POLL is at the bottom of the page, after brief introductory article. It is One Question, then “Yes”, “No”, or “Maybe”. This is an important issue for the community. This is your opportunity to educate yourself, contemplate, and then voice your opinion.
“Lawsuit” seems to be an increasingly popular word in the Community of Big Canoe. Our last article informed the community of a recently filed lawsuit against the POA for AECD abuses. What was shocking to this publisher was the response, which was overwhelmingly in support of the property owner launching the litigation against the POA. It was very clear that a lot of pent up frustration is out there.
Nowhere is this more apparent than the Social Media noise surrounding the community finances, accounting irregularities, bloated projects, voting irregularities regarding project approvals, etc. I have talked to an increasing number of property owners that are independently exploring, researching or discussing the possibility of launching litigation against the Big Canoe POA to force them to open up Accounting Records to the property owners, and to undergo a Forensic Audit. Some have gone so far as to contact attorneys and begin discussing options.
My thoughts on the matter are as follows, and are not given as legal advice, but are simply my personal thoughts on how I might proceed if I had any input into such a thing:
- K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple St#pid. Georgia Law allows Members of a Nonprofit access to the Accounting Records, but doesn’t detail how detailed that access goes. A judge would probably need to see some specific examples of irregularity to approve of a deep dive access into the books. I think a judge would probably want a Forensic Accounting Firm to be part of the process, a professional organization to turn the accounting records over to for professional accounting review, and to issue a report on findings back to the court and property owners (members). The litigation really shouldn’t be that complicated considering that (A) the Law allows access to accounting records – See OCGA § 14-3-1602(c)(2), and (B) there appears to be substantial example of accounting irregularities that could be referenced.
- Put together a small group of property owners to “Lead and Organize” the effort, and act as liasons to the rest of the Property Owner community. They can also vet an Attorney, and a Forensic Auditor.
- Getting back to the K.I.S.S. Principle…. I would think that the goal would be to focus on the single issue of getting access to the accounting records. We just want to have the books inspected. We do not want assume anything. We just get access to the books, and have them professionally reviewed, and if anything comes up, it gets dealt with in a professional manner. Simple, Focused Litigation with as little drama and side issue noise as possible.
Right now, all I see is a LOT of individuals talking and researching, but property owners are lacking that critical final step of actually “Organizing” behind a small group of quality and trustworthy people that can lead the charge.
So our newspaper is running a POLL below, to help provide some feedback (and courage) to anyone(s) wishing to step up and actually engage the process of formation of such a group. Because the primary hesitancy being heard… is whether or not there is any support for this concept in the broader community.
So let’s find out… the following POLL is going to run from the time of publication, through this weekend, ending at midnight on Sunday, August 18, 2024. Everybody VOTE however you believe, and share this widely to as many people as you know. Let’s just let the chips fall where they may, and let the people’s voice be heard. If there is support, then maybe this will help kickstart the litigation process, which in turns leads to putting all these issues to rest. If there is not support, let’s find that out too.
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