Thompsons challenging Goblin Hill bill

McPherse Thompson, Assistant Editor - Business

A couple whose lease of a villa and shares in Goblin Hill Hotels were reinstated following a Privy Council ruling that the seizure and sale were unlawful is now challenging the resort's decision to charge them fees amounting to millions of dollars.

The assessment for J$3.38 million is contained in a letter from the attorney representing Goblin Hill Hotels, Gillian Burgess, to attorney John Thompson, who jointly owns shares in the Portland-based hotel with his wife Janet.

The couple says the fees apply to the period when they were not in control of the property.

The Thompsons had sought and obtained declarations from the courts that assessments made against them by Goblin Hill Hotels between 1994 and 2001 were excessive, and that the company had wrongfully forfeited their lease on the villa and sold their shares.

Original shareholders in Goblin Hill Hotels, a property developer, were required to sign an agreement allowing the company to construct a number of villas and operate them as a hotel.

It also granted shareholders the option to enter into a lease of a villa for 99 years. Shareholders who exercised the lease option also agreed to permit the leased villa to be operated by the company as a hotel and were entitled to share in the earnings.

Since 1989 when tax incentives ceased to apply to Goblin Hill Hotels, shareholders have been required to pay for maintenance and other costs towards the operation of the hotel, and each year they would be assessed by the hotel's management.

The hotel's management sold the Thompsons' shares and seized the villa when they challenged the assessments.

Burgess did not return calls made to her office, but two weeks ago managing director of Goblin Hill Hotels, Rosalie Goodman, said that, based on the decision of the court, Thompson could now use the villa, but he had an amount owing to the hotel which, if not cleared, would result in forfeiture of the property again.

According to the letter from Burgess, Goblin Hill Hotels has recalculated the assessments and special assessments in accordance with the decision of the Privy Council and the J$3.38 million was due and payable immediately for the period 1994 to July 2011.

But Thompson told Sunday Business that he would be challenging the assessments because it relates to a period when he was not, in effect, an owner.

"I was not supposed to be an owner during the period," he said.

Thompson said he only regained his status as an owner in March 2011 when the Privy Council ruled in his favour.

"There is no way that I can be called on to pay for expenses when I was not a shareholder," he said.

Litigation over ownership dates back to 2002, he said.

In a separate letter, the Goblin Hill Hotels lawyer pointed out that in addition to the outstanding balance on which interest is accruing, maintenance charges continue to accrue.

"The shares and the lease are liable for forfeiture for the unpaid balance," she said.

The Thompsons' maintenance assessment has been put at J$7.8 million for the period 1994 to July 2011, according to a document accompanying one of the letters from Burgess.

Earnings from the villa for the same period has been put at negative J$5.08 million.

mcpherse.thompson@gleanerjm.com