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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.
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.
Just click the picture or click
Investment Analysis
Gross Negligence – Or Is It Fraud? Legalese On
GENERAL DISCLAIMER FOR ALL PAGES AND POSTS
Note: The following, and the information on any and all other posts and pages by me about General Manager Joe Thomas, GGRC, RML and /or the Board of Directors and its members, or any related topics, are my personal opinions based on my ongoing investigation into the actions and inactions of the GGRC and RML Board of Directors and / or Joe Thomas, General Manager.
While I believe these allegations to be true based on my objective analysis, these opinions remain as only allegations until I, or others, prove things in court.
My goal is to offer all owners all the information and evidence that I have available so that everyone can reach their own conclusions.
Legalese - And Powered Wig - Off
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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.
Please Register To Log In And Leave Your Comments Please register first - so you can participate in the discussions by making comments that reflect YOUR opinion.
When you register, please include your unit number so we can confirm you are really an owner!
You are welcome to submit as many comments as you want on any of the topics - or even on a new topic. This is the time and the place to finally have YOUR voice heard with regard to your investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
I would ask that you include your Deer Ridge unit number at the end of each of your posts so other owners get to know you - however, it is not required. I understand some owners may want anonymity for a variety of reasons - but I will need you to show me that you are an owner.
I may post non-owner comments from time to time if I believe they add to the discussion. When this happens I will note that it is a non-owner comment.
Bear in mind, any and all comments you make here can be seen by all one billion folks on the Internet, worldwide!
Thanks!
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"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.
As of today, we have filed our first request for documents as part of our response to the $1 million lawsuit brought by GGRC and the Gang of Six and the $3 million lawsuit I have filed against GGRC, and individually against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Tom Riese, David Barone and Margie Duncan.
As [...]
If you have not paid the Asinine Assessment for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, you probably have already been sued by Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six.
In addition to their specious $1 million lawsuit against me, I have also been served with a Sessions Court suit for the non-payment of the assessment [...]
HOA Management Versus Rental Property Management
Since there is no legally elected Board of Directors, and hence, no legally hired General Manager at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, I have begun the quest for a competent HOA management company.
This is not to be confused with a rental property management company such as RML that worries about rentals [...]
Three Ways To Cut Your Electric Bill At Deer Ridge Mountain Resort
The cost of electricity has been going though the roof. Yeah, I know, you heard it here first.
But, have you wondered why your electric bill at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is so high? Well, we’ve identified three possible reasons.
#1: Apparent Theft Of Services
One of [...]
Summary: Do you realize that HALF of all HOA fees collected each YEAR from ALL Deer Ridge Owners are illegitimately used to pay the $152,000 a year negative cash flow of RML???
No wonder we never have ANY reserves for Deer Ridge – and the illegitimate “board” tries to force all owners to fund an illegitimate $353,500 [...]
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.
The lawsuit against GGRC et al is [...]
Joe Thomas was quick to unequivocally blame me personally, by name, in the recent “Annual Meeting” for being responsible for the slow sales at Deer Ridge.
Gee, really, Joe?
It has been my personal belief that through his position as Principal Broker of the on site real estate company, Joe Thomas has attempted to overtly control [...]
Once again, Joe Thomas and the “board” have used GGRC monies and an immense amount of time at last month’s “Annual Meeting” for their continued defamation and vilification of me in my home community of Deer Ridge.
These inappropriate actions, along with the content of past mailings to all owners, will most probably be used as [...]
“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -George Orwell
Tennessee state law gives all owners in an HOA the RIGHT to view the books and records of their HOA.
Joe Thomas and the “board” have finally acquiesced to providing copies of books and records. [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Do you realize that you and I – and every one of the 30 one bedroom owners (36% of all units) at Deer Ridge – are currently being overcharged by 82% every single month? And, Luther Parker, the “board” president, said in a recent board meeting that he believes that this 82% overcharge for 1-1 [...]
As I noted in my post, Deer Ridge Board Abuse Of Power Continues – Vote For Walkways Improperly Done, Joe Thomas and the Board have continued their abuse of power.
As the previous post says, the Board is REQUIRED to gain the approval of at least 90% of the mortgage holders of all loans on all [...]
