UPDATE:  We have now filed a comprehensive $3 Million counter suit against GGRC, Joe Thomas and each board member, individually.  Click $3 Million Lawsuit for details. 

The GGRC Board for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort has filed a $1 million lawsuit against me.

They are ready to spend tens of thousand of OUR dollars in their attempt to stifle me and other Deer Ridge Owners who will no longer tolerate their abuse of power.

Here’s a clue, to Joey and the boys:  I am not the least bit intimidated and will not stop my efforts to force you to conform to both Tennessee and Deer Ridge law.  I will not stop my efforts to uncover your secrets you are trying so desperately to hide from all owners.  You know as well as I do that your lawsuit is completely frivolous and totally without merit and we will fight you in court.  If you expected a quick capitulation as a result of your attempts at intimidation, you are wrong.

By the way, I noticed that your attorney Chuck Sexton is not the attorney representing you on this lawsuit.  Is that because he understands how frivolous your lawsuit is – and that he did not want to risk sanctions from the Court?

Below is a press release that is already being sent to more than 500 media outlets across the state of Tennessee and the nation.  This includes local as well as national media.  It is also being sent to all local and state government agencies across Tennessee and to federal agencies that control policy.  It is being sent to local, state and federal lawmakers.

We have contacted the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Media Bloggers Association since Joey and the “board” have chosen to once again attempt to stifle freedom of speech.  We are hopeful that they will be interested in participating in this lawsuit since it now has national implications as to what can, and cannot, be said on a blog without the threat of a $1 million lawsuit.

We are also reaching out with our press release to dozens of groups and agencies like AARP, Consumer Reports and the Community Associations Institute and others that understand that the growth of HOA organizations is accelerating and something needs to be done by regulators to ensure that the kind of abuse of power that we suffer through at Deer Ridge needs to be stopped or prevented at all 305,000 HOA communities across the country.

We believe that both of these issues have huge national impacts – and we hope that others from across the country will join with us in both protecting our American rights to free speech and to create policy changes and new laws to protect the 60 million Americans who live in HOA communities.

PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gatlinburg, Tennessee Home Owners Association Files $1 Million Lawsuit
Against Blog Author and Property Owner

A Tennessee Home Owners Association has filed a $1 million lawsuit against one of its property owners for defamation, libel, slander, and false light invasion of privacy.  The property owner, Robert Goodman, has operated a blog that has heavily criticized the actions of the HOA’s general manager and board of directors for alleged violations of both its own HOA controlling documents and Tennessee state law. The HOA board has filed the lawsuit in an attempt to force virtually all content to be removed from the blog and prevent any new entries.

Gatlinburg, TN – April 23, 2010 – According to the Community Associations Institute, during 2009, Home Owner Associations, also known as HOAs, controlled nearly 25 million homes – or more than 22% of the 113 million total American households.  This number is expected to grow to over 40% during the next few years.

However, many property owners complain that their Home Owner Associations operate as if it was a quasi-government entity with dictatorial powers that are not properly regulated at either the state or federal level. Often, these HOAs are illegitimately and improperly administered by members who abuse their position by ignoring the written regime documents that are intended to control the powers and actions of boards and managers.

Robert Goodman, a 62 year old, semi-retired executive with three kids in college, is convinced that he owns a property that is being grossly mismanaged by its general manager and HOA board.  Goodman is an owner at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, an 84 unit condo development in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

When his HOA’s board continually blocked all attempts at seeing the books and records or even getting the names of other owners, Goodman created a blog at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com so that all owners could easily participate in discussions about what was really happening at their property.  Now, he is being sued for over $1 million by his own HOA because of that blog and its contents.  A complete copy of the entire lawsuit is available for download at his blog.

Goodman said, “We’ve owned this property for nearly six years.  I’ve made dozens of requests to get copies or view the Administrators’ Book that is required by state law to show, in chronological order, the income, expenses and supporting vouchers for every transaction by the property’s HOA.  The general manager, who has essentially controlled this property for a decade, and the board of directors have refused to even show me or other interested owners the Administrators’ Book.  This is a direct violation of Tennessee state law 66-27-113.”

