The CotoBlogzz

Posted By CotoBlogzz 2/27/2009

Laguna Woods Village - The current mantra for mortgage brokers is that under the current economic conditions, cash is king.  That is, if you have cash, stash it under your mattress, as opposed to spending it, given that the economy is simply going to get worse.

So, the apparent cash is no longer king message being delivered by PCM, following on the heels of a questionable PCM ultimatum to the Third Board board, documented on a story published February 21st, 2009  in the CotoBuzz Journal titled,  Censored: The Thrilla in the Villa: Laguna Woods, that is - The Ultimatum, particularly, when as CotoBlozz blogger Bill Porter writes in his piece titled Catch a Tiger By the Tail “apparently the employees know all too well that if PCM were to lose Third Mutual, nearly 40% of PCM employees would become instant statistics on the unemployment roles” is extremely peculiar.

On January 23rd, the United Board in what can be best described as  a US House Bailout Vote imitation,  with only 4-days notice, called a surprise Special Meeting to vote on whether  to pay off the final HUD loan or not.  With a packed room and less than overwhelming support, the board voted down PCM’s request, in part because PCM failed to present a persuasive argument as to why it would be advantageous for the residents to pay off the loan in advance - that is, dethrone cash as king.  Janet Price, PCM Finance Manager, did state that residents could avoid some $14,000 for a special audit imposed annually by HUD, and at the same time, raising a bin red flag:  Why would anyone want to avoid an audit, unless there are skeletons buried?  Particuarly in an era when it seems like everyone is cooking the books:  From the Infosys CEO, PWC parnters in Mumbai and 2008 EY Entrepreneur of the Year Stein Bagger, for example.

In an email dated February 26, 2009, Third Director Michael Curtis writes “To me, it is very suspicious when an account would suggest avoiding an audit.  At the time, I said something was fishy and we were not getting the truth.  Other Board members did not agree with me, but did vote down PCM’s request.  It was unanimous,”  and warns that PCM is at it again with the Cash is No Longer King message: The agenda for next Tuesday’s United Finance Committee meeting includes an item designed for  PCM to present the case one more time. “Again this time, PCM will be asking for the last HUD loan to be paid off as soon as possible, even in the face of the unanimous vote against it just last month.  Why?  To save a few bucks?,” writes Mr. Curtis.

So, will Cash continue to reign supreme in the Villa, or will it be dethroned by Silence?  Not clear, but we do expect a third installment of the Thrilla in the Villa, particularly when Mr. Curtis’ review of  United Board minutes between 1990 and 2008 shows that an “Incentive Plan was never discussed at any open or closed meetings – until the secret payouts were discovered in 2006”, he writes.

The open questions are:  why the rush to dethrone Cash as king and replace with Silence?  What is the benefit to PCM of dethroning Cash, and what is the benefit to the residents? – stay tuned for the Thrilla in the Villa III to find out if cash still rules.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 12:45 pm and is filed under Misc, Laguna Wood Village, HOA/CID, Fiduciary Responsibility, Senior Advocacy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.