and how MANY.

That seems like a reasonable thing that any owner at Deer Ridge should be able to get a VERY quick, straight forward answer, right?

Nope, not at Deer Ridge – with Joe Thomas and Luther Parker playing their usual petty tyrant roles – illegitimately blocking owners access to the financial records of our investment in Deer Ridge.

Joe Thomas and Luther Parker are telling Neil and all other owners that the “how much has been paid” and the “how many have paid” are CONFIDENTIAL numbers!!!

Give me a break.  What they are trying to hide is how few are paying!  Do YOU want to be one of the few who pays?

Read the Silly Rules And Stumbling Blocks of Joe Thomas and Luther Parker

Neil forward me a copy of the following exchange of emails from Joe Thomas and asked that I post it here on the blog.

It is SUCH an outrage and gross abuse of power by Joey and Luther Parker and the illegal board – trying to erect every conceivable road block to any owner at Deer Ridge even SEEING the books and records of our investment here.

Please read the following B***S*** by Joe Thomas and see if this exemplifies “the open transparency” touted by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Tom Reise, Margie Duncan and Dave Barone.

Folks, these are your current “board” members who are SO desperate to hide all of their nefarious activities that they are requiring owners to jump through the following hoops just to SEE some of the books and records.  We are not talking about copies – this is just to SEE the books and records we have a LEGAL right to see.

Fire The Six – Help Us Fund The Deer Ridge Litigation Fund

It is past time to make sure Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Tom Reise, Margie Duncan and Dave Barone – and Joe Thomas – get fired from any role of power at Deer Ridge.

Help us make that happen – Please donate to the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund – so we can have a court FORCE this illegitimate power clique to give back control and ownership of Deer Ridge to ALL the owners.

Read The Joey BS In Red

—————————————

From: openroad12@hotmail.com

To: manager@deerridge.com

CC: davidbarone@optonline.net; larryo@skdocpa.com; parker.luther@gmail.com; mickmargie@zoomtown.com; tomtrip@verizon.net

Subject: RE: How could it be Confidential???

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 19:35:11 -0500

Is the number of owners that have not paid still confidential?  Is the balance in the Escrow account confidential ?  Both, Numbers only, No names ..

Best regards, Neil

——————————————————————————–

From: manager@deerridge.com

To: openroad12@hotmail.com

CC: davidbarone@optonline.net; larryo@skdocpa.com; parker.luther@gmail.com; mickmargie@zoomtown.com; tomtrip@verizon.net

Subject: RE: How could it be Confidential???

Date: Mon, 8 Mar 2010 18:43:13 -0500

Dear Neil,

Management, with the Board’s approval has established policies and procedures regarding requests by owners to review our books and records.

1. The established time for reviewing our books and records is: every Wednesday between the hours of 8:00AM and 10:00AM (exception would be if on vacation or a holiday falls on Wednesday)
2. The established place for reviewing our books and records will be: Our game room adjacent to the lobby.
3. Only Co-owners are permitted to review our books and records.
4. An owner wishing to review our books and records will call, fax or email Joe Thomas to make an appointment a minimum of 7 days in advance of the requested appointment date.
5. The owner will provide the manager with a detailed, written list of what he/she wishes specifically would like to review a minimum of 7 days before the appointment date. The 7 day period is required so that the requested material can be gathered and presented in an efficient manner. Some items are kept off site either in storage or at our CPA/ bookkeeper’s office.
6. Follow up or additional appointments if needed will be made at the conclusion of the owners schedule appointment.
7. No copies or photographs are permitted of any items other than those items specified in the Act #66-27-503.

Neil, please let me know when you’d like to schedule an appointment and what specifically you’d like to look at.

Due to the fact that you have admitted to contributing moneys to the Goodman Litigation Fund, I may need additional time (more than 7 days) to review your detailed lists of items to be reviewed with our attorney.

I look forward to meeting with you soon,

Joe Thomas
Deer Ridge Mountain Resort
865-436-2325
manager@deerridge.com

——————————————————————————–

From: NEIL BLAIR [mailto:openroad12@hotmail.com]

Sent: Friday, March 05, 2010 11:33 AM

To: Joe Thomas; Luther Parker Parker; Larry Ohm; Margie Duncan; Tom Reise Deer Ridge Director; David Barone;

Subject: How could it be Confidential???

Confidential? Why is that word and train of thought so quick and easy….

Confidential….?  We are the Owners, how can a simple question on how many owners have not sent in the money, be a confidential matter.

