Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Why are the Voting Members allowing the HOA to violate the CC&Rs by suing Gus Philpott (me)? I am not asking the Voting Members to stick up for me. I'm doing an adequate job of that in the Richland County Court of Common Pleas. At great  expense to the HOA, I must add. However, the Voting Members should be sticking up for YOU, the Members (homeowners) of the Association. By playing Three Blind Mice (no offense intended to mice), are Voting Members complicit in the violation of the CC&Rs? Art. XIII, §10 clearly prohibits the HOA from starting a lawsuit against me without advance approval of 75% of the Voting Members.  The Board did not seek or gain that approval. And the Board never voted to approve the lawsuit. How did it get started? Why are the Voting Members allowing the HOA to spend HOA funds on this unauthorized, prohibited lawsuit?

Who protects the homeowners from the Board of Directors? First of all, homeowners should not need "protecting" from the Board of Directors. The Board members have the fiduciary responsibility and obligation to comply with the Governing Documents (CC&Rs; By-Laws; approved Guidelines). Those documents protect the homeowners. But only if followed. Talk continues about amending ("improving") the By-Laws and the CC&Rs. How long has this "talk" been going on? NOTE The HOA cannot amend the CC&Rs and the By-Laws, because there are not enough legitimate Voting Members to approve the changes! The HOA has one (1) legitimate, duly-elected Voting Member. It should have 28. The By-Laws are fine just the way they are. They are set up so that homeowners are protected from the abuse that is happening right now. Except the homeowners aren't protected.  Voting Members are the defense line between the Board and the homeowners. Voting Members should be paying ...

At the July 1st Board meeting, this issue should come up for discussion and vote. The Board never voted to start the lawsuit against Gus Philpott (me) on December 28, 2024. The CC&Rs (Art. XIII, §10) prohibit it without the approval of the Voting Members. The Board never sought or gained that approval. How did the lawsuit get started without Board approval? The Board also never authorized Danny Trapp, the President, to tell the attorneys to file the lawsuit or the Motion for the TRO? Did Danny do that on his own? Did the Board ever discuss the potential cost of the lawsuit and determine where the money would come from? On July 1st a Board Member should make a Motion to stop the lawsuit and settle with me. Another board member should second the Motion. Then there should be a thorough discussion, followed by a vote. It should be a recorded vote, with the Minutes reporting how each director voted, yea or nay. The Board and all its board members have a fiduciary obligation to do what ...

What questions are homeowners, non-homeowning residents, and "Voting Members" sending to the office? Are they getting answers? If the questions are going to the office, then those questions belong to the HOA. They should be filed and open to inspection by Members. They should be published, so that other homeowners and residents will know what is being asked. They can't get buried. The answers should be published, too, unless a homeowner inquires about his own residence or dues balance. The HOA could create a Q&A page on its website. But what about the questions that are not being answered? I know that I have asked why "We are not allowed to park in the streets." The chairman of the Safety Committee told me that by email in November 2024, and then he failed to answer my two follow-ups asking why parking is not allowed. There is no answer. Parking is allowed in the streets. What else would Members like to know? Q. Why did the Board deny the Assessment increas...

The financial stability of the HOA depends on all property owners paying their dues on-time, which is by July 31.  How is the HOA doing in collecting bad debts? The Board retained a new lawyer (Turner Padget) a year ago. But apparently they didn't part ways with the old lawyers (McCabe, Trotter & Beverly, PC). So now the HOA has two (2) law firms, and bad debt is nearly $100,000 higher than a year ago. Every month this statement appears in the Financial Report: "Collection activity is being conducted in accordance with Association policy."  Opinion: There is either something wrong with Collection activity or with Association policy - OR BOTH! If you owned this company (the HOA), would you get rid of everybody running it and start over? Think WWED (What Would Elon Do?). As of April 30, 2025 the Accounts Receivable (Line 1200) of the HOA totaled $479,433. That is almost entirely unpaid dues and is $99,694 higher than one year ago ($379,739). And that $379,739 was after...

