Cov 11.06-Landowners want The Highest Rate allowed by MT Law
Jul 15, 2016 13:01:28 GMT -7
Admin and chris like this
Post by debbieb on Jul 15, 2016 13:01:28 GMT -7
7/14/2016 Letter to the GLA Board following the July 11th Board Meeting:
To GLA Board Members,
The Board Listens II meeting minutes from June 25th were not distributed to landowners and Board Members prior to the July Board Meeting, which would have given them time to read and digest the information beforehand. Rather, they were distributed at 6 am on July 12th, barely 6 hours after all GLA Board business had been concluded the night before.
Dennis R. did read the Board Listens II meeting minutes during the July Board Meeting (Thank You!) and was very clear in stating what landowners want to vote on for a revised past due interest rate in Covenant 11.06: “The interest rate should be the highest rate allowed by Montana law. This should be sent to all landowners for a vote.” The highest rate allowed by Montana law is currently 15%.
How was it then, that in all the discussion that followed Dennis’s report, on revising the Cov 11.06 language - yet again, the Board Members missed this Golden Opportunity to actually put in motion and implement one of the proposed solutions discussed and documented by all landowners in the Special Meeting held just 2 weeks before at Emigrant Hall?
Wasn’t the Board REALLY listening?
It seems the Board didn’t listen. The Board decided to put before landowners for vote newly revised Cov 11.06 language that was something to the effect of “12% or the highest allowed by law, whichever is lower.” That would be 12% at this point in time.
Unfortunately, the July Board meeting was held in person for Board Members only – landowners were excluded from attending in person and could only participate by teleconference. The Board voted to put 12% out to all landowners for a vote – while the landowners were all muted on the phone – and the Board members couldn’t see their hands raised to speak, to remind the Board Members about what they had just heard: “The interest rate should be the highest rate allowed by Montana law. This should be sent to all landowners for a vote.”
So, the railroading of Covenant 11.06 continues. Covenant 11.06 has charged 18% for nonpayment of assessments – for the last 19 years – since 1997. As of 2016, Dan K. and Rudy P. have led the charge to get this changed, as quickly as they can, one way or another for the last 6 months. Until last night, those attempts have been in flagrant violation of our governing documents (which state that Covenants may only be changed with a 51% approval vote by landowners):
• February 2016 Finance Committee Meeting – Dan K. suggests and lobbies to forgive interest and penalties on 2 Church Universal Triumphant (CUT)-owned and long-term delinquent parcels (NG 39 and NG 65). As of 2015 year end these 2 properties together owed the GLA over $40,000 for nonpayment of assessments.
• March 2016 Board Meeting – Rudy P. lobbies for “wiggle room” that he might be allowed to individually, by himself, negotiate settlement amounts with long term delinquent landowners (we are talking tens of thousands of dollars per parcel owed in long-term delinquencies). Doing so is a Board function and requires a Board vote when hardship is demonstrated.
• April 11, 2016 Board Meeting – Rudy P. puts forth a blanket draft Amnesty Offer to waive all interest and penalties for delinquent landowners during a 45-day window. Dan K. proposed an Interim Interest Rate Reduction from 18% to 12% and to discontinue the 5% penalty, which passed on a Board vote pending Attorney approval. Ever since then, the GLA Board has ignored or denied many Formal Document Requests submitted by landowners to produce that attorney approval in writing.
• April 27th 2016 Finance Committee Meeting – Dan K. states his intent to make the Interim Interest Rate Reduction retroactive. Rudy P. had not understood that to be the case when he voted for it at the April 11th Board Meeting, nor was it verbalized nor entered into the motion.
• May 2016 Board Meeting – The GLA Board puts the discussion of “attorney input on Covenant 11.06 and 12% interest rate” under Closed Session. No reason is given to the membership on why this discussion on the Covenants must be kept from the landowners? During this Closed Session, the Interim Interest Reduction morphs into its latest incarnation: a “Rule to enforce the intent of Covenant 11.06” – an attempt by the GLA to amend the Covenants using their rule-making authority under Section 2.07. According to the GLA official May 2016 Board Meeting Minutes, the motion to create this Rule was seconded and approved unanimously with a Board vote during this Closed Session.
• May 25th 2016 – The GLA Board announces the new Rule it has created in Closed Session in the GLA Spring Newsletter.