“What conclusions would you reach if your bank or stock broker adamantly refused all requests to show you the books on your bank or brokerage accounts for 6 years?  Would you conclude that something was very suspicious about the way your money was being handled? Would you be equally suspicious about the secrets that motivated their refusal?  Those are the conclusions that I, and other owners, have reached regarding the management of our investment at Deer Ridge.”

Goodman added, “Not only are they violating state law, the board has continually violated the written requirements of our own master deed and bylaws with multiple abuses of power including spending over $120,000 of owners’ money on unauthorized projects.  They continue to overcharge a third of all property owners by 82% for their monthly assessments.  They also violated Tennessee state law by refusing to even provide a list of all owners and their addresses.  I believe that this refusal was part of a concerted attempt by those in power to block any communications between owners so that concerns would not be raised about their questionable management and the misuse of our funds. It was only under threat of a lawsuit that I was able to finally get the owner list.  This board and general manger are still trying to do all they can to interfere with our freedom of speech.  This $1 million lawsuit against me shows just how far they are willing to go.”

He continued, “I even went to the expense of recently hiring an independent attorney to provide us with a 13 point legal opinion just to make sure that our claims were valid.  On 12 of the 13 points, the attorney found that our assertions were correct and the board was at major fault.  Not surprisingly, the board completely ignored the entire legal opinion.”

Goodman, who is an MBA, spent 15 years running his own real estate company and 16 years as a management consultant to thousands of start up companies CEOs worldwide. He knows something about management, real estate, finance, financials and due diligence – and he knows something about the Web and how to set up a blog.

“Virtually all of my business for the past 16 years has come from the Web.  So, I already knew how to leverage the Internet with my knowledge of what is required to produce web content.  Setting up the blog was easy.  Adding all the content about all the many things that are wrong at Deer Ridge has taken man-months of time and effort.”

“I am a big believer in the power of the Web – and the massive benefits it offers for democratizing information and making that information easily accessible.  To me, it seemed like a natural way to let other owners know what was really happening at this property.  The blog let me fully document multiple examples of how our rights have been blatantly abused by the power clique which has controlled this property for years.”

The Deer Ridge HOA lawsuit alleges that Goodman is guilty of “defamation, libel, slander, false light invasion of privacy, procurement of breach of contract, and intentional interference with business relationships.”  The suit attempts to block him “from further publishing matters concerning Plaintiffs in such a way that casts Plaintiffs in a false light, from further inducing persons to breach contracts…and from further interfering with Plaintiffs’ business relationships.”  It also attempts to force him to remove the existing content from his blog.

The HOA also is asking the Court to “assess compensatory damages against Defendant in an amount of no less than $250,000” and to “assess punitive damages against Defendant in an amount of no less than $750,000” along with costs and legal fees. The HOA also wants to “assess damages against Defendant in an amount of five hundred dollars ($500) per day for each day Defendant has published and/or continues to publish the statements described herein and/or any other libelous, defamatory, and/or false light statements, regarding Plaintiffs.”

Goodman responded, “The claims in their lawsuit are so completely frivolous on every single point of issue – that sanctions against the plaintiffs’ attorney may be involved.  Once again, the board is wasting owners’ money – in this case, tens of thousands of dollars of our money on this lawsuit – just to protect their own empire and their own secrets. The blog speaks for itself and has appropriate disclaimer language.  Their $1 million lawsuit is simply a preemptive attempt at intimidation to quash my own lawsuit against the HOA and its board members.  The blog made it clear that I intend to force them to abide by Tennessee state law and Deer Ridge law.  We were already seeking an attorney to represent us in our claims on the dozen points contained in the legal opinion.  Now, I need an attorney to handle both their frivolous claims and the original dozen points of issue – and get these matters finally settled for the benefit of all owners.  Many of us want to find out what secrets the general manager and board are so desperate to hide from all the other owners.”

Goodman added, “This case could have far reaching implications on at least two national issues:  Firstly, what exactly are the rights to freedom of speech for blog authors everywhere – what can and cannot be published?  Secondly, what is going to be done about the tyrannical and illegitimate abuses that HOA homeowners are forced to endure daily in many of the 305,000 HOA communities that house over 60 million Americans nationwide?”  Goodman said he hopes that both the freedom of speech issue and the lawsuit gain the attention of the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

For the last issue, Goodman concluded, “Our state governments in Tennessee and many other states desperately need to develop new regulations with powerful enforcement teeth.  They need to address the blatant abuse of powers at these fiefdoms that serve as quasi-governments for so many folks – and that adversely impact the rights of so many lives.  Homeowners need a way of forcing their HOA to abide by the law – without having to spend a fortune on legal fees.”

