Park City Real Estate Trends

             Two years ago two leading property management companies doing business in Park City went out of business.  Their downfall led to many unpaid bills to local vendors and to the owners of the properties that the companies managed.             Recently the Summit County attorney has determined that according to the laws of the state, the firms did nothing illegal in not paying home and condominium owners their share of rental revenues. He was quoted as saying "It was bad business practices. Horrible decisions were made, but it was not fraud." Utah law and the contracts signed by owners allow for the co-mingling of funds and code leaves the oversight of nightly rental managers to local authorities. Other states require that the owners revenue share of nightly rentals be places in a trust account. Local Park City authorities as well as Utah lawmakers have no plans in changing the current laws.             One of the local property management companies quietly went away while the other has been the object of much ill will and speculation as to where the money went. The bankruptcy of Premier Resorts of Utah dba Deer Valley Lodging (not associated with Deer Valley Resort) left creditors and homeowners with unpaid bills totaling about $13 million. Since the company did not hold real property or many assets, it appears that most of the creditors will go unpaid as the bankruptcy concludes.  Premier Resorts owners have been "tight lipped" about where all of the money went. It appears that while what happened was criminal, it was not illegal.             The YouInParkCity.com group encourages Park City home and condominium owners to carefully read property management and nightly rental contracts before placing their properties into rental pools. Make sure you understand not only splits, fees, rental rotations and possible revenue sharing or equalization strategies; but also how the property will be marketed and how and when revenues will be dispersed.