These are my personal images and photos that show the beauty of the view from Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cobbly Nob and the Gatlinburg, Tennessee area.
Just click the Play button to watch - or click Big Picture to see a much larger slide show on a dedicated page here at DeerRidgeOwners.com.
Deer Ridge Litigation Fund
Do you, as an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, believe we are ALL entitled to have access and be able to copy the books and records of our Homeowner's Association?
So, do I.
But, apparently, Employee Joe Thomas and President Luther Parker and the Board disagree - and are doing all they can to block access, publication and candid discussion of the Asinine Assessment, special deals and favored treatment - at the expense of all Owners.
What ARE they so afraid of us finding out?
Maybe it has to do with the HUGE $10,000 overcharge for my HOA Fees, special assessments, water and cable TV bill - which, in my personal opinion, is due to fraudulent intent or at least gross negligence by the Deer Ridge Board of Directors and / or General Manager Joe Thomas. Please see the posts for details.
We have no choice but to file a lawsuit against GGRC and RML in order to finally, once and for all, make it clear that OWNERS do have a right to all the information about our property and our investment at Deer Ridge.
If you have thoughts and ideas and suggestions, please post them here on this blog.
If you have any clout with the Board, convince them to stop the charade - and let the owners have the information that all owners own!
If you want to help cover the legal costs to get us the right to see the bids for $50,000 for nuts and bolts - and the other background documents for the $353,500 Asinine Assessment, please click on the Donate Button below.
With enough in donations, we can hire BOTH an attorney AND a forensic accountant for the whole process through the Court in Sevier County to make absolutely certain we win EVERY point - and never have to fight Employee Joe and the Board on this stuff again.
Even a $100 contribution will help show that you are in favor of an open and FULLY transparent homeowners' association at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort!
Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed!
GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR ALL PAGES AND POSTS AND EVERYTHING ELSE I DO OR SAY REGARDING DEER RIDGE AND ANY AND ALL RELATED PARTIES:
Note: The following, and the information on any and all other posts and pages by me about General Manager Joe Thomas, GGRC, RML and /or the Board of Directors and its members, or any related topics, are my personal opinions based on my ongoing investigation into the actions and inactions of the GGRC and RML Board of Directors and / or Joe Thomas, General Manager.
While I believe these allegations to be true based on my objective analysis, these opinions remain as only allegations until I, or others, prove things in court.
My goal is to offer all owners all the information and evidence that I have available so that everyone can reach their own conclusions.
Please note the obvious:
Everything I ever say or write in person, via emails, or on my blog, about Deer Ridge or any and all related entities and organizations or any and all affiliated personnel or owners, is strictly my own personal opinion of course - based, in part, from my owning a unit at Deer Ridge for over five years - and on my own personal history.
That history includes earning a Presidential MBA degree, being awarded a Bachelor of Science, With Honors, in Engineering Physics from UT, working for NASA as a rocket scientist at Marshall Space Flight Center, 30 years of CEO experience directly employing and managing many hundreds of people at multiple companies I personally started and operated (including one that I took public), 15 years experience buying and selling over $100 million of property and managing more than 45,000 rental units - AND being able to read and do four-function arithmetic.
Legalese - And Powered Wig - Off
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Welcome to All Deer Ridge Owners
Welcome to all owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort condos in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
My goal is to help all Deer Ridge owners to have a voice in the management and operation of your property.
Click on the TITLES of any of the following subjects to read the whole posting - and see the comments made by your co-owners. You can also type any term into the below search box, or any word or term in the search cloud.
Click the big image at the top of the page to return to the front page at any time.
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Investment Analysis For A Rental Condo At Deer Ridge
Will you really lose $40,000 cash if you buy a rental condo at Deer Ridge and use Ridge Management Ltd?
As an owner-occupied home, Deer Ridge is an incredible value with THE best view in the Smokies and great amenities.
However, several owners and would-be owners of Deer Ridge condos have asked me if these units are a good rental property investment or not. To help answer that question
objectively, I had to analyze the real moving parts of buying and owning here.