Contact:  Robert Goodman
Tel: 865-365-5962
Email: Litigation @ DeerRidgeOwners.com
Website: www.DeerRidgeOwners.com

###

That’s it so far – but stay tuned.  We believe a lot of good things will be happening in the next few weeks.

If you would like to download the entire 112 page lawsuit, click Lawsuit.  If you would like to download the actual press release, click Press Release.

If you are with the press or the government and would like to schedule an interview, please email me at Litigation @ DeerRidgeOwners.com.

If you would like to donate to the Deer Ridge Legal Defense Fund, just click the Donate Button below. All contributions, no matter how small, are appreciated.

• Audits At Deer Ridge – The Fallacy and Joe Thomas – The Deer Ridge $10 Million Man
• FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board
• Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits
• Do NOT Make Your Deer Ridge March 1st Assessment Payment – It Is NOT A Valid Assessment
• File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission

The above is their “evidence.”  I invite you to read each of these in their entirety and make your own judgment as to whether I am guilty of all that they claim.  Especially in light of the disclaimer that is in the left column of every single page on this blog:

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

I would say that is pretty clear with regard to my opinions about things.  What do you think?

Deer Ridge – The Mind Map

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea.  I use these all the time to work with my clients as a way to convey complex planning ideas.

I decided to use one for the current pivotal problems at Deer Ridge to better convey the issues to the attorneys we will be working with on our lawsuit(s) – and even as a way to make things clearer to the FBI once they start to investigate the activities of Joe Thomas and the GGRC HOA Board.

This image version is hard to see – so click on the image to get a much more readable Acrobat version.

Once you see it in Acrobat, use the magnification controls to zoom in – and then use the Hand control to move around the image.  Sorry it is so big – but then again, so are the problems we have at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Please let me know of other issues I should include on Version 2.

PS:  This is also now under Documents You Can Download.

Some Blog Statistics

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

During that time, we have had:

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

Here’s a screen grab of the stats:

Legal Update

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After The First Win…

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

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

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

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

PS:  On Suing Ourselves

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

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

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

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

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

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.

It is our contention that the Board and the General Manager knowingly ignored the Master Deed Percentage and by doing so, committed fraud against all 1-1 unit owners.

The Primary Problems And Issues We Want To Solve With Litigation Regarding The Board and General Manager

• The Board and General Manager refuse to follow the requirements of the Master Deed and Bylaws.
• They refuse to allocate charges in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages resulting in all 30 one bedroom units, comprising 36% of all units, paying TWICE the amounts that should be paid for monthly HOA fees, Common Expenses and special allocations.  This has been going on for years, resulting in me personally being overcharged by more than $10,000 during the past 50 months.
• The Board started two operating businesses, RML and Ridge Resort Realty, and charged all owners with monthly and special assessments to pay for the costs of operating these companies.  The Master Deed and Bylaws do not provide for these being approved Common Expenses and the Board has misappropriated funds for these illegal operating companies.
• The Board refuses to communicate and answer questions from owners and be held accountable for their actions and inactions.
• They refuse to allow owners to have copies of any and all books and records of GGRC, RML and related entities and persons and any and all associated costs.  They do all that they can to block all access to information that all owners should be able to easily access about their own HOA.
• They recently issued a special assessment to all owners in the aggregate amount of $353,500.  In spite of sweeping line items of “Wood = $40,000 and Nuts and Bolts = $50,000″, they refuse to allow any owners to have copies of the underlying bids that justify these amounts.
• With regard to the special assessment, we want to quash it for all owners – until such time as each and every underlying number is justified to the satisfaction of a majority of owners – and even then, when the timeline for collection of funds versus expenditures of monies make sense.
• In spite of mail tampering complaints that have been filed with postal inspectors, the Board refuses to install individualized mailboxes that are secure, in and out, for all owners – and that comply with post office requirements for a residential multi-family property.
• They approved improvements and new construction in total amounts exceeding $100,000 – when any such improvements require a 75% vote of the owners according to Article XII of the Master Deed.  However, no such vote is ever taken.
• They discriminate against those owners who do not rent their units through RML and discriminate even more harshly against those owners who live in their units.
• General Manager Joe Thomas has personally accosted several owners, including my wife, in a threatening manner, yelling that she is not allowed to talk to HIS employees or guests who are renting units from RML -  he attempts to intimidate owners into believing he has some right and authority to control the owners’ free speech.  The Board, when informed of these unacceptable and nefarious actions, has done nothing to control, censor or terminate this out-of-control employee.
• The Board refuses to allow the Board meetings to be recorded with either audio or video recording devices so that the meetings could be shared with all owners who are spread coast to coast.
• The Board requires two weeks’ notice if any owners want to attend any Board meeting – and even then may not allow owners to participate in the agenda.
• It is our very strong belief that the Board and the General Manager are so resistive to owners’ access to information about their property and investment in an attempt to hide wrongful actions and/or fraud that go well beyond the above mentioned issues.  Until we get access to all information and can complete a forensic audit of all books, we cannot know the scope or the existence of this alleged fraud.

