Takeover at Havasu Palms

Havasu Palms

     Do you remember Havasu Palms, Inc.? They built and developed the mobile home park, store, and marina located on the California side of the lake, six miles south (by water) of Lake Havasu City, once the home of the Road's End Restaurant.
       On May 4, 1999 the Chemehuevi Tribe and members of Havasu Ventures, Inc. broke into the Havasu Palms store and restaurant, seizing personal assets of Havasu Palms, Inc. The lease status is in litigation.
          James Foster, one of the owners of Havasu Ventures, Inc. and his wife Jane are former residents of Lake Havasu City. They once owned a furniture store in Lake Havasu City and Lake Havasu Verticals. Reportedly Foster is the current manager of Havasu Landing. (Correction: we stated "reportedly Foster is the current manager of Havasu Landing". Although there is documentation that Foster is in some way connected to Havasu Landing, Scott Mathews is the General Manager of Havasu Landing.)
      Havasu Palms' property (totaling over $50,000) including approximately $4,000 in fuel, the store inventory, equipment, and other removable trade items, was taken by Havasu Ventures, Inc., the claimed new lessee of the property. Havasu Ventures reopened the store and began selling Havasu Palms' property.

Why didn't Havasu Palms remove
their property before the lease ended?

       There are several reasons for this. First, they believed the lease had not ended. That dispute will ultimately be determined in court. Second, even if the lease did end on May 2, 1999, a section of the lease Havasu Palms, Inc. had with the Tribe provided that Havasu Palms could remove any property from the site when the lease expired, if they paid a daily rent. Havasu Palms planned to do this. In fact, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (the agency that Havasu Palms, Inc. must send Tribal rents to) had in its possession a Havasu Palms check for $3,250, which would have paid for about 45 days. Third, Havasu Palms was awaiting a ruling on a restraining order and injunction. The restraining order was denied on May 3, and the injunction was denied at the end of May.
       Various government agencies have stated that, since the Chemehuevi Indian Reservation is considered a sovereign nation, the Tribe seems to be able to do whatever they want, even if it violates the U.S. Constitution and their own leases. It is important to note that Havasu Palms Inc. leased the property from the Federal Government in 1967. The land was added to the Indian Reservation in 1974. Havasu Palms did not enter the reservation willingly. They were placed there.
       When the land was transferred to the Tribe in 1974, Havasu Palms signed an agreement with the Tribe and the Department of Interior that Havasu Palms would not contest the land transfer, providing the Tribe dealt in good faith with Havasu Palms for a long-term lease. Originally Havasu Palms was promised a 25-year lease with a 25-year option. The promised long-term lease never materialized.
       When Walt Johnson developed Havasu Palms, built the restaurant, store and marina, and added over 100 mobile home sites, it was under the Fish and Game Concession Agreement, which guaranteed Havasu Palms had the right to either sell back the improvements at the end of the lease or remove them. The lease specified Havasu Palms owned the buildings, and that right would apply to any future lease. A result of the session of the property to the Tribe, may ultimately result in Havasu Palms' improvements being gifted as well.
       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

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

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