Please…. Give me a date and time of your choosing, so that I can begin to be comfortable in my ongoing duty of due diligence to myself, and other owners. to do, in the only way currently ALLOWED… So I intend to take full advantage of it, UNTIL the Possible day when real transparency & copies are made available…

Go ahead and arrange for the first 3 meetings to be before the annual meeting in April, and then a meeting each month within 3-5 days of the bank statement arrival.

Thanks, Neil

——————————————————————————–

From: openroad12@hotmail.com

To: manager@deerridge.com; parker.luther@gmail.com; larryo@skdocpa.com; mickmargie@zoomtown.com; tomtrip@verizon.net; davidbarone@optonline.net

Subject: Confidential??? Another Question?

Date: Fri, 5 Mar 2010 09:38:07 -0500

So I’m Clear on this,

You are saying that if I personally show up at Deer Ridge on Monday March 8th, “Or, at a time we both agree to meet” I would be denied access to this information ?

Is that your stand ?

My memory is that the lawyer told you guys Any Owner had the right to at least LOOK at any and all records, verify transactions, verify deposits, verify transfers of money, verify who is behind on monthly fees, assure that bills are being paid on time and from the proper account, verify most anything except perhaps Certain employee Files,

I think that is also your own announced interpretation of the Master Deed and By-Laws.

Please contact me regarding an appointment for me to see these records, I anticipate needing 3 meetings of approx. 2-3 hrs, to cover RECENT records, also, will possibly have another person with me.

Please communicate this can take place in e-mail form.

See you Soon, Neil

Is This The Kind Of Board You Want?

What are they trying to so desperately hide?  In my opinion, Joe Thomas and Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Tom Reise, Margie Duncan and Dave Barone MUST be trying to cover up the crimes of the century based on the way they are fighting us to even SEE our own books and records.

Let’s get this resolved right here, right now.  Let’s have a court decide, once and for all, what our rights are as owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Help us make that happen – Please donate to the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund – so we can have a court FORCE this illegitimate power clique to give back control and ownership of Deer Ridge to ALL the owners.

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 or not to pay your portion of this Asinine Assessment is up to you and your own personal interpretation of the legal opinion.

However…

Do you really want to pay $1,700 to $2,750 of YOUR money this month that may be squandered by Joe Thomas and the “board” – or would you rather wait and see what we can all do together in court to stop what our attorney calls “Abuse of Power” by Joe Thomas and the “Board?”

Wouldn’t it make more sense to contribute to the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund – and get the injunction and the declaratory judgment from the court to finally get Deer Ridge under control and a real board that will comply with the controlling documents of GGRC?

Contributions are starting to come in – and we just opened a separate bank account today for all funds forwarded to us for this litigation.  We need your help in getting the injunction and to finally have a court irrefutably rule on the 13 major points that were covered in the Howard and Howard legal opinion.

Step 1:  Declaratory Judgment And Injunction

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

We ask that each owner join with us and contribute $1,000 to cover legal fees and court costs to finally get this stuff resolved.

If you can only do half of that amount or even less, those contributions would also be helpful and appreciated.  The more contributions by owners, the more that can be litigated and the more likely we will win the case.  (Bear in mind, absolutely nothing in court is ever a 100% sure thing!)

Our goal will be to also have the lawsuit go after recovery of all of our legal costs so those monies can be repaid to the owners who are willing to stand up and fight this fight.  You can pay securely online via credit card or echeck by clicking Donate or mail a check to me at A-202, 3710 Weber Rd, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

Please make your check payable to “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

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

Tired of The Way Things Are Done At Deer Ridge?

Right here, right now is the right place and time to finally stop all of the abusive practices of Joe Thomas and the “Board.”

Now is the time to finally force this “Board” and all future boards to FULLY abide by our controlling documents.

Now is the time to stop Joe Thomas and the “Board” from operating Deer Ridge as if it was there for their own personal use – with them all getting paid several thousands of dollars each year in improper and illegitimate salaries, expense checks and other benefits – all illegally paid to them by money they get from you and me!

The First Lawsuit

This will be the first lawsuit out of several that I expect will be forthcoming.  This one will stop the assessment and get a judge to rule on the RIGHT interpretation of our own Master Deed and Bylaws.  You’ve heard what my opinion is.  You have now heard the opinion of independent legal counsel.  Neither of these, no matter how crystal clear they are, is going to stop Joe Thomas and Luther Parker and the rest of the “board.”  Apparently, they all have way too much to lose if things are going to be interpreted by the Court the same way they are interpreted by independent legal counsel – and Joe and Luther are willing to squander even more Deer Ridge owners’ money to protect themselves and the illegitimate ways they have been doing things.

