Friends of Bridgetower

April 2, 2023

Dear Neighbors,

You may have noticed that we have been pretty quite since the Homeowners Annual meeting on February 23rd. It was not because we didn’t want to give you updates, rather we needed to do first our due diligence.  We had to wait until we were able to hire an attorney, to complete our research into the backstory of our community’s documents, and to have all the facts, with support documents to back them up before providing the information to you.

Friends of Bridgetower would like to clarify that they are not affiliated with the management company AMI/Keystone.

Friends of Bridgetower would like to clarify that they are not affiliated Adam Simonds complaint.  BUT, Adam has done an amazing job putting this complaint together by himself, and we suggest you read it!

Friends of Bridgetower consists entirely of your neighbors who are homeowners in the Bridgetower Subdivision across all 17 mini-subdivisions (which include Villa Rosa and Verona). Please note that we are not lawyers and do not intend to offer legal advice on this website, other than our attorney's. 

What we and others have found in researching our 20+ year history is alarming to us as homeowners.  We now know that our governing documents need to be fixed! We have hired an independent attorney to ensure the path we travel is completely legal.  Several attorneys had been recommended to us, which we interviewed, looking to identify an attorney who specializes in HOA Law.  We believe we have found the right attorney to help us. Attorneys require a retainer to begin their work, and several homeowners have contributed to a "legal fund" to pay for this.  A Legal Fund was established in a Long-Term Escrow Account, which will be used to cover associated attorney fees ONLY. Contributions are voluntary and no homeowner is obligated to pay. We want to emphasize though that we may be unable to take action in court without additional funds/contributions. Protecting our homes and community is vital to our collective interests, and we welcome any contribution you can make. For example, we suggest contributing one (1) attorney hour at a rate of $275, but any assistance is appreciated! We will keep track of these funds (contributions and disbursements), and make reports available on demand.

To make a contribution:
1) Please take a photocopy of your check and email it to info@bridgetowerhoa.com (so that we can track contributions)
2) Make check payable to "Idaho Escrow LLC", write in the memo line: #13773, Friends of Bridgetower3) Mail check to Idaho Escrow, LLC, 4290 Chinden Blvd Suite A, Boise, ID 83714, attention Pam Traenker

Adam Simonds, et al
You might know by now, that one of our fellow neighbors, Adam Simonds, has taken it upon himself to file a suit against several companies associated with the business of the Bridgetower subdivision. This legal action was filed on Friday, March 31, 2023 in the Ada County Court. The entire complaint was posted on Facebook for anyone to read. It is a rather lengthy document and is very complex in its allegations. We recommend each homeowner read this Complaint in its entirety to fully grasp what challenges we face - [CLICK HERE]

We believe Adam's goals align with our group's goal in that we need the courts to step in and help fix our legal documents and structure.  But, we want to clarify that he has acted alone in this lawsuit and does not represent anyone else who hasn't signed his Letter of Support. However, if his suit prevails, all homeowners will become part of it as the class action. Adam has not contributed to or requested contributions from our group's legal fund. His suit is very detailed and includes evidence supporting his allegations. If a judge upholds his class action suit, all Bridgetower Homeowners will be included as a class in his case. If his case prevails, it could prevent the management company from using our Homeowners' assessment monies to defend themselves, and it could help us with a desired "do over" to amend our CC&Rs. We believe that Adam, acting as his attorney and committing hundreds of hours to researching and preparing this suit over the last two months, can produce the overall objectives of both himself and our group's with very little money out of pocket. 

Some have asked who is paying for the defense of Adam's lawsuit, and whether we homeowners will be charged a special assessment to pay AMI's legal fees. We are currently working with our attorney to determine homeowners' exposure to Adam's suit. We will provide a legal answer to this question as soon as possible.

It might take a couple of weeks for a Judge to have a look at Adam’s complaint and possibly issue orders to halt the assessments that were just sent from AMI. Since the assessments are due by April 30, 2023, we have some time before payments need to be resolved.

Communication
As we have said, our goal is to be transparent and update our fellow neighbors promptly as information is available.  We have held a couple of in-person meetings to talk with homeowners about what we know so far, what needs to be done to correct our problems, and have invited a HOA special guest speaker to bring light on how other HOA communities operate.  

Moving forward;
• We will use emails as our primary source of communication.  If you haven't already, we kindly ask that you register on our site*.  This is not meant to  exclude anyone, but rather to ensure that all homeowners receive the same message concurrently and to respond directly to the questions, concerns, or dissenting views.

• We will attempt to host Bi-Monthly in-person meetings to discuss updates and answer any questions.  We are trying to be full transparent. We will post the schedules once we have them confirmed.

• We will continue to update this site with information - and each time we have major updates we will email to those who have registered so you know to come back to the website to review it.