We have just hired an established real estate-focused law firm in Knoxville to begin our legal pursuits against GGRC, Joe Thomas and the current Board of Directors of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
We have already paid the necessary retainer – so watch this blog closely for upcoming developments.
Do YOU believe that ALL owners of Deer Ridge [...]
This post is in specific response to ONE of the many lies and gross misrepresentations contained in the Deer Ridge Board Attack Letter sent to all owners about me.
They are apparently SO desperate to discredit me, and the truths told here on this blog, that they are out on a vendetta to attempt to discredit [...]
Did you rent your Deer Ridge Mountain Resort unit through Ridge Management Ltd., RML, for all of 2009?
Wonder how your unit’s performance stacked up against the other units for rental? Well, here’s a chance to find out.
An owner of one of the 2-2 units at Deer Ridge provided me a copy of their year end [...]
**** GUEST POST ***
Note: The way blogs work is that one person makes posts and others can add comments to each of those posts. Since I want to give ALL owners a REAL voice in the their property and investment at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, I will sometimes elevate a comment to a [...]
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 [...]
Yes, I am serious.
Your Deer Ridge Board of Director led by Luther Parker and Joe Thomas, the General Manager are SO paranoid that they actually had a police officer blocking entrance to this weekend’s Board and Budget Meeting.
No “regular” owners were allowed to attend the meeting – until they were literally frisked and all of [...]
*** Updated Post – Now With Photos By Inspector ***
The following is an inspection report dated November 9, 2009 that was ordered and paid for by Todd Novak, one of the permanent residents and owners here at Deer Ridge.
Todd has been very concerned about the deplorable repairs that were completed by Joe Thomas’ chosen contractors. [...]
Some Blog Statistics
I started this Deer Ridge Owners Blog about six weeks ago.
During that time, we have had:
38 posts with 82 comments, six pages and 20 different categories. (I am getting a LOT of other, mostly encouraging, email from owners and others who support our cause – but who prefer, currently, to remain anonymous.)
We have [...]
I just added a new Deer Ridge document that you can download: The Monthly Newsletter for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Home Owners’ Association between October 2005 to August 2009.
There are a few missing newsletter but most of them are there. If anyone has any that are missing or predate our ownership, they can mail [...]
***** 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 [...]
At approximately 3:45 PM on Friday October 16, 2009, Employee, and General Manager of GGRC, Joe Thomas accosted my wife Janet in the laundry room of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
Janet had been talking with Janice, head of housekeeping, while she did laundry. A few minutes after Janice left, while Janet was alone in the laundry [...]
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 [...]
Just did a quickie analysis on the $1,000 across the board assessment done by the Board a few years ago.
As you can see, the Board was either grossly negligent OR fraudulent in charging ALL owners the same amount for that assessment – instead of applying the REQUIRED Master Deed Percentages:
$ 1,000.00
Assessment
84
[...]
This is a copy of an email sent to Luther, The Board of Directors and Joe Thomas on Sunday, October 4, 2009:
Luther,
I have not had ANY response back from you – in spite of my investigation uncovering MAJOR problems with GGRC and RML with the way things have been and are being done at Deer [...]
I have special postcards on order right now that will be mailed to all owners at Deer Ridge.
The goal is to let all owners know about the new Deer Ridge Owners Blog – so they can know what is going on with their property, participate in the online discussions and get to know their co-owners.
You [...]
***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! ***** ***** Major News Flash! *****
This gets a little involved but could have MASSIVE consequences to everything happening at Deer Ridge, money wise.
I promise you – this is SO major – it is worth your time to read and understand because of the immediate, huge impact [...]
Luther,
Yesterday, I received the below email from Employee Joe Thomas regarding maintenance on our unit at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – indicating that:
“At this time, due to reduced staffing in our maintenance department and
their duties & responsibilities to the GGRC common area and the RML
Participants, I am unable to honor your current request [...]
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Help Us Fight The $1 Million Lawsuit 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.
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!
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The Latest Defamation By The Deer Ridge Board
Once again, Joe Thomas and the “board” have used GGRC monies and an immense amount of time at last month’s “Annual Meeting” for their continued defamation and vilification of me in my home community of Deer Ridge.
These inappropriate actions, along with the content of past mailings to all owners, will most probably be used as [...]