Deer Ridge Owners - Deer Ridge Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, Tennessee » side deals

Tennessee Consumer Affairs Complaint Filed Against Joe Thomas – Attorney General Action Requested

Robert — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:43:58 +0000

We are filing an official complaint with the Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division against Joe Thomas, principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty and general manager of both Ridge Management Ltd., Inc. and Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club aka Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This complaint is primarily focused on what we believe are deceptive trade practices by Joe Thomas.

This Consumer Affairs complaint is in addition to the just completed complaint package that is being sent to the Tennessee Real Estate Commission requesting them to take disciplinary action against Joe Thomas for multiple violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker Act.

These alleged violations include deceptive trade practices, conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings, willful misrepresentations, wrongly acting for more than one party in Deer Ridge transactions without the knowledge and consent in writing of all parties, etc. . We are specifically requesting that their disciplinary actions include fines and permanent revocation of Joe Thomas’ Tennessee real estate license.

The attachment to the Consumer Affairs complaint form is essentially the same as the one that was used for our formal complaint filed with TREC – with the exception of a couple of paragraphs of additional information that we choose to keep confidential at this time.

The only hold up to sending these two packages is that the TREC form requires notarization. This will be done and the completed packages mailed to both TREC and Consumer Affairs either Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

Four Separate Actions Against Joe Thomas – So Far

Once these packages are mailed, we will have four separate actions in process against Joe Thomas:

Tennessee Securities Division for securities fraud and other securities law violations, etc. Please click Securities Fraud for details.
Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) for multiple violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker Act, etc. Please click TREC for details.
Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division for deceptive trade practices, misrepresentations, etc.
Tennessee Attorney General for investigation and possible prosecution of actions related to the above three areas of focus, etc.

Pay attention, Joe: All of these great folks are from the government – and they are here to help you! Who knows? They might, just maybe, all show up at one time to help you all at once!

With regard to Item 1 above: Our complaint has been received by the Tennessee Securities Division, they have assigned an investigator and I have already spoken with the investigator to give additional information. As a consequence, this ticking time bomb is already getting closer to detonation!

Our hope is that each of these agencies will take appropriate actions to stop the ongoing pattern of deceptive trade practices, misrepresentations, securities fraud and discrimination that we believe are regularly perpetrated by Joe Thomas in his triple roles at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort that result in so much conflict of interest

Our hope is that both TREC and the Consumer Affairs Division will review our complaint and conclude that all of our allegations against Joe Thomas are not only fully accurate but that his past and future actions represent a true threat to the public. As such, we are requesting that he not only be sanctioned and substantially fined for his nefarious activities that have continued for more than a decade – but that his Tennessee real estate broker’s license will be permanently revoked so that he can no longer deceive those buying and selling Deer Ridge condos or other real estate in Tennessee.

File Your Own Consumer Affairs Complaint Against Joe Thomas

As described below, we believe we were intentionally deceived by Joe Thomas when we bought our condo at Deer Ridge. If you believe that Joe Thomas also deceived you when you bought your Deer Ridge condo, you are welcome to use the applicable part of our narrative in your own complaint. Simply take that information and complete your own complaint form against Joe Thomas. The Consumer Affairs complaint process and form are available by clicking “Book Em Danno”.

Note: It costs you nothing to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with Consumer Affairs. The great State of Tennessee will take care of it all for you, start to finish, without you having to spend a penny.

Allegations

Remember, as of now these are just my allegations of real estate and securities wrong doing by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan. I believe that I am 100% correct on these allegations based on my years of experience in the business. We will have to wait and see if any, or all, of the 19 states and/or the SEC agree with me or if TREC and Consumer Affairs agree with me.

Next Filings

We also hope to have the time this week to file a comprehensive securities fraud complaint with the SEC in Washington, D.C

Other state filings, starting with Florida State Securities Division, will be done over the next one to two weeks.

Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times. And, hopefully, with the help of the State of Tennessee Securities Division, Tennessee Real Estate Commission, Tennessee Consumer Affairs Division and the Tennessee Attorney General, we will make 2012 VERY interesting for the Gang of Six!

Tennessee Real Estate Commission Complaint Filed Against Broker Joe Thomas – License 281040

Robert — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 19:36:23 +0000

We are filing the following official complaint with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission (TREC) against Joe Thomas, principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty and general manager of both Ridge Management Ltd., Inc. and Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club aka Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

All the paperwork, including the sworn affidavit and official complaint are done, the CD-ROM with 300 pages of supporting documents and evidence has been burned and the envelope for mailing is complete. The only hold up is that the TREC form requires notarization. This will be done and the entire package mailed to TREC either Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Securities Fraud Complaint Already Filed With Tennessee Securities Division

The TREC complaint is the next in a series of regulatory filings we intend to make against Joe Thomas and/or the GGRC and RML board for their roles in what we believe are ongoing securities fraud and other securities law violations, including multiple states and federal violations.

You can read all about my complaint filed with the Tennessee Securities Division by clicking Securities Fraud Complaint against President Luther Parker of Memphis, TN, Vice President Thomas Reise of Friendship, WI, Treasurer Larry Ohm, CPA of Grant Park, IL, Secretary David A. Barone of Monroe, NY and Director Margie Duncan of Florence, KY and Principal Broker and General Manager of RML and GGRC, Joseph Thomas of Kodak, TN.

(Update: The above complaint has been received by the Tennessee Securities Division, they have assigned an investigator and I have already spoken with the investigator to give additional information. As a consequence, this ticking time bomb is already getting closer to detonation!)

Meanwhile, Back At The Ranch…TREC Complaint And Requested Actions Against Joe Thomas

This particular TREC complaint is currently only focused on Joe Thomas and what we believe are his multiple, serious violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973, as amended. These alleged violations include deceptive trade practices, conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings, willful misrepresentations, wrongly acting for more than one party in Deer Ridge transactions without the knowledge and consent in writing of all parties, etc. (Even though this complaint is solely focused against Joe Thomas, TREC may choose to include actions against Ridge Resort Realty and/or RML and its board.)

Our hope is that TREC will review our complaint and conclude that all of our allegations against Joe Thomas are not only fully accurate but that his past and future actions represent a true threat to the public. As such, we are requesting that he not only be sanctioned and substantially fined for his nefarious activities that have continued for more than a decade – but that his Tennessee real estate broker’s license will be permanently revoked so that he can no longer deceive those buying and selling Deer Ridge condos or other real estate in Tennessee.

File Your Own TREC Complaint Against Joe Thomas

As described below, we believe we were intentionally deceived by Joe Thomas when we bought our condo at Deer Ridge. If you believe that Joe Thomas also deceived you when you bought your Deer Ridge condo, you are welcome to use the applicable part of the below narrative in your own complaint. Simply take that information and complete your own complaint form against Joe Thomas. The TREC complaint process and form are available by clicking “Book Em Danno”.

Note: It costs you nothing to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with TREC. The great State of Tennessee will take care of it all for you, start to finish, without you having to spend a penny.

Their $1 Million Lawsuit

If you recall, a lot of this started when the Gang of Six (Joe Thomas and the “board”) filed a $1 million lawsuit against me for “slander, libel and ‘false light’, etc.” as a way of trying to silence my first amendment rights and to try to shut down this blog. That was two years ago – and we are still here. However, based on recent actions by the Gang, they are still delusional that their $1 million nuisance suit gives them a hammer to force my capitulation.

One of the things that the Gang doesn’t seem to understand: You can legitimately say bad things about people if you believe they are true. And, we have already proven that Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas, along with the rest of the board have perpetrated a $2 million fraud by falsely claiming that RML makes money for the HOA. (For details, click Luther Parker’s Big Lie.) We believe that this alone would easily convince a jury of our peers that we had the right to say what we have said and continue to say about Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang. In spite of this, the Gang continues to squander our HOA dues on legal fees in their ongoing vendetta to protect their own little private fiefdom called Deer Ridge.

As a consequence, and with the goal of showing even more proof to a jury of my peers, I am very aggressively pursuing appropriate regulatory rulings that will show that Joe Thomas and the rest of Gang, have had very unclean hands as a result of their massive, ongoing securities fraud, other state and federal securities law violations, deceptive trade practices and violations of Tennessee consumer protection and real estate laws.

Even a single favorable ruling by any of the regulatory agencies agreeing with our official complaints would be that much more proof to the jury that the $1 million lawsuit by the Gang of Six was nothing more than a retaliatory way of trying to suppress our free speech. Having been born and raise in Tennessee, I can tell you with absolute certainty, Tennesseans take their right to free speech VERY seriously. And, they will have no tolerance for the Gang’s actions.

Allegations

Next Filings

During the upcoming week, our regulatory filing of official complaints will include the Tennessee Consumer Protection Division which will be essentially identical to this official complaint filed with TREC. We also hope to have the time this week to file a comprehensive securities fraud complaint with the SEC in Washington, D.C

Other state filings, starting with Florida State Securities Division, will be done over the next one to two weeks.

The Official TREC Complaint

The following is the content of a letter that was attached to the TREC Complaint Form. Also, included in the envelope is a CD-ROM with 300 pages of supporting documents and other evidence.

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Complaint: Deceptive Trade Practices, Securities Fraud And More Against Tennessee Real Estate Broker
Joseph Thomas – Tennessee License 281040

Summary

This complaint being brought before the Tennessee Real Estate Commission specifically deals with my multiple complaints regarding Tennessee real estate broker Joseph Thomas of Kodak, Tennessee for conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings and other violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973.

The home phone number and home address of Joe Thomas are: (865) 932-1669 / 3229 Autumn Lane, Kodak, TN 37764. The Tennessee Real Estate License number for Joe Thomas is 281040.

To fully understand the extent of Joe Thomas’ alleged willful misrepresentations, deceptive trade practices, securities fraud and more, it is necessary to fully define his conflicting roles with three related companies: Ridge Management, Inc., Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club and Ridge Resort Reality.

Ridge Management Ltd, Inc. (“RML”) is a “for profit” Tennessee domestic corporation, with corporate offices at 3710 Weber Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738, and was originally incorporated December 29 1987. A copy of the current filing information (Control #198618), incorporation documents, stock certificate and articles of incorporation are included as Exhibit A. (All supporting documents are in Acrobat format and are contained in the included CD-ROM.)

RML is owned by the 84 owners who own individual condominiums at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, which is governed by the Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club Condominium Association, Inc. (“GGRC”) in accordance with the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act. GGRC is a “non-profit” Tennessee domestic corporation with corporate offices at 3710 Weber Road, Gatlinburg, Tennessee 37738, and was originally incorporated March 13, 1984. A copy of the current filing information (Control # 139212) is also included in Exhibit A.

Joseph Thomas of Kodak, Tennessee serves as the General Manager of both GGRC and RML.

He also serves as Principal Broker of Ridge Resort Realty (“RRR”) (www.RidgeResortRealty.com ) which is a DBA of RML. As a consequence, Joe Thomas serves three major roles in companies all related to RRR, thereby creating a substantive conflict of interest that is not clearly disclosed to buyers of condos at Deer Ridge.

Many, if not most, owners of the 84 total outstanding shares of RML are believed to be unaccredited and unsophisticated investors. The prices for condos at Deer Ridge generally range from $35,000 to $90,000.

It is important to note that RML, under the direction of Joe Thomas, is not solely focused on providing motel services to Deer Ridge owners – but is, instead, a motel service that aggressively pursues cabins and other rental properties which are completely unaffiliated with Deer Ridge. However, in spite of RML expending up to $100,000 or more per year on advertising and marketing, this high risk small company has not been successful in competing in the motel business marketplace and has only signed up about a half dozen additional rental properties. As a consequence, based on corporate audits, RML has lost over $2 million during the past 16.5 years. As the following will show, this $2 million loss was funded by mandatory, illegitimate capital calls that were required to be paid by the real estate owners of all 84 units at Deer Ridge.

By way of background, for the past six plus years, I have been an owner of one of the 84 condo units at Deer Ridge governed by GGRC. As such, I am one of the 84 de facto shareholders of RML.

As an MBA, and the founder and past owner of Goodman Securities, Inc., a NASD Broker/Dealer company which was also a member of SIPC, I believe that I have the necessary credentials and background to recognize that RML, real estate broker Joe Thomas and the board of directors of RML have committed, and continue to commit, what I believe are major state and federal securities law violations including securities fraud exceeding $2 million.

As founder and CEO of a real estate investment company for 15 years that purchased, as a principal, over $100 million of income properties and managed over 45,000 rental units, I believe that I have the necessary credentials and background to recognize that Joe Thomas has committed, and continues to commit, willful misrepresentations, exhibit conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent and dishonest dealings and deceptive and fraudulent trade practices with regard to many millions of dollars or real estate transactions in Tennessee.

It is my contention that these willful misrepresentations, securities law violations and deceptive trade practices, which have been going on for more than a decade by Joe Thomas, have already resulted in many past and current condo owners being forced into personal bankruptcy and/or losing their Deer Ridge condo in foreclosure or have forced past owners to sell their unit at a significant loss.

As such, I respectfully request that the Tennessee Real Estate Commission thoroughly investigate these complaints for the protection of the past, current and future real estate purchasers of Deer Ridge condos and any and all other persons involved with Tennessee real estate transactions involving Joe Thomas.

Specific Complaints Against Joe Thomas

My complaints include the following allegations:

1. Joe Thomas, General Manager of both GGRC and RML, and the board continue to perpetrate a fraud on all owners by fraudulently claiming, as recently as 60 days ago, that RML has continually made money for the owners. Please see Exhibit B, Luther Parker Letter, dated November 15, 2011 and mailed to all Deer Ridge owners on or about December 1, 2011.

2. In spite of these fraudulent statements and willful misrepresentations, CPA audits commissioned by the corporation clearly show that RML has lost nearly $2 million of owner’s money during the past 16.5 years. This loss of $1,915,934 is calculated based on CPA audits completed by Hickman and Company, CPAs under the direction of Luther Parker, President, Larry Ohm, CPA and Treasurer – and Joe Thomas, General Manager. Please see Exhibit C for copies of all audits and a comprehensive analysis of the audited numbers.

3. This RML loss of $1,915,934 over the past 16.5 years equates to an average RML loss of $116,117 every year.

4. This annual average RML loss of $116,117 has been funded directly out of the pockets of all 84 Deer Ridge owners under the guise of increased, mandatory monthly HOA fees charged to all condo owners at Deer Ridge who happen to also be the stock holders of RML. Instead of the required capital for the operating deficit being funded by an optional capital call to all stockholders, the needed funds are fraudulently included in the monthly HOA fees that are required of all owners. These hidden equity payments continue to equal more than 40% of the contrived monthly HOA fee. Please see Exhibit D for a list of all current owners.

5. This annual average RML loss of $116,117 equals 40% of the $290,540 annual HOA fees collected from all owners of the 84 units at Deer Ridge. As a consequence, nearly half of all HOA fees paid in by the mostly unaccredited and unsophisticated owners are being squandered by this illegitimate corporation’s need for monthly capital infusions.

6. I contend that the actual RML losses are, in fact, much higher than the annual average RML loss of $116,117 shown on the audits. This is because the audits indicate various expense items that should rightfully be associated with and cost accounted with the motel operation of RML are, instead, spurious costs that are listed as expenses of GGRC. I believe that this is being done in order to intentionally deceive owners as to the actual losses that accrue each year from RML’s unprofitable motel operation.

7. RML was illegitimately formed by the board of directors of GGRC in 1987 without a vote of owners – and without providing owners any kind of disclosure or offering document that detailed the risks, management compensation, etc. of the unregistered security. In spite of it not being an approved Common Expense of GGRC, funding for this new corporation, RML, was pulled from the general operating account of GGRC, a non-profit corporation, which in turn was, and is, fully funded by the 84 owners of the condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. As such, RML has offered and continues to offer, unregistered securities to Tennessee residents along with residents of at least 18 other states. Please see Exhibit D.

8. Under the Securities Act of 1933, it is against the law for any company, or “issuer,” to sell securities without either registering the securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 5 of the Securities Act or relying upon a valid exemption from the registration requirements. Similarly, pursuant to each individual state’s “Blue Sky” laws, it is generally against the law to sell securities within a state without either registering the securities with the state’s securities regulatory agency or relying upon a valid state exemption from registration.

9. At no time has RML or GGRC ever issued any kind of Reg D private placement memorandum or any other offering document or any type of disclosure documents to the stockholders of RML. There has never been any discussion of risk factors, management compensation or limitations of transfer of ownership that could have tax consequences to both the stockholders and the corporation. Additionally, no investors were ever asked to complete any prospective purchaser questionnaires that asserted that they were accredited. Additionally, no Form D was filed with either the state of Tennessee or with the SEC in Washington, D.C. nor was there any filing fee paid in Tennessee for RML or GGRC to qualify for any securities exemptions. As a consequence, any securities offering made by RML or GGRC does not qualify for any exemptions contemplated by Tenn. Code. Ann. §48-2-103.

10. TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-102 provides that a security is defined to include investment contracts. An investment contract is an agreement wherein initial value is given and subjected to the risks of an enterprise, with a valuable benefit of some kind, over and above the initial value, being promised, but the investor does not receive meaningful rights to exercise practical or actual control over the managerial decisions of the enterprise. I believe that this definition of an investment contract includes an investment in a vacation home.

11. Please note from Joe Thomas’ current Real Estate Sales Package that is available to the general public, shown as Exhibit E, that he sells condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort as a “personal or corporate investment.” Joe Thomas is also currently advertising these investments in Deer Ridge condos in the mainstream media, thereby, in my opinion, publicly offering unregistered securities to Tennessee residents and engaging in securities fraud every time that he attempts to broker a real estate transaction at Deer Ridge.

12. In examining Exhibit E, “Joe Thomas Deer Ridge Sales Package, December 2011,” note the following reference: “GG&RC HOA Fees cover maintenance and upkeep of all commonly owned areas including but not limited to exterior lighting, parking lot, landscaping, playground, tennis court, picnic pavilion, recreation building including indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, game room, offices, golf membership and multi-peril insurance on the same.”

In spite of Joe Thomas’ insider knowledge and review of the annual audits, nowhere in his “disclosure” is any reference to the fact that 40% or more of the HOA fees listed are used to fund the average annual operating deficit of $116,117 of RML based on the corporation’s audits.

As a consequence, potential buyers are never told of major, unexpected, undisclosed risk factors prior to their purchase of a of a Deer Ridge condo: Their required ownership of stock in RML and their required ongoing, monthly capital infusions into a money losing venture called RML – and that their non-payment of these capital infusions into this money losing venture would result in foreclosure of their Deer Ridge real estate and contingent personal liability for any potential deficiency.

