Last week this Newspaper reported on some questionable activity involving the initial valuation of properties in “The Bluffs” neighborhood in Big Canoe, GA. If there was impropriety that involved Property Value Manipulation – it would most likely have just affected the eventual buyers in that specific neighborhood – possibly stretching into nearby areas. This story involves potential ILLEGAL & FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY that has affected ALL Property Owners in Big Canoe.
For the purposes of this article, we will break down “The Bluffs” into three categories:
- Sellable Lots
- The Roadways
- The Common Area
The last article dealt with the pulling in of the entire Subdivision under the Big Canoe Covenants and Declarations, and the initial valuation of the Sellable Lots. This article begins with the Transfer by Deed of “The Bluffs Roadways” to Big Canoe POA, on Sept 15, 2009. It was done as a $0 (Zero) dollar Gift from the Developer to the Big Canoe POA. It is currently listed in Pickens County Records as Parcel “Street_ROW_22317”.
While there was nothing wrong with the transfer of the Roadways, and it was seemingly done completely “by the book” so to speak – something else happened at the same time that was NOT “by the books” – and this involved Pickens County Parcel 045-103, which is the 49.98 Acres of “Common Area” that is within the Bluffs Neighborhood. This was NOT transferred to the Big Canoe Property owners in the 2009 Deed, but was retained by the Developer – but in the Pickens County Parcel records, the Common Area Ownership was switched in the accounting records as being owned by the Big Canoe Property Owners Association AND the POA started paying the Developer’s Property Tax Obligations – Six (6) years before we owned the property.
The Big Canoe POA did not receive title to the Bluff’s Common Area Lands until 2016, when it was snuck in AFTER THE APPROVAL VOTE and eventually included as Tract BB in Deed #6 (see Pg 17) of the 2016 Land Deal.
Now – this is where the potential Criminal Fraud comes in…. on the part of the Developer, the POA Board of Directors, AND the Pickens County Appraiser’s Office, specifically Roy Dobbs.
The POA started being billed for, and paying, the Property Tax Bills on the Common Area Lands (again, Parcel 045-103) in 2010, SIX YEARS before we owned the property.
- The Developer: clearly realized that they were no longer paying taxes on land that they owed, and not only did they do nothing…. to cover it up after the fact, they slipped it into the 2016 Land Deal in a Deed clearly marked in the Document Identifier as a “Catch-All Deed”. (More on this in our next brief article – which is perhaps going to reveal the MOST disturbing part of this entire issue)
- The Tax Assessor: Pickens County Chief Tax Assessor Roy Dobbs has been busted doing more non-standard crap than I can count in regards to Big Canoe lands. The Tax Assessors records were, and still are, a mess. There was NO Sales Deed, nor PT61, to justify switching the billing of Parcel 045-103 from the Developer’s Property Tax Account – to the POA’s Property Tax Account. But for 6 years the POA payed over $20,000 of the Developer’s property tax obligation. Roy Dobbs and his office did not follow any sort of legal guidelines in switching these accounts around. Indeed, in an earlier article we identified 21 Other Parcels (totaling 111 acres) that the POA was also paying the Developer’s Tax Obligations well before we acquired the land in the 2016 Land Deal. The Tax Assessor was culpable in all of those as well, and when Official Records Requests were put in…. they said they didn’t HAVE any records of the justification for the billing switcheroo. Convenient – but not legal since these are required records.
- The Big Canoe POA Board of Directors: My guess is that this group is perhaps the biggest contender for a potential allegation of Fraud. You may think I am talking about the 2016 Board. Well Maybe, but not primarily. You may even think I am talking about “Tricky Dick” Scharf who most people aren’t aware was the “Architect of the 2016 Land Deal” (Dick was actually the POA Board President in 2015 that put the Land Deal together). Thanks Dick! But no, I am not thinking of him either. I am thinking of the CURRENT elected Board of Directors. And what I am thinking is that since I have made all of this clear, and unveiled this knowledge repeatedly to them, I believe that this Board has been engaged in actively covering up this crime. And I am calling it a crime, although we cannot be certain exactly to what extent each party played a role. We do know that our elected Board has a fiduciary responsibility towards the Property Owner Members. Knowingly taking our Assessment Dollars to pay the Developer’s Tax Obligations seems to me to be financial fraud. That may be on earlier Boards – or they could have just been incompetently clueless – or they could have been actively mislead by our Accounting Department who handled the Property Tax Accounts, the Land Ownership Records etc. But THIS BOARD was alerted to these issues, and they issued the following statement in which they tried to smear my character, and I believe KNOWINGLY AND INTENTIONALLY mislead property owners….
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“It has been alleged that the POA paid property taxes on properties that the Big Canoe Company owned. Our investigation has shown that this was true in certain instances. At the same time the Big Canoe Company was paying assessments to the POA on properties that they did not own. A reconciliation has been made with the Big Canoe Company that showed that there was no material financial advantage to either party. The POA has worked with the tax assessors in both counties to assure that the properties are now properly reflected on the tax rolls.
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I requested the investigation results showing the incorrect tax payments, and the Developer’s wrongful assessment payments, and a copy of the reconciliation agreement. They can’t and won’t supply any property owners with this information. Let me make this clear…. assessment & payment of property taxes are LEGAL issues covered by State Law, and under our Covenants. You can’t sweep this under the rug with a secret handshake with the developer.
IT APPEARS LAWS WERE BROKEN. The Developer knowingly tried to “fix it” by sneaking the land in as part of the 2016 land deal – hoping the past tax payment discrepancies wouldn’t be noticed. The Tax Assessor allowed it to happen by failing to follow legal protocol. The POA back then was most likely just a bunch of incompetent stooges – but the POA Elected Board NOW seems to be ACTIVELY LYING to Property Owners about what happened, and IS refusing to provide records. Was there “Collusion” between the parties? Was it just One, or Two involved….. or are all parties involved just the most clueless group of “Accidental Morons” ever to be engaged in business? No Definitive Answers Yet.
If you are a property owner, and you aren’t pissed off enough yet to get answers…. you may be after the next and final installment story on “The Bluffs”, out later this week. It’s the coup d’etat – the icing on the cake – of this Amazing Fraud the Property Owners may have been subjected to.
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The final installment of “The Bluffs” will be released Thursday Night, Midnight of August 22, after the upcoming Board Meeting. If it doesn’t make Property Owners realize the depth of the scam they are involved in…. I don’t know what will. And I assure you …. it is on NOBODIES radar. I have never breathed a word of it to anyone…. until now.
Peace,
– david / publisher
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