Quote:
Originally Posted by TexaninVA
I respectfully disagree with the notion that our immediate and best course of action is to “sue the Developer.” Mistakes and various other Developer imperfections notwithstanding, our community would never have grown into what it has without the leadership and vision of Gary Morse. It seems to me the best way forward is, with respect to the IRS issue, for the residents’ and Developer’s interests to be aligned where possible. At least give that a chance before suing him. The IRS ruling, while unwelcome news, is also not unexpected given the bureaucratic proclivities of our beloved tax collection agency.
In any event, the Developer still has a very large stake in the success of his commercial ventures. Likewise, we (the residents) have a large stake in preserving our lifestyle and home values. Why start fighting with each other? The common opponent here is the IRS.
Thus, I am trying to put myself in the Developer’s shoes, and ask what I would do? I don’t know much about Gary Morse except that he’s in his mid-70s, is a gifted businessman / leader, and worth a billion or more. Good for him … American Dream etc. I also have to think that he has a certain level of pride and attachment to his creation.. ie TV. He spent his whole adult life building this place. My instinct, were I he, would be to contest the issue, minimize the $$ damage, and find a way to keep the community going. OTOH, if I’m mid-70s, have all the money I’d ever need and the residents of what I created immediately ganged up to “sue me” and in general, be unpleasant about it, I think I could find myself saying “to heck with it” and set a course to Barbados aboard the yacht Cracker Bay.
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TexaninVA: I appreciate, respect and understand your rationale.
Let me first point out that what I said was (apparently not clearly) that an attorney should have or must be hired to follow this case and explore our options. Secondly, my personal view is that the Developer could care less about anyone or anything other than his financial interests and quite honestly I find no fault with that since this is all about business. Everything he has done and the manner in which he accomplished it tells me that is the case. Third the Developer is way ahead of all of us on the IRS thing and if he had any intentions of hiding assests, etc it is already done or in the making to do so.
If one recalls the Amenity Lawsuit filed by the POA was the only way to get the Developers's attention.
The reasons are unimportant but I abhor lawsuits and it is the last thing that I would want to do. However in my personal opinion our derrieres are up against the wall.
So far all that has been done hasn't exactly addressed the residents exposure and interests and since the residents were not a party to these agreements it seems we have been placed in a very bad situation. If the IRS decisions stands and if the Developer doesn't step up ( an unlikely happening) then one of two things will occur. We will either have to raise amenities to pay the tax bill or drastically reduce services.
While one viable option in the decision model is to do nothing I personally believe we need to begin gathering facts and potential scenarios to protect our interests.