Hence, the need for this first lawsuit.

We believe that this first suit will be relatively straightforward and cost between $5,000 and $10,000 – depending on how much Joe and Luther are willing to fight their totally indefensible positions.   This amount does NOT count the legal fees that Joe and Luther will spend of GGRC’s money.  However, our intention will be, with our expected victory to turn around and file suit against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker and the rest of his “united Board” individually for their gross negligence in fighting this first suit.

Joe Thomas and the “board” have counted on the cost and time requirements of bringing a lawsuit being so much aggravation that no owner would actually do it.  Based on this, they have continued to increase their abuse of power to the point that they feel entitled to run Deer Ridge any way THEY want to – irrespective of Deer Ridge law.

Now is the time to finally stop them.  Now is the time to prove them wrong.

If you are tired of this abuse of power, tired of Joe Thomas operating Deer Ridge as if it was his own private property, tired of being overcharged, tired of being ignored, tired of being charged $50,000 for “nuts and bolts”, then NOW is the time to finally stop them – by joining with us in the lawsuit so that, once and for all, we can have a court give control of Deer Ridge back to the owners.

Please send your donations in today!

The Next Lawsuit – One Bedroom Owners Only!

Once we have gained victory with the first lawsuit, our intention is to immediately gather as many current and past owners of 1-1 units at Deer Ridge and individually sue Joe Thomas and each board member for gross negligence in overcharging all 1-1 units owners by 82% each and every month!   We calculate that just for our own unit, we are owed back over $10,000 they have stolen from us through this overcharge that Luther Parker calls “fair and equitable.”

Considering that there are 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge representing 36% of ALL units, and considering all the past owners of 1-1 units that may have had to sell because of this illegitimate overcharge, we expect the size of this aggregate award might be massive.  And, since we will try to show that it was done ultra vires, that means we will be looking to get all of our money directly from Joe Thomas and each member of the “Board” personally.   So, we are not going to be suing ourselves – we will be suing them, jointly and severally.

However…

Attention all 1-1 owners – to get to this lawsuit, we need your help with the first lawsuit since one of the 13 major points is that all assessments (monthly HOA fees, water, cable TV, etc.)  must be paid in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages.  By winning just this one point with the first lawsuit, I expect to save $2,400 each year in overcharges  for my ownership at Deer Ridge.  If my calculations are right, all 1-1 owners will see this same $2,400 a year savings.

So, especially for 1-1 owners, it makes abundant sense to contribute $1,000 to the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.

This second lawsuit will be based on the judge’s expected ruling that the “Board” could only charge in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages.

With that ruling in hand, this second suit will be for forcing the individual board members to pay us back all the aggregate overcharges each of us has suffered as a result of the gross negligence and abuse of power by Joe Thomas and the Board.  If each of your losses is about the same as my $10,000 in overcharges, it REALLY makes sense for you to participate in the Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.  Not only will you probably save $2,400 a year, but you could see a $10,000 plus payday.  Note though, this current account is strictly for the injunction and the first suit – and any unused funds will be returned pro rata to those participating.

The funds for this second lawsuit will be raised separately.  And, do your own arithmetic – since your numbers for everything may be better or worse than my own projections.

The Third Lawsuit – A Derivative Lawsuit Against Joe Thomas And The “Board”

The third lawsuit will probably be us suing Joe Thomas and the “Board” with GGRC as the plaintiff and each of them being named, individually, as the defendants for our HOA to reclaim from these individuals all the lost money that has been squandered by them exceeding their scope of authority.  Again, ultra vires to our rescue – and to make all of them responsible and accountable, personally, for their actions and inactions.

But more about THAT suit later – along with any and all other suits we may bring for any malfeasance we find once the court gives us the power to finally have copies of all the books and records for our own home owner’s association!

Note:  I am not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV – the above comments are my personal opinions and my interpretations of the legal opinion recently provided by independent attorneys reviewing out Master Deed and Bylaws.  Powered wig off

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

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

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

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

Declaratory Judgment And Injunction

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judge For Yourself

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

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

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

You can find both at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Luther and the Board:

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

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

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

Executive Summary Of Attorney’s Findings

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

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

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

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

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

What Say You Luther?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Attorney Letter – And Analysis

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Clearly, it is NOT.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now, things get very interesting.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have You Noticed A Trend Here?

