Some Blog Statistics

I started this Deer Ridge Owners Blog about six weeks ago.

During that time, we have had:

• 38 posts with 82 comments, six pages and 20 different categories.  (I am getting a LOT of other, mostly encouraging, email from owners and others who support our cause – but who prefer, currently, to remain anonymous.)
• We have had 1,089 unique visitors, looking at 7,216 page views – that is a huge number of visitors for a small 84 unit condo – and a huge average number of pages viewed per visitor (6.63 pages per visitor) – so the visitors who come, read what has been written.
• 3,031 Internet spider visits – this is a separate count for all the times Google , Yahoo, etc, come visit and re-index the updates here.  As a consequence, we are showing up very high on a lot of Google searches for Deer Ridge, Gatlinburg this or that, including rentals, condos for sale, etc.
• We have had 824 RSS feeds – so a lot of folks want to automatically see every word that shows up on DeerRidgeOwners.com.
• The metrics target for the blog this month, November 2009, is for us to have 1,200 unique visitors just this month – so apparently we are ramping up fast in traffic.
• We apparently have a LOT of local real estate brokers watching – as well as other HOA members – both locally and from all over the country – wanting to see the outcome of our legal actions we are taking against the GGRC and Ridge Management boards – and all of the board members and Joe Thomas individually.
• Apparently, a lot of other web sites and blogs that are focused on bad HOA management and board members are adding links to DeerRidgeOwners.com.  (Note: you are welcome to include links to this blog if you have your own blog or website fighting your own HOA.)
• We have heard that several local real estate brokers in the Gatlinburg area are recommending that their clients NOT buy at Deer Ridge UNTIL these major issues raised on this Deer Ridge Owners Blog are finally resolved.  Several brokers have mentioned that if our lawsuits are successful, that the impact will probably be a HUGE increase in market value for many of the units here.

Here’s a screen grab of the stats:

Legal Update

Quick update…still interviewing attorneys…and biz is booming so been swamped with work that pays the bills…and all this lawsuit stuff is very time consuming…but still a life priority for me to get this suit in place ASAP.  Class action will still be eventual best approach due to nature of all of our claims….but class action seems too complicated for a lot of small law firms…and apparently takes a while to set up….so, will be filing a smaller, individualized suit to start with….on the most basic points.

Right now, I am most interested in getting a quick court ruling on the following basic points to get the Board and Joey under control.  I may even still end up doing these as one or more small claims actions just to get the ball rolling.

Once the precedents are set with rulings on the below points, LOTS of derivative lawsuits can be IMMEDIATELY brought forward…

Minimized Litigation Points To Keep Costs Low And Expedite Ruling – The First Five Points

1. Decision by the Court that Article V of the Master Deed in no way gives the Board and/or the General Manager the right to circumvent or trump the other provisions of the Master Deed and/or Bylaws and does not give the Board and/or the General Manager carte blanche to bypass the vote and opinions of the owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
2. That the Board must ALWAYS use complete and constant applicability of the Master Deed Percentages to EVERY cost, monthly fee, assessment, etc. for all units at Deer Ridge.
3. Recovery of my personal $10,000 plus overcharge by the Board not following the Master Deed Percentages along with interest at the highest legal rate, at least treble damages, court costs and legal fees plus additional, other full reimbursements and/or damages for all other wrongdoings committed by Joe Thomas and/or the Board.
4. Decision by the Court that the formation and operation of Ridge Management Limited, AKA RML, is not, in any way, a Common Expense, for GGRC as defined by the Master Deed and Bylaws and, as a consequence, any and all costs, fees, charges and assessments related to the formation and operation of RML were wrongly allocated to the past and current owners of units at Deer Ridge.
5. That the Board and Joe Thomas, or his replacement, are required to provide all owners with copies of any and all books and records related in any way to the ownership and operation of GGRC, RML and or the operations of the Common Property.

Other Tack On Points To First Lawsuit Claims Subject To Cost and Time – The Second Five Points

1. That secure, individualized mailboxes be installed for all owners as a Common Expense so that mail tampering can be minimized and have the property meet US postal code requirements for individualized mail delivery for multi-family residential developments.
2. That the Board be required to allow last minute attendance by any and all owners to all meetings related in any way to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and for time set aside for attendees participation and comments.
3. That the Board be required to digitally audio record all parts of any and all meetings in any way related to GGRC and/or related entities in a legible manner and for those recordings to be made available online to all owners.
4. That the current special assessment for $353,500 be quashed until such time as the true and correct evaluation of the financial status of GGRC is settled and established by this lawsuit.
5. That the Board be required to offer any and all services, use of personnel and maintenance staff, etc. on an equal basis to all owners without discrimination of any kind.

I believe if the first set of lawsuits are strictly limited to these above issues, that it should not be very complicated at all to try this case – just have the judge or jury decide the proper interpretation of the existing documents.

After The First Win…

Once we get a clear ruling on the REAL meanings of our existing documents, then Joey’s and the Board’s house of cards will quickly collapse on everything else.

And, once we all have access to ALL the books and records on OUR property, we can then quickly discover what financial shenanigans have REALLY been going on at Deer Ridge – and what, if any, fraud and criminal misappropriations and / or embezzlement may or may not have been stealing OUR money from the Deer Ridge accounts.

If you would like to help with the legal fees to finally get Joey and the Board under control – and help all owners finally take back control of Deer Ridge, I invite you to click on the DONATE button in the RIGHT column of this blog.

Well, that’s the current game plan….stay tuned.  We live in VERY interesting times.

PS:  On Suing Ourselves

A few owners have voiced some concerns about me suing err ME when I sue GGRC – and where will the money come from if I, and the other 1-1 owners, win?

Well, I have personally been grossly overcharged more than TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS – and I want my money back.  The thing is, virtually EVERY 1-1 owner has been similarly grossly overcharged – and my guess  is that they want THEIR money back, too.  Fair is fair.

For me, the natural place to get this money – and even the money for the rehab of Deer Ridge that REALLY needs to be spent – can all be covered from found money – the money GGRC should receive from the arm’s length sale of RML to another property management company – once GGRC is forced to sell it from the above court actions.  I have experience selling my own, much larger property management company, so I know the right way to do this – and how to maximize the proceeds from a sale of RML – for the benefit of GGRC and all owners.

The other pockets I fully expect to get my money back from are those belonging to the individuals who are our board members and Joe Thomas, General Manager.  If we show in court that they are either fraudulent AND / OR grossly negligent – then they are not protected and can be individually sued – with judgments against them that can be collected on.

So, I don’t see it as suing ourselves at all – but suing those individuals who have tried their best to subvert the governing documents that define the way things SHOULD be done at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Hi all,

I am in the process of changing this site for Deer Ridge Owners so that it is a blog instead of a static web page. That way, all owners who register will be able to make comments and discuss issues – and have a voice that I hope will finally be noticed by the Board.

Note that everything posted here will be available for all to see – including all one billion folks on the Internet!

Bear with me as I learn this blog thing and continue to tweak and tune things to improve the appearance and usability for all owners.

Please post your comments and suggestions for the blog here under this post.

Thanks!

Robert

PS: All the old pages are still available – will provide a link to them once I figure out how.

Comments anyone?