HOA Built a $20 Million Golf Course on My Land — Then They Called the Police on Me — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Get these plans off my land right now.
2. 0:02I'm telling you for the last time.
3. 0:04>> We have the permits. You can't stop us.
4. 0:08>> The first time I saw the golf course, I
5. 0:09thought I had taken a wrong turn. Where
6. 0:11my family's open pasture once stood.
7. 0:14There were now perfectly trimmed greens,
8. 0:16white sand bunkers, paved cart paths,
9. 0:18artificial lakes, and a massive
10. 0:20clubhouse overlooking the Colorado
11. 0:22Mountains. A giant sign welcomed
12. 0:25visitors to the new Willow Creek Golf
13. 0:27and Country Club. The advertised
14. 0:29investment, $20 million. There was just
15. 0:33one problem. Every single acre of that
16. 0:35golf course sat on my land. My name is
17. 0:37Daniel Mercer. I'm 49 years old and my
18. 0:40family has owned 214 acres outside
19. 0:42Willow Creek, Colorado for more than 60
20. 0:45years. I inherited the property from my
21. 0:47father and I had never sold it, leased
22. 0:49it, or given anyone permission to build
23. 0:52on it. But apparently the Willow Creek
24. 0:54HOA had other plans. I first learned
25. 0:57about the project when a friend sent me
26. 0:58a photograph of the clubhouse opening
27. 1:00announcement. The HOA president,
28. 1:02Victoria Harland, was standing beside
29. 1:04the developer, smiling beneath a banner
30. 1:07that read, "A new era of luxury living."
31. 1:11I immediately drove to my property. The
32. 1:14old ranch entrance had been replaced
33. 1:15with a landscaped stone gateway. A
34. 1:18security booth stood beside the road,
35. 1:20and a uniformed attendant was checking
36. 1:22vehicles. I stepped out of my pickup.
37. 1:24I'm Daniel Mercer. This is private
38. 1:27property. Who authorized this
39. 1:29construction? The attendant looked at
40. 1:31his clipboard. Sir, this is Willow Creek
41. 1:33Golf and Country Club. Members and
42. 1:35registered guests only. I stared at him.
43. 1:39You're standing on my family's land.
44. 1:41Before he could respond, a white SUV
45. 1:44pulled through the entrance. Victoria
46. 1:46Harland stepped out wearing a cream
47. 1:48blazer and carrying a leather folder.
48. 1:49She recognized me immediately. Daniel,
49. 1:53what are you doing here? What am I doing
50. 1:55here? What are you doing on my property?
51. 1:58Victoria sighed as if I were creating an
52. 2:00inconvenience. The HOA approved this
53. 2:03golf course years ago. The development
54. 2:05is complete and hundreds of residents
55. 2:06are excited about it. I pointed toward
56. 2:09the clubhouse. You built a $20 million
57. 2:12golf course without my permission. She
58. 2:14folded her arms. This land was included
59. 2:17in the community's recreational
60. 2:18expansion area. Show me the deed," she
61. 2:22paused. Then she said the sentence that
62. 2:24made everything worse. You don't have
63. 2:27the authority to interfere with HOA
64. 2:29property. I pulled out my phone and
65. 2:31photographed the entrance, the
66. 2:33clubhouse, and the property markers
67. 2:35still visible near the eastern boundary.
68. 2:38Victoria stepped closer and told the
69. 2:40security attendant that I was
70. 2:41trespassing. I told her to check the
71. 2:43county records. Instead, she took out
72. 2:46her phone and called the police.
73. 2:49Within 15 minutes, a sheriff's deputy
74. 2:51arrived. Victoria immediately began
75. 2:54explaining that an angry former land
76. 2:56claimant was trying to disrupt a private
77. 2:58club. The deputy approached me. "Sir, do
78. 3:02you have identification and
79. 3:03documentation showing your connection to
80. 3:05this property?" I handed him my driver's
81. 3:07license and a copy of the original deed
82. 3:09I kept in my truck. He studied the
83. 3:11document, then looked toward Victoria.
84. 3:14"Ma'am, do you have a deed showing the
85. 3:16HOA owns this parcel?" Victoria opened
86. 3:19her folder and produced a glossy
87. 3:20development map. The deputy examined it.
88. 3:23This is a site plan, he said. It's not a
89. 3:26deed. For the first time, Victoria had
90. 3:29nothing to say. The deputy didn't arrest
91. 3:31me. He explained that the ownership
92. 3:34dispute needed to be reviewed through
93. 3:35the appropriate records and legal
94. 3:37process. Before leaving, he advised
95. 3:40everyone to avoid escalating the
96. 3:42confrontation. I called my attorney,
97. 3:45Rebecca Shaw, that evening. After
98. 3:47listening to everything, she asked me to
99. 3:49send the deed tax records and
100. 3:51photographs. A few hours later, she
101. 3:53called back. Daniel, the county parcel
102. 3:56history still lists you as the owner,
103. 3:58but there's something else. The HOA
104. 4:00submitted a document claiming
105. 4:01recreational development rights over
106. 4:03your western acreage. I asked if it was
107. 4:05valid. She replied, "We need the
108. 4:07original filing and the recorded survey
109. 4:09before reaching that conclusion." Then
110. 4:12she added, "Get ready. This isn't just a
111. 4:15golf course dispute. Someone may have
112. 4:17built an entire business on land they
113. 4:19never owned. I looked out across the
114. 4:22dark pasture. The HOA had called the
115. 4:24police on the landowner. Now, my lawyer
116. 4:27was going to find out exactly how they
117. 4:29had done it. The next morning, Rebecca
118. 4:32arrived at my ranch with Paul Bennett, a
119. 4:35licensed land surveyor. We started with
120. 4:37the original deed, then compared it
121. 4:39against the county parcel history,
122. 4:41historical maps, tax records, and the
123. 4:44golf courses development documents.
