Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Question for Danny Trapp: Q. When did Danny Trapp first become aware that Patricia Pollin was not eligible to be on the Board of Directors of The Summit's HOA? At the November 7, 2023 Board Meeting it was announced that Trapp had been elected to the Board. After that meeting, and before the next Board Meeting on December 5, 2023, two directors quit. Greg Thomas had just been re-elected (2023-2025), and he quit. No reason was ever given. When the board-officer election meeting was held on about November 10th, out of the public's view, Vernell Butler was not re-elected by the Board as Treasurer, and he abruptly quit the Board, leaving his 2022-2024 term-of-office and the Treasurer's position vacant. The Board failed to announce the two vacancies and quietly filled them.  Patricia Pollin was nominated to succeed one of those who resigned. She should have been vetted by the Property Manager. What was the result of that vetting process? To be considered as a candidate for appoin...

I am often asked why I keep harping away that The Summit's HOA has NO legitimate directors. Here is the current line-up of homeowners who are pretending to be directors and their terms-of-office: Danny Trapp (2023-2025) Tanisha Holmes, VP (2024-2026) Noel Weatherbee, Secretary (2024-2026) William Hill, Treasurer (2024-2026) Patricia Pollin (2023-2025) Brenda Bryant (2023-2025) Linda Potter (2023-2025) To be legitimate, they must be duly-elected  or duly-appointed  in compliance with the By-Laws. Trapp, Bryant, and Potter were "elected" by the Voting Members in November 2023. However, 2023 Annual Meeting of Voting Members was not properly convened, because there was not a quorum of legitimate, duly-elected Voting Members present.  Trapp, Bryant, and Potter were "elected" by homeowners who were not eligible to vote for directors. I have referred to that as "voter fraud". Danny Trapp was one of the "Voting Members" who attended the 2023 An...

The next Board of Directors Meeting will be this Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at 6:30PM, at the Brookland Baptist Church Northeast, 1203 Summit Parkway. Will Board President Danny Trapp finally answer to the full Board and to the assembled Voting Members and Members of the HOA about the lawsuit* that the HOA filed on December 30, 2024 against resident Gus Philpott (me)? 1. Why was a lawsuit filed that is prohibited by the CC&Rs (Art. XIII, §10)? 2. Why weren't the Voting Members consulted? 3. Why weren't the Voting Members asked to approve the lawsuit before it was filed? 4. How much will this lawsuit cost the HOA? 5. How much has it cost already, including services performed by the lawyers but not yet billed? 6. What specific requests were made in the Motion for a TRO against Philpott that were not granted on March 11, 2025? 7. When did the lawyers first learn that the lawsuit is prohibited by the CC&Rs? 8. Did the lawyers recommend that the lawsuit be dismissed, when t...

Why hasn't the 2024 Annual Audit been delivered to the Board yet and released to the Members? According to Art. III, §C, ¶2 of the PRM, the audit is to be completed by August 31st. However , according to the By-Laws (Art. III, Section 19 Accounts and Reports  (g)), the audit should have been sent to Members by May 1s t . "(g) an annual report consisting of at least the following shall be distributed to all Members within one hundred twenty (120) days after the close of the fiscal year: (1) a balance sheet; (2) an operating (income) statement; and (3) a statement of changes in financial position for the fiscal year. The annual report referred to above shall be prepared on an audited or reviewed basis , as determined by the Board, by an independent public accountant ; ..." [ emphasis added ]" The fiscal year of the HOA closes on December 31st. Which has higher authority - the By-Laws or the PRM? Answer: the By-Laws ! The Board should know this! Why haven't the 202...

Which officers and directors, if any, of The Summit's HOA study HOA improvement? Does The Summit's HOA belong to any professional organizations that offer knowledge bases or expert panels for questions the Board might (should!) have? Which officer is responsible for setting the example of good leadership, team-building, assignment of tasks, and over-seeing proper performance of committees? (Guess!) How many years has it been since the community viewed the Board as a high-functioning Team of directors who are committed to the betterment of the association and the community? How committed to the CC&Rs, By-Laws, and published Guides is the current Board of Directors? How many Board members own a copy of Robert's Rules of Order ? More importantly, how many have studied it? How many even know what it is? How often has the Board asked the HOA's attorney for business-operations advice? "How are we doing?" and "What should we be doing differently?" ...