13. Buyers and owners of condos at Deer Ridge are given no choice of owning shares of RML. All owners must own a share of RML and are required to fund RML’s large operating deficits under the guise of required HOA fees that are nearly twice what would be required if RML were not funded by HOA fees. If owners object to this ongoing monthly capital call and do not pay, those owners are threatened with foreclosure of their home at Deer Ridge. This includes the 24 owners who do not use RML’s services – many of whom object to this illegitimately required monthly capital call funding into RML.

14. For example, when I bought my unit, Joe Thomas acted as both listing and selling broker on the transaction. At no time did Joe Thomas disclose any requirement for us to own a participating share of RML nor did he disclose that nearly half of the property’s annual HOA fees would be used to support a motel management company’s negative cash flow – even if we were not users of RML’s motel services. It is our understanding from recent property sales that Joe Thomas continues his historical lack of disclosure, his willful misrepresentations and his deceptive trade practices.

15. Additionally, Joe Thomas and the board of RML and GGRC have conspired to modify the required monthly HOA fees so that they do not match those percentages shown in the Master Deed and Bylaws. For example, the currently charged HOA fee for a one bedroom, one bath condo at Deer Ridge is, in fact, 82% higher each and every month than the percentages that would be paid according to the regime documents provided by Joe Thomas to us and other new buyers of 1-1 units.

In spite of his insider knowledge of this massive 82% discrepancy, Joe Thomas does not disclose this gross overcharge to new buyers of 1-1 units. (36% of all units at Deer Ridge are 1-1 units.) Most buyers would have a reasonable expectation that the property’s Master Deed and Bylaws would be followed by the HOA’s board. As general manager of GGRC, the property’s HOA, Joe Thomas clearly understands this discrepancy – especially in light of Joe Thomas, GGRC and each individual board member being named as co-defendants in a lawsuit in which this 82% overcharge is a key issue. In spite of Joe Thomas’ crystal clear knowledge of this 82% overcharge, the fact is still not properly disclosed on Deer Ridge sales in which he is a participating broker. Likewise, Joe Thomas does not disclose the existence of this current, potentially significant, litigation against the HOA to any new buyers of any sized units at Deer Ridge.

16. The fact that Joe Thomas also served then, and continues to serve, as General Manager of both GGRC and RML, as well as the principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty (a DBA of RML), gave and gives him complete knowledge and insights into the true operation of both corporations. As such, I contend that Joe Thomas knowingly and deviously omits these disclosures as part of his deceptive trade practices as a Tennessee real estate agent since many buyers, ourselves included, would have never bought a Deer Ridge condo if proper disclosure of these risk factors and gross overcharges had been properly made.

17. It is my contention that most buyers of small condos under $90,000 do not expect that they will also be unwilling stockholders in a money-losing motel business that will squander almost half of each year’s HOA fees. As such, the lack of this disclosure by broker and General Manager Joe Thomas is especially nefarious and fraudulent.

18. It is my contention that Joe Thomas , as General Manager and Principal Broker, is aided and abetted by all five members of the board of directors of RML, all of whom are co-conspirators in securities fraud and other securities law violations and have breached their fiduciary duties to all owners. The board members are President Luther Parker of Memphis, TN, Vice President Thomas Reise of Friendship, WI, Treasurer Larry Ohm, CPA of Grant Park, IL, Secretary David A. Barone of Monroe, NY and Director Margie Duncan of Florence, KY. General Manager of RML is Joseph Thomas of Kodak, TN. Please see Exhibit F for a complete listing including each individual’s home address, home telephone number and personal email address.

19. It is my contention that all five board members and Joe Thomas have conspired for years to fraudulently deceive owners at Deer Ridge regarding the profits and losses of RML in order for them to continue to operate their motel business for their own personal gain and benefits – none of which are disclosed to owners. These six individuals are concerned about the growing complaints of owners regarding having the highest HOA fees in the entire East Tennessee area. These six individuals are concerned that if the owners knew the truth about more than 40% of the HOA fees were used to cover the exorbitant annual losses of RML, these owners would take action to shut down this illegitimate corporation and cut their HOA fees in half. These six individuals are concerned that with an RML shut down, the benefits they uniquely receive from their motel business would be lost. I contend that this is the primary reason that Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, CPA and Joe Thomas lead this conspiracy to fraudulently lie to all owners about the profitability of RML.

20. TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-121 provides that it is unlawful for any person, in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of any security in this state, directly or indirectly, to make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading. In spite of the corporations’ audits showing a $2 million loss during the past 16.5 years, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas continue to falsely assert that RML is a profitable operation in order to intentionally mislead owners.

21. As a result of his inherent conflicts of interest from being the General Manager of RML from which he receives his primary compensation, Joe Thomas, as principal broker for RRR, has consistently discriminated against potential buyers of condos at Deer Ridge who he believed would be a resident owner or who would otherwise not use RML for rental activities. As such, I contend that Joe Thomas was, and is, wrongly acting for more than one party in Deer Ridge transaction without the knowledge and consent in writing of all parties. As such, sellers were not able to have all possible prospective buyers bid on their property. As such, many buyers who were interested in becoming a full time resident were directly, or through subterfuge, strongly discouraged from buying a condo at Deer Ridge. I contend that these malicious acts were, and are, motivated by Joe Thomas’ expectations of increased personal gain at the expense of owners wishing to sell their units.

22. Additionally, those owners who choose to not use RML’s motel services, such as the 24 current owners, continue to be subjected, under the direction of Joe Thomas, to significant discrimination, retaliatory actions and malicious slander and libel as well as being burdened with financial costs not borne by RML participants.

23. Many of these same board members and Joe Thomas have been in complete control of the board and the operation of Deer Ridge for a decade or more.

24. The company’s treasurer is Larry Ohm who claims to be a CPA in Illinois. I contend that because of his profession-required understanding of financial statements, Larry Ohm fully understands the audits and the nearly $2 million aggregate loss they show for the past 16.5 years. Yet, he continually and fraudulently misrepresents that RML is making the stockholders money. Please see Exhibit G which clearly shows Larry Ohm falsely stating that, “This clearly contradicts the accusations by anyone that HOA fees and special assessments are being utilized to pay for the costs of operating RML. In truth, in the past, it was RML that was providing a subsidy to GGRC.”

This fraudulent and misleading statement by Larry Ohm, CPA, was made to all owners in spite of 16 years of audits of the corporation clearly showing a $2 million loss, or an average loss of $116,117 every year for 16 years!

25. Exhibit H includes my Warranty Deed, complete closing statement package and my fully executed purchase contract with all attachments showing Joe Thomas as the only broker involved.

These documents show that there was never any disclosure of any kind made to me prior to closing that indicate in any way that I would be fraudulently forced to support a money losing corporation such as RML as part of my purchase or a residential condo. Again, if this had been properly and legitimately disclosed, I would have never considered closing on this transaction.

26. During the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have documentation that repeatedly pointed out to Joe Thomas and these board members that they are lying to the owners about RML’s profitability in light of the attached annual audits that they themselves commission each year. Therefore, there can be no legitimate claim by any board member or General Manager Joe Thomas that they had no knowledge of the facts.

27. In spite of numerous attempts, during the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have never received a copy of the Administrator’s Book that lists all income and disbursements, along with supporting vouchers. This Administrator’s Book, in this specific format, is required by the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act (§66-27 -113.) It is my understanding that Joe Thomas and the board have never made this Administrator’s Book available to any owner. Ever. As a consequence, no owner or stockholder in RML has ever been allowed to see the books and records as required by Tennessee state law. It is my contention that this stonewalling is driven by the conspiring board’s strong desire to hide certain transactions from the scrutiny of the stockholders – and it is my belief that these hidden transactions hide multiple acts of malfeasance.

Again, based on my 15 plus years of experience from acquiring $100 million of income property and managing 45,000 rental units – and my many years of experience from owning a NASD broker-dealer and my involvement with numerous private placement offerings and the applicable state and federal securities laws that control such offerings, I strongly believe there may be major, ongoing malfeasance that is negatively impacting the owners of condos at Deer Ridge.

The owners at Deer Ridge are mostly unaccredited investors who, in my opinion, are being consistently and deliberately deceived and victimized by a conspiracy of Joe Thomas and the board of directors of both RML and GGRC who are personally benefiting from these deceptions. I believe that these ongoing activities, deceptive trade practices and material misrepresentations are violations of the Tennessee Securities Act of 1980, as amended, and violations of the Tennessee Real Estate Broker License Act of 1973, as amended, and put the public at significant risk of immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage.

Based on the above allegations and the enclosed exhibits, I believe that your investigation will find that Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA and the rest of the board continue to perpetrate willful misrepresentations, conduct that constitutes improper, fraudulent or dishonest dealings and numerous and substantial securities law violations to the financial determent of past, current and future owners of condos at Deer Ridge.

I have already filed a complaint for securities fraud with the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee asking that they investigate this complaint for the protection of the current and future owners of stock in RML. They have already assigned an investigator who has initiated a comprehensive review of the facts from a securities perspective.

Additionally, I have hired an attorney and we have filed several court actions against Joe Thomas as a result of his willful misrepresentations, deceptive trade practices, violations of securities laws and other nefarious acts.

I am not looking to the Tennessee Real Estate Commission for any recovery of funds to which I may be entitled. I shall look to the courts for that relief.

However, it is my strong belief that the public needs to be protected from Joe Thomas – and that he should not only be sanctioned and substantially fined by the Tennessee Real Estate Commission – but should have his Tennessee real estate license permanently revoked to prevent him from continuing to victimize, mislead and deceive any more real estate buyers and sellers in our great State.

I will be glad to be of help to your investigation and will gladly testify at any hearings concerning this matter.

Not only can I provide your department with numerous additional documents and evidence not contained on the enclosed CD-ROM, I will gladly meet with you at your convenience or discuss these allegations on the phone in order to expedite your review of the facts concerning the multitude real estate violations of Joe Thomas.

Thank you for your consideration of my complaint.

Sincerely,

Robert Goodman

PS: Much of this legal fight is fully documented at my blog www.DeerRidgeOwners.com. This blog has between 35,000 and 50,000 page views per month – with interested viewers all over the country watching to see what justice can be found in the great State of Tennessee.

I hope that the actions of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission will show the nation that we Tennesseans will not tolerate real estate fraud, deceptive trade practices, securities fraud and other securities law violations – and that even unaccredited and unsophisticated real estate buyers will be protected.

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Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times. And, hopefully, with the help of the State of Tennessee Securities Division and the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, we will make 2012 VERY interesting for the Gang of Six!

Securities Fraud Complaint Filed Against RML, Luther Parker, CPA Larry Ohm, Joe Thomas And All Board Members

Robert — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:35:04 +0000

The first of several securities fraud complaints was filed today against RML, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas and all “board members” of Ridge Management Ltd, Inc.

This first complaint for securities law violations was filed with the State of Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Securities Division in Nashville. Below you can see the completed form. Attached to the form was the following information along with an included CD-ROM that provides copies of nearly 300 pages of applicable documents and evidence.

Since the current ownership of all 84 units at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort include domiciles in 19 states, I intend to file similar complaints for securities fraud, and other securities law violations, with each of those additional 18 individual states securities divisions. Additionally, since four of the five board members live outside of Tennessee and since ownership is spread across 19 states, I intend to file a similar complaint for securities fraud and other securities law violations with the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington D.C. since the geographically diverse ownership makes it a federal case. (Note: If an owner’s home address is in any particular state, then almost always, that state’s unique and specific securities laws must also be followed to the letter – as well as the securities laws of the state of Tennessee.)

As I have previously mentioned here, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas all have continued to falsely represent that RML makes money and does not cost our GGRC HOA and the Deer Ridge owners money. In spite of me showing my proof that RML has lost us $2 million during the past 16.5 years BASED ON THEIR AUDITS, the Gang of Six refuses to admit their lies.

I have asked Luther Parker for his proof of his statements in his November 15, 2011 letter that was sent to all owners, “RML does not cost the HOA. In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year. The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML. HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Folks, these statements by Luther Parker are lies.

And I am tired of Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan intentionally misleading all owners regarding this hugely important and pivotal matter. Luther has not come forward with any proof. So, I intend to force him to prove his statements were true to state authorities – in lots of states.

Based on my experience gained from starting and owning my own National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) broker-dealer corporation and being a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SPIC), and having raised $25 million from investors and venture capital, I know something about state and federal securities laws. And it is my opinion, based on all of that experience, that these kinds of lies told repeatedly by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan should be considered securities fraud.

Additionally, since buying any condo at Deer Ridge requires that any owner become a de facto stockholder of RML, at least 40% of all owners’ HOA fees will be squandered by feeding RML’s massive negative cash flow. Since every new owner, along with all existing owners, are forced to fund this ongoing need for capital contributions into the illegitimate RML, I believe that additional, ongoing major securities fraud is committed by Joe Thomas every time he sells a condo.

This is because Joe Thomas NEVER tells buyers they will be forced to own part of RML and fund these huge negative cash flows. I believe that this despicable and intentional lack of disclosure by Joe Thomas probably violates multiple other state and federal securities laws as well as being violations of the rules and regulations of the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.

RML Is A Corporation That Issued Shares And Is Required To Abide By Securities Law

Whether the Gang of Six likes it or not, Ridge Management Ltd, Inc. is a corporation that is governed by securities laws in Tennessee and elsewhere. As such, these securities laws regulate what can be done, how it can be done and what can be said or not said with regard to RML.

One of the things officers and directors cannot do is lie and mislead investors in the corporation.

If I am showing, based on the corporation’s own audits, that RML lost $2 million during the past 16.5 years, you can easily verify my statement and my math by reviewing the same audits. The same is true for the Securities Division of Tennessee, and all other securities agencies and the SEC.

Luther Parker made his above statements about a month ago. I’ve asked him to prove it. He has chosen once again to ignore owners’ demands of proof – and has not provided an iota of proof of his statement. Again, this is Luther Parker’s most recent published lie, “RML does not cost the HOA. In the past it funded GGRC approximately $45,000 per year. The cost to operate GGRC remains the same with or without RML. HOA fees would not be cut in half.”

Uh huh.

Now, he can try to prove every nuance of those statements to the Securities Division of Tennessee. And, they won’t take his empty, arm waving and name calling as proof of anything! Plus, they have their own forensic accountants and forensic computer experts who know how to find malfeasance and ferret out the REAL truth.

Better get ready, boys, they are from the government – and they are here to help you!

Securities Division of Tennessee – An Agency With Big Teeth

Just so you know, the Securities Division of Tennessee is not some toothless state agency without power to force compliance. Actually, it is just the opposite. It can fine both the corporation and/or the individuals associated with the corporation for all sorts of securities law violations.

A review of recent actions taken by the Securities Division of Tennessee shows that they have forced consent decrees, taken away licenses, shut down companies and have fined individuals involved with various securities law violations, including securities fraud, with personal fines exceeding $500,000 for EACH person involved and for EACH violation. These are for civil violations. If they uncover criminal violations, those charges and actions are dealt with separately and IN ADDITION to the punishments and fines for civil violations.

I would call that some major teeth, n’cest pas?

Just The Start

Virtually every state has a securities division or agency similar to the Securities Division of Tennessee. And each one has similar kinds of teeth for similar kinds of securities fraud.

Of course, if you think that’s bad – well, then we also have the Securities Exchange Commission to help us out since Deer Ridge and RML fall under federal scrutiny too. The SEC has monster teeth.

These are the same folks that sent Martha Stewart and Bearnie Madoff to prison after charging them with securities fraud and other securities law violations. The SEC has already charged 87 CEOs, CFOs and other senior officers and their banks and mortgage companies in the 2008 Financial Crisis with securities violations and have already fined these officers and directors with nearly $2 billion in penalties, disgorgement and other monetary relief.

The Word of Today For The Gang of Six: Disgorgement

Disgorgement is repayment of ill-gotten gains that is imposed on wrong-doers by the courts. Funds that were received through illegal or unethical business transactions such as securities law violations are disgorged, or paid back, with interest to those affected by the action.

Individuals or companies that violate Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations are typically required to pay both civil money penalties and disgorgement. Civil money penalties are punitive, while disgorgement is about paying back profits made from those actions that violated the SEC’s regulations. However, disgorgement payments are not only demanded of those who violate securities regulations. Anyone profiting from illegal or unethical activities may be civilly required to disgorge their profits.

My expectation is that the SEC and the various state securities agencies will take this same approach of disgorgement with regard to the $2 million Luther Parker lie, and all the OTHER lies and misrepresentations, and force this kind of repayment to ALL past and current owners at Deer Ridge. (Yes, folks, even those of you who have already sold your unit or lost it in foreclosure or forced to sell at a loss may be covered by the complaint process – so be sure and file your own complaint! See below.)

Based on everything I know about securities law – and the MANY ways that things are wrongly done at Deer Ridge and the way lies have been told for years along with all the massive, misleading misrepresentations – I think the SEC might find it interesting to research ALL the ways that this fiefdom has been run for so many years – and the millions of dollars it has cost past and current owners.

Allegations

Remember, as of now these are just my allegations of securities wrong doing by Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA, Joe Thomas, David Barone, Tom Reise and Margie Duncan. I believe that I am 100% correct on these allegations based on my years of experience in the business. We will have to wait and see if any, or all, of the 19 states and/or the SEC agree with me.

Below the line is what I filed with the official complaint form for the Securities Division of Tennessee. If you would like to file your own securities law violations complaint against RML and/or the individual members of the Gang of Six with the Tennessee Securities Division, just click “Book ‘em Danno!”

Note: It costs you nothing to file a securities law complaint against RML and the Gang of Six. The great State of Tennessee will take care of it all for you, start to finish, without you having to spend a penny. The same is true for the SEC – and probably every one of the other 18 states where Deer Ridge owners live.

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Investor Complaint For Securities Fraud And Other Securities Law Violations Filed Against Ridge Management LTD, Inc.
and
President Luther Parker, Treasurer Larry Ohm CPA, General Manager Joe Thomas, Vice President Tom Reise, Secretary David Barone and Director Margie Duncan

Summary

Luther Parker, of Memphis, Tennessee, serves as the President of both GGRC and RML.

RML is a rental company that provides motel services for certain Deer Ridge owners, and other real estate owners who do not own a Deer Ridge unit, who wish to rent their individual condo or cabin. Only about 60 of the 84 units at Deer Ridge currently use the motel services of RML. The other 24 owners do not rent their condo or use another rental management company. It is important to note that RML is not solely focused on providing motel services to Deer Ridge owners – but is, instead, a motel service that aggressively pursues cabins and other rental properties which are completely unaffiliated with Deer Ridge. However, in spite of RML expending up to $100,000 and more each year in advertising and marketing, this high risk small company has not been successful in competing in the motel business marketplace and has only signed up about a half dozen additional rental properties.

As a consequence, based on corporate audits, RML has lost $2 million during the past 16.5 years. As the following will show, this $2 million loss was funded by illegitimate capital calls.

By way of background, for the past six plus years, I have been an owner of one of the 84 condo units governed by GGRC. As such, I am one of the 84 de facto shareholders of RML.

