A lawsuit was just filed against the Big Canoe POA that seeks Declaratory Judgment, Injunction, Damages, Allegation of Fraud, and Attorneys Fees in the way they have handled Architectural Controls Violations. General Manager Scott Auer was served a copy of the lawsuit late last week. It is a very clean, 19 page Complaint. Pretty simple, clear and to the point. I love the way it is written… a 10 year old could understand it.
Here is a copy: Butcher-v-BigCanoePOA – 19 Pg Complaint (1.5mb pdf)
As a 25 year Big Canoe Resident, a Property Owner, and as the Publisher of the FOBC, I can tell you that this isn’t the only Complaint of this nature I have heard lately. I have heard multiple complaints on the new AEC guy “Ron”. I’ve even seen social media posts on this… so this is something pretty widely known as an issue, and now we’re in a lawsuit.
The recent approach to dealing with alleged AEC violations has really become aggressive if all the stories are true. It is almost as if POA GM Scott Auer (and the Board?) have identified a new revenue stream via “Milking the Property Owner Cash Cow”. Not cool! My teats and udders already hurt!
Which brings me to the Clubhouse. We voted for $6.35 Million. They have reported it has increased to $7.6. But FOBC insider sources tell me that the Contractor Bid was actually for over $8 Million – but to make the excessive project overage more palatable to the property owners, the Board & Scott decided to move a lot of the overage into a different fund expense.
Is this true? How much was it? Can Scott or the Board tell us where the overage was diverted in the accounting records? There is also rumour that there were other bids that were not even considered, even though they came in substantially cheaper. So much we don’t know, that doesn’t pass the sniff test.
And of course there is the financial discrepancy reporting in regards to the “2 sets of books”, and the $9 Million Dollar damn DAM repairs that just a few years ago we were being told would be under $1 Million, and anyone who claimed differently was mocked and ostracized. Seems FOBC reporting on the Lake Petit Dam wasn’t so crazy after all.
With all of this said… I really applaud this one lone property owner for standing his ground, refusing to be pushed around by the POA Bullies, and filing this lawsuit. Now if only the rest of the community could be so bold in defending their interests, and seek injunctions on the Clubhouse until (a) the Overages are sufficiently explained and defined; (b) Bidding and Contract issues become more transparent; (c) the legality of potential Re-Vote requirements are dealt with, and (d) greater access and transparency to the financial records of the community provided.
The MEMBERS of the Big Canoe Property Owners Association are entitled to inspect the accounting records. (OCGA 14-3-1601 et seq…). <<<Really good read by POA’s previous legal counsel, Nowack & Howard.
The MEMBERS… that’s us, the property owners!!! And I know Lawyers are expensive, but even in our poor, poverty stricken community, surely we (the property owners) could somewhere find enough money to get us some legal representation to develop a plan, provide advice etc.
Just saying.
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