The lawsuit filed on October 20, 2020 by the previous AAFPO Board of Directors is working its way through the court. Recently, Judge Chavez ordered Angel Fire Resort Operations to produce some of the information AAFPO has been requesting for months. The significance of that information is summarized below, and it will be very concerning to all AAFPO members.
Denying AAFPO’s Access to Its Membership Database
We have learned that AAFPO has contributed 100% of the approximately $245,000 that has been paid for the membership database software used by the Resort. Previously, the Resort argued that AAFPO had paid nothing for this software, upgrades to it, and maintenance from the vendor, Jonas Software. The Resort used this false assertion as justification for why AAFPO should not have access to the membership database.
Now that the truth is known, why does the Resort continue to refuse AAFPO’s unrestricted access to the membership database? AAFPO members paid for it!
Mismanagement of AAFPO’s Delinquent Collections
Forced by court order, the Resort produced a list, of property owners who are not current in paying assessments. The most current list has 757 properties for which assessments were not paid as of August 26, 2021. A list from June 16, 2021 had 893 delinquent and unpaid assessments. By normal business standards, the Resort’s performance of this function as an agent of AAFPO is unacceptable. At present, the Resort continues to refuse to provide information on how much each member owes in past due assessments and for what years they are delinquent.
Research of public filings in Colfax County District Court has revealed that, between 2011 and 2016, the Resort foreclosed judicial liens on approximately 35 properties in Angel Fire. The liens were based on judgments to collect past due AAFPO assessments. In other words, the Resort has taken title to 35 properties because the owners of these properties owed assessments to AAFPO.
Upon taking title of the foreclosed properties, why wasn’t AAFPO informed? Why have Resort employees been executing and notarizing Claims of Lien and Releases of Lien as if they were authorized to do so on behalf of AAFPO? How were the past dues assessments spent?
AAFPO Members Pay More Than Their Fair Share of Amenities Costs
We have learned from the deposition of the Resort’s designated representative that AAFPO members’ use of Angel Fire Ski Resort is about 10% of the total usage of the ski amenity. However, AAFPO’s membership assessments pays approximately 96% of the costs of operating the ski amenity. That does not even take into consideration the fees Base members have to pay to ski.
Is a 20% discount on lift passes for Base members, fair when their assessments pay nearly 100% of the cost to operate the ski amenity?
The AAFPO By-Laws state that the Board has the right to review and approve the annual budget for amenities, and the reasonableness of the annual budget will be based on the pro-rata share of the members versus the public use of each amenity.
In total, for all amenities, member assessments pay for approximately 96% of the entire operating cost of the Amenities! That compares to a 55% minimum requirement stated in the governing documents. How did past boards overlook, agree, or be unaware of such an enormous disparity between what members pay and what they receive in return?
More work remains to transition to fair, transparent, and proactive oversight of AAFPO’s duties and protection of the rights of AAFPO members. As a first step, AAFPO has hired a professionally managed company for balloting and election of directors on December 4. Keep in mind that the list of eligible voters (members in good standing) was prepared by Angel Fire Resort.
As the litigation proceeds, no doubt more disturbing revelations will surface. We will keep you updated.