Rocky Reef Resort 1988-1990. Real-estate fraud or just bad business choices.

I’m the sole survivor of the family that moved from Pennsylvania to buy rocky reef resort in the spring of 88 from Gary and Mary. This is just rant don’t expect anything to change.
It was my dad’s dream and retirement plan to own a campground in the Midwest. I remember as a little kid we would travel around looking at campgrounds that were for sale. My parents were finally ready to get out Pennsylvania so for 2 weeks around Easter 88 we went looking again. We ended up in Garrison and my dad went into the realtor office.
They told him about a place that was on the market for years. Said “the owners wanted to much for what it was worth. We looked at the house then my dad talked business with them. I found out later was it was a sale by owner, no banks. We were going to get a similar deal like Gary and Mary had when they bought the place in 77, which they were still paying to the deed holder. Which meant we would only have to make payments 3 or six months can’t remember. When we got back to Pennsylvania my dad sold our house and some of his property and we started packing while my dad went back to close on the resort. The original verbal contract had totally changed at closing. Instead of a payment of less the a thousand dollars every 3 months it was a little over a thousand every month. However I never saw the contract there were stipulations were Gary and Mary would assist us with bookkeeping and showing us the ropes.
We officially moved in on June for the next two years my dad did to many improvements to mention. Also promoted the resort so much that even Gary and Mary told him they never saw the resort make so much money. We found out from the deed holder that Gary and Mary were constantly late on their payments and even after they got are down payment they still weren’t caught up.
In July 89 my brother was diagnosed with leukemia and was in The U of Minnesota hospital. Later that year Gary and Mary told us they were filing a lawsuit against the Minnesota state fair grounds because of a banner or something fell on Mary. Other then Micheal being in the hospital we had no indication anything was wrong. Later we found out because my dad was a week late on the October 89 payment Gary and Mary had started the eviction process. We didn’t know anything until they gave it to us in April or May 90. Before my dad passed away my dad told me he wished he had gotten a lawyer but he thought taking care of my brother was more important.
About 8 years ago I had found out that the current owners were talking to Gary and Mary about buying the resort even before we moved out possible before we got the notice. I tried to reach out to some people like the current owners and Gary and Mary’s son on Facebook but when I brought it up they blocked me. I guess Gary and Mary are still alive in their 80s now. Apparently they must have one their lawsuit they have a house in Minnesota and Arizona.

What’s your intentions with this post? Not much you can do here. Sounds like John jr is running it now. Seems they put the run on the old man. He’s constantly posting self improvement memes on FB. It was entertaining a couple years ago to watch the ice road wars between him and his neighbor. Both of them are 🦇 💩 crazy.

It was just a rant and to see if anybody on here remembers my family. Or the Bauers.

Good story, sounds like a mix of bad choices, bad luck, and too much trust. Hopefully everyone has moved on and is doing well now.

MNdrifter wrote:

It was entertaining a couple years ago to watch the ice road wars between him and his neighbor. Both of them are 🦇 💩 crazy.

That bat guano still flinging along with their singing.

As I’ve settled my new home on the Lake ‘O’ Bizarro, the ghosts of yesterday and today will come a knockin.

What a collection there, but hey…they’re everywhere you turn.

120 miles from Minneapolis and I fall off the grid.

Like I said I’m the sole survivor. We ended up living in an rv until fall. Then my brother passed away in November 90. My mom passed in August 92. My dad passed on September 2000. I think if he still had it . It would killed him earlier. I moved out of Minnesota in 96 a started driving trucks. If I got stuck with the resort i probably would sold it to assp.

I believe you’re asking if RE fraud, or bad business choices and objectively seems like the latter. Yes should have hired a lawyer. Up front though, mainly. Anytime you are renting/leasing and you intend to put personal funds into improvement of the property you need to demand a long lease term, or an iron clad ‘option to renew’. And as far as the eviction process, crist, you need language in the lease that is not straight Landlord heavy. Something that protect you from immediate eviction if you’re late on one payment. Something in the middle; maybe can be evicted if late on 3 payments within 6 month period. Or best case upfront should have negotiated contract for deed. You run the place for 3-5 years and if you pay rent on time owners have to sell for a pre determined price, etc. End of day as Otter said ‘you f—– up, you trusted us.’

I agree should of been done by a lawyer. Also I didn’t know this until several years ago the people who bought it right after us never new that we had the place. I thought full disclosure would cover that. If you buy a business don’t you look at several years of revenue which the last two years would have been revenue my family made..js

These are numbers as I remember my dad telling me. I was 13 at the time we bought it. Sale was for $150,000 I’m assuming the closing costs were at 3% which wood $4500 with the down payment of $27,500. Plus monthly payments of $1,077 per month times 23 months equals $24,711 so total paid would have been $52,271. Not including improvements or monthly bills I never knew what those were.

