Lake Tahoe timeshare dispute leads to court takeover
INCLINE VILLAGE — On a cold Saturday morning in late October, hundreds of timeshare owners gathered at Club Tahoe’s resort clubhouse in Incline Village. They were there to cast votes to recall the timeshare association’s board of directors.
They faced locked doors instead.
Bewildered, they trekked to a nearby church. A month earlier, on Sept. 20, many of the same owners had sent 760 petitions via FedEx — about 15% of Club Tahoe’s membership, according to owners and court filings — to the board overseeing the timeshare association.
The petitions demanded a special meeting to recall the board in charge. That board included members who had held the same positions for years, and in some cases more than a decade. Former board president Marc Pearl had served in leadership roles dating back at least to 2008, according to records cited by owners.
Although not illegal, such lengthy tenures can run counter to common nonprofit governance practices, according to BoardSource. The group offers nonprofits resources and expertise to improve boards and nonprofits.
“Term limits allow a regular infusion of fresh ideas and new perspectives as well as the ability to adjust composition and skill set as the organization’s needs and goals evolve,” BoardSource says on its website. “Boards are also more easily able to rotate off passive, ineffective or difficult board members.”
A benefit of term limits, the group says, is to avoid “the perpetual concentration of power within a small group of people.”
Owners allege that is what happened at Club Tahoe. They said their petitions were delivered, but board leaders said they were never properly received, despite delivery records cited by owners.
Unable to access their own clubhouse, they relocated to the nearby church. There, owners say 641 members — enough for a quorum under their interpretation of governing documents — voted unanimously to recall the board.
The association’s law firm later told owners the recall vote was invalid.
“Because the requirements of the Bylaws were not met … the special member meeting for an October 25th recall election was unlawful, and any and all action taken at said meeting invalid,” attorney Gayle Kern wrote to Club Tahoe’s members.
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