NEW KINGS COLONY POA NEWSLETTER

GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS

2007

BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTED AT

JULY 25TH ANNUAL MEETING

New King's Colony Property Owner's Association is pleased to announce the election of the following individuals to serve on its Board of Directors for the coming year:

Bill Anderson, 
Anne Buckmaster
Travis Burnett
Roberto Canales
Ira Crain
Stephen Haase
Tina Nash

The votes received by each of the directorial nominees at the July 25, 2007 members' meeting are as follows:

   Anne Buckmaster:     306
   Tina Nash:     304
   Stephen Haase: 296
   Ira Crain:     288
   Travis Burnett: 286
   Roberto Canales:     285
   Bill Anderson: 284
   Robin Lane:    277
   John Harris:   272
   Beth Ward:     268
   Trey Harris:   267
   Gina Lopez:    262

QUANTUM GEOPHYSICAL CHECKS HAVE BEEN MAILED

FOR THOSE WHO ASKED AT THE MEETING, CHECKS FROM QUANTUM Geophysical HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY MANY LOT OWNERS THIS WEEK.  IF YOU GAVE THEM PERMISSION TO TEST YOUR LOT(S), YOU SHOULD RECEIVE YOURS SHORTLY

NOTE:  MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL MEETING AND FINANCIALS WILL BE POSTED ON THE WEBSITE SHORTLY.

ATTENTION ALL LOT OWNERS!!!!

************ATTENTION ALL LOT OWNERS***********
THE NEW KINGS COLONY POA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
****************NEEDS YOUR PROXY*****************

DOWNLOAD PROXY FORM BY CLICKING HERE

************ATTENTION ALL LOT OWNERS***********
THE NEW KINGS COLONY POA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
****************ANNUAL MEETING*****************

July 18, 2007

Dear King’s Colony Property Owner:

The New King’s Colony Property Owners Association, Inc. (“POA”) has discovered that John Harris, an owner of the real estate company Colony Ridge, may have sent you a letter making accusations against the current POA Board of Directors and Ira Crain, a member of the POA’s Board and the POA treasurer.  Mr. Harris’ letter referenced a web site created by Colony Ridge that contains additional accusations.  With an election quickly approaching that will determine the long-term direction of King’s Colony, the POA wants to provide property owners with a complete picture of the operations of the POA over the last few years rather than the short-term snapshot provided by one landowner clearly interested in taking over the Board.  Board members other than Ms. Crain made the decision to send this response to you.

The Colony Ridge Lawsuit

            Colony Ridge claims that it filed its lawsuit to force a “fair” POA board election.  To the contrary, Colony Ridge’s lawsuit sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the regularly-scheduled election last year.  Colony Ridge claimed that it was improperly excluded from the election because it had not paid its POA maintenance dues; it suggested that it should be entitled to vote even if it had not paid past due maintenance fees owing on the lots it had purchased.   The POA disagreed with this position because it was contrary to the POA bylaws, was unfair to those property owners who had paid their dues, and deprived the POA of funds necessary to provide value and services to property owners.  While Colony Ridge has disputed the amount of past due maintenance assessments, interest, and late fees it owed on its lots, Colony Ridge has owned a significant number of lots in the neighborhood for a year and a half, and there is simply no basis to dispute that Colony Ridge owed a substantial amount of assessments.  Yet Colony Ridge never paid a penny of maintenance assessments due from it until July 11, 2007—the day notice of the July 25, 2007 members’ meeting was mailed and the last day on which it could pay assessments that would entitle it to vote its otherwise delinquent lots at the July 25, 2007 members’ meeting.  For nearly a year and a half of litigation, Colony Ridge deprived the POA of tens of thousands of dollars of maintenance assessments to which it was entitled, while at the same time requiring the POA to incur tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees defending Colony Ridge’s claims in the lawsuit.

            Colony Ridge has asserted in its lawsuit that Ira Crain has misappropriated POA funds to her own personal use.  Colony Ridge has also asserted in its lawsuit that the current Board is under Ms. Crain’s control and biased in favor of Ms. Crain because some of its members have prior business relationships with her.  Given Colony Ridge’s extended refusal to pay maintenance assessments that it owed, the Board suspects that Colony Ridge’s lawsuit was motivated primarily to provide an excuse for not paying maintenance fees that it owed rather than by a desire to ensure that the POA’s funds are spent properly.  The Board also has suspicion that Colony Ridge desires to take over management of the POA not because of bona fide concerns over fiscal mismanagement, but rather so that it can attempt to authorize construction of homes in King’s Colony smaller than the 1400 square foot minimum generally contemplated by the deed restrictions. 

