Summary Judgment Goals On Our $3 Million Lawsuit

Issue: The GGRC HOA Board Is Violating Tennessee State Law – Denying Owners Access to All Books and Records In Appropriate State Format.

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.

New Video At YouTube

This presentation deals specifically with just one of those four issues up for Summary Judgment: The GGRC HOA Board Is Violating Tennessee State Law – Denying Owners Access to All Books and Records In Appropriate State Format.

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?)

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

News Flash:

Hearing Date Finally Set For Summary Judgement And Motion To Compel Filed Against GGRC, Joe Thomas And The “Board”

  We finally get this case before the Judge on April 26, 2011.  This is a copy of a letter sent by our attorney to the Court:

This first court date is not for everything – but it is for some very pivotal motions and especially for a Summary Judgment on THREE issues – instead of just the two issues that we originally included in our first motion for Summary Judgment that was filed back in November:  

1. The Master Deed Percentages must be followed – that these clearly stated ratios contained in the Master Deed must be followed for all assessments and common expenses for all owners at Deer Ridge.
2. Establish the Illegitimacy of RML and Ridge Resort Realty – there is no provision whatsoever in our Master Deed for owners at Deer Ridge to support and fund, and be exposed to the business risks of operating two small businesses.  This is not the purpose of a real estate investment in a residential home.
3. Article XII of the Master Deed must be followed - it requires that the board must have both a 75% vote by homeowners AND a 90% vote by all mortgagees involved with the ownership of Deer Ridge units before any alterations, additions or improvements are made to the common elements of the property.
4. We have also filed Motions to Compel Joe Thomas and the “board” to finally provide us the books and records of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in the exact format that is required by Tennessee state law.
5. We have also filed a Motion for Temporary Injunction to block the currently due second phase of the Asinine Assessment payment.

We believe that the Three Summary Judgment issues are clear cut interpretations of the Master Deed and Bylaws – and do not require findings of fact.  As a consequence, a Summary Judgment can be pursued on these three issues.

• As such, we are asking the Court to read the controlling documents of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and rule on the spot on the proper interpretation of the GGRC controlling documents and Tennessee State Law. Since many of our claims rests solely on the proper interpretation of the master documents, there is no need for discovery, depositions or testimony for this part of our litigation. Instead, the controlling documents speak for themselves — and only require the Court to read the 90 pages of our Master Deed and Bylaws and make a ruling based on the Judge’s sole interpretation of these documents.
• We are highly confident that our interpretations will prevail — and the strained, manipulated and flatly wrong interpretations that Joey and the Gang have depended on for years will be denied by the Court.
• The first issue for Summary Judgment will be that the Master Deed Percentages MUST be followed for all cost allocations and assessments — instead of being based on the “arbitrary and capricious” methods that Joey and the “board” use to illegitimately overcharge all 30 1-1 units by a whopping 82%  every single month!
• If we win on this one point, this means EVERY assessment – including the monthly assessments and the expenses for water, cable TV, etc. - for EVERY unit has been wrongly charged for YEARS – including, of course, the amounts for the Asinine Assessment and all other past assessments.
• If we win on this one point, we believe that this will have FAR reaching consequences to EVERY current owner at Deer Ridge – especially all 30 of the 1-1 unit owners who have been victimized for years.
• If we win on this one point, ALL the current, and many past, 1-1 unit owners should be owed a SUBSTANTIAL amount of money refunding the gross monthly overcharges that Luther Parker amazingly stated, “were fair and equitable.”
• We would expect that these 1-1 unit owners would also be awarded interest and penalties. All of these refunds, interest, penalties may also be owed to dozens, if not hundreds, of past owners, thereby making the claims against the counter defendants even more substantial.
• If we win this one point during our Motion for Summary Judgment, it should stop all future violations by The Gang of Six as well as any new board from trying to circumvent the GGRC documents.
• Likewise, we are asking the Court to rule that RML and RRR are illegitimate – and all the monies that have been squandered over the years supporting these companies are not admissible Common Expenses. We believe that a review of the controlling documents by the Court will quickly establish that there is NO provision in our Master Deed and Bylaws for all homeowners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort to be subjected to the costs and risks that are inherent with starting and running small businesses.
• If we win this one point, we will take expedited legal steps so that RML and RRR will be immediately shut down and disposed of by selling those companies to the highest bidder out of any and all potential buyers with the proceeds paid to those owners who were not a part of RML.
• By winning this one point of Summary Judgment, we get rid of RML and RRR, and the hemorrhage of HALF our current monthly assessments will be finally stopped — and we’ll finally be out of the motel business.  This one point alone will dramatically change the way GGRC and Deer Ridge Mountain Resort have been managed, or rather mismanaged, for over a decade – and allow for a MAJOR reduction in the HOA fees for most all homeowners.
• Article XII of the Master Deed clearly provides that there shall be no alterations or additions to the common elements or any part thereof except as authorized by the Board of Directors and approved by not less than 75% of the total vote of co-owners AND not less than 90% of the mortgagees. First, I had to fight the Gang of Six with regard to the requirement that a 75% vote of the total co-owners was required for any alterations or addition or improvements at Deer Ridge.  I finally won this point during a board meeting in which the board’s attorney, Chuck Sexton, was present. However, the Gang of Six continues to refuse to pursue the 90% vote of the mortgagees as required by our Master Deed.
• If we win this one point during our Motion for Summary Judgment on April 26, we intend to aggressively and immediately pursue forcing reimbursement directly from the members of the “Board of Directors” for their ultra vires acts of illegitimately squandering over $120,000 of owners’ money…including all monies recently spent on the walkway railings.  Even as recently as the vote on the walkway railings, Luther Parker and the rest of the “board” categorically refused to even pursue the required 90% vote of all mortgagees and gaveled me out of order at a board meeting to stop my insistence that the governing documents required it.  If we win this one point during our Motion for Summary Judgment, it should stop all future violations by The Gang of Six as well as any new board from trying to circumvent the GGRC documents.
• It will also be interesting to see what happens to the defense of Joe Thomas and the “board” by the insurance company if we are successful in proving that this Gang of Six was acting ultra vires since all indemnifications of them defined in the Master Deed and Bylaws are null and void.  This would make all members of the Gang of Six jointly and severally libel and fully responsible for their own legal costs in defending themselves against our $3 million lawsuit…along with them being jointly and severally libel and fully responsible for any repayments, penalties, interest, punitive damages, etc.

These are just the first three issues for Summary Judgment. If we are successful with these, we expect to move for Summary Judgment on other fundamental interpretations of our Master Deed and Bylaws that will stop the Gang’s abuse of it power.

We believe that pursuing the Summary Judgment is in the best interest of all parties, including all homeowners, to expeditiously resolve some of the more outstanding issues regarding our litigation.

Other Ongoing Litigation

We intend to continue to pursue our litigation on all other areas of our lawsuit too…some of the other areas will entail findings of fact that will require depositions and testimony and, as a consequence, are not subject to Summary Judgment. These will require in-depth litigation and may include damages, interest and penalties, along with payment of all of our legal fees, as we continue to pursue this matter.

We expect, in the near term, to be taking the depositions and interrogatories of Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Tom Reise, Margie Duncan and other members of the “board.”  Depositions and interrogatories will probably be taken from past and current employees and past “board” members.

(I personally can’t wait to get Joe Thomas and Luther Parker and some of the other “board” members to testify under oath – and ask some very specific questions concerning their decision-making process and ask them for very detailed explanations about several entries in the books and records!)

So, all you Gang Members — get ready to give your depositions and interrogatories — and get ready to testify in Court.

Joey And the Gang Are Worried About Being ”Embarrassed”

We also filed a Motion to Compel so that this Despicable Gang of Six is forced by the Court to finally turn over the Deer Ridge books and records.

It’s been seven months since we filed our motion for production of documents with the Court — but so far Joe Thomas and the “board” have not complied.

We have been waiting for seven months for Joe Thomas to turn over the books and records on GGRC that all owners have a right to see.

Joe Thomas keeps adamantly stating that he has properly maintained the Administrator’s Book as required by Tennessee state law.  Joey keeps saying they have this information, in the right format — but they don’t seem to be able to produce it.

I wonder why?

Now, Joey and the Gang are trying to mark all of Deer Ridge’s books and records as “confidential‘ to keep us from sharing them with YOU – all past and present owners At Deer Ridge who also have a right to see and thoroughly study the books and records concerning OUR investment in our property at Deer Ridge.

They claim these books and records and the emails between the six Gang members “… may cause injury, prejudice or [particularly] embarrassment” to Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Baron and Tom Reise.

As our Motion states, these “embarrassing” consequences fall in the category of “sometimes the truth hurts.”

Additionally, our motion to block their “protective” order stipulates we completely agree that obvious information such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and the like will be treated as confidential….but NOT all the rest of the information that we will find in these documents.

We fully expect to find all kinds of “embarrassing” actions and statements, done and made, by this Gang of Six.

We fully expect to also find all kinds of other questionable activities that have been committed by these individuals.

And, we, and several other Deer Ridge owners, plan on looking VERY carefully and diligently for any and all signs of any potential civil and/or criminal malfeasance that might have, just maybe, been committed by any, or all, members of the Gang. As of now, we’ve not seen any documentation that proves malfeasance — but then again, we have yet to get the full books and records we’ve been requesting for over five years. Right now, we only have our overwhelming intuition that screams about ongoing malfeasance.

Maybe we won’t find any such malfeasance — but if we do, any and all guilty parties will suffer a whole lot more than simple “embarrassment.”

Maybe that’s why the Gang members are continuing their desperate FIVE YEAR long attempts to keep this information secret. They seem terrified their secrets are going to finally see the light of day.

We believe that’s one of the reasons that Joe Thomas and the Gang have fought so hard, for so many years, to keep this information out of the hands of the owners who deserve full visibility, full disclosure and full accountability from those who have been handling over $1 million a year on this property for a decade.