* Rest assured that your information is safe and will not be shared. If you do not share with us your contact information, you may not be informed about upcoming meetings, guest speakers, or community events.  For those who referred to us as a "secret society", please know that everyone registered on this site was invited to our latest in-person meeting.  We will reach out to you via email.  

We welcome your involvement!  We gladly will have a phone conversation with you, you can request an in-person conversation or attend any of our meetings.  Meet us, and you will find out that we are completely transparent.  

While we may not always agree on every issue, we must work together as a united force to accomplish our objective of legalizing our HOA under the homeowners' control. We will always communicate with homeowners and renters, and not with or through outside entities such as the current management company or its legal team, which documents show have not acted in the best interests of homeowners for many years. 

Although we will try to provide the accurate and current information as it becomes available, it is up to you, the individual homeowner, to decide on any actions based on the information provided. Again, read Adam's 220-page Legal Complaint (it may take a few times to absorb all the information completely).  As we receive information from our Attorney regarding Adam's lawsuit, we will post that information.  

We are not associated with the Facebook Neighborhood account other than as "individual user-members", and we have no control over the page administrator's rules, content or decisions made. Although we will continue to use online forums, it will not be our preferred method for our group's communication.

Lastly... While we are waiting for the attorney's “formal Opinion Letter”, we have informally been told by our attorney the following: 
"I’m satisfied now that the new Non-Profit entity has no authority over the Lot Owners in the Bridgetower Subdivision and no ability to force payment  of assessments or otherwise operate the affairs of the Subdivision.”

What's Next...
1. Register if you haven't already, click here. 
2. Attend meetings (Next Meeting will be April 25, 2023 @ 6pm and April 27, 2023 at 12noon).  We will email the location out to everyone.
3. Updates on Adam Simonds case will be posted
4. Read through FAQ section on questions answered from homeowners (please email us at info@bridgetowerhoa.com any questions you may have)
5. What else can we add to this site?  Have any questions, what additional information would you like to see, etc?

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Feb/Mar 2023

We are a transparent voice to update you on issues concerning all homeowners. If you have questions or want clarity or an understanding of critical issues, email us info@bridgetowerhoa.com

MARCH UPDATE:  
THIS IS NOT AMI.  If you are looking for AMI regarding any Common Area, Maintenance, or Billing Issues - contact them directly (208) 385-9650 or email bridgetower@amihome.net

ENCOURAGE ALL HOMEOWNERS TO SIGNUP WITH US.
** We do not automatically have your contact information.  We need all homeowners to register with us so that we can contact you.

We have a lot of homeowners watching this carefully and talking to various sources (Attorneys, City & State Elected Officials, CPA's, other HOA's) finding out the best course of action to resolve the issues created by the original developer and property management company... we estimate in the next few weeks to have an update for you...stay tuned.

Since the 2/23/23 Homeowners Meeting... let us walk you through a few issues

As you read this... we'll let you make your own minds up (is something odd going on here????)

Keystone, who owns AMI (our Property Management Company) hires an attorney to incorporate/create a HOA of all the homeowners in Bridgetower and appointed their own Board Members (all this is done without notice to the homeowners).

The reason stated that we need to incorporate that;

1. A document called the "Operating Agreement", which acts as the ByLaws, supposedly has a few issues.  This document is specifically referred to in our CC&R's and shows how Bridgetower Owners Association LLC operates. AMI and the Attorney they hired are the only 2 groups that have a copy of this document and have read it.  Homeowners have asked for a copy, which AMI and the Attorney have refused.

• They (AMI and the Attorney) told us that it has expired and is in a winding-down phase
• They told us the way the structure is, without making a new corporation, has opened us to potential claims personally as homeowners.
• They told us the Board Members are our Advisory Group and those that signed as members to Bridgetower Owners Association, LLC.  But on Dec 2022 state filing - the three members don't match our newly assigned Board.  If fact, the email sent to everyone late on 2/24/23 introducing our Appointed Board Members says by one member “I was appointed to be an Advisory member when a previous committee member resigned in March of 2022".  But the Secretary of State Annual Report Filing is a legal document and should have had the accurate signatures of the Advisory Committee Members if one was changed in March, 2022 (it didn't).

Without discussing this with anyone, and after 20+ years, something was so URGENT that 24 hours before our Feb 23 homeowner meeting, they filed our Articles of Incorporation with the state.

They make good points on why they did this and use fear as a big reason "we could get sued".  But in 20+ years, we haven't been to court as a group, plus we should have insurance in place to cover any claims.  It's winter; no one is using the pool (their primary reason is someone could get hurt at the pool, and we could be sued).  Do we have insurance, who is insured and what are the limits??

So what is done... is done, maybe...

At the homeowners meeting, our ByLaws (again, that the Attorney that Keystone hired wrote), allowed our first meeting to be run incorrectly (did we follow Parliamentary Procedure as stated in the ByLaws?).  The Attorney, who also owns a home here, would know he wrote the document. He alone placed the Board of Directors, and we assume they would have known by taking the position  in the Board.