Nevertheless, in order to avoid the claim that a Board biased in favor of Ms. Crain is unfairly evaluating the claims made against her, the current Board intends to nominate at the July 25, 2007 members’ meeting additional director candidates who have no prior business relationship with Ms. Crain, including current home owners in King’s Colony, who can objectively evaluate the claims made against her by Colony Ridge on behalf of the POA (the Board could have done so sooner, but again, Colony Ridge got a restraining order to stop last year’s election).  In the interim, the Board offers the following observations regarding Colony Ridge’s claims that it has derived from its own review of those claims and its familiarity with the history of King’s Colony:

The POA Land Transfers

Colony Ridge alleges that Ms. Crain and the POA Board somehow harmed the POA when the POA sold King’s Colony lots to Ms. Crain’s partnership, CF Investments, and Anne Buckmaster.  Prior to 2004, the POA foreclosed on several King’s Colony lots when property owners refused to pay their maintenance fees.  The POA Board established a policy in 2004 that the POA should not continue to hold King’s Colony property in its name because the POA would not receive any maintenance fees from those lots and would be forced to pay taxes on them. 

Therefore, the POA offered to sell the lots to POA lot owners and requested that any lot owners interested in purchasing the lots contact the POA.  You probably know this already because the POA repeatedly made this request in its correspondence with property owners and on the POA website.  The POA received no inquiries for an extended period, and realtors were not interested in listing the lots because demand for them was so low.  The POA finally sold some of its lots to other lot owners for the amount of past-due assessments owing on the lots—the same price paid by CF Investments and Ms. Buckmaster.  No one ever offered to purchase the lots at a higher price.  If Colony Ridge or any other person had wished to purchase those lots, it could have done so in 2004, 2005, or early 2006.  In short, the POA held these lots, and thus derived no maintenance fees from them, for over two years before CF Investments and Ms. Buckmaster acquired them and allowed the POA to again obtain payment of maintenance fees from them.

The POA is in the process of foreclosing on many lots because of unpaid maintenance fees.  If the current POA Board is reelected, it plans to offer the foreclosed lots to members for purchase as it has in the past.

Paving Issues

The POA Board has made road repair and paving a priority in King’s Colony because, if it can adequately repair and pave all the roads, Montgomery County will take over responsibility for road maintenance.  Mr. Harris apparently believes that the POA Board hired the wrong company to pave the roads in King’s Colony.  However, the POA Board made great efforts to find the best paving company.  Prior to hiring David Goolsby and Atascocita Paving, the POA Board requested bids from several other paving companies.  Atascocita Paving was the lowest bid. 

Because Colony Ridge was complaining about the POA’s activities, the POA Board asked Colony Ridge, through its attorney at the time, for input regarding potential paving companies.  Colony Ridge never responded.  If Colony Ridge had reason to believe that Atascocita Paving was the wrong choice, it had ample opportunity to suggest another paving company.  Instead, it chose not to respond to the POA Board’s request for input so that it could  complain after the fact about the POA’s choice.  It should also be noted that the POA Board has decided to hire Wiggins Paving & Material for any additional paving projects.  This is a company subsequently endorsed by Colony Ridge in its lawsuit.

The Tractor Issue

            The POA never purchased and does not own the International Harvester Model 544 Tractor described by Colony Ridge on its website.  That tractor was purchased by Gary Forester for CF Investments and was never sold to the POA.  The equipment identified as a tractor on the POA books is actually a gradall purchased by the POA for $9417.75.  The gradall is depicted in pictures on the POA website.  It is not the same tractor shown on Colony Ridge’s website.  The POA records contain a check to Kwik Kare for the gradall.  Mr. Harris should be wary of relying on statements from Gary Forester, as it is the Board’s understanding that Mr. Forester has admitted that he retained funds due to CF Investments when he sold properties for that company.  Mr. Forester has also improperly maintained possession of POA equipment he used in connection with clean-up work he contracted to perform for the POA in King’s Colony.  If necessary and when funding permits, the Board intends to pursue legal action against Mr. Forester to secure return of the equipment he has misappropriated from the POA.