As an MBA, and the founder and past owner of a NASD Broker/Dealer company which was also a member of SIPC, I believe that I have the necessary credentials and background to recognize that RML has committed, and continues to commit, what I believe are major state and federal securities law violations including securities fraud exceeding $2 million.

I believe that many of these violations may include current criminal conduct as well as blatant civil violations including ongoing securities fraud happening on a monthly basis.

It is my contention that these securities law violations, which have been going on for more than two decades, have already resulted in many past and current stockholders being forced into personal bankruptcy and/or losing their Deer Ridge condo in foreclosure or have been forced to sell their unit at a significant loss.

Currently, the owners of the 84 units at Deer Ridge are comprised of approximately 14 owners who live in Tennessee and 70 who have domicile addresses in 18 other states.

As such, since securities laws for other jurisdictions are clearly involved, we intend on contacting the state agency for securities laws in each of those 18 other states as well as the Securities Exchange Commission in Washington D.C. for issues regarding federal law. We intend on sending those agencies this same information in this letter along with a copy of the enclosed CD-ROM that contains the supporting documents and evidence.

However, since I am a born and raised Tennessee resident, and since the corporations involved are domestic and under your jurisdiction, I wanted to first contact your department regarding these securities violations so that you could have a head start on enforcement and compliance.

As such, I respectfully request that the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee thoroughly investigate this complaint for the protection of the past, current and future owners of common stock in RML.

Investor Complaints

My investor complaint includes the following allegations:

Luther Parker, President of both GGRC and RML, continues to perpetrate a fraud on all stockholders by fraudulently claiming, as recently as 30 days ago, that RML has continually made money for the owners. Please see Exhibit B, Luther Parker Letter, dated November 15, 2011 and mailed to all Deer Ridge owners on or about December 1, 2011.
In spite of the fraudulent claims by Luther Parker, CPA audits commissioned by the corporation clearly show that RML has lost nearly $2 million of investors’ money during the past 16.5 years. This loss of $1,915,934 is calculated based on CPA audits completed by Hickman and Company, CPAs under the direction of Luther Parker, President, Larry Ohm, CPA and Treasurer and Joe Thomas, General Manager. Please see Exhibit C for copies of all audits and a comprehensive analysis of the audited numbers.
This RML loss of $1,915,934 over the past 16.5 years equates to an average RML loss of $116,117 every year.
This annual average RML loss of $116,117 is funded directly out of the pockets of all 84 Deer Ridge owners under the guise of increased monthly HOA fees to all condo owners at Deer Ridge who happen to also be the stock holders of RML. Instead of the required capital for the operating deficit being funded by an optional capital call to all stockholders, the needed funds are fraudulently included in the monthly HOA fees that are required of all owners. These hidden equity payments continue to equal more than 40% of the contrived monthly HOA fee. Please see Exhibit D for a list of all current stockholders.
This annual average RML loss of $116,117 equals 40% of the $290,540 annual HOA fees collected from all owners of the 84 units at Deer Ridge. As a consequence, nearly half of all HOA fees paid in by the mostly unaccredited and unsophisticated investors are being squandered by this illegitimate corporation’s need for monthly capital infusions.
I contend that the actual RML losses are, in fact, much higher than the annual average RML loss of $116,117 shown on the audits. This is because the audits indicate various expense items that should rightfully be associated with and cost accounted with the motel operation of RML are, instead, spurious costs that are listed as expenses of GGRC. I believe that this is being done in order to intentionally deceive stockholders as to the actual losses that accrue each year from RML’s unprofitable motel operation.
RML was illegitimately formed by the board of directors of GGRC in 1987 without a vote of owners – and without providing owners any kind of disclosure or offering document that detailed the risks, management compensation, etc. of the unregistered security. In spite of it not being an approved Common Expense of GGRC, funding for this new corporation, RML, was pulled from the general operating account of GGRC, a non-profit corporation, which in turn was, and is, fully funded by the 84 owners of the condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. As such, RML has offered and continues to offer, unregistered securities to Tennessee residents along with residents of at least 18 other states. Please see Exhibit D.
Under the Securities Act of 1933, it is against the law for any company, or “issuer,” to sell securities without either registering the securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Section 5 of the Securities Act or relying upon a valid exemption from the registration requirements. Similarly, pursuant to each individual state’s “Blue Sky” laws, it is generally against the law to sell securities within a state without either registering the securities with the state’s securities regulatory agency or relying upon a valid state exemption from registration.
At no time has RML or GGRC ever issued any kind of Reg D private placement memorandum or any other offering document or any type of disclosure documents to the stockholders of RML. There has never been any discussion of risk factors, management compensation or limitations of transfer of ownership that could have tax consequences to both the stockholders and the corporation. Additionally, no investors were ever asked to complete any prospective purchaser questionnaires that asserted that they were accredited. Additionally, no Form D was filed with either the state of Tennessee or with the SEC in Washington, D.C. nor was there any filing fee paid in Tennessee for RML or GGRC to qualify for any securities exemptions. As a consequence, any securities offering made by RML or GGRC does not qualify for any exemptions contemplated by Tenn. Code. Ann. §48-2-103.
TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-102 provides that a security is defined to include investment contracts. An investment contract is an agreement wherein initial value is given and subjected to the risks of an enterprise, with a valuable benefit of some kind, over and above the initial value, being promised, but the investor does not receive meaningful rights to exercise practical or actual control over the managerial decisions of the enterprise. I believe that this definition of an investment contract includes an investment in a vacation home. Please note from Joe Thomas’ current Real Estate Sales Package that is available to the general public, shown as Exhibit E, that he sells condos at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort as a “personal or corporate investment.” Joe Thomas is also currently advertising these investments in the mainstream media, thereby, in my opinion, publicly offering unregistered securities to Tennessee residents and engaging in securities fraud.
In examining Exhibit E, “Joe Thomas Deer Ridge Sales Package, December 2011,” note the following reference: “GG&RC HOA Fees cover maintenance and upkeep of all commonly owned areas including but not limited to exterior lighting, parking lot, landscaping, playground, tennis court, picnic pavilion, recreation building including indoor pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room, game room, offices, golf membership and multi-peril insurance on the same.” In spite of Joe Thomas’ insider knowledge and review of the annual audits, nowhere in his “disclosure” is any reference to the fact that 40% or more of the HOA fees listed are used to fund the average annual operating deficit of $116,117 of RML based on the corporation’s audits. As a consequence, buyers of condos at Deer Ridge are never told of this ongoing capital call requirement, and major risk factor, prior to their purchase of a condo.
Buyers and owners of condos at Deer Ridge are given no choice of owning shares of RML. All owners must own a share of RML and are required to fund RML’s large operating deficits under the guise of required HOA fees that are nearly twice what would be required if RML were not funded by HOA fees. If owners object to this ongoing monthly capital call and do not pay, those owners are threatened with foreclosure of their home at Deer Ridge. This includes the 24 owners who do not use RML’s services – many of whom object to this illegitimately required monthly capital call funding into RML.
Additionally, there continues to be a complete lack of any disclosure whatsoever regarding the required, ongoing, monthly capital call funding for RML’s negative cash flow when a new owner purchases a condo at Deer Ridge. For example, when I bought my unit, Joe Thomas acted as both listing and selling broker on the transaction. At no time did Joe Thomas disclose any requirement for us to own a participating share of RML nor did he disclose that nearly half of the property’s annual HOA fees would be used to support a motel management company’s negative cash flow – even if we were not users of RML’s motel services. It is our understanding from recent property sales that Joe Thomas continues his historical lack of disclosure.
The fact that Joe Thomas also served then, and continues to serve, as General Manager of both GGRC and RML, as well as the principal broker of Ridge Resort Realty (a DBA of RML), gave and gives him complete knowledge and insights into the true operation of both corporations. As such, I contend that Joe Thomas knowingly and deviously omits this disclosure as part of his deceptive trade practices as a real estate agent since many buyers, ourselves included, would have never bought a Deer Ridge condo if proper disclosure of this risk factor had been properly made.
It is my contention that most buyers of small condos under $90,000 do not expect that they will also be unwilling stockholders in a money-losing motel business that will squander almost half of each year’s HOA fees. As such, the lack of this disclosure by broker and General Manager Joe Thomas is especially nefarious and fraudulent.
It is my contention that Luther Parker, president, is aided and abetted by all four other members of the board of directors and the company’s general manager, all of whom are co-conspirators in securities fraud and other securities law violations and have breached their fiduciary duties to all stockholders. The board members are President Luther Parker of Memphis, TN, Vice President Thomas Reise of Friendship, WI, Treasurer Larry Ohm, CPA of Grant Park, IL, Secretary David A. Barone of Monroe, NY and Director Margie Duncan of Florence, KY. General Manager of RML is Joseph Thomas of Kodak, TN. Please see Exhibit F for a complete listing including each individual’s home address, home telephone number and personal email address.
It is my contention that all five board members and Joe Thomas have conspired for years to fraudulently deceive owners at Deer Ridge regarding the profits and losses of RML in order for them to continue to operate their motel business for their own personal gain and benefits – none of which are disclosed to owners. These six individuals are concerned about the growing complaints of owners regarding having the highest HOA fees in the entire East Tennessee area. These six individuals are concerned that if the owners knew the truth about more than 40% of the HOA fees were used to cover the exorbitant losses of RML, these owners would take action to shut down this illegitimate corporation and cut their HOA fees in half. These six individuals are concerned that with an RML shut down, the benefits they uniquely receive from their motel business would be lost. I contend that this is the primary reason that Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, CPA and Joe Thomas lead this conspiracy to fraudulently lie to all owners about the profitability of RML.
TENN. CODE ANN. § 48-2-121 provides that it is unlawful for any person, in connection with the offer, sale or purchase of any security in this state, directly or indirectly, to make any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading. In spite of the corporations’ audits showing a $2 million loss during the past 16.5 years, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm and Joe Thomas continue to falsely assert that RML is a profitable operation in order to intentionally mislead stockholders.
Additionally, those who choose to not use RML’s motel services, such as 24 current owners, are subjected to significant discrimination, retaliatory actions and malicious slander and libel as well as being burdened with financial costs not borne by RML participants.
Many of these same board members and Joe Thomas have been in complete control of the board and the operation of Deer Ridge for a decade or more.
The company’s treasurer is Larry Ohm who claims to be a CPA in Illinois. I contend that because of his profession-required understanding of financial statements, Larry Ohm fully understands the audits and the nearly $2 million aggregate loss they show for the past 16.5 years. Yet, he continually and fraudulently misrepresents that RML is making the stockholders money. Please see Exhibit G which clearly shows Larry Ohm falsely stating that, “This clearly contradicts the accusations by anyone that HOA fees and special assessments are being utilized to pay for the costs of operating RML. In truth, in the past, it was RML that was providing a subsidy to GGRC.” This fraudulent and misleading statement by Larry Ohm, CPA, was made to all owners in spite of 16 years of audits of the corporation clearly showing a $2 million loss, or an average loss of $116,117 every year for 16 years!
Exhibit H includes my Warranty Deed, complete closing statement package and my fully executed purchase contract with all attachments showing Joe Thomas as the only broker involved. These documents show that there was never any disclosure of any kind made to me prior to closing that indicate in any way that I would be fraudulently forced to support a money losing corporation such as RML as part of my purchase or a residential condo. Again, if this had been properly and legitimately disclosed, I would have never considered closing on this transaction.
During the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have documentation that repeatedly pointed out to these board members that they are lying to the owners about RML’s profitability in light of the attached annual audits that they themselves commission each year. Therefore, there can be no legitimate claim by any board member or General Manager Joe Thomas that they had no knowledge of the facts.
In spite of numerous attempts, during the past six plus years that I have owned a condo at Deer Ridge, I have never received a copy of the Administrator’s Book that lists all income and disbursements, along with supporting vouchers. This Administrator’s Book, in this specific format, is required by the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act (§66-27 -113.) It is my understanding that Joe Thomas and the board have never made this Administrator’s Book available to any owner. Ever. As a consequence, no owner or stockholder in RML has ever been allowed to see the books and records as required by Tennessee state law. It is my contention that this stonewalling is driven by the conspiring board’s strong desire to hide certain transactions from the scrutiny of the stockholders – and it is my belief that these hidden transactions hide multiple acts of malfeasance.

Again, based on my many years of experience from owning a NASD broker-dealer and my involvement with numerous private placement offerings and the applicable state and federal securities laws that control such offerings, I strongly believe there may be major, ongoing malfeasance that is negatively impacting the stockholders of RML.

The owners at Deer Ridge are mostly unaccredited investors who, in my opinion, are being consistently and deliberately deceived and victimized by a conspiracy by the board of directors of both RML and GGRC who are personally benefiting from these deceptions. I believe that these ongoing activities and material misrepresentations are violations of the Tennessee Securities Act of 1980, as amended, and put the public at significant risk of immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage.

Based on the above allegations and the enclosed exhibits, I believe that your investigation will find that Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm CPA and the rest of the board continue to perpetrate numerous and substantial securities law violations to the financial determent of past, current and future stockholders of RML.

I respectfully request that the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee investigate this complaint for the protection of the current and future owners of stock in RML.

I will be glad to be of help to your investigation.

Thank you for your consideration of my complaint.

Sincerely,

Robert Goodman

I hope that the actions of the Securities Division of the Department of Commerce and Insurance for the State of Tennessee will show the nation that we will not tolerate securities fraud and other securities law violations – and that even unaccredited and unsophisticated investors will be protected.

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Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times. And, hopefully, with the help of the State of Tennessee Securities Division, we will make 2012 VERY interesting for the Gang of Six!

Deer Ridge Lawsuit: Judge Orders GGRC To Mediation

Robert — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 21:19:06 +0000

Mediation

During the court hearing that was held on December 9, 2011, Judge Rex Ogle ruled that the parties would be required to participate in court ordered mediation.

Unfortunately, this mediation, while court ordered, is not binding. If history is any indicator, the “board” will not participate in good faith which will mean that the mediation will be a complete waste of time and money.

My strong preference would be to turn this over to binding arbitration so these matters could be cost-effectively finalized. But the “board” has no interest in this – and the judge cannot order this. So, we are stuck with probable meaningless mediation.

While we had tried to short circuit this whole process with our motions for summary judgement, the judge made it clear during the hearing that he was not going to rule on any of the issues – and he seemed relieved to find out that we had requested a jury trial. So be it.

Jury Trial

We will do what we can to expedite the mediation so that we can quickly get it out of the way – and move to set a trial date as quickly as we can - once our interrogatories and depositions of Joe Thomas, board members and current and past employees are completed.

We are actually looking forward to showing 12 jurors our proof of the multiple violations by this “board.”

We can’t wait to show how the “board” has squandered 40% of every year’s HOA fees for 16.5 years on RML’s negative cash flow.

We can’t wait to show the jury how the “board” has wasted an average of $116,000 a year, EVERY YEAR, on feeding the negative cash flow of an illegitimately formed RML for a total of nearly $2 million.

We believe that a jury of our peers will see the ongoing bias and discrimination against any owner who does not use RML.

We believe that the jury will see from the evidence that Joe Thomas and the “board” have slandered and libeled me for years, including portraying me in a “false light.”

We believe that the jury will see the self serving benefits that Joe Thomas, board members and other “insiders” have enjoyed at the expense of other owners, including the “trade out” use of units that were not owned by these insiders.

We believe that the jury will see that the strained interpretations of the Master Deed by Joey and the Gang are transparent abuses of power that ignored the requirements of our governing documents.

We believe that the jury will see the ridiculous requirements for reviewing the books and records for what they are: Intentional, multiple road blocks that are fully intended to actually keep the GGRC books and records out of the hands of owners – all an intentional and flagrant violation of the Tennessee Horizontal Property Act.

We believe that the jury will empathize and share our anger at how this “board” has arbitrarily and capriciously run Deer Ridge as their own private fiefdom for years.

We genuinely believe that 12 jurors who are all our peers will rule in our favor on all counts – and will require ALL the changes we have sought at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – along with awarding us damages, interest and a return of all of our overcharged HOA fees and assessments.

For these, and other reasons, we very much look forward to this jury trial.

New Derivative Action Lawsuit

In addition to all of the above, we are currently preparing a new derivative action lawsuit against Joe Thomas and all individual board members.

This lawsuit will be brought by at least seven current Deer Ridge owners.

These owners will sue the Gang of Six on behalf of GGRC as a way of forcing this renegade “board” to shut down the money losing RML and force them to abide by the multitude of Master Deed and Bylaws that the “board” continues to violate. More about this derivative action lawsuit in the near future.

They Started It – We Will Finish It

As one owner stated in a posting here on this blog, “The board started this. They sued Robert first. And they are wasting all of our money for their own agenda and vendetta.”

I obviously agree – but we will do what we need to do to finish this – and finish it right.

Stay tuned!

If You Are In RML, Your Deer Ridge Condo Can Be Used Free By Joe Thomas

Robert — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 18:49:34 +0000

If you are signed up with RML:

Do you realize that Joe Thomas can use your Deer Ridge unit as much as he wants – without paying you a dime?
Do you realize that Joe Thomas and other employees of RML, and board members can get free stays in Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach and other resorts, get free meals at restaurants, maybe even get free cruises, and enjoy other “personal benefits” – all because RML can use your unit for “promotional” and “complimentary usage”?
Do you realize that all this “wear and tear” on your unit gets you zero income?
Do you realize that you are the one who has to cover the cost for the utilities that are used – so that it is costing you money out of your pocket?
Do you realize that when it is being used for “promotional” and “complimentary usage” that it is unavailable for rental income or even the owner’s use?
Do you realize that Joe Thomas does not even need to tell you when or how often or how many total nights a year that your unit is used like this?
Do you realize that Joe Thomas has “sole discretion” with regard to all of the above – no matter what the owner wants?

Don’t believe me? Well, here is a snippet from the current RML Agreement that all RML users sign:

Pretty scary, huh?

These are know as “trade outs” in the business.

Trade Outs are barter arrangement in which goods or services are exchanged for other goods and services. For example, a newsprint supplier may get advertising space in exchange for paper, or a janitorial firm may exchange its services for a market research by an advertising firm.

Since we live here, we see how much of this goes on. And let me tell you, here in east Tennessee, the barter system is alive and well – and used often.

Interestingly enough, we have noted a huge increase in “tourists” with local tags on the vehicles – and when we say local, we mean tags that indicate the vehicle is registered in either our own Sevier County or in adjacent Cocke County. We have overheard many conversations in the parking lot where these “guests” were commenting that they were staying free.

All of this, especially in light of Joe Thomas’ unconstrained ability to use any RML owner’s unit for “promotional” purposes, makes us wonder what personal benefits he may, just maybe, be receiving at the expense of owners.

