107 OTTAWA: THE EVER-CHANGING STORY

This is a long, complicated story so to fully understand it we will need to start at the beginning. In October of 2020 1st Choice Homes, LLC, (1st Choice) entered into a contract with the Lake Royale Property Owners Association (LRPOA) to purchase, in exchange for ninety-seven lots and $100,000, 125 lots on the “lake side” of Lake Royale. At the time that the contract was executed 110 of the 125 lots were identified, with the remaining fifteen lots to be identified at a later date.

In addition to all the language necessary for such a land-purchase agreement there were two clauses in this contract that will become especially important as this story progresses. The first of these clauses is Section 6. Conditions (c) Inspections. This clause gave the buyer, 1st Choice, unlimited access to conduct their due diligence including, specifically mentioning surveys. The second of these clauses is Exhibit C, 2. Non-buildable Lots. This clause states that should any lot transferred to 1st Choice under the terms of this contract be determined to be unbuildable, for any reason that would preclude 1st Choice from getting a building permit, that lot is to be returned to the LRPOA “…for no consideration, free and clear of any liens or encumbrances…”

In mid-2022 the LRPOA engaged with 1st Choice in an effort to identify the 15 lots still owed to 1st Choice under the terms of the original contract, plus 2 lots that the LRPOA wanted to trade for 150 Sacred Fire which was to be used for an emergency ingress/egress to The River portion of Lake Royale. Since any lot to be transferred to 1st Choice had to be mutually agreeable to both parties, this turned into a months-long process.
According to a deed on file with the Franklin County Register of Deeds, eighteen lots were transferred from the LRPOA to 1st Choice on May 4, 2023. Later that month LRPOA Board of Directors (BoD) President Ragaglia informed the LRPOA property owners that the terms of the LRPOA/1st Choice contract had been fulfilled with the transfer of eighteen lots to 1st Choice. As stated by Ragaglia, this transfer consisted of the fifteen lots required in the original contract, the two lots given in exchange for The River’s emergency access, and an additional lot, given by himself, to cover some unspecified legal costs.

Sometime in mid-to-late 2023 the LRPOA BoD imposed a year-long moratorium on the sale of any LRPOA-owned properties, and this brings the story to more recent activities.
In early February of 2024, an observant LRPOA property owner noticed that a property, identified as 107 Ottawa Drive, had been advertised for sale by a realtor. At that time 107 Ottawa Drive was, according to Franklin County, owned by the LRPOA. At the February 2024 BoD meeting this property owner questioned why, considering the moratorium, this lot was offered for sale. President Ragaglia replied that 1st Choice owned 107 Ottawa, having been exchanged for an un-buildable lot later identified as 172 Shawnee Dr, and that Franklin County was running behind in updating their records.

 
At the beginning of the March BoD meeting Ragaglia attempted to further clarify things by stating that there had been a delay in the submission of the property transfer paperwork, but at that time, late March, everything had been cleared up and the property had finally been transferred to 1st Choice. Later in that same BoD meeting, another property owner challenged the necessity for, and legality of, the trading of 107 Ottawa Dr for 172 Shawnee Dr, citing the language of Appendix C, 2. of the contract stating that any unbuildable lot was to be returned to the LRPOA free-and-clear. Ragaglia, despite having been presented with a copy of the contract containing Appendix C, 2, responded by arguing that the trade was required under the terms of the original contract. Keep in mind that 172 Shawnee Dr is an unbuildable lot, having no market value to the LRPOA while 107 Ottawa Dr has an established market value of $55,000.

Two weeks later, in a private conversation with this author, and later in a social media post, Ragaglia contended that 172 Shawnee Dr had never been transferred to 1st Choice, and that since the ownership had never been transferred to 1st Choice, the trade wasn’t actually a trade but that the transferring of 107 Ottawa was just another step in finalizing the 17 lots owed to 1st Choice. He made that argument although the seventeen lots, plus one, had been transferred a year earlier.

After his social media post this author provided Ragaglia with a copy of the North Carolina Warranty Deed showing the transfer of the eighteen lots, including 172 Shawnee Dr, to 1st Choice. At the May 23rd BoD meeting Ragaglia acknowledged receipt of that deed and stated that he had not been aware that the property had been transferred. He continued to insist that, since a survey had revealed that there had been an encroachment onto 172 Shawnee Dr, making it unbuildable, the LRPOA was obligated to replace that lot with another, buildable, lot.

 
Remember the two clauses of the contract that I referenced earlier. 1. 1st Choice had unlimited access to perform due diligence, to include surveys and, 2. Any unbuildable lot is to be returned to the LRPOA free-and-clear. Per the contract, there was no legal, moral ethical or ethical obligation to give 1st Choice this $55,000 gift.

According to the Franklin County GIS, as of May 25, 2024, 172 Shawnee Dr is still owned by 1ST Choice and 107 Ottawa Dr is still owned by the LRPOA. And 107 Ottawa Dr is still being offered for sale by a realtor, despite the moratorium. This is all in contradiction to the many different stories/explanations being put forward by Board President Ragaglia. Stay tuned for the next episode of this saga.