These are the characteristics that a Board Member ought to have: Be of the highest caliber; Have good interpersonal skills; Be dedicated to the betterment of our Association and community; and Be free of any personal agenda. As you look at the board members on September 2nd, ask yourself "How do they stack up?" As HOA Election Day on November 4, 2025 draws nearer, I'll offer some thoughts and comments on the likely candidates. This HOA must do better in the future! Here is your current Board: Danny Trapp, Pres. (2023-2025) * Tanisha Holmes, VP (2024-2026) * Noel Weatherbee, Secretary   (2024-2026) ** William Hill, Treasurer   (2024-2026) ** Patricia Pollin, Director   (2023-2025) ** Brenda Bryant, Director   (2023-2025) * Linda Potter, Director   (2023-2025) * * Not duly-elected ** Not duly-appointed If you have questions about * and **, please contact me or watch for a following article.

1. Should the Board President be able to start a lawsuit that is prohibited by the CC&Rs and was not approved by the Board of Directors? NO YES 2. Should the HOA pay legal bills associated with a lawsuit that the Board of Directors did not approve? NO YES Enter your answers in the Comment box below or send them by private message. If you use the Contact Form at the upper-left, your name and email address will NOT be published.

If a Special Meeting of the Voting Members (VM)  of The Summit's HOA is called, every VM should do his best to show up.  If they repeatedly do not show up (for example, if they suspect the topic of the meeting and disagree with it), then they should be replaced. That AWOL VM is failing to properly represent his neighborhood. That AWOL VM is interfering with the business of the HOA by preventing attendance by a quorum of VMs. The VM speaks for his neighborhood. The VM is the legal representative of the homeowners in his neighborhood.  The HOA's Neighborhood Committee should contact the residents in that VM's neighborhood to 1) inform them that their VM is missing important meetings; 2) ask them if they are aware that their VM is missing important meetings; 3) ask those homeowners if they would like to elect a responsible VM who will represent them. The VM needs to show up at Special Meetings and listen to what is being discussed. If he agrees, he can vote for the Motion. ...

Today is the last business day in August. Why is the September HOA online Calendar completely blank? Monday is Labor Day. Tuesday is the Board of Director's Meeting at 6:30PM. Why isn't that on the Calendar? What about the Committee meetings for September? Why aren't they on the Calendar?  Is it because the Calendar's manager doesn't know how to create recurring meetings? Is it because the office has been short-staffed since May? Why hasn't CAMS replaced Jenn Woodley? Is there some other reason?

It's obvious how the Board of Directors of The Summit's HOA is now stacked. All you have to do now is attend a board meeting, sit in the audience, and look at the front tables. It's 5-2.  Danny Trapp has five votes locked up. Of course, that's counting three people who are not legitimate, duly-appointed directors (Pollin, Hill, Weatherbee). So, maybe, instead of 5-2, it's really 2-2. But not the way Danny and the other four count. What should happen at the next BOD meeting on September 2, 2025? One of the directors (any one of them would be okay, but five of them won't) should make a Motion that the HOA dismiss the lawsuit against Gus Philpott (me). Why? Because the lawsuit was, and is, prohibited by the CC&Rs, Art. XIII, §10. The Voting Members never approved it. The  Board never approved it. The Board never authorized Danny Trapp to tell the lawyer to file it.  Every time the HOA issues a payment to the law firm for its legal work on the lawsuit, it is a...

Gus Philpott appeared before Judge Coble, Richland County Court of Common Pleas, on Wednesday, August 20th. The purpose of the appearance was to schedule a trial date for the week of September 2-5. The court date, referred to as a Roster Meeting, was called by the HOA and its attorneys. Two attorneys from Turner Padget were present, too. The hearing was virtual on WebEx, meaning we attended from the comfort of home and office, respectively. No travel time that day. (No travel time billed to the HOA.) I informed Judge Coble that I was ready for trial. One of the HOA's attorneys asked Judge Coble for a continuance. The reason? They needed more time for preparation; for example, depositions. The judge gave them up to 60 days before I could get words out of my mouth to say they'd had eight months to get ready, and they were the ones who asked, on July 29th, for the Roster Meeting. Why did they ask for it, if they weren't ready? The Judge said he "noted" my objection. ...