• May 30th 2016 Finance Committee Meeting – GLA President Charlotte M. states the Board had NOT voted on the “Rule” because no votes can be made during a Closed Session Board meeting?! This statement is contrary to GLA May 2016 Board Minutes.
• June 16, 2016 – GLA President Charlotte M. receives a letter from landowner Attorney Jon Hesse very clearly stating that the GLA Board does not have the right to amend the interest rate from 18% to 12% through the use of a Rule.
• June 27, 2016 – GLA attorney contacts landowner attorney Hesse to discuss. She claims to be unaware that the GLA is trying to amend Covenants with Rule making, and states she will advise the GLA Board to put the matter of an interest rate change in Cov 11.06 to a vote of the membership.
• July 2016 Board Meeting – Dan K. relents on the Rule, states it will not be used and quickly schedules a member vote dedicated to changing Covenant 11.06 on August 27th. This particular Governing Document change will be voted on before and separate from all the other Governing Document changes coming forth for a vote. Dan K. convinces the Board there is no time for a 30-day review and comment PRIOR to the vote! Leo K. requests and strongly lobbies for landowner review and comment prior to the vote. The Board decides to put the Cov 11.06 language they revised in this Board Meeting out for landowner vote on August 27th with no opportunity for landowner input or comment on the newly revised language prior to the vote. Yet, it was just back in April when Dan K. gave as reason requiring the need for the Interim Interest Rate Reduction was the time it would take to do the necessary “30-day call for landowner input” (for ongoing edits to the proposed changes to Cov 11.06 at that time). So, even though the GLA Board revised the language of Cov 11.06 yet again Monday night and made a substantial change to make it retroactive, Dan K. now puts forth there is no need of a 30-day call for landowner input prior to the vote on it?!
QUESTION: How substantial is that change to enact a new, revised interest rate of 12% and make it retroactive on all existing delinquent landowner accounts?
Very substantial. The GLA Accounts Receivables as of 7/6/16 stands at $263,673.29. That is after $76,912.50 has already been received in 2016 assessment payments towards the Total Parcel Assessment Fees budgeted for 2016 of $134, 016. That means only $57,103.50 of the GLA Receivables of $263,673.29 is expected as further income this year from 2016 assessments yet to be paid. That leaves $206,569.50 of the current GLA Receivables in Past Due Assessments from years past. This is the amount of GLA Receivables that would be subject to a retroactive recalculation of interest. A very substantial amount:
I personally submitted a Formal Document Request to the GLA on 5/30/2016 (attached again here) asking to see the Accountant’s figures for:
1. Current Total Amounts Past Due, as they stand on the books now, at the current 18%.
2. Current Total Amounts Past Due, computed retroactively at 15%.
3. Current Total Amounts Past Due, computer retroactively at 12%.
That document request has gone unanswered and has not been responded to since it was submitted almost 7 weeks ago.
It would be foolish and imprudent for landowners to make a decision on a retroactive interest rate without knowing how that decision will affect the GLA Receivables. It is foolish and imprudent for the GLA Board to decide on putting forth a retroactive 12% rate without having that same information from the GLA Accountants.
We have all heard Dan and Rudy’s “back of the envelope” calculations on how implementing the 12% retroactively will result only in a difference of $25,000 in the GLA Receivables. They have not published nor documented these figures or how they arrived at them. How are they so easily able to compute this, when we are still waiting for the GLA Accountants to figure the accurate figures currently owed at 18%?
CALL TO ACTION:
1. The GLA Board would do well to LISTEN to the landowners who attended “The Board Listens II” meeting on June 25th and provide at least 1 solution they requested: “the highest rate allowed by Montana law.” Period. There it is, plain and simple. The landowners have requested that this be sent to all landowners for a vote.
2. The GLA Board needs to publish accurate Accountant figures definitively showing all Landowners how the retroactive nature of the revision they made on July 11th, 2016 to Cov 11.06 will reduce the GLA Past Due Receivables of $206,569.50? All landowners need that information in their voting packets to make an informed decision when they vote on a retroactive change to Cov 11.06.
3. The GLA Board would do well to put out the proposed language of Cov 11.06 for 30-day landowner review and comment PRIOR to a vote, as it has been substantially revised to be retroactive on July 11th, 2016. If the Project Review Instructions need to go back out for 30-day landowner review and comment due to major changes, then the same applies to Cov 11.06.
