Bank to Take Over Summer Lakes Neighborhood

The downturn in the economy and slow real estate market is forcing True South and its subsidiary, Atlantic Coast Properties, to turn over ownership of the Summer Lakes neighborhood to BB&T Bank of North Carolina. The announcement was made at Wednesday night’s annual meeting of the Summer Lakes Homeowner’s Association.

It is expected the transition to the bank will occur within thirty days. BB&T is interviewing Aiken property management firms to oversee the day-to-day management of the Summer Lakes neighborhood and other True South communities that will be owned by the bank.

Not a Formal Bankruptcy

Paul Dunnavant, True South’s CFO, explained this is not a formal bankruptcy; the unsold properties in various subdivisions (including a True South development in West Virginia) are transferring to bank ownership to satisfy True South’s indebtedness. True South has been in the development business for more than 20 years and he said it was a sad day for the company. He blamed a lack of lot sales in Summer Lakes and elsewhere saying, “These are tough years in real estate.”

Dunnavant said the bank’s assumption of Summer Lakes is not a “done deal”. He added that negotiations are in the final stage, although they have been moving very slowly. Dunnavant reported that BB&T has been quite reasonable to work with in the negotiations that began last spring.

Moving Out

Dunnavant believes the transition to the bank will not have an adverse effect on Summer Lakes because it is a pretty well developed community. He speculated that BB&T will work toward packaging unsold lots to sell to developers. He does not see lots being significantly discounted. Several neighbors inquired about purchasing lots and Dunnavant recommended they be bundled and offered as a package to BB&T.

The first sign of True South’s departure is already occurring. Workers have been moving furniture from the Summer Lakes sales office and the double-wide mobile office will be removed by next Tuesday. Residents requested that the office site be completely cleaned and no remnants of the office by obvious after the move. Dunnavant and Grant Holcomb, the current manager of Summer Lakes, pledged to make the office site improvements.

Residents complained about a lack of maintenance in recent months and the True South executives acknowledge the problem and apologized. However, there is little expectation that there will be substantial improvements in the interim under True South management. Weekly mowing will continue and it was promised that ‘bush hogging’ of the vacant lots will resume shortly.

There was general agreement among residents attending the Homeowners meeting that we all need to step up and assist with turning-on the island sprinklers near our homes since most sprinkler timers don’t operate.

Homeowners Appoint ‘Town Council”

True South retains management rights to the Homeowner’s Association and that will transfer to BB&T (and their designated property managers). Because residents are uncertain of BB&T’s plans for Summer Lakes and their commitment to the neighborhood, residents voted unanimously to form a ‘Town Council.’ While this group has no official authority, it will serve as a voice for residents and a conduit in discussions with True South, BP&T and the new management company when it is hired.

Serving on the ‘Town Council’ is (‘Mayor’) Pat Dickerson, Roger Pizio, Kurt Rudolph and Barbara McNichols. The ‘Town Council’ will report regularly to residents. Expect to have more frequent meetings of homeowners through the transition period so the ‘Town Council’ can issue reports and get input.

A priority on the ‘Town Council’s’ agenda is an accounting of the Homeowner’s Association financial account. Several residents disputed the amount of money spent on landscaping improvements last fall from the Homeowner’s Association account asserting that True South did not keep its commitment to fund its portion of the improvements.

Communications

It is important that homeowners speak with a single voice to be more effective with True South in the interim and BP&T in the long term. Therefore, it is recommended…

If you have observations/suggestions concerning maintenance issues, please send them to the ‘Town Council’.

The ‘Town Council’ will contact County Commissioner Charles Barton to determine how several small road repairs can be made.

If you are interested in purchasing an additional lot in the ‘bundled proposal’ to be made to BB&T, please submit that to the ‘Town Council’. True South said it will reissue a new lot plan with current pricing, including lots that are currently listed as ‘on hold’ where prices have not been made available.

‘Town Council’ Contact Information

Pat Dickerson, Tel: 649-0220, EM: P102640@aol.com
Roger Pizio, Tel: 648-7892, EM: RPizio@bellsouth.net
Kurt Rudolph, Tel: 641-9068, EM: kurtrudolph@atlanticbb.net
Barbara McNichols, Tel: 644-4722, EM: barbaramcnichols@bellsouth.net

True South Contact Information

Paul Dunnavant: Tel: 803-917-8205, EM: pauldunnavant@gmail.com
Grant Holcomb: Tel: 803-480-2292, EM: HolcombGrantW@gmail.com