Lawsuit expected against Sleepy Bear Cabin Rentals owners

SEVIERVILLE - Charles and Nicole Tibbs, owners of the embattled Sleep Bear Cabin Rentals, this week are facing foreclosure on their personal home, accusations from an employee and a lawsuit.

A notice from Priority Trustee Services of TN printed in Friday's Mountain Press announced foreclosure on the Tibbses' home at 1744 Thurman Circle in Sevierville. The property is slated for public auction on the steps of the courthouse at 2 p.m. Thursday, March 15.

In the foreclosure, Priority Trustee services is acting on behalf of U.S. Bank National Association, which held a mortgage on the Tibbses' home. The Tennessee Department of Revenue also holds claim to some proceeds from the sale.

The foreclosure is the latest in a series of such actions on the Tibbses' property in recent months. At least 13 other properties owned by the couple have been seized, including several formerly on their rental program.

Knoxville attorney Ralph Harwell, who is representing the Tibbses, did not return calls for comment on this article.

Sleepy Bear was shut down by the Department of Revenue in late August 2006 for non-payment of sales taxes. (Sleepy Bear Cabin Rentals is not affiliated with Sleepy Bear Motel in Gatlinburg.)

Nicole Tibbs was arrested late last month on 30 felony counts of sales tax evasion and one felony count of theft of property over $60,000. If convicted of all the charges, she could face up to 66 years in prison and fines up to $100,000.

Despite those problems, Andy Anderson said he applied to serve as the company's maintenance man, a position left empty with the departure from the company of Bob Hall.

From the beginning of his time with Sleepy Bear, Anderson said he was paid in cash, though he was asked to sign a check.

"They told us there was something wrong with the checking account," Anderson said. "I should have left then, but you believe people. They told me they were just trying to work out all the problems."

When Anderson went into work on payday this week, he was sent to move furniture.

"When I got back, the computers were gone, the lights were off, the door was locked and I couldn't find anybody," Anderson said. "I went to Nicole's house but nobody answered the door. I kind of think they hit the trail."

As of Friday afternoon the office was still closed. Phone calls were being forwarded to Nicole Tibbs' personal phone, though she was not answering that number.

Not only is Anderson worried about not receiving his final pay allocation, he wonders if he may be in trouble having taken pay under the table for the last month.

"I'm starting to wonder if they paid our taxes in to the government at all," Anderson said.

On top of all these worries, The Mountain Press has received word that at least two cabin owners who formerly rented their property through Sleepy Bear are filing suit against the company and others are looking to do the same.

Mary Howe and Mason Pace have retained Sevierville lawyer Ross Gray to sure the company seeking back payment. The pair and other cabin owners have complained that they did not receive rent payments due to them and, when they did, the checks often bounced.

Howe and Pace filed a complaint with the Tennessee Real Estate Commission, saying they are owed almost $3,100 by Sleepy Bear. They also claim the company left their cabin on its Web site after they removed it from the Sleepy Bear rental program.

Further, their complaint says they were informed by Sleepy Bear employees that the Tennessee Department of Revenue has seized money from the company's escrow account, which is used to pay cabin owners.

Despite the complaints, Howe said the Real Estate Commission has taken no action against Sleepy Bear.

"This company needs to be stopped in their tracks," Howe said. "Shame on the Tennessee Real Estate Commission for allowing them to continue operations in such a manner. I would think the Real Estate Commission is partly responsible for not ensuring the cabin owner's escrow account was properly maintained."

Howe was not available for further comment Friday, but Hall, who left Sleepy Bear near the end of 2006 and is now managing property with Mountain Charm Cabin Rentals, said there never really was much of an escrow account as he understood it.

"They were spending it just as fast as it was coming in," Hall said. "They had a big house on the lake and 12 cars, so it took a lot to pay for all of that, I'd assume."

Hall, who has joined the lawsuit with Howe, Pace and a handful of other cabin owners, said he quit working for Sleepy Bear after he realized something was wrong.

"At the time they were first closed down, they told me it was just some paperwork that wasn't filed," Hall said. "I started doing my own little investigation and I didn't like what I saw. I wanted no part of it."

For Hall and others who work with cabin companies in the area, the charges Sleepy Bear is facing cast an unwanted pall on all such enterprises.

"It gives the whole area a bad name," Hall said. "People are coming to check into their cabins and they can't now. They've done a lot of people wrong."

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