Who is in charge?

    When I just moved into Cherokee Shores Subdivision I easily figured out who was in charge by going on the website of the Association.  Pictures of the Directors and the President were posted for everyone to see.  At the time I thought it was over the top but now, I kind of miss that.  Now, I can't find any information on the Association's website as to who the Directors are, who is the President at the moment and what are the open positions or how many directors do we have at this time.  

   Not only is this information not available on our website, but it is also currently different in all legal documents the Association is obligated to file with the State and the County.  According to the search I conducted on February, 20, 2025, Secretary of State records indicate that the last document filed with them was a Certificate of Amendment, filed March 25, 2024.  It was an amendment to change registered agent to: Vincent V. Perucca Jr, with registered agent's address: 7110 Aztec Dr., Mabank, TX, 75156.  You may ask why would this be important?  

   A registered agent serves as the official point of contact for a corporation, legally required to receive and forward all legal documents on behalf of the company, ensuring that the business is notified of legal matters and remains compliant with state regulations.  It is a designated person that can be served with legal papers if a lawsuit is filed against the corporation. 

  Non-profit corporations, like Cherokee Shores Owners Association have to also file a periodic report with the updated list of Directors, President and Officers of the Corporation.  Last time Cherokee Shores filed this update was July 26, 2023. Since that time there have been 2 elections and many changes in Directors.

  To find Secretary of State records you would need to create an account and pay 1 dollar every time you do a search.  If you are interested in doing more research there, here is the link: 

https://direct.sos.state.tx.us/acct/acct-login.asp

Texas Real Estate Commission has been put in charge of keeping the website for home and property owners associations' Management Certificates which supposed to contain management information, locations of the recorded legal documents and other data, like transfer fees for example. Here is the link to Cherokee Shores Owners Association's TREC records:

https://www.hoa.texas.gov/management-certificates-search?combine=&hoa_county=HENDERSON&hoa_city=&zip=75156

 According to the last uploaded Management Certificate on TREC's website our President is Vincent Perucca. The link to that document is:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KtHgQK-TgyKTHXbbXnD4zXL4ZSIWBj81/view?usp=sharing

  We can also seek for Management Certificates in county records, where they should be filed within 30 days of the change in information.  The last uploaded Management Certificate in Henderson County Property Records states that our President is Karen Sanders.  The link to that document is below: 

https://hendersoncountytx-web.tylerhost.net/web/document/DOC436S25?search=DOCSEARCH352S3

Three different sources lead me to three different answers.  So the question remains the same: Who is in charge? 

  The leading questions are: Who is in charge of updating all these documents?  Why are some documents updated and some are not?  Why TREC information not match Henderson County information?  Why is there no record of current Directors and Officers on the Secretary of State website? 

  POA is only as good as the members that are running it.  As members we have a responsibility to keep our community strong by direct participation.  "Unidentified" members in charge right now do not have to be in charge forever.  

  Participate.  Ask questions.  Share the answers.  Stay informed and inform others. 

  My answer to "Who is in charge?" is: "The members".  It is our lack of engagement in the politics of our community that causes the same people to be on the Board.  Those who do not run for positions cannot be elected and without competition there is no change.  

Some of us have more time.  Some of us have less time.  All of us have something going on in our lives that is more important than this POA and its inner politics, but... 

... those of us who made it our home should also try to make the "business" of the Board of Directors our "business" and continue to ask questions...

   

Where do I begin?

   Cherokee Shores Owners Association is a community with approximately 4200 lots.  Last time I checked in 2022 this association had approximately 2700 members.  There are a lot of undeveloped lots within the association which makes this land very attractive to investors.

2024 has been quite a year here in Cherokee Shores and I have discovered a lot of interesting information I never thought could possibly be in question.  

...it all started with me buying 2 lots...

   I bought 2 lots from an investor that had 3 lots.  When I reached out to the association to transfer the property to my name I was told that I have to pay for 3 lots, road fee and late fees of the owners that were still current owners of the association with the remaining one lot within Cherokee Shores Subdivision.  I expressed my disagreement but paid the money to be able to transfer the property to my name.  I didn't feel that what the office was telling me was right and I reached out to the association via email.  The President of the Association answered that what happened to me was the policy of Cherokee Shores for all transactions of this type.  

   Till this day, I am not sure what that means - "transactions of this type".  Is it because of who I am?  Is it because of who the seller was?  What i do know for sure is that I bought 2 lots and I had to pay for 3 lots, with the existing owner of the third lot still being a member of the association. 

   I started reading our Bylaws and Restrictions and I found that some restrictions have the numbers of the dues to be paid and some don't.  I did not find any provision authorizing the association to charge their members fines and I found that our older restrictions are different from the ones that are posted online and all that brought me to the question: where do I begin?...

   I am starting this blog to investigate Cherokee Shores Owners Association.  I have questions that the "Association" does not want to answer.  Here is my opening question: Who is Cherokee Shores Owners Association?

   The leading questions are: Who is in charge?  Is it the Board?  Is it the President?  Do the members have any say so?  Do the members ever participate in any major decision making within this association?  Is the "Association" allowed to make the major decisions without the approval of its members?

Who is Cherokee Shores Owners Association? 

Did you know that Board Members and Officers of the Association do not carry any personal liability unless you can prove in Court that they are knowingly breaking the law?  Did you know that as a Board Member or an Officer you get an automatic attorney on behalf of the association? Do you know that those attorneys are paid for by the insurance of the association and will fight against any member on behalf of the few that are on the Board? 

The association is fighting in Court right now not to answer any of my questions.  They are stalling the discovery of the important documents, they are fighting against Court Declaration of the Quorum of the Members needed for the decision making vote of the Association to be valid.  They are fighting against following the property code and expanding voting rights of the members and much, much more...

Did you authorize these actions?  What are they really fighting for?  

The Association is fighting in Court right now for the ability to do whatever the few on the Board want!

I encourage every one who reads this post to participate in any and every way possible to get Cherokee Shores Owners Association back to being a neighborhood.  Did we lose our humanity along the way that we think of our neighbors as dues and numbers?  What happened to us?  What happened to our humanity?  What do we really collect and need all these dues for?  Is it the power and greed that motivates this community? What about the well being of the neighborhood as a whole?

I encourage everyone to put their resumes in for the upcoming elections in 2025.  And I encourage everyone to vote for someone you have not voted for before.  Change is needed and change is only possible by allowing different views and perspectives.  I myself will be running for the President of this Association this year and I hope to see you all run with me or against me for any open positions available.  Lets have debates, conversations and honest opinions!  Lets talk and ask questions!  I want to know why we are paying the dues we are paying if there is no record of any members' votes in Henderson County to approve any of those dues increases.  I want to know... and I have a lot of questions.  But I am willing to investigate and to tell all of you what I have learned so far. 

So this is where I begin.  What do YOU want to know?