POA Improvements

Colony Ridge claims that the more than $500,000 spent by the POA in the last three years has not benefited the King’s Colony property owners.  However, those expenses have provided substantial benefits for King’s Colony, a fact best demonstrated by the fact that the appraised values for King’s Colony lots have tripled in the last three years and lots are currently selling for even higher prices.  Since 2004, the POA Board has spent over $300,000 cleaning up all the garbage (including nearly 2000 tires) dumped on King’s Colony properties (a constant struggle, as illegal dumping continues to occur), repairing the culverts and ditches, and removing trees and other debris.  It has also completed much-needed paving work and has plans for more in the near future.

Colony Ridge complains that there are “only” three houses in King’s Colony.  Of course, this is three more houses than were ever in the neighborhood before the current Board took office.  Before election of the POA’s current Board, no houses had been built in King’s Colony since it was founded nearly thirty years ago.

The POA Board acknowledges that there is much more work to be done to clean up and repair King’s Colony.  However, the POA has extremely limited funds.  A large part of the POA’s inability to clean off the roads identified by Mr. Harris is that too many lot owners, such as Colony Ridge, repeatedly refused to pay their maintenance fees.  Colony Ridge only recently made payment of past-due maintenance fees (it paid approximately $80,000 in past due maintenance fees on July 11 and paid an additional $25,000 toward maintenance fees on additional lots that it claims to own in King’s Colony despite having never advised the POA of its acquisition of the additional lots or provided proof of ownership so that maintenance fee invoices could be properly directed).  As noted previously, the POA has had to spend considerable money defending Colony Ridge’s lawsuit that could otherwise have been used to improve King’s Colony. 

Despite these obstacles, the POA has made considerable progress.  In fact, Colony Ridge’s interest in investing in property in King’s Colony is almost surely a result of the improvements made by the POA.  In addition, the POA Board has managed to locate a realtor and builder who are interested in King’s Colony, which would not have been possible three years ago.

If Colony Ridge believes that King’s Colony is in such disarray, why has it bought more than 200 lots in the subdivision since 2006?  If it cares so much about the neighborhood and wants to manage it, why did it refuse to pay any maintenance fees until the eve of the election, despite having owned lots in the subdivision for a year and a half?  And most significantly for those property owners who care about their investment, where has Colony Ridge promised that, if elected to the POA’s Board, it will not try to modify the deed restrictions or approve construction that does not meet the 1400 square foot minimum in those restrictions?

            Please consider how much progress has been made in King’s Colony since 2004 prior to casting your vote at the annual meeting on July 25, 2007 and vote for the Board members whom you believe are most likely to continue that progress.

Sincerely,

The Board of Directors of The New King’s Colony Property Owners Association

LATEST UPDATE – JULY 11, 2007

The Annual Meeting is scheduled for JULY 25th at the Bayland Community Center, 6400 Bissonnet, Houston, Texas  77074 at 6:30pm.  This one should take place.  Due to the lawsuits with Colony Ridge over the last year+, we have had to reschedule the meeting several times, but it is our belief that this one will happen.  Thanks for your patience in the past.

We need your help!!  Please initial your choice, sign, date and email your proxy by July 24, 2007 to:  buckmasterventures@earthlink.net or fax your proxy to (713) 721-1129 so that you can be represented. 

Your board has worked hard to improve the value of your lots.  Currently, we are talking to Crystal Water Company about providing water to the subdivision.  Utility company availability is a big step in improving lot values.  In the last months, we have built a Monument to mark the entrance to King’s Colony (visit our website www.newkingscolony.com to see pictures).  The board has recruited a Builder to build $125,000-150,000 site-built houses in King’s Colony.  Our new builder should start in the next three months.  The board has also recruited a Realtor who is selling lots in King’s Colony.  You can find her contact information on our website.  More good news!  George Mitchell, who built Friendswood, has broken ground on 55,000 acres one mile north of Galaxy St. in King’s Colony.  Mr. Mitchell is building a 55,000-acre gated community with golf course and shopping centers.  King’s Colony lots should greatly increase in value as a result.