Debbie Blais, SG 40-C
To GLA Board Members,
The Board Listens II meeting minutes from June 25th were not distributed to landowners and Board Members prior to the July Board Meeting, which would have given them time to read and digest the information beforehand. Rather, they were distributed at 6 am on July 12th, barely 6 hours after all GLA Board business had been concluded the night before.
Dennis R. did read the Board Listens II meeting minutes during the July Board Meeting (Thank You!) and was very clear in stating what landowners want to vote on for a revised past due interest rate in Covenant 11.06: “The interest rate should be the highest rate allowed by Montana law. This should be sent to all landowners for a vote.” The highest rate allowed by Montana law is currently 15%.
How was it then, that in all the discussion that followed Dennis’s report, on revising the Cov 11.06 language - yet again, the Board Members missed this Golden Opportunity to actually put in motion and implement one of the proposed solutions discussed and documented by all landowners in the Special Meeting held just 2 weeks before at Emigrant Hall?
Wasn’t the Board REALLY listening?
It seems the Board didn’t listen. The Board decided to put before landowners for vote newly revised Cov 11.06 language that was something to the effect of “12% or the highest allowed by law, whichever is lower.” That would be 12% at this point in time.
Unfortunately, the July Board meeting was held in person for Board Members only – landowners were excluded from attending in person and could only participate by teleconference. The Board voted to put 12% out to all landowners for a vote – while the landowners were all muted on the phone – and the Board members couldn’t see their hands raised to speak, to remind the Board Members about what they had just heard: “The interest rate should be the highest rate allowed by Montana law. This should be sent to all landowners for a vote.”
So, the railroading of Covenant 11.06 continues. Covenant 11.06 has charged 18% for nonpayment of assessments – for the last 19 years – since 1997. As of 2016, Dan K. and Rudy P. have led the charge to get this changed, as quickly as they can, one way or another for the last 6 months. Until last night, those attempts have been in flagrant violation of our governing documents (which state that Covenants may only be changed with a 51% approval vote by landowners):
• February 2016 Finance Committee Meeting – Dan K. suggests and lobbies to forgive interest and penalties on 2 Church Universal Triumphant (CUT)-owned and long-term delinquent parcels (NG 39 and NG 65). As of 2015 year end these 2 properties together owed the GLA over $40,000 for nonpayment of assessments.
• March 2016 Board Meeting – Rudy P. lobbies for “wiggle room” that he might be allowed to individually, by himself, negotiate settlement amounts with long term delinquent landowners (we are talking tens of thousands of dollars per parcel owed in long-term delinquencies). Doing so is a Board function and requires a Board vote when hardship is demonstrated.
• April 11, 2016 Board Meeting – Rudy P. puts forth a blanket draft Amnesty Offer to waive all interest and penalties for delinquent landowners during a 45-day window. Dan K. proposed an Interim Interest Rate Reduction from 18% to 12% and to discontinue the 5% penalty, which passed on a Board vote pending Attorney approval. Ever since then, the GLA Board has ignored or denied many Formal Document Requests submitted by landowners to produce that attorney approval in writing.
• April 27th 2016 Finance Committee Meeting – Dan K. states his intent to make the Interim Interest Rate Reduction retroactive. Rudy P. had not understood that to be the case when he voted for it at the April 11th Board Meeting, nor was it verbalized nor entered into the motion.
• May 2016 Board Meeting – The GLA Board puts the discussion of “attorney input on Covenant 11.06 and 12% interest rate” under Closed Session. No reason is given to the membership on why this discussion on the Covenants must be kept from the landowners? During this Closed Session, the Interim Interest Reduction morphs into its latest incarnation: a “Rule to enforce the intent of Covenant 11.06” – an attempt by the GLA to amend the Covenants using their rule-making authority under Section 2.07. According to the GLA official May 2016 Board Meeting Minutes, the motion to create this Rule was seconded and approved unanimously with a Board vote during this Closed Session.
• May 25th 2016 – The GLA Board announces the new Rule it has created in Closed Session in the GLA Spring Newsletter.
• May 30th 2016 Finance Committee Meeting – GLA President Charlotte M. states the Board had NOT voted on the “Rule” because no votes can be made during a Closed Session Board meeting?! This statement is contrary to GLA May 2016 Board Minutes.