He (the Attorney who wrote the ByLaws) and the sole Board Member who attended the meeting went as far as allowed us (all the new shareholders present) to make a motion, have it seconded, and DID NOT Object.  A homeowner made a move at the Feb 23rd meeting for the Adjournment and continuance on March 15.  The Attorney confirmed, explained, and offered suggestions.  It was confirmed by those running the meeting that;

1. this was the First Meeting
2. that we did not have a Quorum
3. that we could make a motion to hold an election of a Board of Directors
4. that we had to do so within 30 days
5. and that we did

It's all on Video.

We tell you all this because the day after the meeting (2/24/23), we sent an email to AMI asking;

1. reserve the clubhouse to hold two meetings; #1 - come meet your candidates for the Board of Directors on March 7th and #2 - Board of Directors election on March 15th.
2. asked them to send out two emails to everyone (first to explain how this all works, and a 2nd reminder of the election).

30-45 minutes later, AMI put out a statement saying from the Board saying "there is no March 15th meeting", and discrediting anything written by anyone else.  Here's the thing, our homeowners are savvy.  We have Attorneys, board members, business owners, and those with financial acumen - postings on Social Media are by them, not some 15-year high school student.  No one is posting slander or lousy information, they are being transparent and we believe AMI/Keystone has an issue with this.  

Furthermore, an hour later the Board shoots off another email with this, “The board does not endorse the website that has been created.  It has inaccurate information posted. It has proprietary information and is a public website that anyone can access.“

The website www.bridgetowerhoa.com was purchased and is operated wholly by only our community members as it was discussed that we should, as many other surrounding communities have our own identity. THIS IS NOT AMI's WEBSITE.  THIS IS OUR OPINION AS HOMEOWNERS BASED ON THE FACTS WE ARE UNCOVERING.  IF AMI was so transparent - again, why rush incorporating (anyone even read in our CCR's where this is allowed?).  This website should have pertinent and transparent information for our community members. The personal information collected from our community members will only be used for emails specific to our community issues. Why would our Board Members be opposed to autonomy from Keystone/AMI?

So let us ask you, our fellow neighbors... Is it just us, or does something not feel right?

We have nothing against the Board Members.
We have nothing against Keystone/AMI.

We do have questions; we want transparency.  ALL the changes you hear AMI talking about ironically came after we repeatedly asked questions (ie… where's all the past meeting minutes, where's the budget, how do you get paid, where's this document, etc...).  

We ask for documents from AMI - they won't share them.  We ask for a copy of their contract - they won't share it.  Supposedly our Board signed a LONG-TERM contract with AMI (even though the CCR's limit any contract to 2 years).  Seem odd?  We've asked for the Operating Agreement many times because in talking with the Attorney who was part of the group that wrote the original CC&Rs - he told us a completely different story.  He told us we did not need to incorporate, that we did need to locate the Operating Agreement and if they were deemed lost - that there was a procedure to rewrite them.  He said we were not in a hurry to incorporate it.

Keystone/AMI does not have a dog in this fight; they are a hired Property Management Company (who, in our eyes, act as if they own our business).  If the Board of Directors has any issues, please voice them outside of AMI as we, as homeowners, are forced to.  (this is so we know who is talking).  

So what's next...

• rollover?, or
• dig deeper - ask questions, create a voice, get independent help
  
  >>>>>>>> Homeowners... we can't reach you if we don't have your information - click on Contact Us and share it.
  
  Everything posted here, context and documents is public information, nothing is proprietary (so many HOA's have this information freely posted and not hiding behind locked portals).  Go look at Paramount for example; they would be a good model to follow;  nearby, nearly the same age, larger than us, and much more organized.  ** And if you feel otherwise about all of this, please, email us at info@bridgetowerhoa.com!  We are happy to discuss and make any changes to anything (again, we are your neighbors).

Several of you have asked us "it seems like everything is fine" - what's the problem?  And we would agree with you.

• But what you don't know, you don't know.
• And as we keep scratching, something stinks!

NEXT:  And this is unfortunate, but the only way to force compliance with the new ByLaws will be to get an Attorney involved and ask a court to order the Board to do so.  That will require funds to hire an attorney.  We'll need to raise funds.  ...MORE TO FOLLOW on this

Again, have a question, comment, want to get involved, or more... reach out to us on Facebook or here.  

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DISCLAIMER:  This is a large group of homeowners who have come together and recognized key legal issues facing the structure of our community.  Key dates on legal documents were never adhered to, thus causing issues that have not been taken care of correctly.  This is our opinion, this is the opinion of several attorneys.  AS WE HAVE MORE INFORMATION - WE WILL BE POSTING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - KEEPING TRUE TO FULL TRANSPARENCY.