Additional Problems And Issues Caused By Joe Thomas as General Manager and Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty

From the Ridge Resort Realty web site:

Ridge Management Ltd., Inc. (RML) is the rental agency for Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.  RML is owned by Gatlinburg Golf & Racquet Club, the Homeowners Association for the owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort Condominiums. This rental program is operated by the Board of Directors of Gatlinburg Golf & Racquet Club, and the Board members are elected by the home owners.

Joe Thomas serves as General Manager of both GGRC and RML and as Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty, another affiliated company of RML – creating a HUGE issue with conflicts of interest to the detriment of Deer Ridge Owners.  Joe Thomas and the Board run this property as if it were a motel – publicly chastising and villainizing those owners who do not choose to rent their units using RML – or, God forbid, live in their units.

We contend that through his position as Principal Broker of the on site real estate company, Joe Thomas has attempted to control the ownership of units here by encouraging only those potential buyers who indicate a willingness to rent their units through RML while dissuading others who want to live in their unit, not rent it, or if they want to rent it themselves.  Other brokers in the area have indicated an unwillingness to work with Joe Thomas or list units at Deer Ridge or even co-broker units because of his strong bias to only sell to those who want to use RML.  Because of this inherent conflict of interest, the market values of units at Deer Ridge have been severely depressed when it comes to resale, thereby penalizing all owners.

We believe this negative market impact on resell prices is actionable for money damages exceeding $1 million in a class action suit representing all current and past owners of Deer Ridge units.

The Board’s Sole Defense For All Of Their Actions

The Board and General Manager have ruled this property for years as if it is their own private domain, their own private corporation – with them choosing what rules to follow from the Master Deed and what rules to ignore – in order to run this 84 unit condo property as an operating company for revenue – instead of properly administering it as a home owners association to take care of the limited business requirements of a small residential development.

In order to get away with their fiefdom, they have always answered the criticisms of other owners by solely relying on their intentional or unintentional misinterpretation of Article V of the Master Deed:

Their ingenuous interpretation of this Article V is based on the phrase “unless provided otherwise by the Board of Directors.”  In their interpretation, this one clause, by itself, gives the Board TOTAL power to “provide” otherwise on virtually ALL decisions that they want made at Deer Ridge. With this interpretation, they have:

• Ignored the required dates for annual meetings.
• Started and operated a for-profit company, Ridge Management Ltd., and required owners to fund this company with monthly HOA fees and special assessments – even though it is NOT an approved Common Expense!
• Started and operated a for-profit company, Ridge Resort Realty, and required owners to fund this company with monthly HOA fees and special assessments – even though it is NOT an approved Common Expense!
• They spent over $80,000 of owners’ money on a pavilion that has been an economic fiasco – even though they never sought or received the required 75% vote of the owners.
• They chose their own, completely arbitrary allocation of HOA fees, pass through charges for other expenses like water and cable TV, special assessments – even though the costs for these must be made in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages.
• The list goes on – but the point is that this one clause is ALL they have had to point to in order to totally justify their actions.