I don’t know about you – but if all of this turns out to be true, I personally do not think it is ethical or right for Joe Thomas to be using owners’ units as some kind of new, untraceable currency for his personal benefit. In my opinion, Joe Thomas should not be enjoying free golfing junkets to Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach and beyond – because of the above clause in the RML Rental Agreement.

Next time you talk to Joe Thomas, ask him to tell you how many free trips and cruises he has taken, and his staff have taken, over the years as a consequence of his abilities to use YOUR unit for HIS benefit. Ask Joe Thomas whatever other personal benefits he has received, such as restaurant vouchers and the like, as a consequence of his abilities to use YOUR unit for HIS benefit.

I doubt you will get an honest answer, but I highly recommend the dialog.

How much has YOUR condo been used by Joe Thomas for his own personal benefit?

Another Good Reason To Use Cobbly Nob Rentals

If you sign up with Cobbly Nob Rentals, their contract specifically limits them to use your unit for no more than three days per year – and they cover your costs. Plus, they only charge a 35% management fee versus RML’s current 50% rip off fee. (And 35% is still better than the recent promise to lower RML’s rip off rate in 2012.)

Here’s the snippet from Cobbly Nob’s Agreement:

Which sounds like a better deal to you?

If you would like a better property management company, if you would like more rented nights and if you would like to avoid being overcharged by RML, then click Avoid the RML Rip Off for details!

PPS: Don’t forget – if you sign up with Cobbly Nob Rentals in the next 30 days, you get a ZERO cost transfer! Call Doug Sharp’s personal cell phone at 865-548-3722 and get signed up today while this ZERO cost transfer is still available.

Deer Ridge Summary Judgment Motion And Other Motions For April 26 Hearing

Robert — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 17:30:19 +0000

Summary Judgment And Temporary Injunction

As you know from one of my recent postings, we finally have a hearing date set for my litigation against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise. Copies of all four motions that will be heard on April 26, 2011 are shown below. Click on each photo to download the entire Acrobat file for each document that has been filed with the Court.

We are covering several issues during this hearing that will be pivotal for this case that could cause a major, consequential and immediate impact to the way that Deer Ridge Mountain Resort is operated. We are asking that the judge issue an immediate ruling on his interpretation of the Deer Ridge Master Deed and Bylaws which we believe have been grossly and purposely misinterpreted by Joe Thomas and the rest of the Gang of Six.

The changes resulting from a favorable ruling could include:

The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, how everyone’s monthly assessment is calculated, including HOA fees, water and cable TV bills. If we win this one point, all 30 of the 1-1 units should no longer be overcharged 82% every month on their HOA fee!
The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, how much, if any, will be owed by each owner on the current “special assessment” and the right amounts that should have been charged on all prior “special assessments.”
The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, whether the current charge to all owners for this year’s portion of the “special assessment” will be blocked by our motion for temporary and permenant injunction.
The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, whether RML and RRR (Ridge Resort Realty) are legitmate or not…and whether they were created as ultra vires acts by “board” members, making them possibly personal liable to repay all costs associated with RML and RRR for the past several years. (My calculations show that RML alone has cost owners at least $118,000 a year…so multiply this by The Six years we’ve owned and that equates to over $700,000 that might be owed back to GGRC by the individual “board” members.)
The Judge’s ruling could determine, once and for all, that all improvements and alterations require both a positive vote by 75% of all owners AND 90% of all mortgagees. If the judge rules in our favor on this, that means that about $82,000, or 23% of the entire $353,500 Asinine Assessment were illegally spent by the “board” since they adamently refused to follow the Master Deed and Bylaws on this point, even knowing it was required. If this ruling goes in our favor, the “board” can be judged, again, to have been acting ultra vires…which means that each of the “board” members could be held jointly and severally liable for the full amount of the illegitimate expenditures.
This same ruling should make the “board” members also personally liable for all those past improvements and alterations that were done where they ignored my demands for the past 6 years to solicit the required 75% vote of all owners. These include:
- Joe’s Folly – The $80,000 picnic pavillion that should have never been built.
- New pool decking – $30,000
- Reception area and office improvements – $25,000
- Maintenance building improvements and addtions – $15,000
- Chairs for weddings, etc. - $3,200
- Playground equipment – $3,000
- New computers and office equipment – $5,000
- Vehicles, golf carts, etc. ???
- Game room equipment ???
- Commercial laundry room equipment for RML ???
- All of these monies were spent by the board without proper authority and approval by the owners at Deer Ridge.
Some of these amounts are guesses and I am sure this list of improvements and additions is not comprehensive. But once we are finally allowed to see the real books and records as provided by Tennessee state law, we expect that we will be able to add lots more to this list and correct the numbers here.
Even without the addtions, the above list adds up to more than $161,200 that would be ultra vires violations by the “board.”
All totalled, this could make the “board” members individually responsible to personally pay back over $940,000.
If we divide this amount by the 5 board members, that would equal $188,000 that each would be responsible to pay. However, it is my understanding that all board members are “jointly and severally” liable for this amount…which means that each board member is fully responsible for the whole amount if and when one board member or another doesn’t pay. If this happens, I can easily envision lawsuits being filed by one “board” member against another demanding that they pay their fair share of any court ordered reimbursements back to GGRC. If lawsuits between “board” members were to happen, all kinds of “smoking guns” disclosures might be uncovered.

The Other Key Motion

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

It’s been nine months since we filed our motion for production of documents with the Court — but so far Joe Thomas and the “board” have not complied.
We have been waiting for nine months for Joe Thomas to turn over the books and records on GGRC that all owners have a right to see.
Joe Thomas keeps adamantly stating that he has properly maintained the Administrator’s Book as required by Tennessee state law. Joey keeps saying they have this information, in the right format — but they don’t seem to be able to produce it.

I wonder why?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Note – Temporary Injunction To Block Special Assessment Payment – Should You Pay?

Notice that Section 4 of the Motion For Summary Judgment includes wording that we “seek a temporary and permanent injunction prohibiting and restraining the Board from attempting to make any alterations or additions to the Common Elements except in compliance with the seventy-five (75%) percent and ninety (90%) percent requirements of Article XII subsection 2 set out above, including the $340,000 “Special Assessment .. currently being billed to Association members.” (The $340,000 is a typo that is being corrected to reflect the full $353,500.)

Bottom line: We believe this wording blocks any and all collection by GGRC for the “special assessment” if the judge agrees with our motion. You should be your own judge of this document and its intent and decide for yourself if you are required, in light of this pending court action, to make the currently due special assessment payment. We believe it is germaine that 23% of this special assessment is for walkway railings and lighting improvements that did not have the required 75% / 90% vote. Also, germaine is that the calculated amount for every unit does not abide by the Master Deed Percentages – which means that the amounts of all payments due from all owners would be significantly different.

This seems like two very good reasons to me that the Judge should award both a temporary and permanent injunction against this Asinine Assessment.

Lots More Info

Please check out the following links for more information on these issues – and what we hope to gain from our $3 million lawsuit against Joe Thomas, Luther Parker, Larry Ohm, Margie Duncan, David Barone and Tom Reise.

Copies Of Motions Filed with the Court

Motion For Summary Judgement & Temporary Injunction - Click For Document	Motion To Compel - Click For Document
Motion To Dismiss and Judgment on Pleadings - Click For Document	Motion For Protective Order - Click For Document

Stay Tuned!

We live in interesting times!

Tick…tick…tick.

PS: I am not an attorney and these opinions are my own. Please be sure and refer to the full disclaimer language in the side bars and the Terms of this website.

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

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

The Latest Defamation By The Deer Ridge Board

Robert — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:31:53 +0000

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 evidence against them in the counter suit that will be required by their $1 million lawsuit filed against me using GGRC money. Also, apparently based on several comments we’ve heard from those who attended the “Annual Meeting,” Joe Thomas and “board” members made numerous, slanderous comments against me and my wife. Depositions, subpoenas and court testimony will clearly identify all of those who committed this slander and defamation.

It also seems that some believe that there were intentional misrepresentations by Luther Parker – that they, the “board”, were being forced to file suit against me because I had already filed suit against them and GGRC. This was not true. At the time of the meeting, I had not even hired an attorney. As a result of the “board’s” actions, I have now hired an attorney and we are preparing multiple counter claims against GGRC and each “board” member and Joe Thomas, individually. Stay tuned for fast changing events. But know that irrespective of Luther’s comments and implications, they are the ones that made the first litigation filing – using GGRC money.

The following are some responses to some of the more egregious comments that were made a part of the public and permanent record of GGRC’s version of the “board” meeting and the “annual” meeting. Note that these comments are pretty much just taken in the order they occurred in their documents – and not with any other prioritization. These are all screen grabs of the actual documents that were mailed to all owners.

Point 1:

Now, exactly how has GGRC, itself, been defamed? How is Deer Ridge’s “preservation” as an 84 unit residential property in jeopardy?

Or, as one owner who is an attorney put it,

Mr. Parker:

Are you kidding me? Is this true? Home owners had to pay over $2,000.00 because there was not enough money in surplus to make certain repairs and you are spending our money on lawyers to sue Mr. Goodman.

This is a nightmare.

I am a lawyer who has been practicing for many years. I understand how this works: at the end of the day you will not silence Mr. Goodman and even if you get a monetary judgment against him you will not collect, but we will be out tens of thousands of dollars. The board is in the business of managing Dee Ridge, not suing its homeowners for defamation, etc.

How much was the retainer to sue Mr. Goodman, we are entitled to that information?

These actions are just going to support Mr. Goodman point. If he is complaining about waste, why would you do this?

This is our hard earned money you are paying lawyers with. I am very disappointed with this. If you feel personally insulted or disrespected by Mr. Goodman’s actions, then you sue him with your money not ours. I would like an opportunity to discuss this matter with you, please let me know when I can discuss this with you.

Ray Garcia, Esq.
LAW OFFICE OF RAY GARCIA, P.A.

Well said, Ray! Although last I heard from Ray, Luther Parker had never even extended the courtesy of responding to him – let alone speaking with him on the phone about this fiasco. This is just an other example of how Luther and the “board” are unwilling to be confronted by owners over their mismanagement and arbitrary and capricious decisions affecting the operation of OUR property.

This $1 million lawsuit brought by the Gang of Six is clearly a personal vendetta and will not benefit GGRC whatsoever – in spite of Joey and the “board” using all of OUR money for their own personal reasons.

And, who do you think would get all the money, IF their was any payments at all? You REALLY think these guys will pay all the money back to GGRC even though GGRC is paying all the legal fees, no matter how many tens of thousands of dollars they waste? What about any “profit?” Or, is this a case where GGRC takes all the risk with zero upside potential? (Of course, we fully expect GGRC and The Gang of Six to lose on every point – and have to pay ME for my court costs, legal fees, etc.)

One of our first court filings will probably be to try and force this Gang of Six to use their own money to sue me – instead of inappropriately using GGRC’s money.

Point 2

Good question, Aldaberto. In spite of what Luther Parker said, the Master Deed is crystal clear on exactly the percentage allocation that are required to be applied to the four types of condos at Deer Ridge. That’s why all 30 1-1 owners, 36% of all owners at Deer Ridge, are being overcharged on EVERYTHING – including 82% overcharged every month on the HOA fees. This will be part of our counter suit – to finally force these guys to abide by the Deer Ridge Documents that they so often ignore.

Point 3

Well, Luther, if you are undergoing a graduate course on the Master Deed and Bylaws, why not listen to someone who has already graduated: Attorney Lewis Howard in his opinion letter about the dozen major and fundamental violations that still continue at Deer Ridge while the Gang of Six goes to school.

You can read the legal opinion yourself by clicking Legal Opinion and judge for yourself. There you will also see that Howard’s letter makes it crystal clear that the board does NOT have the “authority” to interpret things the way they want to!

Point 4

This is, in my opinion, a guilty plea by Joe Thomas and the Board that for TWENTY TWO YEARS there has not been a valid Annual Meeting.

If there has not been a valid Annual Meeting, then there has not been a valid Board for 22 years since the Board can ONLY be elected at a valid Annual Meeting.

Which means that the Gang of Six had no power to use GGRC money to bring suit against me or make GGRC a party to the lawsuit.

Which means that the Gang of Six had no power to set monthly HOA fees or to attempt to force the $353,500 special assessment on all owners.

If my points on this are not valid, then why are they trying to file a very suspect 22 year old vote to solve the problem???

Even though we intend to also invalidate this 22 years old vote as being way beyond any logical expiration date, filing this in February 2010 would, at best, only make it valid AFTER that date since our Bylaws are explicit: No amendment is valid until AFTER the recording on the Deed Records – and that just happened February 6, 2010.

Even if the 22 year old vote is held to be valid (which I personally doubt), this opens up a whole host of issues even now – after the filing since two of the “board” members were not elected SINCE the filing. Etc…Etc…Etc. Click No Such Amendment May Be Operative Until It Is Embodied In A Recorded Instrument… to see the exact wording from our Master Deed and Bylaws.

Hence, the “board” has no more authority at Deer Ridge than I do – or any other owner does.

Point 5

They don’t want to shut down my blog? Oh, that’s right. It is OK for me to talk about anything unimportant or non-controversial. (See their examples below.)

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.” -George Orwell

We have serious issues at Deer Ridge – and no matter how much The Gang of Six does not want to hear what I have to say to all owners, the liberty of this country gives me the right to express my ideas and thoughts.

They claim I have cost GGRC $12,000 in legal fees, presuming the inclusion of the $5,000 they forced GGRC to just have paid for the retainer for the lawsuit against me.

So, they sue me for $1 million in the hopes of regaining $12,000 – $5,000 of which was spent on the suit, so far.

Does that sound logical to you? Does that sound like prudent business judgment to you?

What is GGRC’s downside if the Gang loses the case and has to pay me damages and all of MY court costs and legal fees for ZERO gain after paying all the legal fees on their side? In my personal opinion, that DOES sound like gross negligence AND gross incompetence to me. What do YOU think? Maybe you should let the Gang know how you feel.

Please add your comments at the end of this posting.

Point 6

Hey guys, you all missed your budget number by almost $100,000! In my opinion, that is lousy budgeting – and lousy management.

These numbers are a joke, in my opinion. Stay tuned for a new post here on the blog in the next few days about the reality of these numbers – so you will know what RML is REALLY costing every owner.

Point 7

So, Joe Thomas’ wife works for a competitor when she has insider information about Deer Ridge? Interesting.

This comment from the “annual meeting” is, again, another example of misrepresentation by Joe Thomas and the rest of the gang, in my opinion.

Firstly, “Deer Ridge” can’t be for sale unless all 80 owners wanted to simultaneously sell. My guess is that anyone with even a modicum of sense and a high school education would know that – especially if they were in real estate.

What was for sale at one time was RML. Click Selling RML for a little history of what was happening at the end of 2006 – 3.5 short years ago.

Joey tried to buy RML from GGRC for $100,000 with 90% financed by the owners with no loan liability by Joe Thomas – and he would have inherited the RML bank accounts with more than $10,000 in them – making his offer to all the owners at Deer Ridge ZERO cost to him out of his pocket.

He would have bought an asset that was worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars for zero Joe Thomas dollars, zero risk since he could have walked away from the loan at any time – or he could have immediately turned around and sold the company for a huge profit. All the details of this purchase attempt by Joe Thomas, and a copy of his actual offer, can be found by clicking Joe’s Gippity Do Dah Song to Deer Ridge Owners.

When I strongly objected to this insider, sweetheart deal – then GGRC president Vic Ulman ineffectively contacted several management companies soliciting their purchase of RML. So, RML has been for sale by someone who was supposed to be a board member (of course, we haven’t had a valid board for 22 years, but I digress.) As far as I know, RML was never taken “off the market.”

By the way, when Joe Thomas’ offer saw the light of day – and so many owners objected to the “deal” he was getting, Joe withdrew his offer to buy RML.

Ever since then, it is my personal opinion, that Joe Thomas has been on a personal vendetta to slander me and interfere with my “quite enjoyment” of our home at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort. I believe that his retaliation and vindictiveness has been evidenced in his actions and words – and we expect to make this part of our counter suit.

The other VERY interesting point that has NEVER been answered: If it was such a good idea to sell RML to Joe Thomas – then WHY isn’t it a good idea to sell to someone else who would be willing to pay more, pay all cash and not require GGRC to take any risk whatsoever?

The “board” at the time was all willing to railroad through the approval for Joe Thomas to buy RML. But they seemed to me to be completely unwilling to sell to anyone else.

Why is that, Joe? If you thought it was a good idea to sell then, why isn’t it a good idea now – other than putting you out of a comfy job?

Back to the current mailing to owners, I don’t believe I know who Mike Raymond is. But I do know what the word “conspire” means.

con·spire (kn-spr) v. con·spired, con·spir·ing, con·spires v.intr.

1. To plan together secretly to commit an illegal or wrongful act or accomplish a legal purpose through illegal action.

So, Joe Thomas and the “board” are accusing me and others of “conspiring.” Seems like that might be deemed to be defamation of ME by the Gang. What do you think?

What RIGHT do I have to “interfere” by protecting my investment at Deer Ridge? What right do THEY have to interfere with my rights as an owner to ensure that these people are properly elected and abide by both Tennessee state law and Deer Ridge Regime law. It is my personal opinion that they are violating both – and I have a RIGHT to do all I can to FORCE them to abide by the law!

Note the ever constant vilification and defamation of me with the Gang’s loaded words of “conspiring” and “interference?”

I guess the Gang wants all non-gang members to be quite – and not have opinions nor for them to explore other options that might, just maybe, be for the good of Deer Ridge. Just my opinion, of course.

Point 8

It is my personal opinion that Joe Thomas is a liar.

We will see what the testimony shows in court as to exactly what happened. You just never know who might be in ear shot of a conversation – especially when a man is yelling and screaming threats at a defenseless lone female who has been backed into a corner and not allowed to leave. You just never know who might walk in behind a man who is in such an irrational rage that he doesn’t notice who might be watching and witnessing such an assault.

Secondly, it is my personal opinion that Joe Thomas has been paranoid since we bought here that I wanted to take over his job. He has known from Day 1 that I have significantly more real estate and property management experience than he does. As stated multiple times on this blog, I have less than zero interest in any job that relates to running and managing this property. We have never claimed we “would be taking over.”

I think Joe Thomas should be fired for a variety of reasons – but not because I want his job.

Point 9

We will check with Susan Taylor to see if this is an accurate account of her memory of Janet helping them move their stuff from their car down the steps since her husband, Bob, was feeling so poorly that day.

We will also check to see if Bob and Susan remember the conversations about the risks of buying a lower level condo that might be a major health issue if Bob couldn’t climb the steps for medical help – especially with the closest hospital to Deer Ridge being a 45 minute drive (with zero traffic.)

Janet has a long history of nursing experience and mentioned that these had been our same concerns about buying at Deer Ridge with my health – and one of the major reasons we had bought a straight walk in unit – so she would never be faced with trying to haul me up a flight of winding stairs to get me in the car for medical treatment.