Get my complete, detailed investment analysis based on buying a rental condo unit at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It shows what you MUST do to make money when you buy a rental unit at Deer Ridge.
Every Dollar You Pay For Deer Ridge Is The WRONG Amount!
Please read the various posts here on this Deer Ridge Owners Blog - and see my evidence and analysis which I believe shows conclusively that EVERY dollar of HOA Fees, EVERY dollar EVERY special assessment, EVERY water bill and cable TV sent out for YEARS to ALL Deer Ridge Owners has been wrong!
In many cases at least ONE THIRD of ALL owners have been GROSSLY overcharged. My calculations show that I have been overcharged more than TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS in the past 50 months I've owned at Deer Ridge.
The Board has been WRONGLY and arbitrarily ignoring the requirements of the Master Deed and the Bylaws for YEARS.
If my analysis is correct, the Board has zero choice. They MUST abide by the Master Deed Percentages.
But they haven’t.
However, if the Board knowingly ignored the clear directives of the Master Deed and the Bylaws when allocating costs to various unit types, and overcharging certain unit types on a regular basis, my opinion is that the Board and Joe Thomas may have acted fraudulently.
If they have not been fraudulent, then they have been, at the very least, grossly negligent.
Read the various blog postings - and judge for yourself.
Comments Welcome From All Visitors
You are welcome to leave your comments on the various posts on the blog. You no longer have to be registered to comment. (Even regular contributors had trouble remembering their log on passwords!)
Note that SPAM blockers are in place - and all comments require approval to be visible.
So, let's hear from you on these topics!
To view the comments, you need to click on the post topic to see the entire post and the comments.
"We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert." — J. Robert Oppenheimer. This includes the Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
The dance has begun. I contacted 28 area law firms today.
These were ones where I checked out their web sites, their areas of practice, etc. to help make sure there is a mutual match between their focal points and our specific needs. It’s a slow process – but one that I hope will help us expedite finding the right law firm, expedite filing out lawsuit(s) against Deer Ridge HOA, et al – and expedite us all finally getting justice. I plan on contacting more over the next several days – until I find one that is, indeed, a mutual match.
Meanwhile, the Board members still have their collective heads buried in other body parts – apparently so scared about what is getting ready to happen, that they are afraid to even respond to me – or other owners.
Stay tuned – we are about to live in VERY interesting times.
***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! *****
The following is a standard, automated email that I plan on sending to 200-400 law firms in Knox, Blount and Sevier Counties with the goal of soliciting the best legal representation in our upcoming class action lawsuits concerning Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
We will probably leave this posted for 1-2 days here on the blog before we do our mass email. This will give other owners a chance to contribute other ideas and suggestions for expanding these lawsuits to include any grievances I may have overlooked in drafting the below RFP. Then, again, we may just go ahead and get this thing started – and amend the RFP before choosing a winning law firm. We do want to do all we can to expedite getting these lawsuits filed so that we can finally start seeing the desperately needed changes at Deer Ridge for ALL owners’ benefit.
We also plan on sending copies of this email with links to the Deer Ridge Owners blog to all of the local media. We believe that many in the TV, radio and print media will find the shenanigans of Joe Thomas and the Board VERY interesting since so much of the population is involved with home owners associations – and their own petty tyrants. As a matter of fact, this may be of so much interest, especially with the Great Recession, that national media picks up on the story.
The great parts about this media exposure is that it will drive a huge amount of traffic to the blog and the news stories will go to the top of every search engine for queries on Deer Ridge, Gatlinburg rentals, Gatlinburg real estate, properties for sale, etc. Also, some of the news media have “On Your Side” spotlight investigations that might help us expedite resolution of so many of the problems we have here at Deer Ridge. And, with everything laid out so completely on the blog, there is already a wealth of content readily available for review.
Stay tuned to this blog for updates to this pivotal legal action aimed at finally giving ALL owners full access to the information they deserve about their investment and property – and to stop the misallocation of Common Expenses and have the costs of ownership at Deer Ridge reflective of the property’s Master Deed and Bylaws.