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

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

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

Govern yourself accordingly.

Robert
A-202

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 owners complete confidence that all the books and records of our homeowner’s association are being done correctly.

This is a fallacy — and many owners are being lulled into false complacency just because they are being told the books and records are “audited.”

Hickman and Company A.K.A. Hickman and Associates

These folks have been our auditors at least for the past 8 years since I know they did the audits for 2002.

Is this some large regional, certified public accounting firm that has the proper, internal controls and procedures to thoroughly audit an organization and uncover any misdeeds or malfeasance that may be present in our homeowner’s association?

Judge for yourself.

Their website can be found at http://www.hickmanaccounting.com/about/

As you can see from their website, “Hickman and Associates is a tax and bookkeeping firm located in historic downtown Sevierville, Tennessee. A family firm, we have proudly served the community with three generations of for over fifty years.  Hickman and Associates currently has four employees (all family members.)”

While these folks may very well be good bookkeepers and accountants, it is not clear from their website that any of the four of them is currently a CPA.  It also is not clear whether this firm has ever had any recent peer review by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  The AICPA requires most CPA firms which claim to do audits have this periodic peer review to help ensure that audits are done correctly.

Again, I know of absolutely nothing negative whatsoever about this company, it owners or employees or its bookkeeping and accounting services.  I will take on face value that they must have at least one certified public accountant who participates in the annual GGRC and RML audits they do for Deer Ridge.

Accounting Company Concerns

Even if Hickman are the best accountants and bookkeepers in the world, another major concern is that such a small firm may be overly dependent upon the business handed out by Joe Thomas.  For such a small company, two audits and the bookkeeping services for Deer Ridge could make up a significant of their annual revenue.

During the Special Meeting that was held on February 6, 2010, Joe Thomas stated that we pay Hickman and Associates, et al the following each year:

• $1,300 for the GGRC audit and $1,800 for the RML audit.
• $5,400 for the GGRC bookkeeping and $21,000 for the RML bookkeeping.
• Total annual payments to Hickman from GGRC and RML:  $28,600

What percentage of Hickman’s four person accounting company’s annual revenues does the above $28,600 represent?

If, hypothetically speaking of course, Joe Thomas threaten to take “his” GGRC and RML accounting business elsewhere unless the books were “cooked”, would such a small firm feel compelled to bend the rules or “look the other way?”

Consider that much larger CPA firms have been influenced by similar circumstances. (Example: Bernie Madoff’s auditor, David Friehling, CPA of Friehling & Horowitz, a tiny CPA firm that operated from a 13-by-18-foot office.  Or, consider the 89 year old, 28,000 employee firm, Arthur Andersen CPA, that went out of business as a result of their federal criminal conviction for manipulation of the books for a company called Enron.)

Again, Hickman is most probably a very reputable firm with great people — but the above should be major red flags to all Deer Ridge owners that just because financials are audited does NOT mean that they are right – or that owners are protected from fraud.

What Exactly Is Audited?

Even if the CPA firm is doing a reasonably competent job, there are major opportunities for potential malfeasance at Deer Ridge.

Could something like that be happening at Deer Ridge using the small accounting firm that depends so much on Deer Ridge business?  Again, it may or may not be an issue here with Hickman and Associates — but how can we know for certain?

The first thing to know about most audits is that all transactions are NOT checked.  Most audits would only include “spot checking” sporadic accounts – and in many cases the CPA firm is directed by the client company to only check specific accounts that they know are pristine.

Let’s look at Hickman’s own cover letter for the audits they do for Deer Ridge:

“These financial statements are the responsibility of the Corporation’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

“We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.”

So, what does this mean?

They claim no responsibility whatsoever for the financial statements themselves – washing their hands of it like Pontius Pilate – distancing themselves from whatever was contained in those Joe Thomas directed financials.

Secondly, and this is key, their audit only includes a smattering taste test of entries on those financials.  So, how much was tested?  Which accounts were tested?  Who, really, decided which accounts were tested?

No matter those answers, it is clear that our audit was NOT the thorough review of all accounts and all bills and receipts that many folks have as their preconceived notion of an audit.

Some “Hypothetical” Examples of Possible Fraud At Deer Ridge

Let’s consider the wild and crazy idea that our much beloved general manager, Joe Thomas, was not the pillar of honesty and forthrightness that Luther Parker asserts.