The Board has had limited funds to accomplish improvements due to the number of lot owners who have not paid maintenance fees.  On July 11, 2007, the record date for voting in the annual meeting, Colony Ridge Ltd made a payment that the Board has concluded entitles Colony Ridge to vote 200 lots.  The Board is in the process of foreclosing on other delinquent owners so that everyone who is benefiting from the recent increase in lot values will also contribute to the cost of the improvements.  Like the board, many of you would like to see more progress at a faster pace.  We hope to have more funds soon.

PLEASE SEND YOUR PROXY!!
PLEASE READ THE FULL REPORT ON IMPROVEMENTS THAT FOLLOWS

PLEASE SEND THE BOARD YOUR PROXY SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK FOR YOU AND ACCOMPLISH EVEN MORE!!

DOWNLOAD PROXY FORM BY CLICKING HERE

THE NEW KING’S COLONY POA NEWSLETTER
May, 2007

GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS, GOOD NEWS

1. WE HAVE A BUILDER!!!  After a lot of hard work; removing tons of trash; fixing pot-holes in roads; fixing culverts and ditches; stopping drainage problems; clearing trees and limbs, paving streets and making the subdivision attractive to a developer, Your Board of Directors has recruited a HOME BUILDER.  OUR NEW BUILDER is well respected by the community.  He has been building homes as an independent for many years and brings his background in quality built homes to King’s Colony.  The King’s Colony homes will be priced in the $124,990 to $149,990 range and will be speculative homes.  Obtaining a builder to build quality homes on lots in King’s Colony is a MAJOR MILESTONE in the redevelopment of the King’s Colony Section 1 and 2.  Please contact us through the website or at (281) 332-9688 if you are interested in selling your land to this developer.  We will publish his name and contact information on the website shortly.

2. WE HAVE A REALTOR!!!  Lilly Hughes of Covenant Realty has committed to aggressively market for both buyers and sellers King’s Colony lots and the new houses that will be built this year.  In the past when our lot owners ask for a realtor referral the Board had problems finding a reliable realtor.  The Board has solved the problem.  Lilly Hughes has been a REALTOR® for approximately four years.  Covenant Realty was established in November 2005 by two top-producing ReMax agents. It is an independent brokerage and, therefore, has the flexibility to act and make decisions that other offices may not have.  Most of the 58 agents in the office specialize in Harris County’s far northeast area and Montgomery County’s southeast area, such as Porter, New Caney, Splendora, and Roman Forest, and thereby are area experts for Kings Colony.  Additionally, Kings Colony will be featured on her website at www.LillyHughes.com.  Contact Lilly Hughes at 713-344-1495.

3. QUANTUM GEOPHYSICAL, INC. MAY DISCOVER OIL OR GAS IN OUR AREA!  Many Lot Owners have already received a letter from Quantum Geophysical, Inc asking for written permission to place seismic equipment on their lot(s).  The Board of Directors has determined that this company’s request is legitimate.  Based on the information that we have, Lot Owners do not own the mineral rights to their lots.  If oil or gas is found on the subdivision, the only ones to benefit are the Oil Company and the owners of the mineral rights.  However, oil production in the area will create a demand for housing which could benefit us all.  Quantum Geophysical, Inc. will pay $25.00 per lot, or more for larger lots, to set up their equipment for the seismic survey.  According to Quantum Geophysical, Inc. it will take 18 to 24 months to publish the results.  Please complete your permission forms and send it back to Quantum Geophysical as soon as possible. 

4. THE POA HAS BEGUN ASPHALTING STREETS.  See the new pictures of recently asphalted streets.  It is this kind of improvement that has attracted the new builder to King’s Colony.  The contractor who has been hired to asphalt and/or repair streets, as needed, is working with the Montgomery County Engineering department to get Montgomery County to take over the maintenance of King’s Colony streets. The Board of Directors considers getting the streets ready for the County as one of our high priorities along with putting up street signs.

5. THE POA HAS BUILT AN ENTRANCE SIGN FOR KING’S COLONY.  The first entrance sign is completed and is located at the entrance to Section 2 on Cambridge.  The sign is white Austin stone and cedar beams. It is large and impressive and gives notice that King’s Colony is a new substantial community.  The next sign will be built on the entrance to Section 1.  The Board plans to install street signs for major streets in the next six months if this Board is still representing the POA after the annual meeting. 

