May 18, 2009

Facilitation..........

It’s hard to reason with someone whose mind is made up and is simply not willing to listen to anything anyone has to offer. From the opening comments about how bad a shape the cottage was in, one would think he was doing everyone a favor by taking it off our hands. Then the outright lies about being landlocked, or the inability to do any sort of renovation without having to rebuild within zoning codes.

We tried to offer several scenarios that we felt would work and not even a glance our way, neither he nor his counsel could even look us in the eyes. And the presentation they so painstakingly prepared was a joke. Not sure who they were trying to impress with the poster board, covered with photos. Some were taken with so much snow on the ground you couldn’t see half of the foundation if you wanted to.

So back to court we go, and to our non-surprise the judge, again could not make a decision and ordered us back to the facilitator to work out how to sell the cottage.

For those who are just tuning in let me take a moment to explain what a partition suit is all about. It is a court ordered sale of a property. The person bringing the suit cannot have the court order it be sold to him or her, simply to sell it, for what we assumed would be its true market value. We were wrong…..

So back we went.

If you ever saw deer caught in your headlights then you know the look David and his counsel had when mother, Betsy and I walked in. You never saw two grown old men move so fast to huddle with Mr. Facilitator about this unacceptable situation. In short order we were ushered into a separate room and were told that I could stay by virtue of Katy’s power of attorney, however Betsy had to leave or they would walk out. We debated over this development for twenty or thirty minutes, not that we were going to push the issue, no, just let them stew for a while. I was reminded of the school yard bully taking his toys and going home. We took the high road and Betsy agreed to leave. What a bunch of spoiled brats, and I am being nice.

We were sitting in a conference room trying to figure out how are we going to negotiate the procedure for selling the cottage when the other side is sequester in a separate room and would not come out and talk face to face. This went on for three or more hours, and it seemed like every time we reached an agreement on one issue, they would change their mind on another. At no time were we face to face, heck we never even saw them leave early. We were instructed to plan on being here all day in order to hammer this out. Unbelievable, they simply announced they have other pressing business matters to attend to and left.

Suffice it to say when the written summary was sent out for signatures and it was apparent that many issues remained unresolved; we would not sign it, and responded with an offer to go back and finish what had been started. However…that meant nothing to them and they filed the first of many motions to force the court to accept what they signed as a binding agreement. This time the court did the right thing. The judge ordered we go back and do it again. Oh great, but maybe Mr. Facilitator will have learned from his past mistake and will get us all in a room together, face to face. Yea, I know wishful thinking!

In all fairness, we had reached agreements on a number of important issues, for instance how we would determine the market value that the cottage would be LISTED for, three appraisals, throw out the low and average the high and middle. This is important to mention and you will see why shortly. We also agreed on allowing those from the other associations to have the first right to MAKE AN OFFER before it would be LISTED WITH A REAL ESTATE AGENT. Again, remember this.

The big issue was timing, David wanted this whole thing done in 30 days, and keep in mind the first meeting we had was January 15th. Now common sense tells you that when trying to market and sell a property similar to ours, one would think that making it available during the optimum selling time period of spring and summer would make sense. Ya think! He was dead set in making sure we never set foot in Lakeside again and this needed to be a done deal before camp opened.


So we shall meet again, or do we?


Stay tuned.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK so "the person bringing the suit cannot have the court order it be sold to him or her, simply to sell it."

So how the hell did David end up with the cottage? If you had to lose it in the partition sale, couldn't you have at least blocked Slymons from buying it?

Obviously his slymy tactics of making the old gal look like a dilapidated hovel (so he could buy it himself at a steep discount) presented a huge conflict of interest. Was it even marketed to the other associations or anyone??

Anonymous said...

"He was dead set in making sure we never set foot in Lakeside again and this needed to be a done deal before camp opened."

But weren't there like 3 seasons more at the lake you guys got to enjoy since this thing dragged on so long? Much to David's chagrin, I'm sure. He must've been particularly bitchy during that period.

Joey said...

Bitchy would be an understatement. Just wait. Yes, we did get a couple more summers but it cost a pretty penny and took a toll. On both sides. Seriously, avoid partition at ALL costs.

Anonymous said...

Hey this is going to be a great year we have both President Obama and Oslyma driving the bus......fasten your seat belts.

Joey said...

that's a good one!! We're screwed every which way... ha ha ha

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Joey said...

If you are referring to my brother John who used to live in chicago and had his own radio program, he's a first cousin. Not part of the other family. He was named after our grandfather and his radio name was his first and middle name. He was very proud of his father. Are you confused with who is who??

Anonymous said...

Oooops sorry. Thought he was duplicitous David's son.

Anonymous said...

Blogmaster could you please remove my post about John Symons in Chicago? My mistake and I don't want to mislead readers in any way. Thanking you.

Anonymous said...

I am so proud to be a Lee.
I've said it before, but I just can't even fathom the fact that we all used to be related to such a horrible man with such little class.

This whole ordeal has made me sick, and I'm sure that my great grandfather, John, and my grandfather, Charlie -- if they were still alive, NONE of this would have happened because David would have never grown the balls to do ANY of this to his family, knowing that they wouldn't have allowed it for one minute.

I have faith that the other Lakesiders that are on the board will kick David out. Not just because this whole thing could/has potentially made Lakeside look bad, but because they all have enough taste, class, and decency to recognize such a dousche-bag.

What kind of a man would start all of this, and then not even be able so sit in the same room as the person who he just screwed over?

What a large, sad man.

Anonymous said...

Of all the posts written here over the past year or two the post above this one says it all. Very good whomever wrote it.Except the part about little class. A typo I presume. He has NO class whatsoever. Jo Lee and the rest of the family should be commended for their class. They got screwed in the worst way possible and for what? A cottage? I'd much rather have my familyand friends that aren't fake. I'd miss Lakeside but I would have blood relatives. Not dave slymball. He'll look in the cottage one day and say look what I lost. I only have carol and some shitty kids to go along with an empty cottage that needs work. What a waste of human life. He sure doesn't breath the same air that the rest of us breath. I hope your happ you slymball

Anonymous said...

Most Lakesiders I've spoken with plan to ostracize David Slymons this summer, though they may "smile" to his face. It won't be genuine, trust me. Slymons had denigrated our beloved little camp beyond compare.

Anonymous said...

A chance for forgiveness?

Now I realize this will never happen, however, suppose David feels remorseful and wants to repent his duplicity and slymey behavior.

Let's say he offers to give the Lees their share of the cottage back in exchange for the return of the cash.

Possible? Would the Lees even go for it?

Anonymous said...

I don't think they want to deal with that bonehead again. He ruined alot of lives in being greedy and lying. I sure wouldn't trust him no matter what.

Anonymous said...

NO!

Anonymous said...

I would like to clarify one point that was commented on earlier. It is the membership that votes off the board member, the board has no control over that. At the end of the Annual Meeting the board will ask for a motion to re-elect the board. Someone will have to ask for a individual votes vs. the motion. Then the lot owners will vote on each board member. Board members with voting support(simple majority) will stay on, those with less than majority will be removed.

Anonymous said...

Pack your bags, David Slymons. You'll be voted off the board. Who else in on the board?

This could be a fun reality game.

Anonymous said...

How would the voting take place? Raising hands? Paper ballot?

Anonymous said...

Paper ballot

Anonymous said...

black bag over the head and a swift kick in the ass

Anonymous said...

Still not clear how Slymons got the cottage. But you guys are brilliant at revealing this story a little at at time, just like peeling back the layers of an onion.

Joey said...

there were times it felt that we were being peeled alive, layer by layer. By the court, the judge and the LAW OF PARTITION.