Why did Danny Trapp attempt to appoint his buddy, William Hill, to one of the vacancies on the Board at last Tuesday's pre-board meeting? The applicants who were vetted and became candidates hadn't even been interviewed yet. No decisions are supposed to be made in pre-board meetings. But that doesn't bother Danny much. It's not the first time decisions were attempted or even made in a pre-board meeting. Watch closely on Tuesday night, July 1, at the Regular Board Meeting, and make sure the Board does it right. If they don't? Somebody should speak up. Either a Board member or a Voting Member or a "Voting Member" or even just a lowly Member. The first order-of-business should be to remove the ineligible board member. After the Board declares the third vacancy on the Board, that will leave four Board Members to vote on the first candidate for appointment to one of the vacancies. Maybe Danny will nominate William Hill. With only four directors voting, the vote...

The next Board of Directors meeting will be Tuesday, July 1, 6:30PM, at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast, 1203 Summit Parkway. What should be on the Agenda? 1. Eligibility of Patricia Pollin to be on the Board. She was not eligible when she was appointed in November 2023, and she is not eligible now. She should voluntarily step away from the Board. If she doesn't, the first order of business should be to remove her.  2. The Board should declare the vacancy. 3. The Board should appoint two qualified, solid candidates to fill the unexpired board terms (2024-2026) of Ciara Bates and LaToya Adams. Both had been elected in November 2024, and both resigned in May 2025. 4. The Board should receive a general update on the status of the lawsuit against Gus Philpott (me). While lawsuits are typically considered confidential, I waive that confidentiality, so that the Board can discuss and explain to Members A) how the HOA started the lawsuit in the first place, since Art. XIII, Section ...

How transparent are the operations of the HOA? Can you find the names of the board members, their contact information, their terms-of-office on the HOA's website*? Does every Voting Member list contact information onn the website or in the Summit Scoop, so that their neighbors can reach them? When the Board is questioned about compliance with the By-Laws, how does it respond? Why doesn't the Board discuss the actual state of the HOA's financial affairs at monthly meetings? Why doesn't the Board insist that the Neighborhood Committee to do its job and help 27 neighborhoods to hold Neighborhood Meeting and elect legitimate Voting Members? When the Board fails to comply with the CC&Rs and/or By-Laws, why doesn't anyone on the Board speak up? Ex., starting (and continuing) an expensive lawsuit that is expressly prohibited in the CC&Rs. Will the Board stop making decisions in private, closed, pre-board meetings (workshops) for which no Minutes are published? * Th...

Read the rules for sheds in the Summit Modifications Committee Guidelines on the HOA's website. See Section 22 DETACHED STRUCTURES(SHEDS) on Page 15.  At the end of Section 22 authority is wrongfully claimed by the Committee. "Note: The Modification Committee reserves the right to allow or disallow the construction of the detached structure for reasons not covered in this guideline. These are just guidelines and not meant to be hard fast rules for construction of a structure. This is a guideline for the homeowner who may be considering the construction of a detached structure on their property. The Modification Committee has the final say in what is or is not allowed. " [ emphasis added ] Why should the Committee have such broad discretion? Can it just thumb its nose at the rules? These are not " just guidelines". They are the guidelines.  Who has the final word in The Summit's HOA? The Board of Directors has the final say, not the Modifications Committe...

What are the qualifications to be on the HOA's Board of Directors, according to the By-Laws? Be a Member (Owner, on the Deed); or Be a spouse of a Member;  Be in Good Standing with the HOA (financially); and Reside in the the HOA. The first two qualifications are found in the By-Laws (Art. III, §A(1) (Page 3)). The third and fourth are in the PRM (Art. III, §H(6) (Page 23)). Anything else? According to the PRM (Art. II, §B(2) (Page 8)), a candidate should be  of the highest caliber; selected for interpersonal skills; dedicated to the betterment of the Association and the community; and free of any personal agenda. Although not written in the Governing Documents, a candidate should have these additional skills: Understand that members of the Board make decisions (as a group). No one director is more important than another; Have administrative management background; Understand business finances; Be a team player; Have a strong backbone and be willing to speak up, not just "go al...