6. WORK CONTINUES.  The board continues to work toward getting King’s Colony streets accepted for maintenance by Montgomery County and to work with the new builder to get site built homes built in the next few months.  We continue to work to keep the subdivision clean of trash, fallen trees, and limbs in the boulevards.  The recent storms and hurricanes in the last 12 months have resulted in more downed trees and limbs and pot holes.  We are continuing to repair pot holes and curbs. We are asphalting and repairing streets with the objective of turning them over to Montgomery County to maintain.  Look at the pictures on the website for an update of subdivision improvements.

7. ENTERGY, OUR ELECTRIC COMPANY, NOW PROVIDES ELECTRIC SERVICE TO ALL LOT OWNERS.   

8. ALL THE IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN DONE WITHOUT INCREASING MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENTS.  Your Board of Directors HAS kept our promise to redevelop the subdivision without raising assessments. 

9. THE ASSOCIATION’S FISCAL YEAR IS THE CALENDER YEAR AND ASSESSMENTS ARE IN MAY EACH YEAR BY RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD.

10. ANNUAL BOARD MEETING:  Your Board of Directors is planning an annual meeting at the Bayland Community Center for early May.   The exact date will be posted on our website at www.newkingscolony.com .  Your Board is expecting that there will be a PROXY FIGHT WITH THE OWNERS OF COLONY RIDGE, LTD.  Please review the materials your receive in the proxy mailing carefully.  This upcoming election will be critical in determining the kind of homes that can be built in King’s Colony and the type of community King’s Colony will become. 

11. PROXY AND NEWSLETTER MAILING:  You will be receiving your 2007 proxy forms and Newsletter the first week of April.  Only Owners who have paid their lot maintenance assessments are qualified to vote according the Association By-Laws, which Your Board enforces.  If you still owe the 2006 assessment on your lot(s), you will find an invoice for your delinquent assessment(s) with the proxy form.  Please send your proxy and your 2006 payment so that you can vote in the upcoming election of Directors.  This is a very important election for the future of King’s Colony.  PLEASE FILL OUT AND RETURN YOUR PROXY FORM AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE IT.    

12. LOT OWNERS MUST PAY THEIR MAINTENANCE ASSESSMENTS.  Subdivision improvements are only possible through assessment fees paid by conscientious Lot Owners.  Most of King’s Colony lot owners have paid their assessments  Your Board Members have all paid their assessments.  Your Board is aggressively working to collect all assessments due to allow us to complete the redevelopment of the subdivision.  The Board has the right to foreclose on lots for delinquent assessments, but would prefer that the current lot owners pay their assessments instead.  There are 113 lots delinquent for 2006. There are 696 lots (293 Owners) in the first foreclosure period and 123 lots in the second foreclosure period.  After the second foreclosure period, the Board will foreclose on the lots with delinquent maintenance assessments.

13. THE FIRST FORECLOSURE LAWSUITS WILL BE FILED IN APRIL.  The Board is aggressively collecting assessment fees so that all Lot Owners who benefit from the improvements have helped to pay for them.  The Board has sent two certified letters and will file foreclosure lawsuits in the next 3 weeks. Approximately $230,000 in delinquent assessments is owed to the POA by 321 Lot Owners.  The board needs this money to complete the redevelopment of the subdivision.  With a database of this size, errors may occur in billing and/or posting.  We apologize for any such errors.  The collection and posting responsibilities are now being handled by Buckmaster Ventures, Inc., which the Board hopes will improve POA record keeping and improve the response time for lot inquiries regarding billing and collections.  

14. COLONY RIDGE, LTD LAWSUIT.  As you may be aware, Colony Ridge has sued the POA and Ira Crain.  The Board is still not clear about Colony Ridge’s purposes, but it is trying to resolve this matter with the best interests in lot owners in mind.  It is clear that Colony Ridge is seeking a court order stating that it does not have to pay its maintenance assessments on the 200+ lots it owns and that it does not have to pay its maintenance assessments before voting its 200+ lots at the annual meeting.   The POA By-laws specifically state that only Lot Owners in good standing, defined as having paid all assessments due, are entitled to vote at the annual meeting.  The Board does not intend to let Colony Ridge, Ltd. or any other lot ownervote at the annual meeting for lots which have delinquent maintenance assessments.   

THE BOARD APPRECIATES YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND YOUR SUGGESTIONS THROUGH THE WEBSITE.

The following individuals are your board members: