Open Letter to Voting Members

This is an Open Letter to Voting Members of The Summit's HOA.

YOU are supposed to represent the homeowners in your neighborhoods.

First of all, you should be legitimately- and duly-elected by a quorum of your homeowners. Are you?

There is one way, and one way only, to become a Voting Member. You must be elected at a Neighborhood Meeting. Were you?

If you "got signatures", you are not a legitimate Voting Member. If you have just stuck around for years without Annual Neighborhood Meetings, you are not a legitimate Voting Member. If you inherited the role or moved up when your Neighborhood lost its Voting Member, you are not a legitimate Voting Member. 

If you are not a legitimate Voting Member, you should be aware of the S.C. State law (§15-63-60) that applies to you.

SECTION 15-63-60.Action against usurpers, for forfeiture of office or against persons acting as corporation.

An action may be brought by the Attorney General in the name of the State upon his own information or upon the complaint of any private party or by a private party interested on leave granted by a circuit judge against the parties offending in the following cases:

(1) When any person shall usurp, intrude into, or unlawfully hold or exercise any public office, civil or military, or any franchise within this State or any office in a corporation, created by the authority of this State;

Would you be happy to receive "Greetings" from the S.C. Attorney General?

What has the HOA's new attorney told Danny Trapp and the Board of Directors about the importance of complying with the By-Laws?

Pay special attention to how the board meetings are being run. Is Danny Trapp serving the best interests of the homeowners?

Examine his "leadership" style. He is trying to eliminate homeowner comments at Board meetings. He wants to keep homeowners without Summit IDs out of monthly board meetings. He won't use the microphone. He doesn't control and run meetings in an orderly fashion.

Why won't he move the proposed amendments to the CC&Rs and By-Laws forward? Over the past several years the Covenants Committee and an ad hoc committee have spent many hours to identify needed changes.

A past board, led by Justin Martin, apparently did not furnish previous proposed changes to the "new" board, led by Danny Trapp. The proposed changes should have been in the office records! Then the "new" board lost the proposed changes, and the Covenants Committee furnished them again.

Why did the "new" Board refuse to hear the 2025 Budget in public, and why didn't it hear the Finance Committee's recommendation of a $50.00 annual dues increase in public in November 2024?

Did Danny object to a dues increase at the private, closed, pre-board meeting in October? Why wasn't the proposed budget presented and discussed at the November board meeting, as required in the PRM? 

Why did the Boards, in November 2023 and November 2024, disregard the requirement in the CC&Rs to provide a sufficient amount in the Budget for Reserves?

Why hasn't there been any public discussion of the serious state of delinquent dues and the ineffective measures to collect bad debt? 

Why did the HOA start a lawsuit against Gus Philpott that is prohibited by the CC&Rs without Voting Member approval? How much has it already cost? What is the estimated future cost? Is that how the HOA should be spending its money, especially in view of the judge's ruling after the February 11th hearing?

Are there other legal actions in which the HOA is a defendant or a plaintiff? 

Why aren't you, the Voting Members, demanding that the Board follow the By-Laws for elections of Voting Members from the 28 Neighborhoods?

Does the Board really have any legitimate Directors, if you are not duly-elected, legitimate Voting Members?

Should you be electing Directors who are not just "nice people" (some of them), but who are also savvy business people who are committed to complying with the HOA's By-Laws, CC&Rs, and PRM?