So, these were the concerns that were discussed about them purchasing a lower level unit.

Also, we will check to see if she remembers both her and her husband mentioning that Joe Thomas had NOT told them ANYTHING about the second installment of the “special assessment” – and that they were having immense difficulties getting Joe Thomas to actually give them a copy of the Master Deed and Bylaws.

Bob and Susan, does any of that sound familiar?

Point 10

Speaking of the “majority” – we have at least three kinds of “majority” at Deer Ridge according to the Master Deed and Bylaws: A simple majority, a 67% majority (which is required for any amendment to the Bylaws) and a 75% majority (which is required for ANY improvement to Deer Ridge.) We also have many parts of the Master Deed that cannot be changed whatsoever – irrespective of any kind of majority vote. This is one way the rights of ALL owners are protected. One of these is that the percentage ownership and the allocation of costs cannot be changed – no matter what the Gang of Six wants to believe when they overcharge all 30 1-1 owners by 82%.

And, I don’t have to represent you Henry. All I have to do is represent myself – and any other owner who believes that GGRC should abide by both Tennessee and Deer Ridge law. Right now, in my opinion, GGRC is doing neither.

The key is that minority owners have an equal right to protection under the regime documents that were an integral and pivotal part of my decision to invest in Deer Ridge. Just because a majority may want something different does not mean that the minority loses the rights to which it is entitled by our Master Deed, our Bylaws and by Tennessee state law.

Point 11Gee, really guys? We are in the Great Recession – the worst real estate market in the last 60 years – and you all unequivocally, and with “certainty”, blame me and my wife for the unsold units. Sounds to me like defamation and unsubstantiated and unqualified statement of fact by Joe Thomas and the “board” to me.

I see nothing in this or so many of the multitude of other allegations by Joe Thomas and the “board” that their statements are “their opinions” like I always state on this website. Instead, this is yet another clear case of false statements and defamation about me and my wife that are conveyed to the entire ownership under the guise of “official” correspondence representing that their statements are fact.

We will see if the judge agrees.

Point 12

Again, it is strictly my fault that the price of materials went up?

First of all, the “board” is still in violation of the Master Deed and Bylaws because they did NOT get the REQUIRED 90% vote of all mortgage holders as required by our regime documents. The fact that they have already moved forward with this improvement, illegitimately spending OUR money, means that the “board” will, hopefully, be individually responsible for all the costs of acting beyond the scope of any perceived power they think they may have.

Point 13I am happy to report that we were able to return the defective / improperly installed water heater to RML for a complete refund and have a competent plumber install another one of equal size. Not only do we now have all the hot water we need – it cost less AND we were able to take the receipt for the new hot water heater to the Sevier County Electric Company and get a $100 cash rebate for our electric bill!

It seems that if Joe Thomas was doing his job right – and really cared about the owners at Deer Ridge – he would have given all 80 owners proper receipts for their hot water heater – and letting all owners know about this $100 rebate. This “oversight” cost Deer Ridge owners an aggregate $8,000 right out of their pockets!

If you are having problems with your hot water heater, maybe you can get the same deal as we did. We will be glad to give you our plumber’s name and number. Also, if I were an owner who has a hot water heater installed by RML, I would demand that you get an actual receipt for your hot water heater showing the brand and model number and what you paid for it – and contact the electric company to see if you might still be able to get your own $100 rebate credit.

Point 14

See prior comments here on this posting.

The “board” is spending $5,000 of OUR money to ostensibly get back $7,000 with the risk that they will have to pay $20,000 to $40,000 of OUR money to get it – and an even bigger risk that they will have to use OUR money to pay ME my legal fees when they lose.

As far as “false accusations”: They have already had to acknowledge that I was right about the Annual Meeting date and all board elections have been in ERROR for 22 years! They have already had to acknowledge that I was right that all owners have a right to the mailing list of all owners. They have already had to acknowledge that I was right that they MUST get a 75% vote for any improvements – even though I have already caught them violating this by them spending more than $120,000 of OUR money on unapproved capital expenditures.

Guess THOSE weren’t “false allegations”, huh?

The reason that GGRC has been faced with legal fees is that the Gang of Six has tried everything they can to block the above – and more – wanting desperately to hold on to their power base and still deny owners a right to access the kind of books and records that all owners are entitled to see. One of the first things we will do with our multiple counter claims is have the court demand we get a complete copy of the real books and records we are entitled to see.

And, when they state I crossed a line when I told owners not to pay “a valid associated assessment”…..well, we have a Legal Opinion from a very prominent real estate attorney flatly stating that the association assessment is NOT valid for at least FOUR reasons.

So how does THAT cross a line, guys?

The line that got crossed is that The Gang of Six sees their fiefdom crumbling and that the day is quickly coming where Deer Ridge will be required to abide by both Tennessee and Deer Ridge law. That is why they are suing me – they know they don’t have a case. They only want to try to intimidate any owner who wants things done according to the law here. In MY opinion.

Note that even their above definition of free speech only allows owners to “blog away in regards to gnat traps, medieval fantasy (dragon slaying, giraffe…”

Somehow, I don’t think this is a limitation that Thomas Jefferson and our founding fathers had in mind when they insisted on the Bill of Rights.

In My Opinion

All of the above reflects my personal opinion on all the topics covered.

Now that you know this side of the story, maybe you will be able to be better judge the “official” correspondence and diatribe that flows from the office at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort using “official” GGRC letterhead.

Now, I hope you see that the real guilty parties when it comes to defamation are the ones lists as plaintiffs on the $1 million lawsuit against me.

We will let the courts determine which side is really guilty.

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort History Book 1987 – 2009

Robert — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 17:28:32 +0000

You can now download one document that is a complete scan of one Deer Ridge owner’s notebooks of all his documents related to GGRC and RML from 1987 through 2009.

This may or may not be comprehensive – there were probably other documents during that time frame that didn’t make its way into this notebook.

To get your own copy of this document, just click History.

This Information Is Yours – And Can’t Be Blocked By Joe Thomas And the “Board”

However, as hard as Joe Thomas and the Board make it for owners to get copies of anything, we thought it would be worth the hours of effort it took us to scan in these 825 pages of history – so that all owners could have a digital version of their own. This way, this information will never get lost, misplaced or destroyed – but live on forever – making folks accountable.

These 825 pages took us over 16 people-hours to pull pages from the notebook, remove staples and flags, scan in and convert the pages to searchable text, replace flags, return pages in the same order to the notebooks and to post the prepared Acrobat file on the Deer Ridge Owners blog at www.DeerRidgeOwners.com as a “Document You Can Download.”

That is a LOT of time and effort – but something we wanted to do for all Deer Ridge Owners.

Keyword and Key Phrase Searchable!

In case you don’t know, if you download this document or any of the Acrobat files we provide and add it on your own computer’s hard drive, you can do key word and key phrase searches of the entire document!

When we do these scans, we took the time to convert them into text. It slows things down a lot – but it makes these documents a highly useable gold mind of information.

For example, if you search this document for the term, “Joe Thomas” you find his full name occurs 387 times and the word “Joe” occurs 654 times. Likewise, the word “assessment” occurs 105 times.

We have already spotted several “smoking guns” – which Joey and the Board are going to have a VERY hard time refuting since we plan on also using these History documents in our upcoming litigation.

Enjoy the history lessons.

A Victory That Should Have Never Been A Battle With Deer Ridge Board

Robert — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:57:47 +0000

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

Victory!

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

The “Board” Is Responsible For The Increased Legal Fees

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

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

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

Only An APPARENT Victory

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

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

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

———————————

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

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

Independent Legal Opinion: GGRC Board Guilty Of Numerous Violations / $353,500 Assessment Is Null And Void

Robert — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:45:42 +0000

Independent Legal Opinion: GGRC “Board” Guilty Of Numerous Violations / $353,500 Assessment Is Null And Void

The following is a copy of an email sent to Luther Parker, other “board” members and Joe Thomas on February 18, 2010 describing the legal findings of a real estate law firm concerning Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club – GGRC – and its subsidiaries RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

The findings of the law firm will probably change EVERYTHING about the way Deer Ridge is operated and managed.

Luther and the Board:

As I mentioned during the Special Meeting of February 6, 2010, I had personally hired a Knoxville-based real estate law firm to review many of the major conflicts and issues that have arisen between myself (and other owners) versus the Board, Joe Thomas and the decisions and policies you have been attempting to implement.

My instructions to the law firm, Howard and Howard ( www.howardhowardlaw.com/ ) and Senior Partner Lewis Howard, Jr. were to objectively and candidly evaluate these issues with the goal of determining the legal validity and the merits of our pursuing a lawsuit against GGRC and/or the individuals who make up the current board along with Joe Thomas, the general manager. This firm does not currently represent us for any pending litigation – but may be hired should we move forward.

The full legal opinion I received from them is attached to this email – with each and every part shown and discussed below – with my comments for each section. Note: I am not an attorney and do not practice law – so these are my interpretations of the sections of the attorney’s letter – trying to convey the realistic meaning from the necessary legalese.

Executive Summary Of Attorney’s Findings

For those who prefer to start with an executive summary, here are the bottom line findings by the attorney with regard to GGRC and the actions of the “Board” and Joe Thomas:

You are REQUIRED to charge all owners ONLY in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages for everything: monthly assessments, water, cable TV, etc. This means no more 82% overcharge to all 1-1 owners.
You are REQUIRED to provide all owners with COPIES of everything they request including invoices, check stubs, bids, etc.
You are REQUIRED to get BOTH the 75% positive vote by owners AND the 90% positive vote by mortgage holders of all condo loans at Deer Ridge. Therefore, ANY monies you spend on walkway ramps will be your personal responsibility to pay.
You are NOT allowed to ever have ANY special assessments – hence, the Asinine Assessment of $353,500 is NULL and VOID. No owners are required to fund a penny of this money – and any monies received MUST be returned to those owners who have already paid.
You and other board members are going to be liable to repay ALL overcharges to both current and past 1-1 owners, along with interest. (This means you will be required to pay us back over $10,000 in our case – and more or less the same to other 1-1 owners – past AND present.)
RML and Ridge Resort Realty are NOT legitimate – and must pay back every penny of GGRC’s money ever used for them – and these companies must be expeditiously sold.
All “annual meetings” held in April are not official Annual Meetings – hence, all decisions, and votes made, INCLUDING board member elections, are NULL and VOID. This means that Luther Parker and every other member of the “board” are, in fact, NOT members of the Board and have no power whatsoever including setting assessments, making special assessments, setting rules and regulations, agreeing to any contracts about anything, etc. We will sue to have a special master appointed by the court.
No board member or committee member may receive ANY compensation INCLUDING reimbursements for travel, meals, maid service, free storage or special remodeling of board member’s OR committee member’s units. When we do our review of the books and records, we are going to add up every penny that has ever been paid and individually sue each of you for the full and complete reimbursement of all of this money.
The entire current “board” has committed multiple ultra vires acts that were outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws even if you were a legitimate board. As such, these acts show gross negligence on your part and on the part of your “unified board that speaks with one voice.” As noted in the attorney’s answer to Question 12, these illegitimate acts of yours are actionable with all monies recoverable from you and all other “board members” and Joe Thomas personally – probably on a “joint and several” basis. That means we are going to go after the FULL amount for each illegitimate act from you and each of the board members until we collect EVERY penny that was spent on decisions that were outside the scope of authority. Based on my prior blog postings, I have already identified over $120,000 that has been spent without the proper Article XII approvals.

Those are pretty much the highlights – and as you can see, most of the above will have a MASSIVE impact on GGRC, RML, Ridge Resort Realty and each member of the “board” personally. It will also rightfully put $10,000, more or less, back into the pockets of all PAST AND PRESENT 1-1 owners who join with us in the lawsuit against those responsible for our gross overcharge of fees.

The above issues are the way things SHOULD have been done all along – and we WILL hold those accountable who have capriciously and arbitrarily chosen to ignore the controlling documents of Deer Ridge and GGRC Regime.

You all will NOT be able to claim ignorance on these issues – all of these issues have been brought to your attention multiple times over multiple years.

What Say You Luther?

You are hereby put on notice to immediately resolve all of the above issues.

If you do not, one of our expected remedies will be to file a derivative action suit on behalf of GGRC naming each of you, individually, as defendants in that lawsuit. This particular lawsuit will allow us to recover funds from all of you, individually, and require that the entire board be fired, with cause, for gross negligence. And, since this will be GGRC suing you, none of you will be able to use any past or current attorney who has represented GGRC.

Another legal action we intend to take will be to immediately gain an injunction blocking the special assessments and inter-pleading any and all funds already received to a court controlled account. Another legal action we intend to take will be a declaratory judgment suit over the above interpretations of the Master Deed and Bylaws.

Another legal action we intend to take will be for multiple past and current 1-1 owners, such as myself, to sue the board members, individually, for the 82% overcharge of all costs going back for years. Other, additional litigation is planned as needed. Bear in mind that we intend to also sue each of you for full recovery of all of our legal and court costs – and since it is fairly apparent we will win the issues, we expect to win on the legal fee recovery too.

Discovery motions will be immediately made that will require GGRC to turn over COPIES of ALL books and records related to GGRC and RML, et al.

So, Luther, are you going to continue to try to self-servingly block full and complete implementation of all of the above issues – or do you want to save everyone time, hassle and money by settling all of these issues here and now before we take the next steps? If you attempt to delay the above by squandering GGRC money for legal fees to protect yourself and other board members and Joe Thomas, you will be held accountable for this waste of money also.

You have THREE DAYS to satisfactorily respond to this email before I move forward with the necessary steps to accomplish all of the above. This process will start with a postal mailing to all owners, providing them with a copy of the attorney’s letter, advising them that they should not make any assessment payments and asking for them to join with me as co-plaintiffs against you and the rest of the “board.”

So, what say you, Luther? How do you want to get to the inevitable Point B?

The Attorney Letter – And Analysis

The following dissects the letter from the attorney with snapshots of each part of the entire document.

This first image shows the law firm, date, attorney and that it deals with GGRC issues. The letter responds to 13 sets of questions I posed with regard to Deer Ridge and the operation and management of GGRC, the property and with regard to RML.

This point discusses that all owners have a right to COPIES of all the books and records. Wanting to make sure it was even more clear, I received the following email from the attorney:

This makes it crystal clear that ALL owners have a right to COPIES of books and records related in any way to GGRC. Period.

Bear in mind that as soon as we file any of our planned litigation, we WILL produce a motion for discovery FORCING you to turn over COPIES of all of these documents.

Also, bear in mind, Luther, if we have to litigate this and go for a declaratory judgment, you will most certainly lose on this point. This should not even be a point of issue with a Board that was open, transparent and honest.

So, based on the above, are you and the Board going to continue to interfere with the owners have their legal rights to copies of the GGRC et al books and records?

Luther, this is the crux of most of the intolerable abuse of power by Joe Thomas and the Board. You all have claimed reliance on these two sections to blatantly ignore the requirements of the Master Deed and Bylaws. As you can see, the attorney is saying exactly the same thing I have been telling you – Article III, Section 9(c) does NOT let you get away with your “arbitrary and capricious reallocation of ownership in the common elements or the common expenses.” Likewise, the same thing for Article V – which means you cannot simply charge the same amount to all unit sizes for any of the expenses.

Luther, ALL allocations and common expenses, including the HOA fees, the water, cable TV, telephone, etc. MUST be charged in accordance with the Master Deed Percentages. Period. You all do NOT have a choice. You all CANNOT be arbitrary and capricious. You MUST abide by the Master Deed Percentages. This should not even be a point of issue with a Board that was open, transparent and honest. So, based on the above, are you and the Board going to continue to be arbitrary and capricious – or are you going to IMMEDIATAELY adjust all costs to reflect the Master Deed Percentages?

Point 3 relates to your statement in the November budget meeting that, “an 82% over charge to the 30 1-1 owners was ‘fair and equitable.’”

Clearly, it is NOT.

So, based on the above, are you and the Board going to continue to be arbitrary and capricious – or are you going to IMMEDIATELY adjust all costs to reflect the Master Deed Percentages – and stop overcharging all 30 1-1 owners by 82%?

Uh oh. Trouble in River City for the Board. Could it be that special assessments are NOT authorized whatsoever??? See the interesting details below.

As you can see, all of those overcharges you guys have made for years can be recouped by me and all the other victims of your “arbitrary and capricious” wrongly calculated assessments. For me, that adds up to over $10,000 and I want all my money back with at least interest. It doesn’t look like I can get monetary damages – at least on this point – though it may depend on what type of litigation we pursue.

NOTE: All 1-1 owners now, and in the past, will have a CLAIM for the board’s arbitrary and capricious overcharges – to get back your money and interest and probably legal fees to sue them! If you want to join with me as a co-plaintiff, please email me ASAP!

Here is a BIGGIE – RML and Ridge Resort Realty are NOT legitimate, just as I have claimed for years. RML was illegally formed by the board in 1987 with zero vote of the owners for one thing – but even beyond that point, it is NOT an appropriate use of any funds as described above.

We expect to file a derivative action suit, as GGRC, against you, individually, and all the board members and Joe Thomas, individually, to force the IMMEDIATE divestiture of both RML and Ridge Resort Realty and for reimbursements of any and all costs associated in any way with the formation and operation of these two illegitimate companies.

I personally want every penny of MY money back that was ever spent in any way to support RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

If you would like me, with my 15 plus years of real estate experience to help with the quick and IMMEDIATE divestiture of these companies, please let me know.

As I have claimed, all Annual Meetings held in April are NOT Annual Meetings as defined by the Master Deed. And, since the Master Deed REQUIRES that the Board of Directors is ONLY elected at the Annual Meeting, you, Luther Parker, and the rest of this current “Board” were NOT properly elected and any and all decisions made by you all are null and void and without effect. As such, I intend to file suit to have the Court appoint a Special Master to oversee all operations of GGRC and the immediate divestiture of both RML and Ridge Resort Realty.

Now, if you really hurry, since this is February 18th, you COULD get a quick 30 day notice out to all owners moving the April “Annual Meeting” to the first quarter as required by the Master Deed. That would allow for the proper election of the new board without the need for a court-appointed Master. However, if you wait or still try to hold the “Annual Meeting” in April, and I am successful with my point of law, this means that the Master would be running GGRC until the first quarter of NEXT YEAR.

So, what say you Luther? Are you going to quickly try to abide by the controlling documents of our Regime – or are you going to toss it all into the court appointed Master’s hands?

There are SEVERAL very interesting parts to the attorney’s response to this Question 8.

First of all, just to be clear to Tom Reise – you guys are NOT in the “driver’s seat” and you cannot simply ignore the provisions of Article XII REQUIRING you to get the 90% vote of the mortgage holders of all condo units at Deer Ridge! If you all proceed in ANY way with the demolition or construction of your aluminum walkway railings, you will be in direct violation of the Master Deed. Period. You have been WARNED.