Some people are still "collecting signatures" to become a "Voting Member". Why are they doing that? They apparently think they are becoming official Voting Members, but they aren't. The By-Laws provide the one and only way of becoming a legitimate Voting Member; "getting signatures" is not it. With the same effort, they could collect Proxies and then hold a Neighborhood Meeting. I guess one reason they think that is allowed is because the Board of Directors tolerates and promotes it. The members of the Board know better. Or they should know better. Aren't they obligated to comply with the By-Laws? Why doesn't the President of the Board, Danny Trapp, make it clear to the chair of the (HOA's) Neighborhood Committee that his job is to follow the Mission of the Committee and help the 28 Neighborhoods to elect ( ELECT ) a Voting Member. A few meetings ago, that chair even put forward his idea of electronic voting for Voting Members. And maybe l...

In just four months there will be a HOA election. The terms of four directors (Bryant, Pollin, Potter, and Trapp) expire on Nov. 4, 2025. If you would like to run for the board, now is the time to begin preparations. Before Nov. 4th, 27 Neighborhoods (all except Barony Place) need to hold Neighborhood Meetings, elect 3-member Neighborhood Committees, and elect legitimate Voting Members. Homeowners do not elect directors. Directors are elected by Voting Members. Every neighborhood is supposed to have a duly-elected Voting Member. There is one way, and one way only, to become a Voting Member. It is spelled out in the By-Laws. A homeowner does not become a Voting Member by "getting signatures", hanging around for years without an election in his/her neighborhood, or inheriting the office when the spouse dies. Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting of Voting Members, which is held each November before the annual meeting of the Association (Board). In many past years there ...

Late this afternoon the HOA's office emailed homeowners and residents, writing in part: " Please be advised that the Summit Association office will not be open on Saturdays at this time due to staffing.   "The office is open Monday- Friday from 9:00am to 5:30pm." The HOA has a contract with CAMS to provide office staffing. The Association's point-of-contact for CAMS is very likely Danny Trapp, President of the HOA.  Page 1 of the Contract made as of October 6, 2023 includes "WHEREAS, the orderly and uniform administration, operation, maintenance, and management of the Property are necessary and essential..." and "Whereas, the Management Company is in the business or providing management services..." CAMS provides the office employees, who are not employees of the HOA, although the HOA pays their full cost, including payroll taxes and other employee benefits. The HOA has final approval on staffing.  So, why are there staffing problems? Recently...

Three days ago I posted some HOA questions on Next Door. This was one response: " Homeowners have the right (and arguably the duty) to: • Question the Board’s actions • Attend meetings and raise the issue • File a formal complaint • Call for a vote to remove the individual* or even recall the Board, if necessary This is about protecting the integrity of the HOA and the property values that go along with it. If the President was involved in the improper appointment or failed to stop it, yes, a formal apology is appropriate — along with a plan to correct the issue. Transparency and accountability are key to maintaining trust. " Many thanks to Paula Hampton, who lives at Villages at Lakeshore, for a clear, accurate, well-worded answer. Is there any part of this answer with which The Summit's Board of Directors would not agree? * This referred to action, if a board member had withheld information from the full board before it voted on an unqualified, ineligible ...

Just so there is no misunderstanding about my issue with Patricia Pollin's being on the Board of Directors of The Summit's HOA. The issue is not with her! Had anyone else, who was not a Member of the Association or the spouse of a Member, been appointed by the Board of Directors to fill a vacancy on the board, I would be complaining just as vigorously. Two vacancies arose suddenly on the Board in November 2023. Greg Thomas resigned right after he was re-elected. Vernell Butler resigned abruptly, after he was not re-elected as Treasurer. The vacancies were, as I recall, never announced to the Association's Members. By the next regular meeting of the Board, Patricia Pollin and Tommy Williams were new Directors. An ad hoc Committee of two directors and five homeowners should be formed to investigate how that happened.  The office manager was supposed to "vet" applicants for those two open positions on the board. Did she? What did she find? Did she inform the full bo...

