HOA Karen Fined My Cows on Christmas, Then I Locked the Gate and Found Her Forgery — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00My name is Wade Callahan, and on
2. 0:02December 20th, a certified letter told
3. 0:04me I owed $48,900
4. 0:07for a farm my family has owned for 90
5. 0:09years. The fine was for unapproved
6. 0:12livestock at Christmas.
7. 0:14The HOA had no legal right to touch my
8. 0:17land, but somebody had made them believe
9. 0:19they did. By Christmas Eve at 5:00 p.m.,
10. 0:22I would ban every single one of them
11. 0:24from my ranch. And what I found in a
12. 0:26county basement would put one person in
13. 0:28handcuffs.
14. 0:30My granddad bought this ranch in 1934.
15. 0:33My father, Walt, held on to it through
16. 0:36droughts, bank loans, and two bad
17. 0:37winters. When Dad passed, he left me 640
18. 0:41acres, a barn, and one sentence: Never
19. 0:44let anyone tell you what you own.
20. 0:46I never understood why he said it so
21. 0:49seriously until that morning.
22. 0:5210 years ago, a development called Pine
23. 0:54Crest Valley Estates went up on the hill
24. 0:56next to my fence line. Beautiful homes,
25. 0:58very expensive, and very strict. They
26. 1:01never had any authority over me. I'd
27. 1:03never signed anything, never paid a
28. 1:06dollar. So, why was their president,
29. 1:08Marilyn Pruitt, now finding me thousands
30. 1:10of dollars for my cows?
31. 1:12At 9:00 a.m., a convoy of cars rolled up
32. 1:15to my gate. Marilyn Pruitt stepped out
33. 1:18in an emerald green coat, carrying a
34. 1:20stack of folders like a weapon. Behind
35. 1:23her stood three board members, one of
36. 1:25them with a camera. She smiled the way a
37. 1:27person smiles when they've already won.
38. 1:30And she said, "Mr. Callahan, this land
39. 1:33is under our rules."
40. 1:35I raised my hand and said, "Ma'am, I've
41. 1:38never been part of your HOA." She said,
42. 1:41"You have been since 2004."
43. 1:44I said, "No, it's mine."
44. 1:47She opened a folder and slid out a
45. 1:49document with my father's signature on
46. 1:51it, and my stomach dropped because it
47. 1:53looked exactly like his.
48. 1:55Dad hated paperwork. He hated committees
49. 1:59even more. He told he would sell the
50. 2:01ranch before he signed anything with the
51. 2:03word association on it. Yet, there was
52. 2:05his handwriting. The loop on the W, the
53. 2:08slanted L, everything. I stood in the
54. 2:11snow when a terrifying thought hit me.
55. 2:14What if I was wrong about my own father?
56. 2:16Marilyn gave me until Christmas Eve at
57. 2:185:00 p.m. to pay the full $48,900
58. 2:22or the HOA would file a lien and begin
59. 2:24foreclosure proceedings. And Mr.
60. 2:26Callahan, she said glancing at my
61. 2:29cattle,
62. 2:30"That little hay ride you planned for
63. 2:32the kids on Christmas Eve, canceled."
64. 2:35She had known about it, which meant
65. 2:37someone had been watching me.
66. 2:39That night I couldn't sleep. I went to
67. 2:41the barn loft and found dad's old tin
68. 2:43lock box. Inside was a brass key,
69. 2:47a yellowed photo, and a note in his
70. 2:48handwriting. It said, "If anyone ever
71. 2:51comes with paper, check the county, not
72. 2:54the paper. My father had known this day
73. 2:56would come. And somehow, he had prepared
74. 2:59for it.
75. 3:00At 11:00 p.m., headlights swept across
76. 3:03my kitchen window. I grabbed a
77. 3:05flashlight and walked out expecting
78. 3:07trouble. Instead, a woman in a gray coat
79. 3:10was standing at my gate, shaking. It was
80. 3:13Lena Ortiz, the HOA secretary. She
81. 3:16whispered, "Mr.
82. 3:18Callahan, I'm so sorry. Book 412.
83. 3:22Please, check book 412." Then she ran.
84. 3:26"Book 412." I didn't know what it was,
85. 3:29but I knew one place that would. The
86. 3:31next morning, December 21st, I drove 40
87. 3:35minutes to the county recorder's office.
88. 3:37It was closing early for the holidays. I
89. 3:40had exactly 20 minutes. I walked up to
90. 3:43the counter and said,
91. 3:44"Ma'am, I need to see everything
92. 3:46recorded against my land."
93. 3:48Joan, the clerk, carried out a huge
94. 3:51leather-bound book and set it in front
95. 3:53of me. "Book 412," she said quietly.