The second interesting concept here is the one mentioned in one of my recent blog postings: ultra vires acts. I warned you all in that posting that you had each better talk with your individual attorneys because ANYTHING you do, or HAVE ALREADY DONE, that are outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws, subjects EACH of you personally to be grossly negligent. This means that you will NOT be able to rely on the D and O insurance to protect you, nor to use legal counsel of GGRC to defend you.

It also means that some owners, me included of course, can name you all individually in a derivative action suit. You all need to really understand how a derivative action suit works – since that means we can sue each of you, on behalf of GGRC as our plaintiff. Now, that sounds interesting. And, it means that all the owners would get paid back from your pockets – not from GGRC’s bank account. For me, that will be most fitting – considering the long term abuse of power that has existed at Deer Ridge.

Now, are you SURE you want to start spending YOUR money replacing those walkway railings?

Alas, this was the one point that did not YET go our way. We are still investigating ways to get this one to happen too, but we may have to wait until we replace three of the current board members. We also expect that Tennessee and other states will follow Nevada’s lead in REQUIRING all HOA board meetings be digitally recorded.

Now, things get very interesting.

NOTE TO ALL – BASED ON INDEPENDENT LEGAL OPINION,
IT LOOKS LIKE NO ONE IS REQUIRED TO FUND ANY PART
OF THE $353,500 ASSESSMENT!

That felt good to say. This part was so amazing that I even went back to the attorney and asked for clarity. He assured me saying he stands by this answer. What this means folks is that the board, even if they were properly elected – which this one is NOT – can never do a special assessment. They can only raise the monthly fees to properly build a reserve fund (the monies that were in the reserve fund as recently as three years ago have seemingly disappeared – probably in covering the negative cash flow from operations of RML.)

Additionally, even if it had been legal, the Board’s unwillingness to provide us copies of all the records tied to this Asinine Assessment would have invalidated the assessment.

If you would like to join with me in blocking your upcoming assessment, please let me know ASAP. We intend on filing an injunction against GGRC and the Board from even attempting to enforce this assessment until full resolution of our lawsuit(s).

Clearly, the “Board” has not acted fairly and equitably with regard to me, or other full time owners at Deer Ridge. Stay tuned for a LOT more about this.

Luther, we believe that there will be a massive amount of evidence that will show that you and the other “board” members and Joe Thomas have repeatedly committed ultra vires acts that were outside the scope of authority granted you by the Master Deed and Bylaws. As such, these acts will hopefully show gross negligence on your part and on the part of your “unified board that speaks with one voice.” As noted in the attorney’s answer to Question 12, these illegitimate acts of yours are actionable with all monies recoverable from you and all other “board members” and Joe Thomas personally – probably on a “joint and several” basis.

That means we are going to go after the FULL amount for each illegitimate act from you and each of the board members until we collect EVERY penny that was spent on decisions that were outside the scope of authority. Based on my prior blog postings, I have already identified over $120,000 that has been spent without the proper Article XII approvals. I am sure as we dig into the records, we will discover a LOT more. Would you like to write us a check for the full $120,000? Or, would you rather have Margie or David pay all of that for you?

This Question 13 answer is pretty crystal clear Luther. No one gets a penny for serving on the Board. This means NO reimbursement for anything including travel, meals, maid service, free storage or special remodeling of board member’s OR committee member’s units. When we do our review of the books and records, we are going to add up every penny that has ever been paid and individually sue each of you for the full and complete reimbursement of all of this money.

For example, let’s talk about Margie since she seems to have been on the Board for years. If she got $300 per meeting for travel and attended 5 meetings a year, which is $1,500. Let’s assume other stuff added up to another $500 a year for a total of $2,000 a year in illegitimate benefits. If she had gotten these ill gotten gains for say 10 years, this means that Margie will immediately owe us $20,000.

If this same amount was paid out to ALL board members and some committee members, the total amount that could be owned back could exceed $200,000. That’s almost enough to get all the work done at Deer Ridge that REALLY needs to be done.

Of course, my personal intuition is that she and other board members have received a LOT more quid pro quo that will have to be paid back – but we will see.

Have You Noticed A Trend Here?

I assume you have noticed that I have been spot on RIGHT on everything I have been saying for years on my blog – and that your vilification, slander and libel contained in your diatribe letter you recently mailed to all owners was obviously full of lies and disinformation as a way to attempt to falsely discredit me. This objective legal opinion validates virtually EVERYTHING I have been saying for years. And, if need be, we will take the board members to court to prove it with finality.

I, along with many other owners, are sick and tired of the board’s “arbitrary and capricious ways” of illegitimately running GGRC and Deer Ridge – and I continue to be highly motivated to resolve these issues once and for all so that this property is finally properly governed by its Master Deed and Bylaws.

Luther, if you want these matters settled, you have three days. The clock is already ticking.

Govern yourself accordingly.

Robert
A-202

Audits At Deer Ridge – The Fallacy and Joe Thomas – The Deer Ridge $10 Million Man

Robert — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:22:08 +0000

Joe Thomas and the board make a big deal out of the fact that we have audited financial statements for GGRC and RML – and that, because of this, owners don’t have any need for copies of the books and records.

They make out that this “comprehensive oversight by an outside accounting firm” should give all owners complete confidence that all the books and records of our homeowner’s association are being done correctly.

This is a fallacy — and many owners are being lulled into false complacency just because they are being told the books and records are “audited.”

Hickman and Company A.K.A. Hickman and Associates

These folks have been our auditors at least for the past 8 years since I know they did the audits for 2002.

Is this some large regional, certified public accounting firm that has the proper, internal controls and procedures to thoroughly audit an organization and uncover any misdeeds or malfeasance that may be present in our homeowner’s association?

Judge for yourself.

Their website can be found at http://www.hickmanaccounting.com/about/

As you can see from their website, “Hickman and Associates is a tax and bookkeeping firm located in historic downtown Sevierville, Tennessee. A family firm, we have proudly served the community with three generations of for over fifty years. Hickman and Associates currently has four employees (all family members.)”

While these folks may very well be good bookkeepers and accountants, it is not clear from their website that any of the four of them is currently a CPA. It also is not clear whether this firm has ever had any recent peer review by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The AICPA requires most CPA firms which claim to do audits have this periodic peer review to help ensure that audits are done correctly.

Again, I know of absolutely nothing negative whatsoever about this company, it owners or employees or its bookkeeping and accounting services. I will take on face value that they must have at least one certified public accountant who participates in the annual GGRC and RML audits they do for Deer Ridge.

Accounting Company Concerns

Even if Hickman are the best accountants and bookkeepers in the world, another major concern is that such a small firm may be overly dependent upon the business handed out by Joe Thomas. For such a small company, two audits and the bookkeeping services for Deer Ridge could make up a significant of their annual revenue.

During the Special Meeting that was held on February 6, 2010, Joe Thomas stated that we pay Hickman and Associates, et al the following each year:

$1,300 for the GGRC audit and $1,800 for the RML audit.
$5,400 for the GGRC bookkeeping and $21,000 for the RML bookkeeping.
Total annual payments to Hickman from GGRC and RML: $28,600

What percentage of Hickman’s four person accounting company’s annual revenues does the above $28,600 represent?

If, hypothetically speaking of course, Joe Thomas threaten to take “his” GGRC and RML accounting business elsewhere unless the books were “cooked”, would such a small firm feel compelled to bend the rules or “look the other way?”

Consider that much larger CPA firms have been influenced by similar circumstances. (Example: Bernie Madoff’s auditor, David Friehling, CPA of Friehling & Horowitz, a tiny CPA firm that operated from a 13-by-18-foot office. Or, consider the 89 year old, 28,000 employee firm, Arthur Andersen CPA, that went out of business as a result of their federal criminal conviction for manipulation of the books for a company called Enron.)

Again, Hickman is most probably a very reputable firm with great people — but the above should be major red flags to all Deer Ridge owners that just because financials are audited does NOT mean that they are right – or that owners are protected from fraud.

What Exactly Is Audited?

Even if the CPA firm is doing a reasonably competent job, there are major opportunities for potential malfeasance at Deer Ridge.

Could something like that be happening at Deer Ridge using the small accounting firm that depends so much on Deer Ridge business? Again, it may or may not be an issue here with Hickman and Associates — but how can we know for certain?

The first thing to know about most audits is that all transactions are NOT checked. Most audits would only include “spot checking” sporadic accounts – and in many cases the CPA firm is directed by the client company to only check specific accounts that they know are pristine.

Let’s look at Hickman’s own cover letter for the audits they do for Deer Ridge:

“These financial statements are the responsibility of the Corporation’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit.

“We conducted our audit in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements.”

So, what does this mean?

They claim no responsibility whatsoever for the financial statements themselves – washing their hands of it like Pontius Pilate – distancing themselves from whatever was contained in those Joe Thomas directed financials.

Secondly, and this is key, their audit only includes a smattering taste test of entries on those financials. So, how much was tested? Which accounts were tested? Who, really, decided which accounts were tested?

No matter those answers, it is clear that our audit was NOT the thorough review of all accounts and all bills and receipts that many folks have as their preconceived notion of an audit.

Some “Hypothetical” Examples of Possible Fraud At Deer Ridge

Let’s consider the wild and crazy idea that our much beloved general manager, Joe Thomas, was not the pillar of honesty and forthrightness that Luther Parker asserts.

I know — it’s hard to imagine that Joe Thomas would even take a nickel that did not belong to him. But let’s assume, for argument’s sake, that there was a bad and evil general manager running Deer Ridge – instead of the saint we are so blessed to have controlling our money.

Is there any possible way that this fictional bad and evil general manager could possibly circumvent the audits of GGRC and RML?

Let’s consider some hypothetical examples:

Our general manager decides to have his personal house painted for $12,400. As part of the deal for choosing the painter, he requires them to mark the invoice that the work was done at Deer Ridge. The general manager then marks the invoice with the proper chart of accounts number for Deer Ridge maintenance and then files the invoice with the other maintenance receipts for the year for Hickman bookkeeping to enter into the general ledger.
In this case, even a good auditor doing a normal audit would probably not uncover this embezzlement. The only way this might be caught would be by owners reviewing copies of all the books and records. Even then, it would take someone who could connect all the dots to understand that no work at Deer Ridge was actually performed for this $12,400 expenditure.

An even harder thing to catch would be a derivative of this: The general manager is getting ready to award a $170,000 paint bid for painting all of Deer Ridge. But he either requires the contractor to ALSO paint his house for the same dollars – or agrees to a higher bid of $185,000 if it also includes his house – but still only lists the Deer Ridge property as being painted.

Again, even a forensic audit might have a problem catching this kind of malfeasance. But owners seeing all the books and records, including all competing bids for painting the property, would probably catch this.

And, here is the important part: Knowing that any and all owners had a right to have copies of all the books and records, including all competitive bids, might worry a bad and evil general manager so much – that they would not want to risk being investigated.
Next example, our general manager decides to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on vacation. He secretly cuts a deal with the manager or owner at a Myrtle Beach resort for free use of their luxury ocean front condo for two weeks – in exchange for the manager or owner of the Myrtle Beach resort to use one or more Deer Ridge Mountain Resort condos for him and his family.
Of course, our general manager doesn’t OWN any condos at Deer Ridge – so he finagles the secret use of units managed by RML to fulfill his side of this bartered deal. Since he doesn’t receive any money, there are no rents ever paid to the actual owners of the units at Deer Ridge.

Again, even a reasonably competent auditor would probably not be able to uncover this embezzlement either. The only way it could probably be spotted would be a review of copies of all the RML books and records including the computerized reservation system (excluding any and all credit card info of course.)
Our fictional bad and evil general manager has some golfing buddies who want to party at Deer Ridge. He tells them, “Pay me cash for just one night and I will give you a whole week’s stay in a nice unit.” The general manager pockets the cash, marks the unit as unavailable and the owner never knows their unit was used.
Our general manager decides to have big weekend parties during the month of October to celebrate Oktoberfest in the mountains. He orders a massive amount of food and beverages for these occasions — but over orders intentionally so that he can take the lion’s share home for his personal consumption.
Our general manager decides at budget time to pad various accounts so that he can have the maneuvering room to use money undetected. For example, hypothetically speaking, he has a budget of $10,000 for “seasonal decorations.” In this budget, he shows a receipt for $1,700 worth of pumpkins including buying one pumpkin for a whopping $300 (these were actual numbers for 2009 according to Joe Thomas at a recent board meeting.)
However, back to our story, assuming the $1,700 was spent, there were no other seasonal decorations bought during the year. This would give our general manager $8,300 slush fund to use anyway he wished and still be able to report that he stayed under budget. But, back to our pumpkins: What if the real costs for those pumpkins were only $700 – and a bad general manager pocketed a $1,000 as a kickback? Or, how do we know if the pumpkin company was really owned by the evil general manager’s wife or son?
Our bad general manager edicts that all units in RML must have new mini-blinds for all windows so that all units are upgraded and standardized. He orders all the blinds from one company and cuts a deal that they have to provide free delivery. However, he is creative and takes their letterhead and makes his own shipping invoice for $2,500 which he pockets.

Again, those are a half dozen simple, hypothetical examples of how malfeasance could slip past most audits IF we didn’t have our current saint for a general manager.

No Checks And Balances At Deer Ridge

Based on comments made at the February 6, 2010 Special Meeting, Luther Parker admitted that there are NO checks and balances of ANY kind in place at Deer Ridge.

Luther stated that:

There are NO written policy manuals for Deer Ridge and the operation of GGRC and RML.
There are NO written Delegation of Authority forms that are signed and on file.
There are NO written systems and procedures for GGRC or RML.
There is NO written employee manual.

Folks, this is Management 101 stuff that they teach in freshman year of undergraduate school.

Additionally, it appears that no one on the current Board of Directors performs ANY kind of managerial review of any of the actual receipts for goods and services paid at Deer Ridge.

No one ensures that every check that is written at Deer Ridge pays for what is used and needed at Deer Ridge.
No one sees ANY of these documents – except Joe Thomas.
No one even questions Joe Thomas on any of these issues.

In my opinion, all of this is grounds by itself for finding the entire Board of Directors guilty of Gross Negligence and Gross Incompetence!

Management 101 Stuff, For God’s Sake!

Even if we assume we have a 100.00% honest general manager, common business sense would dictate that you have these kinds of systems and procedures, policies and written delegation of authority’s and checks and balances in place to ensure that no nonfeasance or embezzlement can ever take place.

And, on top of all that, Joe Thomas and the board refuse to allow owners to have copies of all books and records that would help the owners ensure no malfeasance or embezzlement was taking place.

What are Joe Thomas and the board trying to hide?

Joe Thomas — The Deer Ridge $10 Million Man

According to the 2010 budget issued by the board in December 2009, GGRC and RML will handle cash receipts of over $1.1 million during this calendar year. This includes HOA fees, special assessments and RML revenues.

Assuming this was a typical year, that means that Joe Thomas during the past nine years would have handled over $10 million related to Deer Ridge.

This is a massive amount of money. Huge.

And, NO checks and balances in place?
NO systems and procedures, policies and delegation of authority are in place?
No forensic audit to help ensure that everything is done right?

This is INCREDIBLY bad management by President Luther Parker and the entire board of directors.

I am sure that Joe Thomas greatly prefers to continue things as they are:

Completely unaccountable to anyone about anything.
Completely allowed free reign to pretty much do whatever he wants to do with the $1 million plus a year that passes through his fingers.
Completely insistent that NO owner EVER gets to make copies of any books and records that might catch any malfeasance.

Folks, even if trust your employees, it is incredibly bad management to not have the checks and balances in place to make sure you are protected just in case you hire someone who is not honest.

And, all of this goes beyond holding the general manager position accountable.

Joe Thomas, as general manager, is guilty of gross negligence and bad management by not having a written employee manual, and other control documents, in place in case of lawsuits, EEOC actions, claims of organizational misconduct for drug abuse, claims of sexual misconduct, etc. Even a $100, fill-in-the-blank software program could solve the problem regarding an employee manual.

Plus, good management practice dictates that ALL positions in an organization should have WRITTEN systems and procedures, policies and delegations of authority. There are all kinds of risks to GGRC and owners by this gross oversight by both Joe Thomas and each and every board member.

It Is Past Time For A Change

Lots of changes are needed at Deer Ridge.

Immediately fixing this massive policy and procedures hole is one of them. Firing the Board and Joe Thomas for gross incompetence and gross negligence are also at the top of my list.

But the immediate thing to do is to give ALL owners oversight into what is REALLY happening, financially and operationally, at Deer Ridge.

And, we do this by allowing ALL owners to have copies of ALL books and records – so that all of us can audit the books, so ALL of us can institute our own checks and balances – so that all of us can finally have some assurance that things have been done right.

So that we know if ANY of our $10 million has been embezzled or misappropriated in ANY way.

All it takes is Luther Parker finally agreeing to allow COPIES of all books and records will be made available to ALL owners – starting at 9 AM yesterday morning.

If he doesn’t, we ALL should be wondering: Exactly what ARE they trying so desperately to hide from the owners?

Deer Ridge History 1987-2006 – New Downloadable Document For All Owners

Robert — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:35:27 +0000

We have a new, major document you can download from the “Documents You Can Download” Section in the left column of this blog – or by clicking Deer Ridge History 1987-2006.

This document is a complete scan of one Deer Ridge owner’s notebook of all his documents related to GGRC and RML from 1987 through 2006.

This may or may not be comprehensive – there were probably other documents during that time frame that didn’t make its way into this notebook.

However, as hard as Joe Thomas and the Board make it for owners to get copies of anything, we thought it would be worth the hours of effort it took us to scan in these 432 pages of history – so that all owners could have a digital version of their own. This way, this information will never get lost, misplaced or destroyed – but live on forever – making folks accountable.

Volume 2 Coming Soon

We have a second, similar sized notebook from the same source that we are just starting to scan. It covers 2007 to the present day.

This will take both of us about the same 4 hours to scan in, convert to text, etc. As soon as we have it, we will also post it here on www.DeerRidgeOwners.com as a “Document You Can Download.”

Totally Searchable Documents

When we do these scans, we take the time to convert them into text. It slows things down a lot – but it makes these documents a highly usable gold mind of information.

For example, if you search this document for the term, “Joe Thomas” you find his full name occurs 222 times and the word “Joe” occurs 389 times. And that is just before 2007. Likewise, the word “assessment” occurs 59 times.

How Many Smoking Guns Can You Find?

We have already spotted several “smoking guns” – which Joey and the Board are going to have a VERY hard time refuting since we plan on also using these documents in our upcoming litigation.

Enjoy the history lessons.

Deer Ridge History – Historical Documents And Smoking Guns – Coming Soon

Robert — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:03:36 +0000

We have just been presented with two massive notebooks of historical documents on Deer Ridge that date back to about the time the property was built!