It is our contention that this language does NOT provide for that power, that the Board and the General Manager KNEW it did not give them that power – and as a consequence, their reliance on that clause represents fraudulent behavior that has cost current and past owners MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

If we can show with our class action lawsuits that this clause is NOT the trump card for all the rest of the Master Deed and the Bylaws, the proposed defendants will have ZERO other defense to point to – and their complete house of cards will quickly collapse.

The Real Meaning of Article V

Article V ONLY refers to “obligations of the Co-Owners under any agreements entered into by the Association…”  The most fundamental point is that the Association is limited by the Master Deed and the Bylaws as to what they are ALLOWED to agree to.  The Association cannot enter into any agreement that is outside their power – and those limitations are set by the Master Deed and Bylaws.  Hence:

• The Board cannot set any agreements that change the Master Deed Percentage.
• They cannot change the definition of what are Common Expenses – and then charge all owners to support for-profit companies like RML and Ridge Resort Management.
• They cannot sign an agreement to build an $80,000 pavilion when the Master Deed and ignore the 75% owner vote required described in the Master Deed.

Clearly, the Board’s all important interpretation of Article V is not only nonsense – it is a fraudulent attempt by this small group of insiders to usurp the power of the 84 owners and run this property as a risky property management company.  Worse still is the fact that they benefit from the property management company’s operation – especially General Manager Joe Thomas – without the usual risks of running a business.  Because they know when there is a deficient – or they make bad decisions – or run out of money for whatever reason, they can just go to the owners, declare a special assessment and force the owners to fund their for-profit business!

It is our additional contention, that not only was all of this part fraudulent – but that certain individuals have additionally ripped off this property and its owners of untold amounts of money from insider deals, kickbacks and other nefarious schemes that have personally enriched a few at the expense of the many.

Undisclosed Additional Risks From Purchasing Deer Ridge Condos

Purchasing a condo unit offers the usual risks associated with any real estate purchase.  Because of the inappropriate actions of the Board and the General Manager, purchasing a condo unit at Deer Ridge has forced all buyers to also participate in the additional and much higher risk of funding operating deficients for two start up companies in the highly competitive businesses of property management and residential real estate brokerage.

These risks have never been properly disclosed to ANY buyers of units at Deer Ridge and are, in themselves, causes for class action representing ALL current and past owners of all unit types at Deer Ridge.

Pertinent Sections From The Master Deed And Bylaws

The following are snippets from the ruling documents for Deer Ridge.

The Master Deed – Property Rights and Percentage of Interest

In order for the Master Deed To Be Amended:

For example, if 100% of ALL owners and all their mortgage holders approved a change from the very explicit Master Deed Percentages, then the Board would have approval then to provide “otherwise” than the Master Deed Percentages….no matter what the General Manager and Board want and wish for, their Article V does not give them the right to change the Master Deed Percentages and Article XII of the Bylaws.

Otherwise, all of the very explicit language of Article XII of the Bylaws below and the specific percentages of the above Exhibit 2 to the Master Deed would not have needed to ever be included!

Article IX Assessments

According to Article IX of The Master Deed – Assessments:  these are the ONLY legitimate reasons that owners can be charged assessments for their unit at Deer Ridge.

Note that the Common Expenses ONLY include what is “necessary for the care, repair, replacement, maintenance, preservation and improvement of the Submitted Property and shall establish and maintain a adequate reserve fund to cover these periodic expenses.”

What that means is that the Board can decide the right amounts for the Common Expenses and charge that to all owners in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages – but they CANNOT go off and set up an operating business and charge owners for funds to operate that business!!!

Hence, Ridge Management, AKA RML Is Illegally Formed And Funded With Owners’ Assessment Dollars!

All owners do NOT benefit from RML (actually, my contention is that no Deer Ridge owners benefit from RML) – so Joe Thomas and the Board, through either gross negligence and/or fraud, have funded RML through illegal assessments to all owners of Deer Ridge.   Additionally, it is my contention that the full extent of this illegal funding to RML has been intentionally hidden in the budgets submitted by Joe Thomas and the Board – and those fraudulent budgets are the budgets shown to all owners.

When I bought my property at Deer Ridge, it was with the idea and knowledge that I was making a real estate investment – with all of the potential risks and rewards that are a normal part of real estate.

However, as a result of the Board and Joe Thomas knowingly and, in my opinion, illegally starting and funding RML, I and all other past and current owners at Deer Ridge have been FORCED to participate in the business risks of an operating business.  In this case, it is for a property management company that does NOT benefit all owners.