96. 3:56"Original plat maps."
97. 3:58She turned to the right page and slid
98. 4:00her finger over my parcel. It was marked
99. 4:03in bold letters, "Excluded Parcel. Not
100. 4:06subject to declaration." My land was
101. 4:09never part of the HOA. Never.
102. 4:12I let out a breath, but Joan didn't
103. 4:14smile. She said,
104. 4:16"Mr. Callahan, if your land was
105. 4:18excluded, then how did this get
106. 4:20recorded?"
107. 4:22She slid a second document across the
108. 4:24counter.
109. 4:25The 2004 amendment with my father's
110. 4:27signature. "Look at the notary stamp."
111. 4:30She said softly. I looked and I felt the
112. 4:32room go cold.
113. 4:34Joan checked the state notary registry
114. 4:37on her computer. "Eleanor Voss,
115. 4:40commission expired 1999. Date of death
116. 4:442002." The woman had been dead for 2
117. 4:47years when she supposedly notarized my
118. 4:49father's signature. That wasn't a
119. 4:51mistake. That was a forgery and somebody
120. 4:54had recorded it with the county. Joan
121. 4:57printed certified copies of everything
122. 4:59and stamped each page. "Don't leave
123. 5:01without these." She whispered. "And Mr.
124. 5:04Callahan, look at who filed it." I
125. 5:07flipped to the last page. The filer
126. 5:09wasn't the HOA. It was a company called
127. 5:11Pruitt Land and Development LLC. Pruitt,
128. 5:15as in Marilyn Pruitt, as in the woman
129. 5:17who had just threatened to take my home.
130. 5:20I called the only lawyer I trusted,
131. 5:22Samuel Greer. He met me at his office in
132. 5:25a charcoal overcoat, still eating a
133. 5:28sandwich. He read every page twice, took
134. 5:31off his glasses, and said, "Wait, this
135. 5:34is forgery, fraud, and probably more.
136. 5:36But before you celebrate, I need to tell
137. 5:38you something. Forged paper alone won't
138. 5:41stop them tomorrow."
139. 5:42Samuel flipped open my father's tin box,
140. 5:45the one with the brass key. Inside a
141. 5:47safe deposit box downtown was a single
142. 5:50sheet from 1998. It was a road license.
143. 5:54My father had allowed the original
144. 5:56developer to use a shortcut road across
145. 5:59my land. And the last clause read,
146. 6:02"Revocable on 72 hours written notice if
147. 6:05licensee or successors assert any claim
148. 6:08of authority over the ranch. Samuel
149. 6:10looked at me. Wade, they just did.
150. 6:13That shortcut road was how all 40 Pine
151. 6:16Crest families got a highway in 5
152. 6:18minutes instead of 25. The HOA used it
153. 6:21every day and all because my family let
154. 6:23them. Samuel said,
155. 6:26We served a notice today. It takes
156. 6:28effect on December 24th at 5:00 p.m. the
157. 6:31same deadline Marilyn gave you.
158. 6:33I said, "Do it." And one more thing, any
159. 6:36ambulance, fire truck, or sick neighbor
160. 6:38would always get through. No one was
161. 6:40going to be hurt over this.
162. 6:42Marilyn found out within the hour. She
163. 6:45called me and for the first time her
164. 6:47voice cracked just a little. "You're
165. 6:49bluffing, Wade. Nobody locks a road on
166. 6:51Christmas Eve."
167. 6:53I said, "Marilyn, you fine my cows at
168. 6:56Christmas."
169. 6:57She hung up and the next day the HOA
170. 7:00called an emergency meeting.
171. 7:03On the morning of December 24th,
172. 7:05I was at my gate with a welding torch
173. 7:07and four steel posts when a young man
174. 7:09with a camera walked up with his hands
175. 7:11raised. It was Tyler Brooks, the HOA's
176. 7:14photographer. He said, "Mr. Callahan, I
177. 7:18took those photos because Marilyn told
178. 7:20me to. I didn't know she was lying. I
179. 7:23think you need to see what's on my
180. 7:24laptop."
181. 7:25Tyler opened his laptop on my truck's
182. 7:27hood. Emails, dozens of them. Marilyn
183. 7:31writing to her husband, Dale.
184. 7:33"Fine the ranches first. They'll pay to
185. 7:36avoid lawyers."
186. 7:37And in another,
187. 7:39"The 2004 originals are a problem. Make
188. 7:42sure they never get recorded again."
189. 7:44I scrolled until my hands were numb. 14
190. 7:48ranches, 14 families, all paying fines
191. 7:51they never owed.
