Takeover at Havasu Palms

Part 2 of 2

(continued from)

          When Tribal representatives met with Havasu Palms' tenants to discuss the new lessee, Havasu Ventures, they assured the tenants that no one would be evicted. The Shareholders of Havasu Palms Inc. own three mobile homes in the park. In spite of the fact that the rents are current, the attorney for Havasu Ventures informed Havasu Palms' attorneys that Havasu Ventures plans to evict the tenants from these three mobile homes sites. Should they succeed, this would mean a loss of personal property for Havasu Palms of more than $150,000, since it would be nearly impossible to remove the mobile homes over the narrow dirt road.
       Since the takeover, officers and an attorney for Havasu Ventures have repeatedly demanded Havasu Palms Inc. turn over its tenant list, which is a proprietary customer list of Havasu Palms.
        In mid May, the realty office for the Tribe gave Havasu Palms' representatives permission to begin retrieving their property. Yet, when employees of Havasu Palms began removing the property, they were told by Christine Lowe, realty officer for the Tribe, that they must turn over their tenant list before Havasu Palms could remove anything. Finally, she recanted her demand and gave permission for Havasu Palms to remove the items.
       When Havasu Palms employees attempted to remove a forklift that had been on the property for about seven years, they were prevented from loading it onto the equipment hauler, unless they could prove ownership. Unwilling to prolong the confrontation, the employees left the premises, turning the matter over to their attorney.
       Currently, Havasu Palms Inc. awaits a pending Arbitration Hearing with the Federal Government and the Chemehuevi Tribe.

UPDATE:       The arbitration was held in 2002, in San Francisco, California. One of Havasu Palms' grievances against the Tribe was the Tribe's total disregard of the terms of their lease, when they illegally seized Havasu Palms' property.
         The lease, which was signed by The Secretary of the Interior, The Chemehuevi Tribe, and Havasu Palms (HP), stipulated that Havasu Palms, Inc. could remove its personal property at the end of its lease, providing HP pay a daily rent to the Tribe.  Havasu Palms had paid enough additional rent to cover some 45 days, more than enough time to remove their property. The property seized in the initial takeover, is mentioned in the original Takeover article.
         The Tribe later confiscated additional property, that was not mentioned in the above article.  It  was a mobile home (and all of its contents) located in the mobile home park on the lease property. Havasu Palms Inc. had been paying rent on the mobile home site, the  rent was current, and the value of the mobile home was in excess of $70,000.
       At the Federal Arbitration, the Tribe was held accountable for the taking of Havasu Palms property, and an undisclosed settlement was awarded. At this date, the settlement has still not been paid.
       The new lessees, Havasu Ventures, Inc.  continues to operate the business built by Havasu Palms Inc, and they now call the business "Havasu Palms" - which is Havasu Palms' corporate name. Their behavior in the incident, and following misconducts perpetrated against some of the tenants of the mobile home park, go unchallenged in the courts. The reason? They are on Indian land, and apparently, do not have to be accountable. 9/25/03

9/25/03 UPDATE, 2005 - the Arbitration settlement was never paid, as it was deemed not in the best interest of the Tribe.

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