Will there be a pre-board meeting (workshop) of the HOA's Board of Directors tonight? These meetings are usually held one week before the Regular Meeting of the Board on the first Tuesday of the month. Next Regular Board Meeting: July 1, 2025, 6:30PM Contrary to announcements being made at past monthly Board Meetings, Tuesday's board meeting on July 1st should be open to all residents of the Summit - homeowners and non-homeowning residents alike. Why do I say that? If you read the June Summit Scoop, on Page 2 it reads, "Board meetings are open to all Summit Residents." The Scoop wouldn't lie, would it? What should be on the agenda for tonight's pre-board meeting? Appointment of a recording secretary to take notes and write the Minutes of the pre-board meeting; Discussion of Patricia Pollin's eligibility to be on the Board, since she was not qualified (under the CC&Rs), when she was appointed in November 2023 and is not qualified now (under the CC&R...

Two days ago I posted some HOA questions on Next Door. This was one response: " Other Board members are legally obligated to uphold the governing documents. If they knowingly allow an unqualified person to serve, they may also be in breach of fiduciary duty — opening themselves and the HOA to liability. "Voting Members act on behalf of homeowners and must ensure fair representation and compliance with the governing rules. If they allow unqualified individuals to serve, they’re failing to fulfill their oversight role. " Many thanks to Paula Hampton, who lives at Villages at Lakeshore, for a clear, accurate, well-worded answer. Is there any part of this answer with which The Summit's Board of Directors would not agree?

There are urgent issues that the Board and the Voting Members should be addressing. 1. The HOA started a lawsuit against me in December 2024 that is prohibited in the CC&Rs. 2. The Board has a Director who wasn't qualified or eligible, when she was appointed to the Board in December 2023. She should be removed before the Board votes on candidates to fill the two Board vacancies caused by resignations in May. This will create a third vacancy. 3. The person on the board who knew in November 2023 and failed to inform the entire Board should be removed. This will create a fourth vacancy. Why won't the HOA follow the CC&Rs, By-Laws, and Committee Guidelines?

How did it all start?  The HOA sent a Parking Violation Notice because a car was legally parked on the County road in front of the house in which I reside. When I questioned the authority of the HOA to enforce parking on the County road (street), the HOA President at the time told me, "I don't have to explain anything to you." For five years I have been calling attention to the many areas in which the HOA is not complying with the CC&Rs, the By-Laws, and its own published Committee Guidelines. I started this blog in July 2020. There are now nearly 1,200 posts on this blog. For previous articles, click on  Archive  in the left sidebar. When the HOA filed its unauthorized lawsuit against me on December 28, 2024, it also filed a Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order. Among the six restraints it sought from the Richland County Court of Common Pleas were three that infringed on my First Amendment rights: the HOA asked the Court to prohibit me from talking to any HOA res...

Yesterday I posted some HOA questions on Next Door. This was one response: "T he CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) and By-Laws are the governing legal documents of an HOA. If someone does not meet the qualifications stated in those documents, they are not legally or ethically eligible to serve on the Board. "Verify the qualification standards clearly outlined in the CC&Rs and By-Laws (e.g., ownership requirements, financial standing, residency, etc.)." Many thanks to Paula Hampton, who lives at Villages at Lakeshore, for a clear, accurate, well-worded answer. Is there any part of this answer with which The Summit's Board of Directors would not agree?