Are there Voting Members who are siding with Danny Trapp over the lawsuit that the HOA filed against Gus Philpott (me)? How many of those Voting Members have read Art. XIII, §10  Litigation in the CC&Rs? After reading it, do they still side with Danny? What if they refuse to read it? Would that be immediate grounds for their neighbors to remove them as Voting Members and elect a replacement who will follow the CC&Rs and the By-Laws and who will not tolerate violations of the CC&Rs and the By-Laws? Voting Members are the legal representatives of the homeowners in their neighborhoods. They must uphold the CC&Rs and the By-Laws. They really don't have a choice. If they won't uphold the CC&Rs and the By-Laws (and the PRM), they should resign. If they don't resign, the homeowners should replace them. Some neighborhoods list only a "Voting Member" and no Alternates; ex., Hunters Pond - Danny's neighborhood. Where is its three-member Neighborhood...

The law firm of Turner Padget is supposed to be representing The Summit Community Association, Inc. Not Danny Trapp. Not the Board of Directors. The law firm was engaged to represent  The Association  and its 2,480 Members! Is there any reason that the Voting Members cannot get legal advice from Turner Padget? To keep costs low, one VM should be the spokesman for the VMs, ask the questions, and share the lawyers' answers with all the VMs. They might decide whether (or not) they want to get advice from the attorneys at Turner Padget who are handling the lawsuit against Gus Philpott (me).  Were those attorneys ignorant of Art. XIII, §10  Litigation  in the CC&Rs, or did they choose to disregard that Section of the CC&Rs? I can imagine the first but not the second. They know about that Section now. Are they continuing to ignore or disregard it? Why don't they tell Danny that the HOA cannot continue the lawsuit and  must  dismiss it? The HOA needs ...

  Today I was remembering a day in court in 2010. I was living in northern Illinois and had been blogging about the sheriff's department and several local police departments. Sometimes people thought I didn't like cops. I do like cops. Honest ones. Cops who think they should be the first to obey the laws; not the last. I didn't like the county sheriff, and he didn't like me. I was running against him in 2010. (I didn't have a chance, but I definitely had fun!) A deputy had been fired and was suing the sheriff in a wrongful-termination action. The sheriff sucked me into the lawsuit with a subpoena for 27 months' worth of my blog records. He wanted all communications from any current or past employee of the sheriff department. Several deputies were feeding me the dirt from the sheriff's department, and the sheriff didn't like seeing it in print. He was trying to find the leaks.  I immediately knew I was not going to provide that information, even at the r...

This message was emailed from the HOA's office at 8:09AM. " Dear Summit Homeowners,   "The Summit office will be closed today, August 25th and will reopen on Tuesday, August 26th.    " W e apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding." Why is such discourtesy shown to HOA Members and residents? Am I the only resident who thinks that the reason for closing the office on short notice should be included? The HOA is paying for the office to be open from 9:00AM-5:30PM. Is today's closure a staffing problem? Did CAMS ever provide a replacement for Jenn Woodley? She left in mid-May (three months ago). Jenn seemed to be a top-notch, customer service-oriented employee.  I met her once in January. It was obvious she had already been told about the "evil Gus Philpott", but she was professional in her responses to me. I was sorry to hear of her departure.  The 2025 Budget for Administrative Expenses/On-Site Staff (Line 6005)...

 Is this what is happening with the HOA's lawsuit against Gus Philpott (me)? The longer that the HOA persists with its prohibited case against me, the more it costs. When will the Board of Directors realize it is completely wrong? The CC&Rs (Art. XIII, §10 Litigation ) prohibited the case. The Board never approved it. The Board never authorized Board President Danny Trapp to file it. Every payment for legal services relative to this case is an illegal disbursement of funds of this S.C. non-profit corporation. Each payment is a separate crime. Any Board member who supports the case is failing in his/her fiduciary duty to the Members of the Association. Anyone who reads the CC&Rs (Art. XIII, §10) will instantly realize that the HOA had no authority to sue Gus Philpott, because the Board never asked for or obtained the approval of 75% of the Voting Members. It's simple. So, why did the lawyers even file it? Didn't they read Art. XIII, §10?