This Is The Part That Requires The Board To Have A 75% Vote Of The Owners BEFORE Any Alterations or Additions – Such As The Pavilion And Other Major Improvements

The “Gang Of Five +1″

Article V is all that I know of that they have to hang their hat on…and I am HIGHLY confident that a judge would quickly and easily rule their claim almost laughable in light of the other very specific provisions of the Master Deed and the Bylaws.

My guess is that they have been erroneously, if not intentionally and fraudulently, pointing to this Article V to justify their little fiefdom for years.  Although some board members may have never looked deeper into the rest of the documents, I consider that action alone as gross negligence.  It would be inexcusable that a board member, elected to that position, would not thoroughly read and understand ever nuance of the governing documents for the Association for which they serve.  That’s one reason we will have to litigate this and all the other stuff to finally make these points crystal clear to Joe Thomas and the Board.

The Board and General Manager use this one clause in Article V to bypass everything else in the Master Deed and Bylaws that does not match what they personally want to do – the way they personally want things done.  This “Gang of Five” people who comprise the Board along with the leadership of the long-time General Manager, Joe Thomas, have effectively set up their own kingdom in which they alone get to choose who gets charged how much for what – irrespective of the Master Deed and Bylaws – and bypassing the owners’ participation in the decision making of their investment and their property.

I believe that if we can quickly dismiss any consideration that Article V can ever overrule, or trump, the other requirements of the Master Deed and Bylaws, the Board and Joe Thomas will have no other viable defense of any kind – against ANY of our claims.  This may be so clear cut that we may be able to move for a Summary Judgment on this one point as a predicate for litigating all the other points.

Also, if we can show that they have had knowledge that Article V did not give them the power they so often touted and exercised, then, in my opinion, we can pursue fraud against any and all of them, allowing us to pierce the indemnification clause of the Bylaws and Master Deed – making each of them personally liable for reimbursement and money damages.

The Following All Falls Apart For Joe Thomas and The Board Upon A Ruling that Article V Does NOT Trump And Have Precedence Over The Other Articles In The Master Deed And Bylaws

• All recent annual meetings and the election of officers and board members, approval of all budgets, etc. are all null and void.
• The Board’s dictatorial hold over the HOA and the way money is spent, and in what quantities on whatever they personally want, will be stopped.
• RML and Ridge Resort Realty will be found to be illegally formed and operated – and an invalid Common Expense.
• The Pavilion and other major capital improvements will be found to have been done without proper approval of 75% of the owners.
• The withholding of copies of all books and records to any and all owners will be invalid.

Points We Want To Litigate:

• Decision by the Court that Article V of the Master Deed in no way gives the Board and/or the General Manager the right to circumvent or trump the other provisions of the Master Deed and/or Bylaws – and does not give the Board and/or the General Manager carte blanche to bypass the vote and opinions of the owners of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.
• That the Board must ALWAYS use complete and constant applicability of the Master Deed Percentages to EVERY cost, monthly fee, assessment, etc. for all units at Deer Ridge.
• Recovery of our $10,000 plus overcharge by the Board not following the Master Deed Percentages – along with interest at the highest legal rate, at least treble damages, court costs and legal fees – plus additional, other full reimbursements and/or damages for all other wrongdoings committed by Joe Thomas and/or the Board.
• Decision by the Court that the formation and operation of Ridge Management Limited, AKA RML, is not, in any way, a Common Expense, for GGRC as defined by the Master Deed and Bylaws and, as a consequence, any and all costs, fees, charges and assessments related to the formation and operation of RML were wrongly allocated to the past and current owners of units at Deer Ridge.
• That the Board and General Manager Joe Thomas were either grossly negligent and/or fraudulent in their attempts to ignore the cost allocations of the Master Deed Percentages; move forward with the illegal formation and operation of RML; and the construction of the pavilion at the property and other capital improvements were done without the required 75% vote of the owners as provided for in Article XII of the Master Deed.
• That, if the Board and the General Manager are found to be grossly negligent and/or fraudulent, that:
  • They are no longer protected in any way with the indemnification clauses of the Master Deed or Bylaws.
  • They must hire their own attorneys, separate from those attorneys representing GGRC, RML or Ridge Resort Realty.
  • They are individually liable, both jointly and severally, for any and all claims for repayment of misallocations, penalties, interest, court costs and attorney fees.
• That the Board’s and General Manager Joe Thomas’ dependence upon Article V of the Master Deed to usurp complete power over the owners of Deer Ridge was fraudulent because they knowingly were wrongfully referencing that Article to deny owners access to information and to block demands that the Master Deed be fully followed.
• That the Board and Joe Thomas, or his replacement, are required to provide all owners with copies of any and all books and records related in any way to the ownership and operation of GGRC, RML and or the operations of the Common Property.
• That an independent auditor be hired and paid for by GGRC and placed under my administration and direction to complete a comprehensive forensic audit of every dollar spent that in any way supported or funded any activity or monies spend regarding GGRC, RML or Ridge Resort Realty, their employees and all other direct and indirect costs associated in any way with GGRC or any related entity or person.
• That, having resolved that RML was wrongfully formed and operated, that:
  • An independent auditor be hired and paid for by GGRC and placed under my administration and direction to complete a comprehensive forensic audit of every dollar spent that in any way supported or funded RML or Ridge Resort Realty, its employees and all other direct and indirect costs associated in any way with RML and Ridge Resort Realty.
  • That those amounts that funded RML and Ridge Resort Realty be returned to those owners who paid them.
  • That the individuals who served on the  Board and as General Manager be held personally liable for the return of all costs associated with RML as a consequence of their gross negligence and/or fraud.
  • That RML and Ridge Resort Realty be expeditiously sold under my administration and direction to the highest bidders who are not currently associated with RML, GGRC and any other related entities.
• That, having resolved that the Pavilion was wrongly constructed and operated and that other capital expenditures were wrongly made, that:
  • An independent auditor be hired and paid for by GGRC and placed under my administration and direction to complete a comprehensive forensic audit of very dollar spent that in any way supported or funded the pavilion or other wrongful capital expenditures, including any and all direct and indirect costs.
  • That those amounts that funded the Pavilion and other wrongful capital expenditures be returned to those owners who paid them.
  • That the individuals who served on the  Board and as General Manager be held personally liable for the return of all costs associated with the pavilion and other wrongful capital expenditures as a consequence of their gross negligence and/or fraud.
• That, as a result of their gross negligence and/or fraud, the entire Board and the General Manager be fired for cause.
• That secure, individualized mailboxes be installed for all owners as a Common Expense so that mail tampering can be minimized and have the property meet US postal code requirements for individualized mail delivery for multi-family residential developments.
• That the Board be required to allow last minute attendance by any and all owners to all meetings related in any way to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and for time set aside for attendee’s participation and comments.
• That the Board be required to digitally audio record all parts of any and all meetings in any way related to GGRC and/or related entities in a legible manner and for those recordings to be made available online to all owners.
• That the current special assessment for $353,500 be quashed until such time as the true and correct evaluation of the financial status of GGRC is settled and established by this lawsuit.
• That the Board be required to offer any and all services, use of personnel and maintenance staff, etc. on an equal basis to all owners without discrimination of any kind.
• Other issues to be identified based on discovery, interrogatories and/or depositions – including any and all gross negligence, gross incompetence and/or fraud that may be uncovered – whether civil or criminal.

Qualifying As A Class Action Lawsuit – Or Two

It is my understanding that we need to meet the following four requirements:

(1) The number of class members renders it impracticable to join them in the action, (2) the class members’ claims share common questions of law or fact, (3) the claims or defenses of the proposed class representatives are typical of those for the rest of the class, and (4) the proposed class representatives will adequately protect the interests of the entire class.

We believe that all 1-1 unit owners, both current and past, represent 30 current owners and hundreds of past owners, who have been systematically overcharged thousands of dollars every year for many years.  All of us share the same questions of law or fact, with my claims being totally typical of the class and as class representative I will protect the interests of the entire class as evidenced by my blog, www.DeerRidgeOwners.com.