Earlier today I posted questions on NextDoor: Summit HOA BOD Question of the Day: Should a Board of Directors of a HOA have a person on it who is not qualified (according the CC&Rs and the By-Laws) to be on the Board? What should the HOA do? Should other Board members object? Should homeowners' representatives (Voting Members) object? Should the homeowners themselves object? Should the President of the HOA apologize? I just read the clearest and most-intelligent social media post (response) that I have ever read. Be sure to read it. Thank you, Paula Hampton! I'm going to frame it! https://nextdoor.com/p/2LFrkw_Gmyfc/?post=408133235&comment=1383897144&ct=AKzKjeRlTjPooEFVcinkLKhknmTwqG5JrsmjPYaHCmfZfJvGRcC1_26qANf35qK0&ec=jUsXRsKkOPMVxJBs1Cj9scCEDVfj1pLaDEEEO8rW-uw%3D

The HOA's Neighborhood Committee (NC) is different from your local Neighborhood Committee.  Your local NC represents you . This is why it is critical that you elect three neighbors to it. It then elects your Voting Member. Those three serve for one year, until the next Neighborhood Meeting. What is the HOA's Neighborhood Committee? It is an official committee of the HOA. The President appoints its chairman, with the approval of the Board. What does the  HOA's Neighborhood Committee do? Its Mission is found in the Governing Documents and on the HOA's website. Mission: Responsible for helping each community in the Summit to locate and elect a local neighborhood committee that will represent their community at SCA board meetings and thereby allow their Voting member to vote on vital issues that affect the Summit and their local neighborhood. The Neighborhood Committee will assist and advise local neighborhoods with problems that they encounter. (Source: HOA's websi...

Yesterday I sent this message to all the Voting Members for whom I had email addresses (17). I requested that they forward the message to the seven (7) Voting Members who don't publish their email addresses. Four Neighborhoods don't have any Voting Member. This means that 19.6% of the property owners in the HOA are not represented at all. Only one neighborhood (Barony Place) has a legitimate Voting Member who was duly-elected in compliance with the By-Laws. The others are "recognized" by the Board of Directors (who are themselves not duly-elected) Please read this message. I am speaking words that the full Board and the Voting Members should be hearing from you. Good morning, Voting Members, Please forward to Sarah Wilson, Christiane DeSouza, Tommie Glover, Carmen Claud, Chanel Taylor, Cynthia Davis, and Donnie Gantt, whose email addresses are not published. There is an urgent reason for you to call a Special Meeting of Voting Members before the July 1st Regular Boar...

If the "town" of The Summit had a newspaper, there would be an article this morning with the names of the applicants for the two vacancies on the Board of Directors. Notice I didn't use the word "candidates". The deadline was yesterday (June 20) at 5:00PM. How many homeowners applied? In addition, did the Nominating Committee have a Ready List? Any million-dollar business ought to anticipate openings and vacancies among management and have a list of potential candidates ready? Is there such a list? The next step, after 5:00PM yesterday, is for the Property Manager to "vet" the applicants. She must determine  whether an applicant is qualified. What is "Qualified"? Be a Member of the Assn.; Be an Owner (name on the Deed); or Be a spouse of a Member; Be in Good Standing (not owe money to the Assn.) Then the Property Manager gives the applications of the qualified candidates to the Board. She should give all the qualified applications to all the ...

SC DOT has opened a Diverging Diamond Interchange (DDI) at I-20 and Broad River Road.  To understand how it works, watch this visualization from NCDOT. Click on the video or on the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD-0QnUlLOQ New traffic patterns, like DDIs and traffic circles, are hard for many drivers at first, because they are used to "the old way". But they are safer and faster. There are animations and visualizations from other states on YouTube. Search for "Diverging Diamond Interchange".