192. 7:52At noon, Gordon Hale, the HOA treasurer,
193. 7:56drove up in a gray sedan and just sat
194. 7:58there with his engine running. Finally,
195. 8:01he stepped out holding a thick ledger
196. 8:03against his chest. His voice shook.
197. 8:05"Wade, there's $212,400
198. 8:09missing from the fine account. I signed
199. 8:11the checks. I didn't know where they
200. 8:13went until last week. Gordon opened the
201. 8:16ledger to a page full of payments to
202. 8:18something called Pruitt Consulting.
203. 8:21Every few weeks, thousands of dollars of
204. 8:23fine money flowed straight to Marilyn's
205. 8:26husband. I want to make this right,
206. 8:29Gordon said, but she'll destroy me.
207. 8:32I said, Gordon, tonight at 5:00, she's
208. 8:35going to try to break my gate. Be here.
209. 8:38At 4:45 p.m.,
210. 8:40six cars pulled up to my gate. Marilyn
211. 8:43stepped out first, flanked by Dale, her
212. 8:45husband, in a camel overcoat, and behind
213. 8:48them a sheriff's deputy. Marilyn raised
214. 8:51her chin and said,
215. 8:53Deputy, this man is blocking a road our
216. 8:55community depends on. Make him open it.
217. 8:59Deputy Alvarez was calm and fair. Mr.
218. 9:03Callahan, show me what you have.
219. 9:06I handed her the license and the sign
220. 9:08notice, stamped and dated. She read
221. 9:11every line of it. Then she looked at
222. 9:13Marilyn. Ma'am, this is a revocable
223. 9:16private license. Notice was served
224. 9:18properly. At 5:00, it ends. This is his
225. 9:21gate.
226. 9:22Marilyn exploded. He can't do this.
227. 9:25People need the road for the hospital.
228. 9:28I said, Ma'am, ambulances, fire trucks,
229. 9:32any family with medical emergency will
230. 9:33always have this road. That's decency.
231. 9:37But every board member who fined my
232. 9:38cattle, this gate is closed to you. The
233. 9:41county road adds 20 minutes. I'm sure
234. 9:44you'll manage.
235. 9:46At exactly 5:00 p.m., the church bell in
236. 9:48town rang. I swung the gate shut, slid
237. 9:52the chain through, and snapped the
238. 9:53padlock closed. Marilyn screamed, You
239. 9:56will regret this. Then Tyler stepped
240. 9:59forward, lifted his phone and said,
241. 10:01Marilyn, I've recorded everything,
242. 10:04including your emails.
243. 10:06And I watched her face go white.
244. 10:08Dale grabbed his phone and walked away,
245. 10:11but the wind carried his voice back to
246. 10:12us. Shred the 2004 originals, all of
247. 10:16them, tonight. Marilyn looked at me and
248. 10:19for a moment she almost smiled. You have
249. 10:22a certified copy, she whispered, not the
250. 10:25originals. You can't prove a thing.
251. 10:28She was right about one thing. I was
252. 10:30missing something, but I knew who
253. 10:32wasn't. That night in the barn, I did
254. 10:35what Marilyn said I couldn't. I lit the
255. 10:37lanterns,
256. 10:39put hay on the wagon, and welcomed 40
257. 10:41children and their parents.
258. 10:43Every Pinecrest family who'd walked a
259. 10:44half-mile trail to join us. No fines, no
260. 10:49folders, just cocoa, carols, and my
261. 10:51cattle in the snow. Lena Ortiz cried the
262. 10:54whole time, and then she handed me an
263. 10:56envelope. Inside the envelope was a
264. 10:59flash drive and a single page of
265. 11:01handwriting from Lena. I found the
266. 11:03original 2004 documents in the HOA's
267. 11:06safe 6 months ago. Dale never shredded
268. 11:09them. I copied everything. Samuel Greer
269. 11:12was already driving to meet state
270. 11:14investigator Kathleen Boyd. By morning,
271. 11:17Christmas Day, the Attorney General's
272. 11:19office had everything it needed. On
273. 11:22December 27th, investigators walked into
274. 11:25the Pruitt's home. The forged amendment,
275. 11:28the dead notary, the fine ledger, and
276. 11:30Tyler's emails told the whole story.
277. 11:32Dale and Marilyn were taken into
278. 11:34custody, and every fine was voided. All
279. 11:3714 Ranch families got refunds from a
280. 11:39court-ordered fund, and the board
281. 11:41resigned. In January, Pinecrest elected
282. 11:44an honest board, and I signed them a
283. 11:46fair new road agreement.
284. 11:48$1 a year in writing with dad's clause
285. 11:51intact. A new sign hangs on my gate now.
286. 11:54Private Ranch, neighbors welcome.
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