• What IS it that terrifies them so much about what we will find in those books and records?
• We ARE going to get to the bottom of this.
• We ARE going to get access to all the books and records that Joey and the board have tried for years to keep secret.

And, we intend to do everything we can to block their motion for “protective” order — so that we can share ALL of this information with EVERY owner At Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

April 26, 2011

The Court date is set.  April 26, 2011.  After nearly 9 months of litigation, this will be our first hearing before the Court. We now have a fixed hearing date – less than two months from now.

If the Court agrees with us on these motions, we may be able to short circuit a lot of the Gang of Six BS and delays — and finally get rulings on these issues and effectuate major changes at Deer Ridge.

If Joey and the Gang really want quick resolution of this, they should be all in favor of getting an expedited ruling on the three issues in the Motion for Summary Judgment.

What do you want to bet that they will do EVERYTHING in their power to drag this out — and try their best to delay any ruling of any kind?

If so, that is just more proof to me that they KNOW they are NOT doing things the right way.

I will try to make the time this week to post copies of the new motions we have just filed so all of you can review them in detail.

What will be interesting will be the report that the Gang has to made at the “annual meeting” on April 30th, which is the weekend immediately following the Court date.  Will they prepare two different meeting agenda and presentations – depending on what they may win or lose a few days earlier?

Resignations and “Retirement”

Also, we have overheard gossip that Joey and other members of the Gang of Six believe that they can simply walk away from being held responsible for their past acts and actions by either resigning or retiring…or even selling their unit at Deer Ridge. 

Just to be clear,  resignations and retirement will not absolve ANY wrongdoings  by Joey and the Gang…and if we discover ANY malfeasance of ANY kind by ANY “board” member or employee, we will do everything we can to enforce ALL appropriate justice.

Stay tuned — We Live In Interesting Times!

The rulings on the upcoming Motion for Summary Judgment on April 26, 2011, along with our other motions, could end up drastically changing  the current way virtually everything is done at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.   Plus, once we finally get the books and records on this property….well, we fully expect to find all sorts of “interesting” facts about actions and monies paid that might not have been in the best interests of ALL owners.

Hey Joey and the Gang…less than two months until our Court date….when, as Galatians 5:1 sort of states, ”Deer Ridge Owners shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free.”  Of course, the freedom of The Gang of Six might depend on what we find once we finally get to see the books and records!

Tick…tick…tick.

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. 

PPS:  Be sure and watch this blog for upcoming news about our new domain name:  HOABoardAbuse.com and our two new video channels on YouTube.com:  DeerRidgeOwners.com and HOABoardAbuse.com.  In-depth videos are being produced to fully explain, to all Owners and the World, exactly what is happening both at Deer Ridge and at other abusive HOA Board run properties across the Nation.  These videos will be posted on both DeerRidgeOwners.com and YouTube.com. 

 Stay tuned – you never know what videos might go viral!

As you know, it is my personal opinion that neither Joe Thomas nor the “Board” at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort are trustworthy.  I personally consider them totally unethical too. 

Want Some Proof?

Of course, all of the above is my personal opinion.  But let me show you some recent court documents that might convince you.

The illegitimate “board” at Deer Ridge had threatened to file suit against me and others who objected to, and did not pay, the equally illegitimate ”special assessment.” 

Our attorney notified Chuck Sexton, attorney for GGRC, that we had filed a $3 million countersuit against GGRC, Joe Thomas and each individual “board” member.  He made it clear to Sexton that there was a prior pending suit.  Sexton acknowledged the suit during a phone call with our attorney who then followed it up with a June 17th letter to Sexton (see copy of letter below.)

In spite of this knowledge, and Sexton’s specific agreement to not pursue the July 12th hearing for judgement against me, the Despicable Gang of Six went ahead and got a summary judgement against me on July 12th for $2,230! 

Note that this was almost a full month AFTER notifying Sexton.   Talk about untrustworthy and unethical! 

“Gee, We Didn’t Know The Gun Was Loaded…”

This breach of ethics was discovered by me on August 2nd when I went to the courthouse and requested a full history on all the litigation between me and Joey and the “board.”  (See copy of Court Docket Summary below.)  Needless to say, I was surprised, though I shouldn’t have been, that the Gang of Six had done something THIS unethical.  Neither I nor my attorney had showed up for the July 12th hearing since Chuck Sexton had assured us that the issue would be dropped due to the precedence of our $3 million lawsuit. 

We had believed Chuck Sexton – but clearly shouldn’t have.

When Sexton was confronted regarding this issue, his claim was that this was just an “accident” and should not have happened. 

HOWEVER, if you notice on that same Court Docket Summary below, they ALSO had filed a writ of execution to attach my bank accounts for payment of this illegitimate judgement on July 26th – two weeks AFTER the default judgement.

In spite of what Sexton said, this kind of writ of execution does NOT happen by “accident!”

To me, this is clear evidence of Joey and the “board” unethically attempting to grab money out of my bank account with an illegitimate judgement.

We are considering sactions, and other legal recourse, as a consequence of these reprehensible actions by GGRC et al.

Joey And “Board” FORCED To Set Aside The Judgement Against Me

The following court documents show how Joey and the Board were forced to set aside their entire judgement against me and that our countersuit against them has taken complete precedence over any claims that they may think they have against me.

This time Joey and the “board” were stopped. 

If you are also being sued by these people who are illegitimately manipulating GGRC, I invite you to join in our $3 million lawsuit against them.  This way, you may be able to probably gain the same level of protection from their lawsuit against you that I have.

The bigger point to all Deer Ridge Owners:  If Joe Thomas and the ”board” are THIS untrustworthy on something as clear as this – then what actions and decisions, just maybe, might be going on by them that are at least as unethical as their actions have been with this illegitimately attempted judgement?

The other issue:  All of that work by Sexton on behalf of the Gang of Six cost GGRC, and ALL owners, more money for legal fees.  And, every bit of OUR money spent on this was wasted by Joey and the Gang.

Are these the guys that you REALLY want handling a MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR of our money at Deer Ridge?

Documentation Proof

The below court documents are the written proof on the above allegations, statements and opinions.  (Just click the small thumbnail image to get the BIG picture.)  As always, all of the above is just my personal opinion.  Please see the left sidebar for the full disclaimer.

Also, let me know what you think by posting your own comment below.

I recommend that you don’t send your ballot or your proxy for the upcoming “Annual Meeting” or board elections – nor even attend the “Annual Meeting!”

On the advice of my attorney, I will be doing neither.

I will NOT be voting nor will I attend the meeting this week.

I want to reserve ALL of my rights against Joe Thomas and the “board” – and I recommend that you reserve your rights too.

Reserve YOUR Rights

I recommend that all of us boycott participation in both the vote
and any attendance of the “annual meeting” this week.

Don’t limit your options or your potential claims against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker and the rest of the “board.”  Notify Joe Thomas and Luther by email and / or fax that you are revoking and withdrawing any ballot or proxy you have already sent.  All you have to do is send something like the following to  “Joe Thomas” <manager@deerridge.com>, “Luther Parker” <parker.luther@gmail.com>, “David A. Barone” <davidbarone@optonline.net> – or to fax for Deer Ridge at: 865-430-3248

To:  Joe Thomas and Luther Parker and David Barone and GGRC “Board”

Re:  Immediate and Permanent Revocation and Rescission of My Ballot and/or Proxy

Effective this date, I hereby revoke and rescind any and all previously sent proxy or ballot with regard to the upcoming Deer Ridge meeting that is scheduled to be held on April 24, 2010.  By this memo, I also confirm that I will not attend, nor participate in any way, at said meeting.

Please confirm receipt of this revocation in writing via email to xxxx@yyy.com

John and Jane Smith, Unit ZZZ

Note also, that according to the “board”, if you have not paid your assessment, you cannot vote anyway – so revoking any ballot or proxy maintains your rights as I understand them from the attorney’s opinion – without you giving anything up.

Also, please email me or fax me what you send to them – that way, I have a record of your revocation and rescission so they can’t “cook” the books and rig the votes.

The “Annual Meeting” Issue

As readers of this Blog know, my contention is that the Master Deed and Bylaws of Deer Ridge REQUIRE that our Annual Meeting be held during the first calendar quarter of the year, i.e., January – March.  Instead, Deer Ridge has held the “annual meeting” in April for years.

The problem, of course, is that the April get together, by definition, can’t be THE Annual Meeting.  One of the issues is that the Board is REQUIRED to be elected DURING the Annual Meeting.

1. Hence, if there is some kind of “board” election in April, it can’t be for the REAL Board of Directors.
2. Hence, those who claim to be the Board are NOT the board – and have ZERO power to do anything, control anything or decide anything.
3. Hence, the special assessment and a whole lot more things happening at Deer Ridge are being done completely illegitimately.

The Attorney’s Opinion

This was the comment that was in the independent attorney’s legal opinion with regard to the “Annual Meeting” and the illegitimate board.

I personally have not been to the last three “Annual Meetings” nor, as I recall,  have I voted in the last two or three meetings by proxy.  I, for certain, did not vote in the last meeting.

Hence, for me, the current “board” is NOT a valid board.  Likewise, I refuse to even superficially validate the upcoming meeting since even it was not legitimately called by a valid board.

The 1988 “Vote”

Based on some recent information we’ve received, the “board” has been scurrying around like rats, exposed to light, trying to cover this issue.  They are going to claim that some vote was held in 1988 that approved this move of the annual meeting to April.  They have now, apparently, even filed this vote “of record” on the Sevier County deed records.

I understand that the “board” and their attorney Chuck Sexton saw the “light” and agreed that I was right about the annual meetings being REQUIRED in the first calendar quarter.   I also understand that they very recently recorded the “vote” from this 1988 amendment changing the date of the annual meeting – but that does NOT validate the current “board” or its actions – even if there is the back up proof of a tallied vote showing the required 67% agreement to change the Bylaws.  And, our upcoming litigation will challenge the validity of this TWENTY TWO YEAR OLD VOTE.  If it is ruled to be an invalid vote, then the meeting this week will probably be deemed to be equally invalid as all of the past meetings.

So, you want to reserve your rights, accordingly.

Note that Article XX of the Bylaws requires that “No such amendment may be operative UNTIL it is embodied in a recorded instrument which shall be recorded in the same office and in the same manner as was the Master Deed and original By-Laws and Exhibits of the Horizontal Property Regime.”

Since Joey, Chuck and the boys have just recently seen the light and PERHAPS properly recorded this vague vote, this means that the current “board” is STILL not a duly authorized and elected board of GGRC et al.  Which means that they are powerless.  Period.

As I see it, it is also an admission of guilt by Joey and the “board” that they were NOT right all these past years – and that they are GUILTY of at least gross negligence and gross incompetence to have let it go this long – especially since I have been bringing up this issue for years.  By scrambling like they are to record a 22 year old vote, they are admitting that it was NOT done, or NOT done right.  If it wasn’t done right, then they are NOT the board.

The fact they are trying to cover their collective asses NOW, tells me that I was RIGHT in my assertions again – and they KNOW they are exposed as a result.  The fact they are trying to use a 22 YEAR old nebulous vote for ratification shows that are afraid to even bring it up for a NEW vote!

Why The “No” To Voting?

If Joey and the Boys have actually now recorded this questionable and very suspect Twenty Two Year Old Vote, it may mean that the upcoming meeting MAY BE the first real Annual Meeting in 22 years.

As such, I expect that Chuck Sexton and the “board” will have a flood of issues to vote on during the April Meeting this week as a way for them to try and cover their collective asses and clean up the aggregate legal messes their gross negligence has caused.   As such, if owners send proxies to these folks without thinking, this illegitimate “board” will abuse those proxies by voting on a myriad of issues to lock themselves into position for a continuation of their historical “abuse of power.”

Are you sure you want to give them a Carte Blanche by sending them your proxy?

If you have already sent your proxy, then fax or email a WRITTEN revocation of that proxy NOW…and demand a written acknowledgment from Joey that your proxy is null and void.

The second reason not to vote or send a proxy:  It may very well mean that they will not have a quorum for either the meeting or the board election – which means that they will not be able to bulldoze their cover their ass votes through for approval.

In past years, they have had to scramble to even get enough proxies and ballots to hold an election.  I know of at least one recent board meeting where there was not enough proxies or owners present to have a quorum – so no vote of members could be held.

Right now, the same old power clique “board” members who have been abusing their powers are running again for the three board seats.  The two non-”board” members who are running – one can’t actually run now since he is not paying his illegitimate special assessment and he is revoking his vote and proxy – the other one mistakenly believes that only RML users have any rights at Deer Ridge – and appears to want non-RML users to be blocked from even serving on the Board – even though the Deer Ridge Documents do not allow this kind of discrimination.

In my opinion, the better alternative is NO voting / NO proxy – so that everyone can preserve their legal rights and recourse.

As always, make your own decisions – but I do ask that you pause to consider these issues.

Alternative Meeting?

Instead of THEIR meeting, I suggest that if any of you would like to meet with me and other like-minded folks next weekend, we can set up a special time to discuss what is really happening with Deer Ridge and the lawsuit.

I received the following letter from Chuck Sexton, attorney for GGRC, with regard to my demand to see the books and records of both RML and Ridge Resort Realty.  These books had been constantly refused to me for the entire time I have owned at Deer Ridge.  Joey and the “board” have done all that they can to keep ANY owners from really seeing and analyzing what goes on with GGRC, RML and RRR.

Victory!

Now, due to my efforts, we ALL have an “apparent” right to see these books and records.

The “Board” Is Responsible For The Increased Legal Fees

Firstly, this battle over the owner’s rights to see these records should have never needed to happen.  If the “board” was forthright and accommodating – without being SO worried what owners would eventually see from a REAL examination of the books and records, then the attorney would not have been involved and legal fees wasted with them trying to BLOCK our rights to see these records.

Instead, Joey and the “board” are willing to spend whatever of OUR monies are required on legal fees to interfere with our rights to the information on Deer Ridge.

They are the ones who are responsible for these additional costs – NOT the owners who have an unimpeded RIGHT to this information.

Only An APPARENT Victory

I say this is only an APPARENT victory for the owners at Deer Ridge.

In spite of the legal opinion of Sexton, Joey and the “board” continue to block any and all efforts for access to the Tennessee State mandated Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers.  They are SO desperate to hide what I believe are MAJOR financial misdeeds – that they will do anything, including being guilty of breaking the law.  I have requested this information THREE times in the past month and they refuse to provide it.  This time their excuse is that I have not paid their illegitimate assessment.   However, the Deer Ridge documents give them NO right to withhold this information for ANY reason.  And, Tennessee State Law reaffirms our rights to this information.

As a consequence, Joey and the “board” are forcing this thing to court – that will require even more legal fees.  And these legal fees are NOT being spent to protect the owners – they are being spent by Joey and the “board” to protect their private little fiefdom so their abuse of power can continue – without being held accountable for what I believe are MAJOR financial shenanigans that are to the detriment of everyone except the few who are abusing their power at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

———————————

PS:  If you have paid your assessment, try and even see the “Administrator’s Book and Supporting Vouchers” that must be maintained in chronological order.  You should have a right to COPIES of this according to the independent legal review.  If so, please see if they come up with even more excuses as to why you can’t see these.   I’m willing to bet that no regular owner requesting this information can access it.

And, THAT, my fellow owners, should be a HUGE red flag signaling major problems with the way the $1 million a year that flows through Joey’s hands is being handled.

Below is an open email and fax that was sent today, again, requesting access tomorrow to the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers that is my right, and every Deer Ridge owner’s right, to view at any time.  By my count and in my opinion, this will be GGRC’s THIRD refusal and the THIRD count of being GUILTY of breaking Tennessee State Law during March 2010.

In spite of the repetitive, empty assurances of  both Attorney Chuck Sexton and “board” president Luther Parker that the GGRC books and records are available for viewing – they ALWAYS come up with an excuse as to why owners CAN’T actually see the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers as required by Tennessee State Law.

In my opinion, they are either GUILTY of breaking the law by not maintaining the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers in the correct, chronological format OR they are so scared to death that the required format of this information will lay bare, before God and everybody, the kind of financial misdeeds that I and many other Deer Ridge Owners have suspected for YEARS.

One Million Dollars A Year

Would YOU trust your bank or stock broker with your money if they didn’t let you see the complete books and detailed monthly statements about YOUR account???  Now, consider your trust factor, if they took your money and gave you ZERO looks at your account.  Wouldn’t that make you a little suspicious as to what might be going on with YOUR money?  Especially when the harder you pushed to see your own books and records, the harder they blocked any and all access to the information?

That is what Joey and Luther and the rest of this “board” is doing with One Million Dollars a year that goes through the Deer Ridge books.

I am not willing to trust them with ZERO access to the Administrator’s Books.  Are you?

Today’s Email and Fax To Chuck, Joe and Luther

Chuck, Joe and Luther,

So, do you, Joe Thomas, Chuck Sexton and Luther Parker, grant me complete access to the below requested information tomorrow on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – or do you go on record, either with silence or affirmation, to continue to deny me my rights, as an Owner, to access these books and records as defined below under the Tennessee Horizontal Act, 66-27-113, and by doing so, break Tennessee STATE Law for the THIRD time, and the THIRD count, during March 2010?

Robert  A-202

PS: This IS the law, in case your forgot it:

66-27-113. Administrator’s books ­ Examination by co-owners. ­

(a) The administrator, or the board of administration, or other form of administration specified in the bylaws, shall keep a book with a detailed account, in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the building and its administration and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred.

(b) Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge.

[Acts 1963, ch. 124, § 13; T.C.A., § 64-2713.]

Now is the time to DEMAND that this information be made fully available to ALL owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

It IS the LAW.

This is an open email and fax to Chuck Sexton, Joe Thomas and Luther Parker.

As an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, my rights under Tennessee State Law – Horizontal Property Act were violated this week when I was denied access to the books and records of GGRC et al as a result of the disputed claims of the Barone Suspension Letter.

No Response = GGRC Violating My Rights Under Tennessee State Law

You received my response and request for clarification and “authority” to review those records.  I emailed, faxed and sent this response to Chuck Sexton via certified mail which was obviously received.

I have received no response from Chuck Sexton on any of these points contained in my letter which questioned the entire legitimacy of the constraints and demands contained in the Barone letter.  This lack of response from Chuck Sexton is assumed to condone the illegitimate denial of my access to the books and records of GGRC et al.

I Demand Access To The Books And Records on Wednesday, March 31, 2010

I request, AGAIN, complete access to those same books and records on Wednesday, March 31, 2010.  I reiterate my prior demand to view these books and records:

In accordance with the Tennessee Horizontal Act, 66-27-113, I hereby request an immediate review of the GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty “Administrator’s Books” as defined by the Act: This is a single book that contains a detailed account in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the building and its administration and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred.

My request is to see these “Administrator’s Books” AND “the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon” for the past four and a half years. This request is NOT to see general ledgers, financial statements, etc. – but to only see the “Administrator’s Books” that contains a detailed account in chronological order as specifically defined and REQUIRED by the Act.

Since the “Administrator’s Books” must be accurate, completed and ALWAYS up to date, I require that they cover the time frame of August 8, 2005 through the day before the scheduled day for my examination of the “Administrator’s Books.”

Since, again, the “Administrator’s Books” must ALWAYS be up to date and specifically in THIS format, this should present Joe Thomas with NO difficultly immediately complying with the LAW.

Note that the LAW requires that: “Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge.”

Just so there is no confusion about exactly what GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty MUST provide any and all owners at Deer Ridge, I have copied the exact wording of the Act and include it below.

Also, note that page 1 of the independent attorney’s legal opinion letter (see attached) reaffirms my right to this information – and the usual Joe Thomas stupid “games” will not be tolerated. The same legal opinion also provides that I have a RIGHT to COPIES of any of this information.

Again, I expect to see the Administrator’s Book and “the vouchers accrediting the entries” as defined above by law. I require that they cover the time frame of August 8, 2005 through the day before the scheduled day for my examination of the “Administrator’s Books.”

I do not want to see financial statements or anything else at the March 31th meeting.

Again, note that I expect to see this same information on GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty since the other two entities are wholly owned by GGRC and, as a consequence, are part of GGRC’s books and records.

Please confirm that the Administrator’s Book and “the vouchers accrediting the entries” as defined above by law for the time frame of August 8, 2005 through the day before the scheduled day for my examination of the “Administrator’s Books” will, in fact, be made available next Wednesday.

Additionally, I am assuming I may make copies of whatever I wish based on a comment in an email from Charles Sexton last night that stated, “The duplication issue is still being resolved.”

Will Joe Thomas, Chuck Sexton, Luther Parker and The Illegitimate “Board” Continue To Violate Tennessee State Law?

I am assuming that your attorney, Chuck Sexton, has advised you that Tennessee State Law trumps ANY provision you think you may have as a way to interfere with my review of these books and records.  I assume he has now told you that any additional denial of my rights to review these records is illegal.

So, do you,  Joe Thomas, Chuck Sexton and Luther Parker, grant me complete access to the above information on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 – or do you go on record, either with silence or affirmation, to continue to deny me my rights, as an Owner, to access these books and records as defined above under the Tennessee Horizontal Act, 66-27-113?

Robert
A-202

PS: This IS the law, in case your forgot it:

66-27-113. Administrator’s books ­ Examination by co-owners. ­

(a) The administrator, or the board of administration, or other form of administration specified in the bylaws, shall keep a book with a detailed account, in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the building and its administration and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred.

(b) Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge.

[Acts 1963, ch. 124, § 13; T.C.A., § 64-2713.]

The following comment was added by Deer Ridge Owner James Goebel regarding the David Barone / “Board” “Suspension of Membership” Letter that Joe Thomas and the illegitimate “board” are using to attempt to intimidate owners who refuse to pay the equally illegitimate Asinine Assessment.

I appreciate Jim speaking up – and wanted to upgrade his comment to a full post here on the blog.

I got my “Suspension” letter today.

Minor blow, I’ve only used the golf course once which makes my golf playing once in the last twenty years.

All we need is a couple of thousand dollars more to move this into the courts.

Let’s bring this to a speedy and just resolution. Getting it on the docket before the April meeting is a great goal.

Those who haven’t contributed yet, I say: getting involved in a law suit is a messy thing but is sometimes necessary. It may be that some of us are Christians and have no desire to get involved. I understand that – being a Christian myself.

However, two things: I want to be a steward of the money I have, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to allow people to just waste our money.

Secondly, Jesus said, “Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”

I hope and pray my heart is dove like, and my serpentine wisdom tells me to hold those in power accountable.

Therefore, I think my assessment money is best used in resolving this matter in court ASAP.

Pastor James Goebel

Do you have an opinion about the David Barone / “Board” “Suspension of Membership” Letter?  Post your comments here.

Did you get a letter in the mail from GGRC regarding your “Suspension of Membership” on Deer Ridge?

If so, don’t let them intimidate you with their threats.  Don’t let them illegally take away YOUR rights as an owner!

A LOT of owners are refusing to pay this illegitimate “special assessment.”  So, a lot of other owners are probably getting this same form letter from Joey and “the board” as they try and scramble and use their typical intimidation tactics to force more owners to pay.  Don’t be one of the few who is paying the “special” assessment.  Don’t let them continue to squander your money.

Don’t let them bully you into paying a dime.

If you’ve already paid the 2010 assessment, your payment may end up getting squandered by Joe Thomas before the Court can freeze those funds – which may make it very difficult for you to get your money back.

Please click Letter To Attorney to see my response regarding this invalid letter.  The “special assessment” is invalid for at least FOUR REASONS – hence the “suspension” is invalid.

Also, under what authority does the “board” have a right to define what rights and privileges owners lose if an Assessment is not paid?

I see NOTHING in the Master Deed or Bylaws that states that an owner cannot inspect Association records or lose golf and recreation center privileges when an Assessment is not paid. As such, I see Barone’s letter as an attempt to ILLEGALLY deny owners their rights under Tennessee State Law.

The best thing you can do is help us get this lawsuit filed ASAP so the court can issue an injunction legally stopping the “board” and this Asinine Assessment – AND stop their intimidation tactics against the owners who OWN Deer Ridge.

Contributing $500 to $1,000 is  a LOT cheaper than paying the Asinine Assessment – and the ONLY way this “special assessment” will be stopped is by you contributing your fair share of the legal fees to fight the “board” and save yourself THOUSANDS of your own dollars.

We only need $2,000 more to get this legal action started.  So, please contribute TODAY.

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.”

Don’t let Joe Thomas, and this clique who calls themselves a “board,” continue to intimidate and bully you.

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

PS:  Also, DO NOT send in your ballot or your proxy to anyone!  If you have already sent it, revoke it in writing!  More about this in an upcoming post!

This is an open letter to Chuck Sexton, attorney representing GGRC, regarding both his letter regarding access to HOA books and records and a letter from David Barone, attempting to suspend my membership rights for GGRC.

Sent Via Email, Fax and Certified Mail

Chuck,

I received your letter dated March 15, 2010 regarding my rights to review the books and records of GGRC.

I have also recently received a letter from David Barone attempting to suspend my membership rights in GGRC.

Since the “Board” has apparently tasked you with responding to my request to review the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers, there are several points of issue that have arisen between your letter and that of David Barone – both of them speaking to my rights as an owner to review said records.

Firstly, let’s deal with your statements in your letter:

• You state that. “…my underlined reference to a single book is not an accurate recitation of the Code Section.”
  

  

The actual wording is pretty crystal clear about “the book” with no references to books anywhere in the wording.

66-27-113. Administrator’s books ­ Examination by co-owners. ­

(a) The administrator, or the board of administration, or other form of administration specified in the bylaws, shall keep a book with a detailed account, in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the building and its administration and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred.

(b) Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge.

However, I do understand that there may be multiple volumes after 25 years – but I would still see that as one book.  The real point is that we have NEVER been able to see this Administrator’s Book.  We are only ever offered financial statements.  This book is solely in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER,  with a DETAILED ACCOUNT for each entry, showing EVERY receipt and expenditure – with vouchers in matching CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.

THAT is the “book” albeit multiple volumes that I, and every other owner, has a right to access in accordance with Tennessee State Law.

Please confirm that this book or books along with the requisite vouchers exist, AS DEFINED IN THE LAW – and that these CHRONOLOGICAL ORDERED book(s) along with CHRONOLOGICAL ORDERED vouchers are available for owner access as of March 24, 2010.

• You reject our rights to view the RML and Ridge Resort Realty Administrator’s Book, as defined above, since you state we are not a participant in RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

  Firstly, these are wholly owned subsidiaries of GGRC.  Therefore, all owners at Deer Ridge should have access to these books and records.

  Secondly, you are mistaken:  We have been a participant in RML.  I will be glad to send you the signed agreement if you need it.  Likewise, we purchased our unit through Joe Thomas and Ridge Resort Realty.

  Hence, in both cases, we have been participants in both of these programs and have a financial interest in both and deserve access to the records on this basis alone.

  Hence, any way you cut it, denying us access to the books and records of either RML or Ridge Resort Realty is a violation of Tennessee State Law.

• You still seem confused about the origins of RML:

  
  The first point is that it doesn’t matter if RML was created due to the poor performance of the then existing property management company.  RML was illegitimately formed, without a vote of owners, funded by GGRC funds that were an inappropriate and illegal use of HOA fees.  (N.B.:  That company was fired for bad performance because they were only able to achieve a 38% economic occupancy for Deer Ridge.  Joe Thomas, and RML, over the past 10 YEARS have only been able to achieve the same 38% economic occupancy for Deer Ridge – in spite of squandering hundreds of thousands of dollars on ineffective advertising and marketing costs.  Why hasn’t he been fired for the same level of bad performance?)

  According to the legal opinion of independent law firm, Howard and Howard, it appears that both RML and Ridge Resort Realty were illegally formed in the first place since GGRC funds were used for their start up – and continue to be used to fund RML operating deficits.  Games continue to be played with the cost accounting on this property to give the false appearance that GGRC funds are no longer tapped to support RML.  When proper cost allocations are applied, with the staffing and management that GGRC would need without RML or RRR,  it becomes apparent how much RML continues to cost ALL owners.   According to the following legal opinion by Howard and Howard, NONE of the HOA fees can ever be used for any of these operations, and since they are illegitimate companies should be disposed of immediately with all funds returned to the benefit of GGRC.

  
  Furthermore, a letter from the Board of Directors to all owners, dated December 11, 1987 stated that:

  “A new legal entity – RIDGE MANAGEMENT LTD. – RML – is being established & incorporated to manage both GG&RC Condos and DRMR Rental Program – effective January 1, 1988.”

  This clearly shows that the Board, acting alone and without ANY vote by the owners, decided it was going to start a property management company.

  The Master Deed and Bylaws do not provide for ANY funding of any such business entity and the Board has no power from these controlling documents to arbitrarily start any business whatsoever, including a property management company.

  Also, note that by clicking RML minutes, bylaws and even the stock certificate you can download these documents evidencing ownership of RML by GGRC.  Based on your email, I am surprised that you are having difficulty obtaining these documents.  I invite you to visit my blog on a more regular basis as I have many of these documents available for immediate and free download to anyone who wants them.

  Likewise, according to the independent legal opinion from Howard and Howard, all owners have  a right to COPIES of the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers.

  You stated in your email to me that:

  What needs to be resolved? Howard’s letter is crystal clear on this point.  What duplication issue is in question and why – and will it be resolved in time for our inspection on Wednesday, March 24, 2010?  And if not, why not?

  So, what else do you need to see to determine the relationship of RML and RRR to GGRC?  How much longer will it take you?  Why, after all of these years, aren’t the corporate minutes directly reflective of the company’s status?  If the minutes are not up to do, does not that jeopardize the corporate charter?  If the minutes are not up to date, isn’t that evidence of gross mismanagement of those who are purportedly in charge of GGRC?

The above points I believe deal with your letter.

So the key question:  based on the independent legal opinion from Howard and Howard, and based on the above information, do you grant me authority, as an owner, to see the Administrator’s Book, and supporting vouchers, of GGRC, RML and RRR as defined by Tennessee State Law on March 24, 2010?

The David Barone “Suspension of Membership” Letter

According to the David Barone letter dated March 19, 2010:

Since your letter deals with my rights as an owner to review the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers of GGRC et al – and the Barone letter purports to deny me access to those records, I have the following questions for you regarding my rights as an owner to view the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers on Wednesday, March 24, 2010:

• Under what authority does the “board” have a right to define what rights and privileges owners lose if an Assessment is not paid?  I see NOTHING in the Master Deed or Bylaws that states that an owner cannot inspect Association records or lose golf and recreation center privileges when an Assessment is not paid. As such, I see Barone’s letter as an attempt to deny me my rights under Tennessee State Law.
• Was this notice sent to everyone who has not paid the Asinine Assessment – or is this a discriminatory action intended to single me and / or Neil Blair out in order to prevent us from accessing the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers?
• The independent legal opinion from Howard and Howard has identified FOUR reasons that the current Asinine Special Assessment is invalid:

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 you 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.

(I understand that you saw the “light” and agreed that I was right about the annual meetings being REQUIRED in the first calendar quarter.   I also understand that you very recently recorded the “vote” from some 1988 amendment changing the date of the annual meeting – but that does NOT validate the current “board” or its actions – even if there is the back up proof of a tallied vote showing the required 67% agreement to change the Bylaws.  Note that Article XX of the Bylaws requires that “No such amendment may be operative UNTIL it is embodied in a recorded instrument which shall be recorded in the same office and in the same manner as was the Master Deed and original By-Laws and Exhibits of the Horizontal Property Regime.”  Since you have just recently seen the light and properly recorded this vague vote, this means that  the current “board” is STILL not a duly authorized and elected board of GGRC et al. )

As you know, if ANY of these FOUR reasons makes the Asinine Special Assessment invalid, it is invalid.

If the Asinine Special Assessment is invalid, then our membership cannot be suspended.

Hence, do you, as GGRC legal counsel, agree with any or all of the above four points of the Howard and Howard legal opinion?

Or, do you go on record, objecting to all four of Howard and Howard’s legal opinions as completely invalid?

Since this directly affects my rights to access the Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers of GGRC et al in three days, a complete and responsive expedited answer would be appreciated.

You stated in your letter to me that “Since my direction to the Board some time ago, you have not been denied access to these records.”

Actually, this has not been true.  Ever.

The above Administrator’s Book and supporting vouchers of GGRC et al have been requested many times.  Instead, we are either ignored, given other documents that were not requested or stonewalled altogether, like the current and transparent “Suspension of Membership.”

We expect to have our lawsuit filed within a few weeks from now – prior to the “annual meeting.”

Our Production of Documents and other discovery motions that will be filed WILL get us this information – and a WHOLE lot more.

Likewise, I am sure that the Court will be very interested in reading the latest attempts by the “board” to block our access to this information with their violations of Tennessee State Law.

Likewise, I believe the Court will be very interested to see your response, or lack thereof, to this letter to you.

Sincerely,

Robert  A-202

cc:  www.DeerRidgeOwners.com

Joey and the “board” are running scared – scared that the owners will all find out just how few of them are paying their illegitimate Asinine Assessment.

Joey and the “board”are trying all they can to block both Neil and I from having access to the GGRC books and records that the laws of the State of Tennessee guarantee us that we can see.  They know that once we see the books and know how few have paid the assessment and we report that information here on the blog, they will have a major problem trying to force other owners to pay.

The usual abuse of power by the “board” typically has to do with multiple, major violations of Deer Ridge Law – those contained in our controlling documents – The Master Deed and The Bylaws.

This Time Joe Thomas and Luther Parker Are Breaking The Law – Tennessee State Law – By Blocking Owner Access To Deer Ridge Records

This time they are directly breaking Tennessee state law by blocking our access to these records. I just emailed Joey, Luther Parker, Charles Sexton (attorney for GGRC and who knows who else involved with Deer Ridge? – but that is a different potential conflict of interest that we will get to soon.)

What I emailed them, and other interested owners, was a SECOND NOTICE. See below.

Ignore The Notices And Threats of Late Fees From Joe Thomas?

It is up to you – but I advise you to do what I am doing – to ignore the late letters, threats of late fees, etc. regarding your non-payment of the Asinine Assessment.

As describe before, the recent independent legal opinion we just obtained indicates that this “Special Assessment” is completely illegitimate on at least FOUR major points.

Note that, in spite of multiple requests, Joey and the “board” have not been able to produce ANY independent legal opinion as a counterpoint to the one we have obtained. We believe this is HIGHLY indicative that Joey and the “board” have NO authority for either the “special assessment” or for their blustering demands for payment.

Don’t give in to their illegitimate bullying about an illegitimate assessment.

Instead, use some of that money to help pay the necessary legal fees to block the assessment and force Joe Thomas and the “board” to stop breaking both Tennessee State Law AND Deer Ridge Law.  Once we get a court to issue a permanent injunction, you won’t have to pay the assessments, any interest, etc. on this illegitimate special assessment.

But we need your help.

Helping us pay for this litigation is a LOT less expensive than paying for $50,000 for “nuts and bolts” and a LOT less than paying your two year total assessed amount.

If we can get $500 or a $1,000 from more Deer Ridge owners, we can immediately stop their demands and harassment.

Please mail your check to me at A-202, 3710 Weber Rd., Gatlinburg, TN 37738 – please make the check payable to the “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund” OR click the link below to pay via credit card or echeck.

We Just Need $5,000 More To Stop The Assessment

We just need $5,000 more from other owners to add to what we have already collected from participating owners.

Once we received this additional $5,000, we intend to IMMEDIATELY file the lawsuit with ALL of our claims in this one lawsuit. Part of this lawsuit will immediately seek a temporary injunction stopping the Asinine Assessment and all threats from Joey and the “board.” The same lawsuit will also quickly pursue a summary judgment on at least 10 of the major points in the independent attorney’s letter – including making the injunction against the Asinine Assessment permanent!

Once this is out of the way, we will pursue the other part of this lawsuit – including our claims against Joe Thomas and this abusive and illegitimate “board” – making them individually responsible for their gross negligence and abusive, arbitrary and capricious decisions that were outside the scope of their authority.

The sooner we get your donations to the “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund” – the sooner we can cut off the harassment from Joey and the “board” over non-payment of the Asinine Assessment.

Donate Now

***  SECOND NOTICE  ***

I have not received a response to the below email….this is your second notice.

Failure to provide this information to ANY owner in a timely manner is a violation of Tennessee State Law.

I demand to have access to ALL of the requested information during the week of March 15, 2010.

Robert Goodman
A-202

At 10:40 AM 3/11/2010, Robert wrote:

Luther Parker and Joe Thomas,

In accordance with the Tennessee Horizontal Act, 66-27-113, I hereby request an immediate review of the GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty “Administrator’s Books” as defined by the Act:  This is a single book that contains a detailed account in chronological order, of the receipts and expenditures affecting the building and its administration and specifying the maintenance and repair expenses of the common elements and any other expenses incurred.

My request is to see these “Administrator’s Books” AND “the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon” for the past four and a half years.  This request is NOT to see general ledgers, financial statements,  etc. – but to only see the “Administrator’s Books” that contains a detailed account in chronological order as specifically defined and REQUIRED by the Act.

Since the “Administrator’s Books” must be accurate, completed and ALWAYS up to date, I require that they cover the time frame of August 8, 2005 through the day before the scheduled day for my examination of the “Administrator’s Books.”

Since, again, the “Administrator’s Books” must ALWAYS be up to date and specifically in THIS format, this should present Joe Thomas with NO difficultly immediately complying with the LAW.

Note that the LAW requires that: “Both the book and the vouchers accrediting the entries made thereupon shall be available for examination by all the co-owners at convenient hours on working days that shall be set and announced for general knowledge.”

Just so there is no confusion about exactly what GGRC, RML and Ridge Resort Realty MUST provide any and all owners at Deer Ridge, I have copied the exact wording of the Act and include it below.

Also, note that page 1 of the independent attorney’s legal opinion letter (see attached) reaffirms my right to this information – and the usual Joe Thomas stupid “games” will not be tolerated.  The same legal opinion also provides that I have a RIGHT to COPIES of any of this information.

Any non-compliance by you and/or Joe Thomas will have immediate legal ramifications with the Attorney General of Tennessee – along with other judicial implications.

The following letter was certified mailed, emailed, faxed and hand delivered to Luther Parker’s home, the GGRC’s attorney’s office and the Deer Ridge office.

You get to decide what is right for you with regard to the “special” assessment – but this is my position and I am ready to fight Joe Thomas, Luther Parker and the rest of the so called “board” in court over it.

To:      Luther Parker, GGRC “Board of Directors”

Re:      “Special” Assessment

Date:   March 9, 2010

Hand Delivered, Email & Certified Mail

This letter is to officially notify you that, as a result of advice received from independent legal counsel, I do not intend to pay the illegitimate “special” assessment that is purportedly due for our Unit A-202 at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

I have also included herewith two checks for our monthly GGRC charges:  $270 for our HOA fee and $136.42 for the charges for water and cable TV.

Even though paid, we continue to dispute both of these charges too – and have marked “Disputed” on these and many prior checks made for payments for these two ongoing fees.

Based on advice from legal counsel, these charges represent a gross overcharge of 82% above the amounts that should be charged according to the Master Deed and Bylaws.

If you wish to take me to court over the non-payment of the illegitimate “special” assessment, have at it.

I would be absolutely delighted to have a court hear all of the following reasons that the “special” assessment is invalid – and it would be much more cost effective to respond to your lawsuit and get a court ruling on several issues rather than instigate my planned litigation described below.

Attorney Says That “Special” Assessment Invalid For At Least Four Reasons

Based on a recent, independent review of our Master Deed and Bylaws, attorney Lewis Howard, Jr’s 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 you 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.

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

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.

You should also, by now, be fully aware that we have set up a separate escrow account for the “Deer Ridge Litigation Fund.”

Several owners have already contributed to this fund and more are joining every week.  Once our threshold is reached, we intend to immediately file one or more lawsuits concerning the matters discussed in this letter.  Note:  this will be done without further notice to you.

Executive Summary Of Attorney’s Findings

Here is my executive summary of Mr. Howard’s five page legal opinion.  I will try to put it in non-attorney terms to help you better understand the major consequences of the points made in his letter.

In addition to the fact that no legitimate, “special” assessment is due from ANY owners, Attorney Howard’s letter also makes the following pivotal points regarding GGRC and RML:

1. 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.
2. You are REQUIRED to provide all owners with COPIES of everything they request including invoices, check stubs, bids, etc.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Because you have committed multiple ultra vires acts that were outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws, 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 $11,000 in our case – and more or less the same to other 1-1 owners – past AND present.)
6. RML and Ridge Resort Realty are NOT legitimate for SEVERAL reasons.  These entities must pay back every penny of GGRC’s money ever used by them – and these companies must be expeditiously sold or otherwise shut down.
7. 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 intend to sue to have a special master appointed by the court.
8. 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 intend to individually sue each of you for the full and complete reimbursement of all of this money.
9. 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.

All of the above information was previously emailed to you – but I also invite you all to read the full posting and detailed analysis of Mr. Howard’s letter at:

http://deerridgeowners.com/2010/02/18/independent-legal-opinion-ggrc-board-guilty-of-numerous-violations-353500-assessment-is-null-and-void/

Intent To Pursue Litigation – Possibly Including A Derivative Action Suit On Behalf of GGRC

This letter also officially puts you all on notice of our intent to immediately pursue litigation on these, and other points – including pursuing any and all legal claims against Joe Thomas and the “board”, as individuals.

Part of this litigation may be a derivative action suit whereby I, and other concerned owners, have GGRC, as plaintiff, sue each of you individually for your gross negligence and incompetence that has resulted from your multiple ultra vires acts that were outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws.

As a consequence of us possibly suing you all, individually, on behalf of GGRC as plaintiff, it is my understanding that attorney Charles Sexton cannot represent you if he has been paid by GGRC in the past due to the obvious conflicts of interest.  I suggest you check with him as to whether this is true – and also if there is any past issue of him having also given personal legal advice to Joe Thomas or any one on the “board” – or whether he has simply represented GGRC and/or RML in all instances.

It is my understanding that you may possibly have a period of days to attempt to cure some or all of the above violations as a way of mitigating the multiple breaches of your fiduciary duties and some of your wrongful, self-serving and bad faith acts and omissions once you have received notice of possible violations.

Consider yourself officially notified as of today – although you were probably officially notified many months, and even YEARS, ago regarding many of these violations.

The Clock Is Ticking

Luther, 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 the 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 from Attorney Howard 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, before we move forward with filing our lawsuits, you better act quickly.  We won’t ask again and the clock is already ticking.

Govern yourself accordingly.

Robert
A-202

cc:  Charles Sexton, Attorney for GGRC, etc. via certified mail and email.

cc:  Deer Ridge Owners Blog

Help Stop The Abuse of Power By Joe Thomas And The “Board”

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.

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

Thank You!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome To New Visitors To This Blog

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

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

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

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

Some Points of Issue With Their Current Attack Letter

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

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

  “That statement is mostly true.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  This is false.  Completely false.

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

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

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

  Actually, there were several substantiating facts.

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

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

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

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

  But, wait there is more….proof.

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

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

  Subject: RE: Questions

  From: parker.luther@gmail.com

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

  Neil,

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

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

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

  Sincerely,

  Luther

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

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

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

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

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

  Uh huh.  Talk about Doublespeak.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Again, this is the crux of the problem.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  This is false.

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

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

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

  Please see:

  • Deer Ridge Owners Mailing Labels Now Available To ALL Owners

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  However, think about the statement in their attack letter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Deer Ridge Problems – The Mind Map

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Please check out the following links on this critical issue:

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

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

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

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

  • Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The following was part of my December 4th email I sent in response to Joe Thomas’ email at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.  The brackets from this comment are so clear on this point, I thought it deserved its own posting.

Joe,

With the long running untrustworthy track record of you and the board when it comes to abiding by the Master Deed and Bylaws, it is not surprising that so many owners are calling and writing me – with all of them concerned that you and the board were once again going to violate the rules.

Speaking of which, WHO was responsible for the $120,000 that was illegitimately spent on the ill-conceived pavilion, the pool area improvements, the massive office changes and the new maintenance building additions?

Since Article XII of the Master Deed has gone completely unchanged for the past 25 years, were these illegitimate construction projects a result of:

1. Gross negligence?
2. Gross incompetence?
3. Fraudulent behavior?
4. Illiteracy by you and/or all board members?
5. Total disregard for the Master Deed and the rights of all owners?

Since you and the board seem to now see the light of day in the requirements of Article XII, there has GOT to be a reason Article XII was NOT followed for all those COMPLETELY illegitimate projects that cost me, and all other owners, a huge amount of wasted money.

I believe the above five points list all possible reasons that Article XII has been violated SO many times in the past by you and current and past boards.

This is NOT a rhetorical question — we expect a clear answer. So, Joe, which of those five answers is the right one?

I have not received an answer to THIS very direct question.

Don’t Ask, Please Don’t Tell – The Joe Thomas Management Philosophy

Think about it.

Joe Thomas has been on this property as General Manager for at least 8 or 9 years, based on the information at the Tennessee Real Estate Commissions.

He has been THE one person primarily responsible for all operations at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort as various board members have come and gone.  He is the one person who has been tasked with understanding, interpreting and enforcing the various rules and regulations that relate to Deer Ridge, including by definition being the primary person required to completely understand the Master Deed and Bylaws.

The GGRC attorney, Chuck Sexton, attended the last board meeting in November when I made a presentation.  He immediately, upon reading Article XII, agreed with me that a 75% vote of the owners was REQUIRED before ANY alterations or improvements were done at Deer Ridge.  (That’s why we will now be voting on the replacements of the Walkway Railings.)  My web pages and blogs have been pushing this point for years – so it was not a fresh concept for either this board or the prior one – and was certainly known by Joe Thomas to be a MAJOR issue I have been raising for years.

Yet, based on the reaction of the GGRC attorney, he had not even been consulted on this issue – even though the right conclusion appeared to be as obvious to him as it was to me.

Why had he not been consulted on this major, KNOWN issue?

Because Joey and the board did not WANT to know any legal opinion that would stop them from their free reign of control at Deer Ridge that illegitimately usurped the power of the owners to make those decisions.

Because of this, over $120,000 of OUR money and YOUR money has been squandered in the four years we have owned here as a direct consequence of Article XII being ignored by our General Manager!

There Are ONLY Five Possible Reasons For All Of This Illegitimate Waste of Money

If Joe Thomas was responsible for fully understanding the Master Deed – and still went ahead with his ill-conceived pavilion, the pool area improvements, the massive office changes and the new maintenance building additions, then Joe Thomas MUST be guilty of one of the following FIVE transgressions:

1. Gross negligence?  – He didn’t read it or ignored it.
2. Gross incompetence? – He read it and wasn’t able to understand it.
3. Fraudulent behavior? – He didn’t want the right interpretation because it would negatively impact his take home pay, in one way or another.
4. Illiteracy by you and/or all board members? – He didn’t know how to read.
5. Total disregard for the Master Deed and the rights of all owners? – He didn’t care what was right for the owners, this was his domain and he was going to do whatever he wanted, to hell with the owners.

That’s it.  There are no other possible answers to this question.

Joe Thomas Should Be Fired For Cause

Pick and choose any of those five – or even a combination of them – and the result is the same.

Joe Thomas should be fired for cause.

Any of those five are justifiable grounds for IMMEDIATE termination of employment.  And, we are way past IMMEDIATE.

In my opinion, every extra day that we continue to pay Joe Thomas when he is responsible and guilty of any of those five transgressions, is more money out of all of our pockets while we wait for him to commit even more transgressions.

What’s YOUR opinion?

The following email was sent to Luther Parker and the board of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort on January 2, 2010.  It was also sent to GGRC attorney, Chuck Sexton.

Luther,

You and Joe Thomas and the Board are hereby put on notice that any walkway railing “test” is a DIRECT violation of the Article XII of the Master Deed.  Period.

In your letter to all owners you state, “The ownership should be cognizant that the Building and Grounds committee, Board and Management, contractors and maintenance staff would like to do a test run on one walkway. Additionally, if the test run is successful, the Board would like to see this project completed by the April 2010 Owners meeting (if approved).”

Please reread Master Deed, Page 16, Article XII, number 2 to better understand that “There shall be no alterations or additions to the Common Elements or any part(s) thereof except as authorized by the Board of Directors and approved by not less than seventy-five (75%) percent of the total vote of the Co-Owners of the Regime.

Let me step through the complicated logic here for you:  NO means NO.

NO means that you can NOT destroy what we currently have – even to run a test without the 75% approval.  NO means that you cannot do ANY alterations.  Period.

Please have your attorney explain that to you if you need any additional clarity.

If you and Joe Thomas move forward with ANY alterations whatsoever at Deer Ridge without the REQUIRED 75% vote, then all of you, including every member of the “board” will be held personally accountable and financially responsible for this blatant violation of the Master Deed.

With your December 10th letter, you have ADMITTED that Article XII must be followed.

By doing so, you have ADMITTED that you and Joe Thomas and other members of the board, both past and present, have wrongly violated this provision in the past, squandering over $120,000 since I have owned at Deer Ridge.

This admission makes you and the board even more guilty if you move forward with this “test run” since now, with your December 10th letter, you can no longer claim, “Gee, I didn’t know any better…”

Additionally, bear in mind for the upcoming meeting on the Walkways, I will be there with proxies from other owners.

I will want to see detailed spreadsheets, estoppel certificates and other proofs that the Board is ALSO complying with the following ADDITIONAL provisions of the Master Deed, Page 16, Article XII, number 2:  “Where the approval of Co-OWners for alterations or additions to the Common Elements of this Regime is required, “the approval of Institutional Mortgagees whose mortgages encumber Apartments representing not less than ninety (90%) percent of the total unpaid dollar indebtedness as to principal on said Apartments at said time shall also be required.”

This will require you to obtain a complete and comprehensive listing of ALL mortgage holders for all 84 units at Deer Ridge, including any and all second liens, equity loans, etc.  It will require an estoppel certificate from each and every mortgage holder, verifying that they still own the loan, the amount of the unpaid principal balance, and that the person signing any ballot or proxy has the personal delegation of authority of the institution to sign said ballot or proxy.  This step will also require a detailed spreadsheet showing the required arithmetic to demonstrate that the Board has received the REQUIRED 90% of all mortgage holders.

The above is in addition to providing proof of the seventy-five (75%) percent of the total vote of the Co-Owners of the Regime.

NOTE AGAIN – ALL OF THE ABOVE IS ALSO REQUIRED EVEN FOR YOUR PLANNED TEST RUN OF THE WALKWAY RAILINGS!!!

Luther, one of the statements you made at the last board meeting was that I appear to have little trust when it comes to the board.  Well, this is one of many very UNtrustworthy actions you and the board take that makes me, and an increasing number of owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, even less trusting of ANYTHING you and Joe Thomas do behind those closed doors.

Luther, you and Joe Thomas and the rest of the board can no longer get away with your approach of  the past of railroading things through and usurping the power and approval rights of the owners.

It stops now.

Robert

cc:  www.DeerRidgeOwners.com
cc:  Chuck Sexton,  Attorney for Gatlinburg Gold and Racquet Club – cssexton53@aol.com

Voice your opinion below in the Comments section and vote NO on your ballot for this $40,000 waste of OUR money.

*** UPDATE ***

Chuck,

I am writing you directly as a representative of several owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

The reason for this direct contact is that, based on our meeting with you last weekend at the “board” meeting, the resulting conclusion of the conversations was that Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club (“GGRC”) currently has NO bonafide Board of Directors or officers.  Nor, have they had any bonafide Board of Directors or officers for many years.

As the following will show, those owners currently posing as the “official” Board have no different status, and no more authority, than any of the other owners at Deer Ridge.  They have no authority to call meetings, set budgets, set monthly HOA fees, impose special assessments such as the current $353,500 assessment, block access to copies of documents, hire personnel, sign agreements, determine rules and regulations or authorize any rules and regulations.

The “board” has no more authority to do anything with regard to GGRC than I, or any other owner, do.

I am writing to you, since you have been the long standing attorney for GGRC, for your fiduciary legal opinion as to:

• What is required to unwind all of the past decision of this and prior “Boards?”
• What are your recommendations as to the totally compliant requirements of the Tennessee Horizontal Act and GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws for the interim management and control of the Regime?
• Should we place GGRC and Deer Ridge’s operation in the hands of a court-appointed receiver?

Why This “Board” Is Illegitimate And Has No Power Or Authority

Point 1 – Annual Meeting Required To Be Held During First Quarter Of Year (January – March)

During the four plus years we have owned at Deer Ridge, and I believe for many years before that, the meeting at which this and all recent board of directors elections  has been held during the last part of April each year.  This gathering of owners has been wrongly referred to as the “Annual Owners Meeting.”

However, Article XI of the Bylaws unambiguously REQUIRES the annual meeting be held before the end of March!

Please note that it says the annual meeting is to be held during the first quarter of the calendar years…that means that it MUST be held before the end of March.

Period.

By definition, any meeting held AFTER the first quarter, i.e., the end of March, cannot be deemed to be an Annual Meeting – no matter what name the “Board” may have given it.

Point 2 – Never Any Official Amendment To Bylaws And Master Deed – So Article XI Requirement Still In Effect

Now, there IS a way to change this – via Article XX of the Bylaws, Amendments.

During the “Board” meeting, you and I disagreed that Amendments to the Bylaws had to be recorded in the Deed Records.  During the “Board” meeting, your comments were that “some vote at some time” had changed the date of the annual meeting.  It is my understanding that Ed Palmer correctly pointed out to you that the above Article XX of the Bylaws does, indeed require the requisite 67% vote AND the recording in the Deed Records.  It is my understanding that you admitted after I left the meeting that I was correct and BOTH the 67% vote AND the recording in the Deed Records WAS required before any Amendment to the Bylaws become effective.

Based on your statements during the meeting last weekend, the ONLY Bylaw changes ever properly voted AND recorded in the Deed Records of Sevier County relate to a couple of easements.

As a consequence, there has never been an official amendment to the Bylaws, with at least 67% of the owners approving such amendment, to ever change the requirement to have the annual meeting before the end of March.  Note that it REQUIRES that ANY amendment be embodied in a recorded instrument on the Deed Records before it becomes “operative.”

Point 3 – Board Of Directors ONLY Elected During Annual Meetings According To Article VIII

Now, here comes the rub:  According to Article VIII of the Bylaws, the ONLY time that the Board of Directors can be elected for GGRC is DURING the ANNUAL Meeting!

Hence, since becoming an owner four plus years ago, there has not been ANY proper Annual Meetings held in accordance with the Bylaws – and therefore there has not been ANY valid election of ANY Board members during ANY of that time – and ANY decisions, increases in dues, assessments, etc. made by these illegitimately formed Board(s) are COMPLETELY null and void, unenforceable and without effect.

Point 4 – NO One Is Authorized To Do Anything / Spend Anything / Decide Anything At Deer Ridge

As a consequence, this current “board” is no more empowered to manage GGRC and make any decisions than I am – or any other current owner.  Not a single member of the current “board” has any more authority to make decisions than I do – or any other current owner.

Further, this means that the entire operation and management of both GGRC and RML are in limbo – and that General Manager Joe Thomas has zero authority that has been properly delegated to him and that his current and continued employment and compensation are without approval of any kind.  This means that NO ONE is authorized to write checks or spend money on anything until this matter is properly resolved…including paychecks for anyone employed by the above entities.

Likewise, there is no one empowered or authorized to defend against my pending lawsuit against GGRC.

My Pending Lawsuit

The following are very serious issues that I plan on including in my forthcoming litigation against GGRC et al.  However, since based on the above you are no longer required to support the current “board’s” policies and are, instead a fiduciary of GGRC as a whole, please give me and the other owners I represent, your legal opinion on the following issues:

• Do all owners have a right to copies of any and all books and records related in any way to the operation and management of GGRC, RML and/or Ridge Resort Management?
• Is the wording of Article III, Section 9, Paragraph C only applicable to the Development phase of Deer Ridge 25 years ago and has no applicability to changing the Master Deed Percentages of Common Expense allocations now?
• Is either RML or Ridge Resort Reality legitimate subsidiaries of GGRC and in full accordance with the Master Deed and Bylaws and if legitimate, authorized to in any way be supported by HOA fees and special assessments paid by all owners at Deer Ridge?
• Do the Master Deed Percentages of Common Expenses apply to all HOA fees, special assessments and any other costs such as water, telephone and cable TV?

If you, as GGRC legal counsel, were to give your written, legal opinion on all of the above issues that were satisfactory to me and the other Deer Ridge owners I represent, then we may be able to avoid much if not all of the pending litigation against GGRC – saving the organization significant time and money.

GGRC Receivership

It is my understanding of Tennessee law that I can petition the circuit court for appointment of a receiver in situations when the respective association has failed to fill vacancies on the board sufficient to constitute a quorum.   Clearly, based on the above, this the association has failed to fill vacancies for my years – like ALL positions on all boards for at least the past four plus years.

As a consequence, one of my first actions if I have to file a lawsuit will be to have the court appoint a disinterested third party as the receiver for GGRC – so they can make the decisions necessary for Deer Ridge until this quagmire over  the Board is resolved.  The goal with the receiver would be for them to rule on the above, and other issues, brought up on my www.DeerRidgeOwners.com blog.

Chuck, please let me know your response in the next few days since I plan on filing suit expeditiously against GGRC.

If we do go to trial, I am sure the judge will take your fiduciary response, or lack thereof, into full account.

Sincerely,

Robert

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort

(This letter was faxed, emailed and snail mailed to Attorney Chuck Sexton today, November 23, 2009)

*

* Sound bite from “National Treasure” © 2004, Walt Disney Pictures.