• June 16, 2016 – GLA President Charlotte M. receives a letter from landowner Attorney Jon Hesse very clearly stating that the GLA Board does not have the right to amend the interest rate from 18% to 12% through the use of a Rule.
• June 27, 2016 – GLA attorney contacts landowner attorney Hesse to discuss. She claims to be unaware that the GLA is trying to amend Covenants with Rule making, and states she will advise the GLA Board to put the matter of an interest rate change in Cov 11.06 to a vote of the membership.
• July 2016 Board Meeting – Dan K. relents on the Rule, states it will not be used and quickly schedules a member vote dedicated to changing Covenant 11.06 on August 27th. This particular Governing Document change will be voted on before and separate from all the other Governing Document changes coming forth for a vote. Dan K. convinces the Board there is no time for a 30-day review and comment PRIOR to the vote! Leo K. requests and strongly lobbies for landowner review and comment prior to the vote. The Board decides to put the Cov 11.06 language they revised in this Board Meeting out for landowner vote on August 27th with no opportunity for landowner input or comment on the newly revised language prior to the vote. Yet, it was just back in April when Dan K. gave as reason requiring the need for the Interim Interest Rate Reduction was the time it would take to do the necessary “30-day call for landowner input” (for ongoing edits to the proposed changes to Cov 11.06 at that time). So, even though the GLA Board revised the language of Cov 11.06 yet again Monday night and made a substantial change to make it retroactive, Dan K. now puts forth there is no need of a 30-day call for landowner input prior to the vote on it?!
QUESTION: How substantial is that change to enact a new, revised interest rate of 12% and make it retroactive on all existing delinquent landowner accounts?
Very substantial. The GLA Accounts Receivables as of 7/6/16 stands at $263,673.29. That is after $76,912.50 has already been received in 2016 assessment payments towards the Total Parcel Assessment Fees budgeted for 2016 of $134, 016. That means only $57,103.50 of the GLA Receivables of $263,673.29 is expected as further income this year from 2016 assessments yet to be paid. That leaves $206,569.50 of the current GLA Receivables in Past Due Assessments from years past. This is the amount of GLA Receivables that would be subject to a retroactive recalculation of interest. A very substantial amount:
I personally submitted a Formal Document Request to the GLA on 5/30/2016 (attached again here) asking to see the Accountant’s figures for:
1. Current Total Amounts Past Due, as they stand on the books now, at the current 18%.
2. Current Total Amounts Past Due, computed retroactively at 15%.
3. Current Total Amounts Past Due, computer retroactively at 12%.
That document request has gone unanswered and has not been responded to since it was submitted almost 7 weeks ago.
It would be foolish and imprudent for landowners to make a decision on a retroactive interest rate without knowing how that decision will affect the GLA Receivables. It is foolish and imprudent for the GLA Board to decide on putting forth a retroactive 12% rate without having that same information from the GLA Accountants.
We have all heard Dan and Rudy’s “back of the envelope” calculations on how implementing the 12% retroactively will result only in a difference of $25,000 in the GLA Receivables. They have not published nor documented these figures or how they arrived at them. How are they so easily able to compute this, when we are still waiting for the GLA Accountants to figure the accurate figures currently owed at 18%?
CALL TO ACTION:
1. The GLA Board would do well to LISTEN to the landowners who attended “The Board Listens II” meeting on June 25th and provide at least 1 solution they requested: “the highest rate allowed by Montana law.” Period. There it is, plain and simple. The landowners have requested that this be sent to all landowners for a vote.
2. The GLA Board needs to publish accurate Accountant figures definitively showing all Landowners how the retroactive nature of the revision they made on July 11th, 2016 to Cov 11.06 will reduce the GLA Past Due Receivables of $206,569.50? All landowners need that information in their voting packets to make an informed decision when they vote on a retroactive change to Cov 11.06.
3. The GLA Board would do well to put out the proposed language of Cov 11.06 for 30-day landowner review and comment PRIOR to a vote, as it has been substantially revised to be retroactive on July 11th, 2016. If the Project Review Instructions need to go back out for 30-day landowner review and comment due to major changes, then the same applies to Cov 11.06.
Debbie Blais, SG 40-C