It is my understanding that, in addition to the numerosity, commonality, typicality and adequacy of representation requirements discussed above, the district court must make at least one of the following findings: (1) Requiring separate actions by or against the class members would create the risk of inconsistent rulings, or a ruling with respect to individual class members may be dispositive of other class member claims, thereby substantially impairing or impeding their ability to protect their interests; (2) the party against whom the class seeks relief has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class so that injunctive or declaratory relief as to the entire class would be appropriate; or (3) common questions of law or fact common predominate over class-member–specific questions, and that proceeding by way of class action would be superior to other available methods for resolving the dispute.

Based on all of the above information, I believe that all three requirements would be met – making this case ideal as a class action suit.

While the above would be one class action suit just for those past and present owners of 1-1 units, it is my belief that all the other litigation issues not related to wrongful percentage allocation of costs would apply as a second class action suit representing ALL current and past owners of ALL unit types at Deer Ridge.  In this second class action case, I believe I would also meet all four fundamental requirements along with the other three requirements for being the class representative.

It is for this reason that I propose that we move forward with two separate class action suits:  one for 1-1 units and one for all units.

Litigation Approach

Our strong preference is to find an experienced class action law firm that will handle this case on a contingency basis.  However, other fee approaches may be considered.  We believe this will be a reasonably fast case – since it almost solely rides on the applicability of Article V in trumping the clear provisions of the Master Deed and Bylaws.

The above litigation goals are simply the starting points that I recommend based on my limited knowledge of the law.  We are, of course, looking for experienced legal experts who can represent us and adjust our claims for the maximum benefits to all class participants.

Availability Of Information

If you look at my blog, www.DeerRidgeOwners.com I believe you will see that I have already done a lot of the legwork and heavy lifting for these lawsuits. I invite you to read through all the postings and owner comments to quickly gain insights into the various problems at Deer Ridge that we believe are directly caused by the Board and General Manager, Joe Thomas.

In the left column of the blog, you can also see a section called, “Documents You Can Download.”  There, you will be able to immediately get copies of some of the pivotal documents concerning this case.

Specific posts on the blog may be of interest:

1. Master Deed and Bylaws
2. Deer Ridge – Your Monthly HOA Fee And Special Assessment Are WRONG!
3. Class-Action Lawsuits – Coming Soon To A HOA Near You
4. Response From Luther Parker / Board of Directors of Deer Ridge AKA GGRC
5. RML Is Illegal! Pavilion Is Illegal! April Annual Meetings Are Illegal! More Major Flagrant Master Deed Violations
6. The $1000 Assessment – ANOTHER Grossly Negligent Or Fraudulent Charge By Joe Thomas and The Deer Ridge Board?
7. Yes Or No, Luther Parker? An Open Letter To Luther Parker, President of Deer Ridge – GGRC and RML
8. Open Letter to Deer Ridge Board: Lawsuit Being Prepared Against GGRC and RML
9. Assessment Information Request – An Open Letter To Joe Thomas And The Board
10. Want To Pay Zero Assessment – And Still Get The Repairs And Improvements Done At Deer Ridge?
11. Asinine Assessment – Timing, Due Diligence – And An Alternative
12. HOA Fees At Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – Highest In The Gatlinburg Area?
13. Open Letter To Luther Parker and Board: Joe Thomas Accosts Owner In Laundry Room
14. Postmaster Says We Have A Right To Demand Individual Mailboxes
15. Full Time Residents – This Is NOT a Condo-Hotel No Matter What Luther Says
16. Why No Audio Recordings Of Board Meetings?
17. Initial Thoughts About The Asinine Assessment
18. Joe’s Folly Pavilion – $80,000 Plus – Wasted GGRC Money

Also, please look at their web sites www.DeerRidge.com and www.RidgeResortRealty.com for more information on some of the defendants and their propaganda.

I can also work with you to expedite a list of discovery items to immediately pursue once the lawsuits are filed.

Interested In Representing Us?

If you and your law firm are interested in representing us in this case, please provide me with the following:

• Your preliminary summary opinion regarding the case.
• Your proposal including timeline, fee structure, expense coverage and any expected strategy and tactics.
• Information on you and your law firm.
• Your specific experience with litigation for class action suits and with homeowners associations.
• References

You can reach me at Litigation@DeerRidgeOwners.com – please let me know if you have any questions.

Time Is Of The Essence!

My goal is to expedite the selection process for legal counsel and to have these suits filed by the end of October 2009.

Thank you for your time and consideration of our request for proposal.

Robert