The Board of Directors of The Summit's HOA is supposed to have seven (7) directors. How many does it have? Four.   Brenda Bryant (2023-2025) Tanisha Holmes (2024-2026) Linda Potter (2023-2025), and  Danny Trapp (2023-2025).  (And this is only if you disregard the election irregularities at the 2023 and 2024 Annual Meetings of Voting Members.) What about the other three who sit up front at the Board table? None is a legitimate , duly-appointed director! Patricia Pollin . She was appointed by the Board in November 2023, after Greg Thomas quit right after being re-elected to the board. She was not eligible to be appointed, because she was not a Member of the Association (not a homeowner-of-record) or the spouse of a Member.  An investigation should be made as to why her ineligibility was withheld from several board members before they voted. William Hill . The Board conducted a faulty "executive session" on July 1, 2025. Hill was appointed as a director ...

Is The Summit's HOA committing a financial crime every time it issues a check to Turner Padget for legal work done on the case filed by that law firm in the name of the HOA? And could the law firm be committing a financial crime every time it receives an illegal disbursement from the HOA? What is the crime? Every dollar spent by the HOA must be for a valid, proper, business purpose. That's common sense; right? There is also a legal reason for paying out HOA money only for legitimate expenses. A year ago, in August 2024, when Danny Trapp consulted the law firm about Gus Philpott (me), he directed them to send me a Cease and Desist Letter. He consulted them on behalf of the HOA and at HOA expense. It accused me of "false accusations and continual harassment". That letter was dated August 28, 2024. When that Letter, which threatened legal action, was sent to me, did a judicial proceeding  commence ? The first sentence in Art. XIII, §10 Litigation in the CC&Rs reads, ...

Have you ever received a copy of the Proposed Budget for the following year? The Finance Committee must already be working on the 2026 Budget. Should the Board and the Members get a preview at the October 7th, 2025 Regular Board Meeting? Will it be discussed in public and voted on at the November 4th open, public, Regular Board Meeting? That should have happened in November 2024, but it didn't. Will any new Directors elected to the Board be expected to vote on the proposed 2026 Budget at their very first meeting, before they even get a look at the Budget? That's what happened last year. The Board has spent a lot of money this year out of Reserves. A LOT! The Board even said that the 2025 Budget was based on Operations. I didn't hear anyone ask how Projects would get paid for. Funds in Reserves aren't for new projects; they are a sinking fund for Replacement and Major Repairs. The balance of funds in Reserves as of December 31, 2024 was $843,349.18. At July 31, 2025 the ...

  On July 29 the HOA's lawyer sent me two documents: Plaintiff's First Interrogatories to Defendant; and Plaintiff's First Request for Production to Defendant. The demand is for a written answer within 30 days.  Now I understand why a preliminary quote of legal fees for a complete defense was $30,-$50,000.  Most of the questions are a trap. If I'm asked to list every person, and then inadvertently omit one, I'm cooked. There was a Hearing on July 24th for the HOA's allegation against me of Contempt. The HOA alleged that I violated Judge Coble's March 11th Order. Judge Kimpson asked me, specifically and directly, if I had violated the Order. I answered that I had not. The HOA's lawyers recited their filing ad nauseum . Danny Trapp was not there to give any evidence or proof. NO ONE was there to give any evidence or proof against me. As of August 22, Judge Kimpson has not ruled.  How high will the HOA's bill be for the July 24th Hearing and for the law...

You won't want to miss reading the last paragraph in the Finance Committee section of the Minutes of the August 5, 2025 Board Meeting. (Why was it even in that section of the board meeting?) Just in case you don't read the Minutes (how many of you do?), here it is. "Tanisha Holmes and Danny Trapp met with representatives from Dominion Energy to discuss turning over the streetlights on Summit Parkway and Summit Ridge. Dominion provided options for taking over the lights that start at $21,500 per month plus the cost of electricity for the lights." $21,500/month... How much is that annually? $258,000! That's $104 per home per year! Plus electricity! Why not just turn off the lights on Summit Parkway and Summit Ridge Drive? Cars have headlights these days, don't they? $258,000 is 18% of the HOA's 2025 Annual Budget ($1,423,100). Seriously? How much is the Budget for street lights?  The 2025 Budget shows (Line 5011) $8,000 for Parkway Lights. The 2025 Budget a...