This 11″ stack of papers make absolutely fascinating reading – board minutes, incorporation papers for RML, annual meeting presentations, promises, excuses, provisional hiring, political force outs, side deals – the list goes on.

We have already begun the process of scanning ALL of this in as an Acrobat file that will be available to ALL owners.

This is a massive and time consuming project for both Jan and me – but we are doing this as a service to all owners at Deer Ridge – and will be adding this file to our “Documents You Can Download” section on the blog in the next couple of weeks – as soon as our schedules allow.

We have already found a couple of MAJOR “smoking guns” that will be used in our upcoming litigation. The great thing about it being totally digital is that it is easy for all owners to have a copy – and also easy for us to send a copy to our attorney and to the Court.

Another great thing, in case you don’t know this: Once it is scanned into Acrobat, it performs a complete OCR – making every bit of the documents keyword searchable! (You have to download the file and open the file with the free version of Acrobat to use this function – but it works GREAT!)

That means that, on any of the Acrobat documents I have done for Deer Ridge, you can type in whatever keyword or key phrase that interests you – and immediately find all occurrences of interesting phrases like, Joe Thomas, assessments, walkways, master deed, etc.

Try it, you will like it.

Anyway, just wanted to give everyone a head’s up for these coming attractions.

Watch for the smoke – so you will really know “who done it.”

(Click the headline to leave comments.)

Deer Ridge Board Abuse Of Power Continues – Vote For Walkways Improperly Done

Robert — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:15:59 +0000

Once again, the Deer Ridge Board continues its abuse of power by directly violating the Master Deed with respect to the vote on the walkway railings on February 6, 2010.

The First Phase Vote

Neil and I attended the Special Meeting for the Walkway Railing vote. The ending ballots by owners were 77% in favor. This means it apparently passed by 2% – with only two units voting differently, the vote would have failed. We saw the ballots and helped in the counting to at least make sure that the votes were tallying correctly.

However, we were not offered the voting certificates to compare signatures and have no assurance that some of the proxies might have been forged just to make sure the vote squeaked by. Then, there is the issue that the proxy required that anyone that was chosen as some one’s proxy would be required to attend. This constraint is NOT part of the wording of our Master Deed and Bylaws and hence, probably invalidated the results anyway.

Also, the biased wording of the proxy stated that the money was going to be spent either on repairs – or it was going to be spent on the “double-wide” metal railing approach. Owners did NOT have a right to vote on whether to spend the wasted $49,500 at all.

The REAL Problem – No Second Phase Vote

The real problem is that the board refuses to abide by the rest of the provision for alterations and improvements.

As you can plainly see, they are REQUIRED to gain the approval of at least 90% of the mortgage holders of all loans on all condos at Deer Ridge. Not only have they not done this, they categorically REFUSE to do it. As a result, this vote is invalidated and will probably be a point of issue with the upcoming litigation. We will press hard to, in fact, hold each member of the board personally liable for any and all monies spent on the railing alteration since they knowingly chose to blatantly ignore this provision.

“We Are In The Driver’s Seat – And Will Do What We Want To Do.”

That is a direct quote by one of your Board members, Tom Reise. In other words, Tom, speaking for the whole board, is telling all the owners that they hold all the power…and they can choose to ignore anything they want to – and to hell with the controlling documents for Deer Ridge and the rights of the owners to control what happens to their property and to their investment.

Time To Replace The Whole Incestuous Board – And Kick Them ALL Out Of “The Driver’s Seat”

It is past time to replace these guys. All of them, Margie included. Many have been on the board WAY too long and all of them vote as a consolidated entity. That, by itself, is a HUGE red flag. Board members are legally required to act independently and NOT as a consolidated entity. Remember the World Com board and how all of them got individually penalized millions of dollars because of that?

It is time to kick ALL of them out of the “driver’s seat” – and elect those who are willing to be responsive to the owners and abide by the controlling documents of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

Open Letter to Luther Parker and the Board – Special Meeting for February 6, 2010

Robert — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 05:34:00 +0000

Open Letter to Luther Parker and the Board regarding the announced Special Meeting for February 6, 2010 concerning the waste of $49,000 of owners’ money to replace perfectly good walkway railings.

Luther, David and the Board,

Pursuant to the GGRC Bylaws, I am required to submit the attached proxies to the Secretary at least one day before the appointed time of any Special Meeting. In accordance with this provision, please see the attached signed documents designating me as their appointed proxy.

I hereby vote NO as the proxy holder for these owners against ANY and ALL changes, alterations or even replacement of the existing Walkway Railings.

Note that I am able NOW – late Thursday night, to legitimately vote these proxies NO without attending the meeting on Saturday morning. (Don’t worry – I will be there.)

However, in reviewing your letter and ballot dated December 10, 2009, it states that if an owner designates a proxy then that proxy member MUST attend the special meeting.

Specifically, your Proxy Form states, “My PROXY will attend the Special Meeting of Homeowners Association being held at 9:00 AM on February 6, 2010 at the Pine Top Lodge and act on my behalf.”

The GGRC Bylaws (Article VII Section 4) state that “Votes may be cast in person or by proxy.” The obvious implication of this is that proxies may, in fact, be cast without the requirement of actual attendance, in person, by the proxy holder. In fact, proxy holders could vote as I did in the above paragraph.

There is NO requirement anywhere in the GGRC Bylaws that a proxy MUST attend any meeting in order to vote his assigned proxies.

As a consequence, proper notice and instruction has NOT been given all owners for the February 6, 2010 Special Meeting to identify a suitable proxy to represent them for the vote.

As a result of the illegitimate constraints and instructions in Luther Parker’s letter and proxy form, some owners may have felt compelled to choose proxies they would not have chosen if they had been properly instructed.

Some owners may have, in particular, selected board members ONLY because they knew they would be present at the meeting. Some of these owners may not have known they had the RIGHT to chose any owner to represent them for the vote at the Special Meeting – whether that representative was going to be present or not.

Since proper notice of a Special Meeting has NOT been provided to all owners, any votes and / or actions taken on February 6, 2010 would therefore be null and void and in violation of the GGRC controlling documents.

Luther, I am sure that you and the whole GGRC Board of Directors would ONLY want to do everything in full accordance with the Deer Ridge Master Deed and Bylaws and will reschedule the Special Meeting once proper notice and instruction have been given all owners about their true rights to select a proxy at Deer Ridge.

Robert
A-202

If you have not already voted, you can fax me your proxy. But bear in mind that no vote is a NO vote – since the Bylaws require the Board gets a 75% POSITIVE VOTE to proceed – plus a 90% vote of all aggregated lienholders.

Knoxville Law Firm Hired – Retainer Paid

Robert — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:38:18 +0000

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 deserve the following from their General Manager and Board of Directors:

Transparency?
Full accountability?
Open and responsive communications?
Right to audio recordings of all board meetings?
Genuine access to copies of all books and records (except credit card info)?
Copies of documents that prove that $353,500 is needed for the upcoming assessment (including $50,000 for “nuts and bolts”)?
Genuine and through auditing?
No special favors and illegal compensation for board members?
Fair assessments and HOA fees?
Adherence to all aspects of the controlling documents under which ALL owners purchased their units – The Master Deed and Bylaws?
Fair treatment for all owner types: RML owners, non-RML owners and residents?

If these are reflective of your belief system, then I invite you to help us achieve these goals.

The consistent and predictable actions of Joe Thomas and the current Board make it clear that they are opposed to every one of the concepts described in the above bullet points. As a consequence, we have no choice but to pursue the above goals with legal action.

If you would like to help us achieve these goals, your contribution to our legal fund would help accelerate our success.

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! Just click the button below to donate to the cause.

Deer Ridge Board Attack Letter – Another Lie Exposed – Joe Thomas Tree Butchery

Robert — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:22:41 +0000

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 what I say – even to the point of spreading rumors that I am senile. (I will let the readers of this blog determine from its content and the recent Investment Analysis for Deer Ridge whether the author is senile or not.)

These are the kinds of people we have currently managing Deer Ridge – and it is way past time for a change. But more about that very soon.

Joe Thomas and the Board Lied To All Owners Once Again

The Lie du Jour we are dealing with here is this one that was contained in their Attack Letter:

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

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

Thanks to the help of Deer Ridge owner Todd Novak, we reviewed the plats to the property in detail. He was outraged how the board had so obviously lied about so many things in their Attack Letter – including their spurious claim that Deer Ridge did not own those trees that Joe Thomas butchered – that Todd went to the County offices for Sevier County and got the following plats of Deer Ridge.

If you look at the following plat, Deer Ridge owns the 10.56 acres identified as Plot 3.

This coincides with the plats that are part of the Deer Ridge Master Deed.

The Truth About The Measurements

Based on the documents provided by Todd, I was able to run some measurements today on this issue using the surveyor’s plat and my satellite-accurate GPS to calculate the real distances.

Acrobat offers a great analysis tools for doing precise measurements to scale. Below you can see that we were able to find the exact location of the Joe Thomas Tree Butchering as located at N 35 45.942 and W 83 20.942. This location is identified at the bottom of the red scales show below. This shows the exact distance from the center of our road to the edge of Deer Ridge owned property to be 0.25″ – and when plotted to scale, that 0.25″ is equivalent to about 60′ from center line of the road to the edge of our property.

The following are enlargements of the above plat so that you can more easily see the scale of things. Note again, we are measuring at the bottom part of the two parallel lines which mark both the center of the road and the Deer Ridge property line. When you compare the scale, you will see that the distance is 60′ .

Now, let’s look back at the FALSE claim Joey and the Board made in one of their many lies in the Attack Letter: ” The property line is very close to the road at this point and GG&RC only owns a 25 ft right of way from the center line of Weber Road.”

The REAL distance is 60′ NOT the contrived lie by Joey and the Board of 25′!

Gee, guys, why the lie? Then, in the same part of their Attack Letter, they state,”The topped tree closest to the road is 33 ft from the center line. Therefore, it appears that most, if not all, of the trees topped in this area were not on GG&RC property.”

Even if their statement was true – that the topped trees were 33′ from the center line, ALL of the topped trees WERE on GGRC property – which means that Joe Thomas DID destroy Deer Ridge assets for the benefit of a non Deer Ridge owner!

But wait – there’s more.

When measured via GPS satellite data, the topped tree closest to the road is 20′ NOT the claimed 33′ that Joey and the Board make in their Attack Letter. ANOTHER lie. See data below.

The following

If They Lie To You About This – What Else Are Joe Thomas and the Board Lying About?

If Joe Thomas and your current Board lie to you about something like this, what ELSE are they lying about?

I don’t know about you – but I do not tolerate liars in my life. And, I consider Joe Thomas and the entire current board to be completely untrustworthy and I personally have ZERO confidence in any thing they say or do.

How about you? Do you trust them NOT to lie to you about the big stuff – when they are so willing to lie to you and all other owners about our property lines – just to try and protect Joe Thomas from justifiable responsibility for critically damaging valuable assets owned by all Deer Ridge owners?

Time For A Clean Sweep

Joe Thomas needs to be immediately fired. For SO many reasons. And this entire Board of Directors needs to be replaced by those who are willing to be transparent, open, accountable – and who will administer Deer Ridge Mountain Resort fairly for all owners – not just the small power clique who have dominated the HOA for years.

Let’s get rid of all these liars – and replace them with other owners who will finally do things right!

PS: Thanks again to Todd for his research and Sevier County document search – and his quest for the truth at Deer Ridge.

My Response To The Board’s Attack Letter

Robert — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:33:52 +0000

Thank You!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Welcome To New Visitors To This Blog

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

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

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

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

Some Points of Issue With Their Current Attack Letter

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

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

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

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

This one point is the crux of a majority of my complaints – and that complaint has been there since Day 1 and continues to this day. For me, this is such a critically important issue, it is worth filing a lawsuit over – so ALL owners can see what is going on with their investment in Deer Ridge.
“He earlier wanted RML sold, and that is still one of his goals.”
Absolutely. In my opinion, RML and Ridge Resort Realty are operating companies that put all owners at risk of running small companies – and is a violation of the Master Deed and Bylaws. Everyone who needs rental income would be better served by selling RML to a larger, better property management company – plus if sold correctly, could generate several hundreds of thousands of dollars to GGRC.

Should Deer Ridge HOA Sell Ridge Management Limited?

Sale of RML To An Unaffiliated Company Pro / Con List

What Is RML REALLY Worth If We Sell It?

Marketing Steps For Selling RML

Joe’s Gypity Do Dah Song to Deer Ridge Owners

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

Deer Ridge Board Meeting Motion – Fire Joe Thomas For Cause

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

File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission

Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner

Open Letter To Luther Parker and Board: Joe Thomas Accosts Owner In Laundry Room

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

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

Joe has always been threatened by me since I have significantly more real estate and property management experience than he does. Even though I’ve gone out of my way to make it clear that I don’t want his job, his apparent paranoia over this has been the root of a lot of his conniving and devious behavior toward me since we bought at Deer Ridge.
“Without a single substantiating fact he posted the picture on his website with the accusation that the Board was preparing to run a “secret” test for the demolition and replacement of the railings at one of the buildings and that Deer Ridge had already spent monies on parts for this test run.”
Actually, there were several substantiating facts.

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

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

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

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

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

Subject: RE: Questions

From: parker.luther@gmail.com

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

Neil,

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Luther

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

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

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

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

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

Uh huh. Talk about Doublespeak.

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

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

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

AND IF THEY ARE LIARS – WHAT ELSE ABOUT DEER RIDGE ARE JOE THOMAS AND LUTHER PARKER AND THE REST OF THE BOARD LYING TO THE OWNERS ABOUT – ABOUT THE ASSESSMENT? ABOUT THE BUDGETS? ABOUT THE REAL OPERATION OF RML? ABOUT BOARD COMPENSATION? ABOUT EVERYTHING?
“How can this man state that he has the support of many owners in his quest to completely destroy the beautiful mountain resort that has been more than 23 years in the making?”
Read the blog to see some of the support. See the proxies that I will bring to the February 6th meeting on the Walkway Railings Vote. Read the emails you are getting from other owners complaining about how you are not abiding by the Deer Ridge The Master Deed and Bylaws. Read the other, upcoming letters from other owners that will be mailed to all owners in the next few weeks. There are now many of us owners who are joining together to bring about long needed changes to Deer Ridge that will do just the opposite of destroying our beautiful mountain PROPERTY.
“On December 23, 2009 he stated on his website his intention to file a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission.”
This is true – although it just went in the mail in the last couple of days since the official complaint had to be notarized. You can read all about this complaint at File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the State of Tennessee.
“On December 12, 2009 he stated on his website that he had filed an official request to the FBI to investigate alleged criminal activity by Deer Ridge Manager and Board for suspected crimes of: white collar crime; corruption; financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement; illegitimate Board member compensation; and securities fraud.”
This is true. You can read all about this complaint at FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the FBI.
“The Board has made the decision to not provide,nor allow to be made, copies of detailed financial records which could be disseminated to parties that might use them to the detriment of the orderly operation of GG&RC and/or RML.”
Again, this is the crux of the problem.

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

If we have to go to court over this, we WILL go to court over this. Additionally, exactly what detrimental consequences does the board fear from these financial records? The ONLY ones I can think of relate solely to any malfeasance and misuse of HOA funds – which is exactly why I believe the Board and Joey are fighting, tooth and nail, to keep these copies out of the hands of owners. Please see: Yes Or No, Luther Parker? An Open Letter To Luther Parker, President of Deer Ridge – GGRC and RML.
“It is for this very same reason that the Board has made the decision to not allow audio recording of any of the Board meetings…”
Again, this is another case where the board refuses to be transparent and accountable to all owners.

Interestingly, the State of Nevada just implemented a new law affecting all HOAs that now REQUIRE them to audio record ALL board meetings and keep those recordings available to all interested parties for at least 10 years. Other states are expected to follow suit. So, if so many state governments see this as a requirement that is to the benefit of all owners, why does Joey and the Board at Deer Ridge fight it so much?
“On November 15,2009, on his website, he posted pictures along with the allegation ‘Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit of Non Deer Ridge Owner’ …What his cursory investigation failed to reveal was that one of the cabin owners on Moonshine Ridge, which overlooks Weber Road, also wanted some trees topped that were located on the south side of the road. Through the Maintenance staff, Joe contacted the landscaper that does contract work for Deer Ridge and referred him to the persons wanting the trees cut. The property line is very close to the road at this point and GG&RC only owns a 25 ft right of way from the center line of Weber Road. The topped tree closest to the road is 33 ft from the center line. Therefore, it appears that most, if not all, of the trees topped in this area were not on GG&RC property.”
From our analysis of the plat, the above “convenient” calculations by Joey and the Board appear to be very wrong and these trees are, indeed, on our property.

Do you believe it a coincidence that these trees were butchered at virtually the same time that this one cabin, the ONLY one that benefited from the butchering, signed on to be managed by RML? Please see: Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner, Joe Thomas Butchers Deer Ridge Trees For Benefit Of Non Deer Ridge Owner – Chapter 2 and Tree Trimming At Deer Ridge: A Guest Post By Tina.
“On September 20, 2009 he filed a complaint with the local US Postal authorities.”
True. Many of us have had way too much mail tampering.

However, I am please to say that I have now been successful at forcing Joey and the Board to install private mailboxes where keys will only be given to the individual owner and the US postal person who delivers the mail. Please see: Postmaster Says We Have A Right To Demand Individual Mailboxes and Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win! We should get our individual keys personally delivered to us sometime this week by Scott, the Gatlinburg Postmaster.
“On December 21, 2009 a copy of an invoice mailed by the Cobbly Nob Property Owners Association to Deer Ridge Mountain Resort appeared on his website and his cry is “Deer Ridge behind in payments to Cobbly Nob -Over $31,000!…RML is not in arrears to Cobbly Nob.”
Please see: Deer Ridge Behind In Payments To Cobbly Nob – Over $31,000!

Note in spite of what Joey and the Board claim in the letter about being caught up…that Cobbly Nob is offering a payment plan that just happens to start when the Asinine Assessments are due in March! If they are so caught up, why is a payment plan even being offered? Kind of makes you wonder, huh?
“In every instance the (GGRC) attorney did not find fault with the decisions of the Board and rebuked him for trying to micro-manage the Board’s operation when the Master Deed and By-Laws clearly granted the Board the authority to manage the property in a manner which is fair and equitable.
This is false.

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

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

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

Please see:
- Deer Ridge Owners Mailing Labels Now Available To ALL Owners
- Major Win On Deer Ridge Article XII Bylaws – Thoughts and Implications
- Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win!
  