It has been just a little over 20 years since my dad past away 9/7/00 and for several years something has been weighing heavy on my heart. It has to fo with Rocky Reef Resort specifically whats on their website under history of the resort or rather the condition he said the resort was in when he got it. I always felt that disrespected my dad’s memory. I brought this up with John odle back 7 or 8 years ago and his arrogance, ignorance., and refusal to acknowledge these facts irritates me to no end. I’m the sole survivor of the family that was buying the resort before it was resold to them. Between 88-90 my family moved from PA to buy and retore the resort. With my dad’s blood,sweat and tears also his life savings he began to turn it around. RIP Richard Griffith. If it wasn’t for 2 facts my brother being diagnosed with leukemia or that my dad didn’t take the Bauers to court they wouldn’t have gotten the place and reaped the rewards of my dad’s hard work.

Other then being able to vent what do you hope to gain by posting this stuff?

I don’t fully understand what happened. Your story is pretty confusing. I don’t have any issue with you sharing it or even talking some trash if you feel it’s justified…as long as you can handle it when others disagree and start talking trash back. Again, I personally I don’t have a dog in this fight and what you’re doing is fine by me….but I’ve got a feeling someone will. This thread just has that type of feel to it already.

So let me see if I got this straight. Your dad “bought” the resort, but not really. At different points of your story he sounds like he was owner, tenant renting the property, and resort manager/employee.

I would personally never ever…ever….ever-ever-ever consider what your dad did and “buy” a property in that manner. When you go through a bank to buy something you end up as the titled owner. You own the property. You owe the bank whatever money you borrowed plus the interest under a very clear, very legal, very binding agreement. Owning the property and the loan to the bank are tied together but ultimately you own the property. As long as you keep current on the mortgage no one can take that property from you (few very rare exceptions like eminent domain). If you improve the property by fixing it up, and it’s worth more, that’s more wealth for you since as the property owner you have equity. Equity = Ownership

It sounds like your dad clearly didn’t have any equity in the property since if he did you wouldn’t have gotten evicted from a single late payment. It’s about a two year process for the bank to foreclose on a propety owner and get them off the property in a lot of cases.

If I were you I would let whatever axe you have to grind at the old couple because the only one here I can’t believe would be so irresponsible is you father. To sell your home and move his family halfway across the country on a whim without having a very clear and binding agreement that was drawn up legally is insanely stupid. I honestly can’t imagine anyone doing something so idiotic. Then he doubles down on his stupidity by getting to MN thinking he had some agreement with these people only to have it be for an amount three times over what they discussed. Who in the hell moves their family halfway across the country on what sounds like a single informal conversation, believes there’s a verbal agreement, and then when the owners renege on it and clearly are looking to hose you instead of running towards the door with a dime never crosses hands he reaches out to shake the hand of the guy screwing him and goes, “Deal!”

Who in their right mind would then expect what were nothing more than landlords renting you the property….why would you expect them as the titled owners to not screw over your dad yet again after he fixed the place up? He just created more wealth for the owner by increasing the value of the property when he doesn’t have any equity stake of it.

The only people that can get suckered are called, “suckers.”

Be mad at your dad. Your story recants one of the most insanely stupid things I’ve ever heard anyone do first hand.

I’m guessing you don’t have all the details right, and even if you do…it’s still your dad’s fault for being incredibly reckless and putting his family in such an awful situation.

What I don’t get is if your dad had the place making more money than ever, then why couldn’t he stay current on the rent or whatever payment agreement that existed between him and the owner?

Was he an alcoholic or a possible drug addict or something?

Because I hope you can see how that doesn’t make any sense that he made the resort more money than ever yet couldn’t pay the rent/lease/loan/whatever messed up deal no one should ever enter?

It sounds like your dad was just an employee. Because why would the money the resort is making go to the owners he’s buying it from otherwise? Why wouldn’t he be getting that money and easily be able to afford to pay his bills.

There’s no way there was any fraud. You have to have something that is on paper and legal for their to be fraud.

I assumed it was a contract for deed but the story does have more holes in it then the Viking defense.

Possibly a land contract and the father lost it based on his son getting sick? Lost his will to work, needed his sick sons help to run the resort was overwhelmed by it all or some combination of related events.
Either way I unfortunately agree with Jonser here and have to say your dad made some poor choices and in the end it cost him. Take what you can from the experience and move on from it. No sense in living in the past.

Actually it had to do with my brother being in the U of M hospital with leukemia and the cost of traveling back and forth. The alcoholics were the former owners who never had the titl/deed at the time in fact they were never caught up on thier payments but that was their contract. the prescription pain bill addict was the current owners dad. Your right i was only 13 so to this day I dont know what really happened. Kinda funny he admitted he was making a deal to buy the place even before we were moved out. Jon Jr. Even told me after I talked to his dad it, about 8 years ago, that sr. Was saying the Bauers were scamming people.

Let it go.

It doesn’t matter. I guess joneser left or got kicked out of this forum.

Steven Griffith wrote:

It doesn’t matter. I guess joneser left or got kicked out of this forum.

Good. He was beating a dead horse and nobody cared.