A quiet and unannounced change took place on the HOA's website very recently, when the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee was changed from Patricia Pollin to Tanisha Holmes. Earlier this month, Pollin's name was still shown as Chairperson on the website (but not in The Summit Scoop since December 2024). From The Scoop it appeared that the Nominating Committee did not have a chairperson. This morning I noticed that the website now shows Tanisha Holmes as the Nominating Committee's Chairperson. Nominating Mission: Provides quality candidates to hold office on the Board. Candidates will be of the highest caliber, selected for interpersonal skills, dedication to the betterment of our Association and community, and free of any personal agenda. Tanisha Holmes , Chairperson, Michael Bryant, James Glenn, Jeff Lummel, Carmen Claud, and Kristie O'Brian. How did that happen? There was no vote by the Board on that appointment at  the August, July, or June Board meetings! Accor...

Are you interested in being a member of the Board of Directors of The Summit's HOA? Today the office sent out this email: "Elections for new members for the Board of Directors will be taking place in November. If you want to become more involved in the life of the Summit, please consider running for the board. There are  four  seats up for election this year.   "Applications are available at the Association office or at  www.summithomeowners.com .   "Applications must be submitted to the Association office no later than 5:30 pm on Friday, October 3rd." On November 4, 2025, four terms-of-office expire. Those terms are held by Brenda Bryant Patricia Pollin Linda Potter   Danny Trapp Pollin is not eligible to run for election ( not " re-election"), because she is not a Member (homeowner-of-record) or the spouse of a Member. (Pollin was appointed to the Board in November 2023, even though she wasn't eligible then, either.)  When the Property Manager ve...

As of 7/31/2025 the HOA had $836,550.08 in Operating Funds. Why??? The average monthly operating expenses of the HOA are $118,592 ($1,423,100/12). Why would the HOA have SEVEN (7) times this amount in Operating Funds? I attended Board Meetings for years until February 2025, and I never once heard a board discussion about moving money between accounts or between Operating and Reserve Funds. Who was making those decisions, and why were they being made in private? Where were the decisions recorded? Who was accountable for the Members' money?

Why did the authors of the CC&Rs put in Art. XIII, Section 10 Litigation ? They put it in the CC&Rs to keep the HOA from doing exactly what Danny Trapp did on December 30, 2024. The authors knew the cost of litigation and that many lawsuits are started without merit when people can spend OPM - Other People's Money. The authors knew that lawsuits could cost homeowners thousands of dollars, and they put in a safeguard. The authors set it up so that homeowners would have to approve and that the homeowners' representatives - Voting Members - would have to approve. Hence, Art. XIII, Section 10 Litigation . Look it up. It's in your copy of the CC&Rs. Or read it online . And look what happened. First, Board President Danny Trapp went trotting off to the lawyer he had found to represent the HOA and had them send me a Cease and Desist Letter on August 28, 2024. That was less than four months after the Board voted on May 7, 2024 to retain the law firm of Turner Padget. Th...

Less than 11 weeks from now, on November 4, 2025 the Voting Members of the HOA will assemble for the 2025 Annual Meeting of Voting Members.  The By-Laws assume that only legitimate, duly-elected Voting Members can attend. The HOA should comply with this requirement. The Property Manager should certify the legitimacy of each Voting Member. A list of bonafide Voting Members should be called and answered. Unless something happens between now and then, there will be only one legitimate, duly-elected  Voting Member in attendance. That's not enough for a quorum! The Annual Meeting of Voting Members requires a quorum, which could be 15 of the maximum number of 28 Voting Members. What will probably happen? The Board President and the Board Secretary will likely allow, as in past years, all those Voting Members listed in The Summit Scoop and on the HOA's website to attend, whether or not they are legitimate. Directors are elected by Voting Members. According to the By-Laws, if there a...

Why has the Board of Directors failed to remove Patricia Pollin from a seat on the board? Every board member - all seven - know that she is not eligible to be a board member. Even the two new directors (improperly appointed) should know that. The new ones should have been updated by the Board President and the other board members, so that they wouldn't get blind-sided in the future. Pollin was appointed to the Board in November 2023. At the time she was vetted by the CAMS Property Manager, she was not eligible to be appointed to the Board. A candidate for appointment as a successor director must 1) be a Member of the Association (i.e., be a homeowner-of-record (name on the Deed)) or 2) be the spouse of a Member. Pollin was neither. Pollin's late husband was the sole owner of their home. According to Richland County online records, the house is still in his name. He died in 2021. Pollin is the widow of a Member, not the spouse. When the vote on Pollin's appointment was taken...