  Also, there is the whole issue of all 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge being grossly overcharged by 82% on monthly HOA fees and all other assessments. When asked in the meeting, Luther Parker said this was “fair and equitable.” We obviously disagree and will take this matter to court and see if the court agrees that an 82% overcharge is fair and equitable.
- Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting
- Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable
“We believe the majority of owners do not want Deer Ridge Mountain Resort to become another small residential complex as he has suggested and would like it to become.”
Scott, the Postmaster for Gatlinburg has told us that based on trends in this city and specific trends and current pricing at Deer Ridge, within two to five years, he expects that all of Deer Ridge will become a residential complex. This has nothing to do with me – and has everything to do with micro and macro economic trends specific to this geography.

However, think about the statement in their attack letter.

If these units are fairly marketed to all potential buyers, many of those buyers will be interested in Deer Ridge as their primary home. So, “the majority of owners” mentioned in the attack letter do not get a vote on this either – even though Joe Thomas has done all he can to try and accomplish this by only trying to sell units to those who will use RML. This is a MAJOR disservice to those who are trying to sell their units – and his tactics have greatly suppressed prices of all units here for years. This is one of the reasons we filed a complaint against Joe Thomas with the Tennessee Real Estate Boards. You can read all about this complaint at File A Complaint Against Joe Thomas With Tennessee Real Estate Commission. If you agree with the reasons given, I invite you to join me and other Deer Ridge Owners who have filed this same complaint about Joe Thomas with the State of Tennessee.
“He blatantly abused the pooling system, staying in his unit for a month at a time while still collecting rent via the pooling system.”
Our “abuse” was staying in OUR unit, that we own, for the month of October right after we bought the unit in August. However, we did NOT collect rent from the pooling system. We were fully agreeable that no rent was owed. The fact that Joey and the board could even consider this as abuse is almost laughable. However, when RML instituted a “prime time tax” – charging owners an absurd and outrageous daily charge on top of no rental income is why we took our unit out of RML. That is when additional “abuse” occurred by Joe Thomas RENTING our unit AFTER it was no longer in RML. He has done this to other owners too – fully demonstrating his lack of ethics and trustworthiness.

It is this kind of mindset by Joey and the Board that this property and every unit here is for their Little Joe’s Notel Motel empire – and not an aggregation of 84 units with about 80 owners who have varying and totally justifiable reasons to own at Deer Ridge that may have NOTHING to do with renting their units via RML.
“On February 10,2007, a committee formed by the Board to study and make recommendations with respect to Joe Thomas’s group’s offer, met in Luther Parker’s unit (B202). On this day Robert , a member of the committee, focused his contribution to the meeting on selling RML to an outside interest at a future point in time fora great deal of money…The charge would be 7% of the total selling price … “.
The Attack Letter implies I was making money from the sale of RML. Please see the full text, which they conveniently edited, by clicking Marketing Steps For Selling RML. There you will see that I clearly state, out of all available options for selling, that “Using a competent, knowledgeable business broker is probably the best approach for the sale of RML.” I also add that instead of using me, “While this approach is an alternative for the Board, the business broker approach may be the best approach since it is a total third party dealing with no potential for any conflicts of interest.” As you can see, their attack letter is intentionally misleading on this point – and I would suggest that it is equally intentionally misleading on all the other points too.

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

Also, think about this: If Joey thought it was such a good idea that GGRC sell RML, then why is he SO opposed to it being sold for a fair price to a larger management company that has the economies of scale to operate RML and the units in RML at Deer Ridge? The implications of this logic gap by Joe Thomas speaks volumes about how much he doesn’t care about what is good for Deer Ridge Owners!
“Shortly before the April 2008 Owner’s meeting, Robert sent a 9 page; “An Open Letter to the Deer Ridge Board and All Owners”, via email and his website (www.DeerRidgeOwners.com/prediction). The title of this letter was “Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – An Economic Prediction for 2008-2010″.
True. We still have one year to go – but check out my original prediction to see how good a job I did. Click Deer Ridge Mountain Resort – An Economic Prediction For 2008-2010.
“Fellow owners is it a coincidence that much of Robert’s negative commentary materializes as meetings are about to take place? Or is the timing well orchestrated to disrupt, distort, distract, divide and subsequently destroy Deer Ridge as we know it today?”
It is to try and finally get these critical issues on the agenda since the Board has a four year history of NOT answering questions and emails and NOT being held accountable for its actions and inactions.
“Interestingly, during the summer of 2009, Robert became our 7th permanent resident.”
Partially true. We are here as full time residents enjoying the beauty of Deer Ridge – until such time as we can get the goals of this blog accomplished. We decided we have to be here to effectuate change since so much is hidden from owners who do not spend a lot of time here. That is how and why we are seeing so much more going on here like the tree butchering. Our presence here is also required for the upcoming litigation against GGRC and RML. Once these goals are met, we will return home to Clearwater Beach, Florida – whether that takes 3 months or 33 months.

Here’s another hint for Joey: We will not be leaving until AFTER you are gone.
“In a 19 page diatribe posted on his website on October 19, 2009 he is seeking legal representation for his HOA Class Action Lawsuits wrote the following. “All recent annual meetings and the election of officers and board members, approval of all budgets, etc. are null and void.” “That an independent auditor be hired and paid for by GGRC and placed under my administration and direction … ” “That RML and Ridge Resort Realty be expeditiously sold under my administration and direction …Ownership note Robert’s statements, particularly “under my [Robert] administration”.”
Please see the following links for the full REAL story on all of the above sound bites taking out of context:
- Deer Ridge Problems – The Mind Map
- Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Who IS Responsible For Multiple Violations of Article XII of the Master Deed?
- Major Successes At Deer Ridge Board Meeting – Four Total – One Major Win!
- Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting
- Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable
“On November 6, 2009, the Board received a letter from Mr. Sexton (the GGRC attorney) responding to Robert’s allegations. The following are excerpts from that letter, ‘The first question regards the Board’s authority under the Master Deed and Bylaws. It is my understanding that he is taking the position that various owners at Deer Ridge are being assessed monthly dues and allocation of common expenses and repairs at a percentage disproportionate to the ownership interest . . The last half of the sentence in Article III, Paragraph 9(c) beginning with the word “however” clearly gives the Board authority to allocate common expenses using a method other than percentage of ownership. The qualifier is “provided such method is fair and equitable”. It is my understanding that Robert is complaining that current owners ‘fees and assessments are being assessed in a ratio different than the percentage of ownership set out in Exhibit 2-1 to the Master Deed. This document clearly assigns to each unit design a specific percentage of the vote to which they are entitled. The percentage of vote likewise corresponds to their percentage of ownership interest in the common elements. “
This is one of two fundamental issues I have with the way things are done and not done at Deer Ridge. This one alone is worth taking GGRC to court over. Joey and the Board make claim to Article III, Paragraph 9(c) as their sole justification for ignoring the real intend and requirements of The Master Deed and Bylaws. It is their intentional misinterpretation of this clause that has allowed Joey and the Board to OVERCHARGE all 30 1-1 units at Deer Ridge by 82% on monthly HOA fees and other assessments. There are several postings at the blog that describe this issue.

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

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

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

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

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

Please check out the following links on this critical issue:
- Open Letter to Chuck Sexton – Attorney for GGRC – That GGRC and Deer Ridge Has NO Current Board of Directors
- Lawsuit Against Deer Ridge GGRC Inevitable And Moving Forward – Despite Gains At Board Meeting
- Deer Ridge Board Meeting: Luther Parker States 82% Monthly Overcharge to All 30 1-1 Owners Is Fair And Equitable
- We Are * In Play * – As They Say On Wall St. – Attorney Contacts Commenced For Deer Ridge HOA Lawsuit
- Seeking Legal Representation – RFP – HOA Lawsuits
- Class-Action Lawsuits – Coming Soon To A HOA Near You
- RML Is Illegal! Pavilion Is Illegal! April Annual Meetings Are Illegal! More Major Flagrant Master Deed Violations
- Deer Ridge – Your Monthly HOA Fee And Special Assessment Are WRONG! Open Letter to Deer Ridge Board: Lawsuit Being Prepared Against GGRC and RML
  
  Please note that this section of the attack letter refers to an “excerpt.” Since the thought processes seem to abruptly end, it makes you wonder if the parts they left out were in fact critical to understanding what their attorney REALLY said.
“He does not have the right to demand to be a junior board member double checking all the work done by each Board member. ”
I do not want to be either a junior or senior board member. What I want is to have the same rights for all Deer Ridge Owners: Making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.
“He is working hard to destroy Deer Ridge as we know it today.”
False, Deer Ridge is a beautiful property and the only things I want to destroy are the antithesis of our goals that include making GGRC and RML transparent, accountable and compliant with the controlling documents of our property: The Master Deed and Bylaws.

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

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

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

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

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Open Letter To Luther, GGRC Attorney Chuck Sexton and Board – Walkway Railings Test Requires Vote First!

Robert — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:26:51 +0000

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

Luther,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It stops now.

Robert

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

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

FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board

Robert — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:01:33 +0000

Today, I officially filed the following complaint and request for criminal investigation with the FBI regarding Deer Ridge Mountain Resort and the GGRC HOA.

After the last “board” meeting, I, along with several other owners, are totally fed up with the board not providing copies of all books and records that we all deserve. Based on EVERY board members’ absolute resolve NOT to allow ANY copies of ANY books and records, I am now personally 100% convinced that Joey and the board are hiding criminal financial malfeasance to the detriment of all non-board Deer Ridge owners.

I have been involved in too many businesses in too many facets of real estate not to overwhelmingly sense, in my personal opinion, that we are all being criminally ripped off at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

No matter what the Master Deed says, a transparent and forthright board would provide these documents to the benefit of everyone! The fact they are ALL fighting tooth and nail to prevent the release of copies of ANY of these documents speaks volumes to me, personally, about criminal intent and fact.

The White Collar Crime Division of the FBI has begun criminally investigating HOA and their boards and managers across the country. For example, click HOA Investigation. There is a fast growing trend in this country to start treating HOA managers and board members as quasi-government officials – holding them to the same standards as public officials when it comes to major white collar crime, corruption, financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement, illegitimate board member compensation, securities fraud and other possible financial crimes.

If we can get the FBI interested and convinced enough to pursue these perceived problems with GGRC and RML, they will hopefully run a comprehensive forensic audit going back several years. And, when the FBI runs an audit, they can find stuff – no matter how much Joey may have had his computer guy from North Carolina try to hide any suspicious trail. My guess is that the FBI will want to talk to him, and a whole lot of other folks, at length if they pursue this investigation. And I doubt that any one is going to risk lying to the FBI to try to protect any potential guilty parties at Deer Ridge.

It may take the FBI 2-4 months to get to us, depending on how busy the White Collar Crime Division is in the Knoxville office (which has jurisdictional responsibility for Sevier County.) If you would like to file your own request for an FBI investigation of the shenanigans at Deer Ridge, you can do so online by clicking FBI Complaint. I would guess that the more of us who file a request for a criminal investigation, the more attention the case will get and the faster any investigation will commence. Also, please let me know if you would be willing to talk with the FBI about any investigation they may initiate.

I see this criminal investigation happening in addition to the civil lawsuit I am still pursuing.

Unless requested otherwise by the FBI, I will update this story on this Deer Ridge Owners blog as any investigation proceeds.

Then again, who knows? A half dozen black vans with two dozen FBI agents may just show up one day at the Deer Ridge offices, sweep in and confiscated everything. Just like on TV.

Stay tuned.

Suspected Crimes: White Collar Crime, Corruption, Financial Misappropriations, Kickbacks, Embezzlement, Illegitimate Board Member Compensation, Securities Fraud

Alleged Suspects: General Manager and Members of the Board of Directors of Gatlinburg Golf and Racquet Club, AKA Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, AKA Ridge Management LTD, Inc. et al.

Location: Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Tennessee – Knoxville Office of FBI

Federal Jurisdiction: Property owners in multiple states, board members domiciled in multiple states, units sold to buyers in multiple states as investments.

It is my understanding that the FBI’s White Collar Crime Division has begun investigating Home Owners Associations across the country and criminally prosecuting those board members and managers found to have been financially diverting HOA funds illegally for their own personal gain.

If so, I applaud this focus since nearly a quarter of all Americans now live under some sort of HOA Regime. These Regimes have become quasi-government entities like towns and cities – and their ruling boards of elected members should be held accountable under the same legal scrutiny as government officials when it comes to financial malfeasance.

Summary Background

I have been the owner of a condo at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee for the past four years. During that time I have constantly and continually requested copies of the books and records of our homeowners association and other associated operating companies. Likewise, many other owners have made the same request. I have even offered to bring my own copy machine to the main office and use my own time and equipment to make these copies.

Even as recently as four weeks ago, I and several other owners attended a board meeting. We all specifically requested copies of the books and records be made available. Every member of the board and the general manager, Joe Thomas, categorically refused to allow any owner to have copies of ANY requested books and records.

This same board is now attempting to force all owners to fund a $353,500 special assessment but very suspiciously refuses to provide ANY underlying documentation that supports the amount of the assessment other than four or five single line items. For example, one particularly suspicious line item on the special assessment is, “Nuts and Bolts — $50,000.” That’s a lot of nuts and bolts.

Official FBI Request

I am filing this official criminal investigation request with the FBI because I, and several other owners, believe the reasons that copies of the books and records are not made available to the owners is because the general managers and the board are attempting to conceal major white collar crime, corruption, financial misappropriations, kickbacks, embezzlement, illegitimate board member compensation, securities fraud and other possible financial crimes being committed by persons associated with the operation and management of Deer Ridge Mountain Resort.

To be clear, all of these allegations are currently unsubstantiated since we have been completely blocked by Joe Thomas and the board in all of our combined attempts to get copies of the needed books and records. However, the more adamantly resolved the general manager and the board are about providing owners with copies of all books and records, the more strongly indicative it is that they are fighting with all of their efforts to hide probable illegal activities from the very owners they are suppose to represent.

My background in real estate gives me particularly keen insights into the multiple signs of rampant malfeasance at this property. Before I retired, I personally spent three decades as CEO of multiple companies – including 15 years as founder and CEO of my own property management company managing 45,000 rental units. As a result of that experience, and the internal audits we had to constantly run on our own managers, my very strong intuition is that this board and general manager are attempting to hide major criminal activity in the possible aggregate range of $250,000 to $2 million.

The Alleged Suspects

The Board members include Luther Parker, President, Memphis, TN; Thomas Reise, Vice President, Friendship, WI; Larry Ohm, Treasurer; Grant Park, IL; David Barone, Secretary, Monroe, NY; Margie Duncan, Director, Florence, KY. Complete home addresses and phone numbers of these board members can be provided upon request.

The General Manager is Joseph W. Thomas whose home phone number and address are believed to be: (865) 932-1669 3229 Autumn Lane, Kodak, TN 37764. It is my personal belief that this long term manager may be the primary source of much of the alleged activity.

Request For Criminal Investigation

As a result, I and other concerned owners at Deer Ridge Mountain Resort, formally request that the FBI instigate a preliminary criminal investigation of Joe Thomas and the current members of the GGRC Board of Directors to determine if a comprehensive investigation and criminal charges should be pursued against these individuals.

With the Board’s demand that all owners now contribute half of the $353,500 special assessment prior to March 1, 2010, many of us fear is that these monies also will be immediately misappropriated. As a consequence, your quick investigation would be appreciated. We are going to pursue civil litigation on many other issues but are concerned that the civil courts will not respond in a timely enough manner to prevent major misappropriation of the special assessment funds.

You have my complete contact information on this form. Please contact me directly if you have any questions or need more information from me or other concerned owners. You might find my blog about these issues informative: www.DeerRidgeOwners.com. Various documents and comments from multiple owners can be viewed there.

Thank you for your consideration of this criminal investigation.

As I mentioned, nothing has happened yet. I just filed this request for a criminal investigation today.

It is just a request and there is no known currently active criminal investigation with regard to Joe Thomas or any board member. The FBI may decide there is insufficient information. They may decide that I and my strong intuition are completely wrong – and that everything and everyone involved with the management of Deer Ridge is legitimately doing everything right – properly crossing every T and dotting every I.

I don’t think so – but hopefully, the FBI will help us even come to those conclusions as a result of any investigation they might initiate.

Stay tuned. We live in interesting times.

Deer Ridge Owners - Deer Ridge Mountain Resort - Gatlinburg, Tennessee » side deals

Tennessee Consumer Affairs Complaint Filed Against Joe Thomas – Attorney General Action Requested

Tennessee Real Estate Commission Complaint Filed Against Broker Joe Thomas – License 281040

Complaint: Deceptive Trade Practices, Securities Fraud And More Against Tennessee Real Estate Broker Joseph Thomas – Tennessee License 281040

Summary

Specific Complaints Against Joe Thomas

Securities Fraud Complaint Filed Against RML, Luther Parker, CPA Larry Ohm, Joe Thomas And All Board Members

Investor Complaint For Securities Fraud And Other Securities Law Violations Filed Against Ridge Management LTD, Inc. and President Luther Parker, Treasurer Larry Ohm CPA, General Manager Joe Thomas, Vice President Tom Reise, Secretary David Barone and Director Margie Duncan

Summary

Investor Complaints

Deer Ridge Lawsuit: Judge Orders GGRC To Mediation

If You Are In RML, Your Deer Ridge Condo Can Be Used Free By Joe Thomas

Deer Ridge Summary Judgment Motion And Other Motions For April 26 Hearing

The Latest Defamation By The Deer Ridge Board

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort History Book 1987 – 2009

A Victory That Should Have Never Been A Battle With Deer Ridge Board

Independent Legal Opinion: GGRC Board Guilty Of Numerous Violations / $353,500 Assessment Is Null And Void

Audits At Deer Ridge – The Fallacy and Joe Thomas – The Deer Ridge $10 Million Man

Deer Ridge History 1987-2006 – New Downloadable Document For All Owners

Deer Ridge History – Historical Documents And Smoking Guns – Coming Soon

Deer Ridge Board Abuse Of Power Continues – Vote For Walkways Improperly Done

Open Letter to Luther Parker and the Board – Special Meeting for February 6, 2010

Knoxville Law Firm Hired – Retainer Paid

Deer Ridge Board Attack Letter – Another Lie Exposed – Joe Thomas Tree Butchery

My Response To The Board’s Attack Letter

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

Deer Ridge Mountain Resort: Open Letter To Luther, GGRC Attorney Chuck Sexton and Board – Walkway Railings Test Requires Vote First!

FBI – Official Request Made to Investigate Alleged Criminal Activity By Deer Ridge Manager And Board

Complaint: Deceptive Trade Practices, Securities Fraud And More Against Tennessee Real Estate Broker
Joseph Thomas – Tennessee License 281040

Investor Complaint For Securities Fraud And Other Securities Law Violations Filed Against Ridge Management LTD, Inc.
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President Luther Parker, Treasurer Larry Ohm CPA, General Manager Joe Thomas, Vice President Tom Reise, Secretary David Barone and Director Margie Duncan