124. 4:47Paul eventually spread a large survey
125. 4:49map across my kitchen table. The result
126. 4:52was unmistakable. The clubhouse, the
127. 4:55first nine holes, the second nine holes,
128. 4:57the practice range, and even the
129. 4:59maintenance buildings were all inside my
130. 5:01recorded property boundaries. The HOA
131. 5:04had built its entire golf course across
132. 5:06my 214 acres. But how? Rebecca found the
133. 5:10answer in a document submitted during
134. 5:11the development's planning process. It
135. 5:14described the western acreage as a
136. 5:16recreational expansion area associated
137. 5:18with Willow Creek. The document
138. 5:20referenced an old neighborhood planning
139. 5:22map and a proposed access arrangement.
140. 5:25Neither document transferred ownership
141. 5:27to the HOA. Even worse, the recorded
142. 5:30property history showed no deed from my
143. 5:32family to the association, no signed
144. 5:34land sale agreement, and no recorded
145. 5:36easement authorizing the HOA to occupy
146. 5:39the entire golf course.
147. 5:41Rebecca made copies of everything. Then
148. 5:44she sent a formal notice to the HOA, the
149. 5:47golf course developer, and the club's
150. 5:49management company. It requested
151. 5:50preservation of construction contracts,
152. 5:52land use documents, board minutes, and
153. 5:55all records used to represent ownership
154. 5:56or development rights.
155. 5:59The notice also demanded that the
156. 6:01parties stopped making ownership claims
157. 6:03until the dispute was reviewed. Victoria
158. 6:06responded by scheduling an emergency HOA
159. 6:09meeting. She told residents that I was
160. 6:12trying to destroy their new recreational
161. 6:14facility and take away something they
162. 6:16had already paid for through community
163. 6:18assessments, but the residents were
164. 6:20about to hear something different.
165. 6:21Rebecca requested a meeting with the
166. 6:24developer, Richard Cole, and the HOA's
167. 6:26legal representative. I attended with
168. 6:29Paul, and brought the original deed.
169. 6:31Richard arrived looking exhausted. He
170. 6:34had invested millions in the project and
171. 6:36clearly believed the HOA had provided
172. 6:38legitimate site rights. Victoria arrived
173. 6:41confident. Carrying the same glossy
174. 6:43development map she had shown the
175. 6:45deputy, Rebecca placed the recorded deed
176. 6:47on the table. Mr. Cole, this document
177. 6:51identifies Daniel Mercer as the owner of
178. 6:53the property beneath your golf course.
179. 6:56Richard studied it. Then Paul presented
180. 6:59the professional boundary survey.
181. 7:02Victoria interrupted. Our board approved
182. 7:05the project. The community has
183. 7:06maintained this land for years. Rebecca
184. 7:09answered calmly. Maintenance, planning,
185. 7:11and ownership are not interchangeable.
186. 7:14Please show us the recorded instrument
187. 7:15that authorized your association to
188. 7:17occupy these 214 acres. There was
189. 7:21silence. Richard turned toward Victoria.
190. 7:24You told us the land rights had been
191. 7:26verified. Victoria insisted the HOA had
192. 7:29relied on historical records in previous
193. 7:31board approvals.
194. 7:34Rebecca placed the county parcel history
195. 7:36beside the map. Those records do not
196. 7:39show a transfer of ownership.
197. 7:41Within days, the county planning office
198. 7:44began reviewing the disputed site
199. 7:46documents and the scope of the golf
200. 7:47course approvals. The developer
201. 7:49voluntarily suspended new memberships
202. 7:51and expansion work while the ownership
203. 7:53and land use questions were examined.
204. 7:55The sheriff's office also received the
205. 7:58documentation from the original
206. 8:00trespassing complaint. The deputy's
207. 8:02report reflected that I had presented an
208. 8:04ownership deed and that the dispute
209. 8:06required civil and records review.
210. 8:09Eventually, the county confirmed that
211. 8:11the HOA had no recorded ownership
212. 8:13interest in the acreage. The developer
213. 8:15and association had to negotiate
214. 8:17directly with me rather than continue
215. 8:19pretending the land belonged to the
216. 8:21community. After legal negotiations, the
217. 8:24golf course stopped operating while the
218. 8:26parties reached a settlement. The HOA
219. 8:28agreed to pay compensation for the
220. 8:30unauthorized occupation and restore
221. 8:32portions of the property under a
222. 8:34professionally supervised plan. The
223. 8:36developer arranged an orderly closure
224. 8:38and handled member refunds under its
225. 8:40contracts. Victoria resigned from the
226. 8:43HOA board before the final agreement was
227. 8:45completed. Months later, I stood at the
228. 8:48same entrance where she had called the
229. 8:50police on me. The clubhouse sign was
230. 8:52gone. The membership gate had been
231. 8:54removed and the disputed land was being
232. 8:57restored according to the settlement.
233. 9:00Remembered that first confrontation and
234. 9:01the deputy asking for proof. I had given
235. 9:04him one document. The HOA had offered
236. 9:07him a pretty map and that was the
237. 9:08difference between owning land and
238. 9:11simply drawing plans on it. They spent
239. 9:1320 million building a golf course on my
240. 9:16property. Then they called the police on
241. 9:18the one person who had every right to be
242. 9:19there.