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.
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.
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.
Owner Comments