DEERFIELD RESORT HOA LITIGATION
Deerfield News Connection
February 18, 2024
Fact-Checking Facebook: Dispelling Myths and Rumors – Part 2
A review of Facebook posts indicates that there may be some misunderstandings related to the Deerfield Resort HOA lawsuit. Below, are questions or statements made on Facebook, with clarifications. There are two Facebook page accounts from which the questions or statements were pulled, Deerfield HOA Collaborative (formerly Team Deerfield HOA Collaborative) and Deerfield Resort on Norris Lake Homeowner Group. The time period examined runs from June 9, 2023 through January 17, 2024.
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There were several Facebook posts about forming a homeowner association (HOA) for Deerfield Resort – indicating that a HOA corporation has not been formed and is about to be formed.
The Deerfield Resort HOA is not being formed, it was formed by the Developer in 1986 and has continuously operated for 38 years without homeowner involvement.
The Deerfield Resort Homeowner Association, Inc. was established April 15, 1986, and has been managed by Fields Development Company throughout its history. Created to maintain common areas and enforce covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs), the purpose of a HOA is to preserve property values and control aspects of the neighborhood that affect all homeowners. These include maintaining common grounds, enforcing building guidelines, and collecting dues from owners to pay for neighborhood services and amenities.
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Multiple posts indicate that the developer, Fields Development Company, has certain rights, "So the guy getting sued by these (*****) shouldn't be able to run a neighborhood his family built[?]”
Tennessee Judge mandates - it is time to transition the existing Deerfield Resort HOA from Fields Development Company to Deerfield Resort homeowners.
HOAs are not set up as a vehicle through which developers maintain control of a community in perpetuity, but as a mechanism through which homeowners have input into the decisions of the HOA. Initially, developers control HOAs they create with the intent to transfer the HOA to homeowners in the future. Ideally, as more lots are sold, more homeowners are brought onto the board, so when the HOA transfers from developer to homeowner control, homeowners are prepared to manage the assets and activities of the HOA. For Deerfield Resort, that time is now. On May 28, 2021, in a court order, Judge Boniface wrote, “The Court finds that the Developers are trying to control the property in perpetuity.” Therefore, she mandated the transition of the HOA from Fields Development Company to Deerfield Resort homeowners based on the undisputed facts that 98% of the lots have been sold and it is now 39 years since the first lot was sold in 1985.