Karen told him it was privileged. He never saw it. Third, the attorney Karen had referenced at the meeting was not the HOA's independent legal counsel. She was an attorney. Karen had retained personally paid from a discretionary line item in the board's operating budget that Karen controlled unilaterally.
The HOA's actual independent counsel affirmed the association had used for 12 years had not been consulted on the resort development at any point. Ray slid a manila envelope across the table. Inside were his personal notes from every board meeting where the resort had been discussed, dates, quotes, motions, who said what. Clean and organized the way an engineer keeps records. I resigned because I couldn't stop it from inside.
He said, "Maybe this helps you stop it from outside." I told him it would. Daniel filed the formal complaint with the county planning department the following week attaching the certified deed, the zoning classification records, and a summary of the bylaw violations. The county opened a preliminary inquiry and notified both parties. 2 days later, the county planning department called Daniel directly.
They had been reviewing the permit file Karen had submitted for the construction. Inside it, she had included a deed reference, a document claiming the lakefront parcel was HOA common property with a notation that a deed transfer was on file with the county recorder's office. The planning department had checked their records. No such transfer existed. They were calling to ask whether I had at any point authorized a transfer of that parcel to the HOA.
I had not. I had never signed anything. I had never been approached about signing anything. We're going to need to review the full permit submission. The planning department officer told Daniel, "There are some discrepancies we need to reconcile."
Discrepancies, that was one word for it. I now had the certified deed with my name on it. I had the zoning record showing the parcel was classified A2 agricultural and recreational use, only commercial operations prohibited without a C2 rezoning Karen had never applied for. I had Ray's signed meeting notes and his firsthand testimony on the loan vote and the phantom legal opinion. I had the county planning department calling my attorney about discrepancies in Karen's permit application.
I had not gone to the press. I had not filed a lawsuit. I had not sent Karen another letter. I was still collecting. But I could feel the frame closing around what she'd built.
The call from Daniel came on a Tuesday morning in May. I need you to come in, he said. Today if you can. The county planning department forwarded us something from Karen's permit file. You need to see it in person.