On the advice of an attorney, we waited – wanting to see what might happen during the board meeting.  Now that we know, we have no choice but to continue to aggressively pursue our lawsuit against GGRC, et al.

In spite of some good gains we made for the benefit of all Deer Ridge owners during last weekend’s board meeting, Luther and the Board insist that they will continue to ignore the Master Deed’s Percentages.  One consequence of their decision is to also continue overcharging all 1-1 owners by 82%.

When I pressed Luther during the meeting, “Do you think an 82% overcharge of all 1-1 owners at Deer Ridge is fair and equitable?”

Luther said explicitly, “Yes, the 82% IS fair and equitable.”  (Click 82% to see the posting with the math behind this.)

When you have a Board president who is THAT irrational, there is little hope for an objective review.  We owners deserve a board and a board president that immediately see how unethical an overcharge of 82% is to over a third of our owners!

Irrespective of them ignoring the legal requirements of the Master Deed, the very fact that Luther, Joe and the rest do not even grasp their complete lack of ethics is a very disturbing sign.  It is a sign that the only way to change things and get them right and ethical – is to aggressively pursue our lawsuit against GGRC.

Joe Thomas and the Board are determined to continue things status quo – ignoring the governing documents for GGRC and Deer Ridge.  I am even more determined to help ensure that the control of this great property is returned to all of us who own the units at Deer Ridge.

The Board’s NEW Defense

All of what we wrote before about our pending lawsuit can be read by clicking Seeking Legal Representation.  At that link, you can see all of our causes for action and the reasons we are filing suit.

All of that is still true – except the Board’s defense has changed, based on the comments made at the Board meeting this past weekend.

Up till then, we had been told that the Board had the “right” to ignore the Master Deed Percentages based on their self-serving – and WRONG interpretation of Article V of the Master Deed.  Well, apparently all my posted arguments of exactly how, point by point, Article V did NOT give the Board the carte blanche they wanted from their interpretation convinced them they would not win in court on that Article.

Instead, they are NOW touting their only other possible escape clause to justify their illegitimate acts – Article III, Section 9 Paragraph C of the Master Deed.  This was the only cited chapter and verse according to the GGRC attorney, Chuck Sexton, who attended the meeting.  His statement was that, “This section is the one that had always been used by the Board to justify their actions.”

My personal interpretation of Chuck’s body language and vocalization:  He didn’t even believe it himself – but had been instructed to use that section in an attempt to dissuade me from pursuing my lawsuit against GGRC et al.

It didn’t work.

What is Article III Section 9 Paragraph C of the Master Deed?

OK…let’s see what all the fuss is about on this magic wording that the Board is NOW depending on to help justify them not abiding by the governing documents that control all operations at Deer Ridge:

Whew.  OK…So?

Sorry to drag you all through all the legalese once again…but it is the words and the intent of our Master Deed and Bylaws that define what is legitimate and what is not legitimate at Deer Ridge.

The secrets to the above cut and paste from the Master Deed are in the yellow highlight.

Here is a close up of Article III, Section 9 Paragraph C of the Master Deed

Of course, what the Board is desperately trying to point to in Paragraph C is that “the Board of Directors may adjust and allocate Common Expenses on a method other than the percentage of ownership if it so chooses…”

The “ohhh…by the way…” that the Board is hoping I overlook is that Section 9 to which Paragraph C is a part, is VERY clearly labeled “Development Plan.”

We Are WAY Past The Development Phase – And WAY Past This Section’s Applicability

If you look at all of the wording and even section title of Section 9, it is clearly talking about the “Declarant Phase.”  The Declarant is the developer of the Deer Ridge property back in the 1980s.  These were the sections of the Master Deed that were in effect while the property was being constructed since, in Tennessee like most places, a developer must file his Master Deed and Bylaws with the County records before construction is completed.

So, our lawsuit will show what the GGRC’s attorney probably already knows:  That Article III, Section 9 Paragraph C of the Master Deed was ONLY applicable 25 years ago when the property was being built – and in no way supersedes and trumps the Master Deed Percentages.  This part is SO crystal clear I am amazed even THIS Board is trying this gambit.

Even IF the Board were to prevail by convincing the Judge that Deer Ridge is still in the Development Phase after 25 years, we have the other part of Article III, Section 9 Paragraph C:  “…provided such method is fair and equitable…”

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

And, here we have our fearless leader, Luther Parker, stating straight-faced at the board meeting a few days ago that, “Yes, the 82% IS fair and equitable.”

Luther, thankfully, I don’t think ANY judge is EVER going to agree with your logic and math.

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

No More Defenses For Joey and the Board

The board continues to do all they can to thwart a loss of their power.  They tried Article V as a defense and saw that would not stand up.  Now, they are grasping at the last possible ambiguity that might convince some uninformed owners the board has a leg to stand on.  However, they are going to find that the Article III, Section 9 Paragraph C leg is so weak that it will quickly collapse under the weight of court scrutiny.

Meanwhile, Luther does not seem to mind wasting the money of GGRC in their unethical attempt to fight returning control to the owners and charging genuinely fair and equitable charges to all homeowners at Deer Ridge.

I plan on doing all I can to make sure that he, and Joe and the rest of the Board, are the ones who will end up paying these lawsuit and court costs out of THEIR personal pockets.

Our FIRST Lawsuit

Our first, of many, lawsuits against GGRC, Joe Thomas and individual board members will focus on a half dozen fundamental issues that I believe we can easily win.

• One of these issues will be the court’s interpretation of the master deed with regard to the applicability of the master deed percentages for all common expense allocations and special assessments.
• Another issue will be the court’s interpretation of the master deed with regard to the legality of RML.
• Another issue will be the owner’s rights to receive copies of any and all books and records relating to the operation of GGRC and/or RML.
• Another issue will be the very validity of the current and recent boards of directors (a whole lot more about this coming very soon!)
• There are a couple of other secret issues we expect to raise even with the first lawsuit that will REALLY grab the attention of Joe Thomas and the Board.

All of these issues are expected to be very straight forward to litigate and win.  Once we win this first lawsuit, we will have access to copies of ALL the books and records of everything.  My VERY strong intuition is that all those copies of all those books and records will uncover malfeasance galore – that may very well have local, state and even federal law enforcement involved and participating with our ongoing, in depth investigations.

Stay Tuned!

Please check back often because my expectation is that we are going to have a whole lot of activity at Deer Ridge about the way our property is funded and managed.

We have a humdinger of an issue that we will raise before the end of this week that might, just maybe, turn EVERYTHING upside down at Deer Ridge for ALL of the elite few currently usurping power.

When I pressed at last weekend’s board meeting that Article XII of the Bylaws REQUIRED a 75% vote of ALL owners for ANY improvement to Deer Ridge and that Joe’s Folly Pavilion was illegally built and funded by GGRC HOA fees, I was surprised that GGRC attorney Chuck Sexton seemed surprised by the wording and its requirement.  However, after reading Article XII, he IMMEDIATELY pronounced that I was exactly right and that it did, indeed, REQUIRE 75% of the owners to give PRIOR approval for any improvement.

Major Victory

As I mentioned in my previous post:

This means that the Joe’s Folly Pavilion was illegally funded and constructed, the office and pool area improvements were illegally funded and done, the maintenance shed that was just completed was illegally funded and constructed, etc.  All totaled, this adds up to more than $120,000 of OUR money that was WRONGLY spent by Joe Thomas at Deer Ridge.  Think how much would be available from this to help fund the current Asinine Assessment?

To me, this alone is justification to FIRE Joe Thomas on the spot.

What this MAJOR victory means is that the owners FINALLY have the power for decision making for improvements back in their hands where it belongs.  It means that Joey and the Board can no longer go off and spend tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of OUR money on their splurges for improvements…and maybe tell us about it, after the fact.

Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell With Their Own GGRC Attorney

An interesting observation of the above was that the GGRC attorney genuinely seemed surprised by the wording I pointed out on Article XII and its massive implications to the way things have been done here at Deer Ridge for so long.  To Chuck’s credit, he objectively and quickly came to the right conclusion – and advised Joe, Luther and the rest of the Board, that I was right – and that they, the Board, had zero choice on this matter.

What that surprise means to me is that Luther, Joe and the Board have NOT been seeking legal advice on the issues I have been raising.  Otherwise, they would have already queried Chuck on Article XII on the 75% vote issue – and they would have already gotten his same opinion that they MUST abide by the requirement before doing ANY improvements to Deer Ridge!

Legal “Games” By The GGRC Board

It is almost as if Joe and the Board KNEW they would not win the point – and specifically did not ask their own attorney as a way to avoid legal compliance with the controlling documents of Deer Ridge. That way, they could have continued, forever, usurping the decision making power from all owners so they could implement their own biased agenda out of ALL of our wallets.

Am I the only one that finds this despicable Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell approach to running GGRC outrageous?  To me, this alone justifies firing the whole Board, with cause!

Here’s a hint to the Board:  I will continue, relentlessly, to do all that I can to finally get Deer Ridge operating correctly, honestly, transparently, fairly, equitably and in COMPLETE conformance with the GGRC Master Deed and Bylaws.

I Am NOT Going To Go Away

You have now seen a sampling that my issues are more than valid…that I am not, as Employee Joe said to his staff about me being, “a ‘blow hard’ who doesn’t’ know what he is talking about…”  Hopefully, Luther now knows that I might, just maybe, know more about business than he does.  And, that I DO know what I am talking about.

Luther, I recommend that you check with Chuck BEFORE you end up costing GGRC money for lawsuits that could have been avoided if you hadn’t foolishly tried your Don’t Ask / Don’t Tell approach on the other, major issues brought up on this blog.

But do it quickly – those legal actions are coming much sooner than you expect.