The office sent out an email that it will be closed on July 5. Last time I looked, the holiday is Friday, July 4th, Independence Day. Why is the HOA office closed on Saturday, July 5? Because the HOA's Board (that would have been Justin, Vernell, and gang) "gave" it to the CAMS employees; that's why. The two-year contract was signed on October 13, 2023, less than a month before the November 7, 2023 election that put some new people on the Board. The HOA is a service business, like Publix, Target, Home Depot. It serves its customers. It's not just an office full of paper-pushers. Many homeowners work Monday-Friday. It is difficult to conduct personal business on work-time. Well, it ought to be difficult. Unfortunately, many employees abuse their employers by taking work time to conduct personal business. A homeowner might want to update his Summit ID Card and even get one or a pool gate fob, so that his family and he can use the pool and other amenities. You can...

If you owned this business, would you be nervous? This chart is the Reserves of the HOA, as of 4/30/2025. Some questions: How did Reserves go up $200,000 in May 2024, when the contribution to Reserves in the 2024 Budget was $0.00? Reserves peaked in May 2024 at just over $1,000,000. Reserves have steadily declined since then, hitting $600,000 in March 2025. The contribution for Reserves in the 2025 Budget is $3,000. (In 2020, the contribution to Reserves was $163,965.) How did Reserves drop in one month (February-March 2025) from approximately $900,000 to $600,000? Reserves are not just one big pot of gold. Funds should be earmarked for projects that have life expectancies. Is there a report or a spreadsheet somewhere that explains what the Reserves are for, specifically? See if you can find someone who knows. Listen carefully to the explanations given to you by board members or Finance Committee members. Do you think the Treasurer should be someone who understands money? (Sort of a du...

At the June 3 Board Meeting, in the absence of a Treasurer, motions to spend money were by Brenda Bryant, Board member. A question that is never asked before these Motions are voted on is, Where will the money come from for this?  $12,545 Replace 13 light fixtures and globes; $     745 Repair two lights at Birch Park; $18,095 Repair two pumps at Magnolia Pool; $  3,890 Dredge corner of Hunters Pond; $  1,100 Founders pump maintenance; $36,365 Replace Hunters Pond pump; $     450 Remove dead tree. $73,190 When it's OPM, it's easy to spend it. There is no pain in raising your own right hand, when it's not your money. What's a "light fixture"? Is that a pole?  Is the cost for the "light fixtures" and pumps coming out of Reserves? If you have been paying attention (and you haven't), the annual con6tribution to Reserves since 2020 ($163,9965) has been shrinking. In 2024 NOTHING went into Reserves. In 2025 only $3,000 is earmarked for Reser...

The June board meeting location was changed at the last minute from the church to the small conference room at the HOA office. When did the church tell the HOA that the regular meeting room wouldn't be available? That date is important. Registration for VBS was the same night. The church would have known for two months that it needed the room. Why didn't the HOA find an alternate meeting location? In addition to five board members, there were 12 Voting Members and one Alternate there. Add a CAMS employee and Committee chairs. And SIX deputies and State Sen. Overture Walker were there. I hope everybody had showered! How many homeowners were there? None! Zero! Not one! Because of poor planning by the HOA. Knowing that Sen. Walker would be there and a large contingent from RCSD, why didn't the President and the board and the office staff find a venue that could accommodate a large attendance? Sen. Walker is reportedly working on a change in the S.C. Fireworks law to allow HOA...

At the June 3, 2025 Board meeting (Minutes are already published, as of 6/19/25!) Voting Member Karen Kranz (Founders Ridge) asked whether the previous board treasurer's name (LaToya Adams) had been removed from the bank signature cards and from the open Treasurer's position. The response, as given in the Minutes, was "The previous treasurer has been removed from the bank signature cards." Whoever stated that is not identified in the Minutes (and should be!). When was that done? On whose authority? When did the Board vote to remove her name?  A comment by the HOA President about bank signatures at the June 3rd meeting was reported by the Chapelwood Voting Member on the new Facebook group about the HOA. She wrote: "Is the old treasurer still on the bank accounts? Mr. Danny stated no and that he can just sign the checks and that of course they always have two signatures.” Who is the second signature? Are only two signatures on the bank signature cards, or are ther...