I know — it’s hard to imagine that Joe Thomas would even take a nickel that did not belong to him.  But let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that there was a bad and evil general manager running Deer Ridge – instead of the saint we are so blessed to have controlling our money.

Is there any possible way that this fictional bad and evil general manager could possibly circumvent the audits of GGRC and RML?

Let’s consider some hypothetical examples:

• Our general manager decides to have his personal house painted for $12,400.  As part of the deal for choosing the painter, he requires them to mark the invoice that the work was done at Deer Ridge.  The general manager then marks the invoice with the proper chart of accounts number for Deer Ridge maintenance and then files the invoice with the other maintenance receipts for the year for Hickman bookkeeping to enter into the general ledger.

  In this case, even a good auditor doing a normal audit would probably not uncover this embezzlement.  The only way this might be caught would be by owners reviewing copies of all the books and records.  Even then, it would take someone who could connect all the dots to understand that no work at Deer Ridge was actually performed for this $12,400 expenditure.

  An even harder thing to catch would be a derivative of this:  The general manager is getting ready to award a $170,000 paint bid for painting all of Deer Ridge.  But he either requires the contractor to ALSO paint his house for the same dollars – or agrees to a higher bid of $185,000 if it also includes his house – but still only lists the Deer Ridge property as being painted.

  Again, even a forensic audit might have a problem catching this kind of malfeasance.  But owners seeing all the books and records, including all competing bids for painting the property, would probably catch this.

  And, here is the important part:  Knowing that any and all owners had a right to have copies of all the books and records, including all competitive bids, might worry a bad and evil general manager so much – that they would not want to risk being investigated.

• Next example, our general manager decides to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on vacation.  He secretly cuts a deal with the manager or owner at a Myrtle Beach resort for free use of their luxury ocean front condo for two weeks – in exchange for the manager or owner of the Myrtle Beach resort to use one or more Deer Ridge Mountain Resort condos for him and his family.

  Of course, our general manager doesn’t OWN any condos at Deer Ridge – so he finagles the secret use of units managed by RML to fulfill his side of this bartered deal.  Since he doesn’t receive any money, there are no rents ever paid to the actual owners of the units at Deer Ridge.

  Again, even a reasonably competent auditor would probably not be able to uncover this embezzlement either.  The only way it could probably be spotted would be a review of copies of all the RML books and records including the computerized reservation system (excluding any and all credit card info of course.)

• Our fictional bad and evil general manager has some golfing buddies who want to party at Deer Ridge.  He tells them, “Pay me cash for just one night and I will give you a whole week’s stay in a nice unit.”  The general manager pockets the cash, marks the unit as unavailable and the owner never knows their unit was used.
• Our general manager decides to have big weekend parties during the month of October to celebrate Oktoberfest in the mountains.  He orders a massive amount of food and beverages for these occasions — but over orders intentionally so that he can take the lion’s share home for his personal consumption.
• Our general manager decides at budget time to pad various accounts so that he can have the maneuvering room to use money undetected.  For example, hypothetically speaking, he has a budget of $10,000 for “seasonal decorations.”  In this budget, he shows a receipt for $1,700 worth of pumpkins including buying one pumpkin for a whopping $300 (these were actual numbers for 2009 according to Joe Thomas at a recent board meeting.)

  However, back to our story, assuming the $1,700 was spent, there were no other seasonal decorations bought during the year.  This would give our general manager $8,300 slush fund to use anyway he wished and still be able to report that he stayed under budget. But, back to our pumpkins:  What if the real costs for those pumpkins were only $700 – and a bad general manager pocketed a $1,000 as a kickback?  Or, how do we know if the pumpkin company was really owned by the evil general manager’s wife or son?

• Our bad general manager edicts that all units in RML must have new mini-blinds for all windows so that all units are upgraded and standardized.  He orders all the blinds from one company and cuts a deal that they have to provide free delivery.  However, he is creative and takes their letterhead and makes his own shipping invoice for $2,500 which he pockets.

Again, those are a half dozen simple, hypothetical examples of how malfeasance could slip past most audits IF we didn’t have our current saint for a general manager.

No Checks And Balances At Deer Ridge

Based on comments made at the February 6, 2010 Special Meeting, Luther Parker admitted that there are NO checks and balances of ANY kind in place at Deer Ridge.

Luther stated that:

• There are NO written policy manuals for Deer Ridge and the operation of GGRC and RML.
• There are NO written Delegation of Authority forms that are signed and on file.
• There are NO written systems and procedures for GGRC or RML.
• There is NO written employee manual.