Request For Proposal – Legal Representation For Lawsuit(s) Against Homeowners Association Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, Ridge Management Ltd., Ridge Resort Realty and Individual Board Members and Its General Manager
Summary
I am seeking legal representation either as an individual, or as class representative, for either one direct lawsuit, or as one or two class action lawsuits against our Home Owners Association, its Board of Directors individually, and related parties, for their substantive, multiple violations of our Master Deed and Bylaws, along with suspected fraudulent activities – with expected actual, aggregate damages ranging from $2 million to $10 million.
(While the below discussion anticipates class action, I also want to do all that I can to expedite these suits. As a consequence, if it accelerates results, these issues can be all litigated with me as an individual plaintiff – with the success of my case being used later as a precedent for class action.)
The Proposed Defendants
The proposed defendants for these lawsuits include
Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, AKA GGRC, AKA Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee and its affiliated subsidiaries, Ridge Management Limited, AKA RML and Ridge Resort Realty.
Its General Manager Joe Thomas, individually.
Its current board members, individually, including: Luther Parker, Tom Reise, Larry Ohm, David Barone and Margie Duncan. Full contact information on all members of the Board and for Joe Thomas can be found by clicking Joe and The Board.
Hickman and Company, PC, the accounting firm that has “audited” the GGRC and RML financial statements for the past several years.
Other, prior members of the Board of Directors, individually, to be named at a later time.
Who Am I – And Why Do I Want to Be The Representative In A Class Action Suit?
I have been the owner of a 1-1 condo at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort for the past 50 months. I am also the operator of the blog, www.DeerRidgeOwners.com which details many owner complaints and our perception of multiple violations committed by General Manager Joe Thomas and the Board of Directors of our Homeowners Association.
One of the primary violations we seek to litigate is the Board’s capricious and biased allocation of Common Expenses in direct violation of the Master Deed and Bylaws – and the clear Percentage for all Common Expenses set there by unit type.
According to our calculations, this one violation has already harmed me, individually, with an overcharge of more than $10,000 in the past four years we have owned here – and I continue to be overcharged monthly with an ongoing annual overcharge of more than $2,400 just for the HOA fee, water and cable TV charges. This does not include the additional $1,200 overcharge resulting from the just announced special assessment which requires all owners to aggregately fund $353,500.
All 1-1 Units at Deer Ridge, all of them virtually identical to our unit in size and design, have suffered, and continue to suffer, my same level of overcharges – past, present and future.
Also, as a result of this $2,400 overcharge, along with similar overcharges when it comes to special assessments, these actions have significantly reduced the market value of all 1-1 units by thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. Likewise, these overcharges on 1-1 units may have forced prior owners to prematurely sell their units, forced some into foreclosure and even bankruptcy.
There are 30 1-1 units, representing 36% of the 84 total units at Deer Ridge, that all have identical claims for this first class action suit. This lawsuit would represent myself along with the other current 29 owners PLUS dozens, if not hundreds, of prior 1-1 owners who have been similarly aggrieved.
The amount of actual, direct losses for this class could easily range from $600,000 to $3 million in claims against Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, AKA GGRC, AKA Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee and its affiliated subsidiaries, Ridge Management Limited, AKA RML and Ridge Resort Realty, its Board, individual board members and General Manager and Principal Broker, Joe Thomas.
The above estimates are just for the out-of-pocket overcharges and do not represent money damages, punitive damages, interest, court costs and legal fees. And, these are just the amounts for the overcharges to the 1-1 units – and do not include the other claims that ALL owners have against these same parties for other violations of the Master Deed and Bylaws which are described below. Continue reading Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits
We have pretty much decided that Small Claims Court is, well, too small…for all of our claims we keep uncovering at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Based on our research, we are now aggressively pursuing either one and probably two class-action lawsuits against GGRC, RML, and individuals who we believe have been guilty of either gross negligence and/or fraud having to do with their involvement with the management and operation of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. We will probably also name Hickman and Company, PC, the accounting firm that has “audited” the GGRC and RML financial statements for the past several years.
Good News
The good news is that if we can prove there was gross negligence and/or fraud involved, then those who committed the negligence and/or fraud can be held individually liable – and we can get our monies from them personally – instead of GGRC. And, that applies to both current AND past members of the Board.
More good news is that it appears that I can initiate the class-action lawsuit(s) by myself – and others can opt-in later if they want to share in the award.
The other good news about class-action lawsuits is that it appears that you can find lots of high-powered attorneys who will handle the case strictly on a contingency basis – which means it will cost little or nothing to bring suit and FINALLY start solving all the massive problems here at Deer Ridge.
As soon as the lawsuit(s) is (are) filed, specific motions will be immediately filed for significant production of documents, interrogatories requiring completion by all Board members, past and present, employees and managers of GGRC and RML – finally getting us the data that the Board is trying so hard to block. Once we have those documents, we expect to uncover TONS of additional claims.
Sometime, you have to pay for out of pocket costs like filing fees, court reporters for depositions, etc…so it may take $1,000 to $2,000 for these – other times, even these costs are covered by the contingency fee. Sometimes, this even includes the forensic accounting costs – for having an independent accounting firm audit ALL the books and records under the assumption that there is malfeasance to uncover.
Why TWO Class-Action Suits?
Right now, we are looking at having two separate class-action suits:
Check out our new Deer Ridge Owners webcam for the current view from our balcony!
Just click the photo for the most recent update. Updated every 5 minutes.
Top 10 Cam Award!
Our new Cobbly Nob TN site was just chosen as an Earthcam Top 10 Webcam!
All of this in just our first two weeks of operation - and before we install our new wide angle, high definition lens! Stay tuned for even better images!
EarthCam, Inc. is the global leader in providing webcam content, technology and services and ranks among the top 1% of all websites. EarthCam.com is the world’s favorite webcam network and the EarthCam Network cameras have been seen on top news shows, including CNN’s Headline News.
New YouTube Channel For Deer Ridge Owners!
Check out ALL of our videos on our new YouTube Channel for Deer Ridge Owners:
We already have videos that will walk you around the whole property and give you reviews from past guests and tourists. Find out what they REALLY have to say about Deer Ridge!
We are adding even more videos in the next few weeks - so check out our Deer Ridge Owners Channel often!
Update: Just added two new videos for a total of 20 videos so far! Check them out!
Owner Files $3 Million Lawsuit Against HOA, General Manager And Board Members
A homeowner in Gatlinburg, Tennessee has filed a $3 Million Lawsuit against his HOA, General Manager And All Individual Board Members at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
In response to their meritless, retaliatory $1 Million defamation lawsuit against me, I have now filed a $3 Million lawsuit against Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club HOA and Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise, all as individuals.
If you believe in free speech as much as we do, we need your help - no matter where in America you may live.
The Deer Ridge HOA board and individual board members have filed a $1 Million Lawsuit against me in their ongoing attempts to stop this blog and have its contents removed. Click Press Release for details.
This power clique wants to continue to block free speech on this property and to keep their illegitimate secrets hidden from other owners.
They are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars of other owners' money on legal fees to keep themselves in power while they continue to break both Tennessee state law and Deer Ridge property law.
We need your help with the legal fees that will be required to force them to abide by the law - and insure that Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is entitled to free speech like the rest of America.
If you would like to join with others who believe in free speech and believe that all of the 305,000 Home Owner Associations across the nation should be protected from tyrannical boards that ignore the laws, please click the
Donate Button below.
Even a donation of just a few dollars would be very greatly appreciated as a way of showing that we have financial support from thousands of Americans for these important issues!
Thanks so much to all of those of you who have already contributed!
Please help us broadcast this Press Release to others you know who can spread the word. You are welcome to link to this site from Twitter, Facebook or other sites.
With your help we can fight and win this $1 Million lawsuit - and keep this blog active - and an inspiration and model for other HOA Abuse Blogs across the nation.
gross negligence and/or fraud having to do with their involvement with the management and operation of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. We will probably also name Hickman and Company, PC, the accounting firm that has “audited” the GGRC and RML financial statements for the past several years.
Owner Comments