Folks, this is Management 101 stuff that they teach in freshman year of undergraduate school.

Additionally, it appears that no one on the current Board of Directors performs ANY kind of managerial review of any of the actual receipts for goods and services paid at Deer Ridge.

• No one ensures that every check that is written at Deer Ridge pays for what is used and needed at Deer Ridge.
• No one sees ANY of these documents – except Joe Thomas.
• No one even questions Joe Thomas on any of these issues.

In my opinion, all of this is grounds by itself for finding the entire Board of Directors guilty of Gross Negligence and Gross Incompetence!

Management 101 Stuff, For God’s Sake!

Even if we assume we have a 100.00% honest general manager, common business sense would dictate that you have these kinds of systems and procedures, policies and written delegation of authority’s and checks and balances in place to ensure that no nonfeasance or embezzlement can ever take place.

And, on top of all that, Joe Thomas and the board refuse to allow owners to have copies of all books and records that would help the owners ensure no malfeasance or embezzlement was taking place.

What are Joe Thomas and the board trying to hide?

Joe Thomas — The Deer Ridge $10 Million Man

According to the 2010 budget issued by the board in December 2009, GGRC and RML will handle cash receipts of over $1.1 million during this calendar year.  This includes HOA fees, special assessments and RML revenues.

Assuming this was a typical year, that means that Joe Thomas during the past nine years would have handled over $10 million related to Deer Ridge.

This is a massive amount of money.  Huge.

• And, NO checks and balances in place?
• NO systems and procedures, policies and delegation of authority are in place?
• No forensic audit to help ensure that everything is done right?

This is INCREDIBLY bad management by President Luther Parker and the entire board of directors.

I am sure that Joe Thomas greatly prefers to continue things as they are:

• Completely unaccountable to anyone about anything.
• Completely allowed free reign to pretty much do whatever he wants to do with the $1 million plus a year that passes through his fingers.
• Completely insistent that NO owner EVER gets to make copies of any books and records that might catch any malfeasance.

Folks, even if trust your employees, it is incredibly bad management to not have the checks and balances in place to make sure you are protected just in case you hire someone who is not honest.

And, all of this goes beyond holding the general manager position accountable.

Joe Thomas, as general manager, is guilty of gross negligence and bad management by not having a written employee manual, and other control documents, in place in case of lawsuits, EEOC actions, claims of organizational misconduct for drug abuse, claims of sexual misconduct, etc.   Even a $100, fill-in-the-blank software program could solve the problem regarding an employee manual.

Plus, good management practice dictates that ALL positions in an organization should have WRITTEN systems and procedures, policies and delegations of authority.  There are all kinds of risks to GGRC and owners by this gross oversight by both Joe Thomas and each and every board member.

It Is Past Time For A Change

Lots of changes are needed at Deer Ridge.

Immediately fixing this massive policy and procedures hole is one of them.  Firing the Board and Joe Thomas for gross incompetence and gross negligence are also at the top of my list.

But the immediate thing to do is to give ALL owners oversight into what is REALLY happening, financially and operationally, at Deer Ridge.

And, we do this by allowing ALL owners to have copies of ALL books and records – so that all of us can audit the books, so ALL of us can institute our own checks and balances – so that all of us can finally have some assurance that things have been done right.

So that we know if ANY of our $10 million has been embezzled or misappropriated in ANY way.

All it takes is Luther Parker finally agreeing to allow COPIES of all books and records will be made available to ALL owners – starting at 9 AM yesterday morning.

If he doesn’t, we ALL should be wondering:  Exactly what ARE they trying so desperately to hide from the owners?

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

However, as hard as Joe Thomas and the Board make it for owners to get copies of anything, we thought it would be worth the hours of effort it took us to scan in these 432 pages of history – so that all owners could have a digital version of their own.  This way, this information will never get lost, misplaced or destroyed – but live on forever – making folks accountable.

Volume 2 Coming Soon

We have a second, similar sized notebook from the same source that we are just starting to scan.  It covers 2007 to the present day.

This will take both of us about the same 4 hours to scan in, convert to text, etc.  As soon as we have it, we will also post it here on www.DeerRidgeOwners.com as a “Document You Can Download.”

Totally Searchable Documents

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

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

For example, if you search this document for the term, “Joe Thomas” you find his full name occurs 222 times and the word “Joe” occurs 389 times.  And that is just before 2007.  Likewise, the word “assessment” occurs 59 times.

How Many Smoking Guns Can You Find?

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

Enjoy the history lessons.