Rose Lake Forest Property Owners Association

Osceola County, Michigan

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Recorded with the Register of Deeds
in and for Osceola County, Michigan
on 08/08/2014, at Liber 935, Page 203




AFFIDAVIT of TRUTH

State of Michigan )
) S.S.
County of Osceola )

Personally appeared before me, the undersigned authority in and for said County and State, the Affiant, Gregory Wood, whose mailing address is: General delivery, Lynnville, Tennessee, and who, after first being duly sworn by me, states on oath that he is more than twenty-one years of age; that the statements hereinafter set forth are true and complete of his own first-hand knowledge as follows, to-wit:

  1. This Affidavit is made in regard to lands lying within Rose Lake Township, Osceola County, and described as follows, to-wit:
    A.Plat of Rose Lake Forest
    310/526, 310/483, 310/533, 310/534
          I.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Beach
    357/577
    B.Plat of North Rose Lake Forest
    298/169, 298/176, 298/256
          J.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Hills
    356/527
    C.Plat of East Rose Lake Forest
    310/535, 310/484, 310/542, 310/543
          K.Plat of North Rose Lake Forest Hills
    356/403
    D.Plat of West Rose Lake Forest
    310/544, 310/485, 310/551, 310/552
          L.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Knoll #1
    356/535
    E.Plat of Northwest Rose Lake Forest
    310/553, 310/560, 310/561, 310/486
          M.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Knoll #2
    356/543
    F.Plat of South Rose Lake Forest
    321/225, 321/221, 321/223, 321/224
          N.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Valley
    357/39
    G.Plat of Southwest Rose Lake Forest
    356/411
          O.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Slopes
    357/31
    H.Plat of Rose Lake Forest Shores
    327/406, 327/435
         
  2. The original developer for the above-referenced Plats was Allan Wood, and Pine River Timber Co. Allan Wood (now deceased) was the president and owner of Pine River Timber Co., and my father; I am now president of Pine River Timber Co., and the trustee for the successor-in-interest to both Allan Wood and Pine River Timber Co.

  3. I have also worked for more than twenty years in various capacities for which one of my primary jobs is the research of land titles, and the building of abstracts of title and title opinions.

  4. I have recently researched the history of the restrictive covenants binding the above-referenced Plats. The Developer filed separate declarations of covenants for each plat. The numbers listed beneath each of those Plats as shown above, for example 310/526, indicate the Osceola County Register of Deeds Liber and Page references affecting each of the various Plats. The first Liber/Page reference appearing in the list for each Plat is the main body of restrictions, which I will hereinafter refer to as "General Covenants." In the earlier Plats, additional restrictions were filed, as shown in the listings. In later plats, those additional restrictions were filed together with the General Covenants and require no additional reference.

  5. According to my research, the General Covenants were identical for all the Plats. The additional restrictions were mostly identical, with the following exceptions: A) Specific health restrictions were applied to various lots, and 2) Additional building and use restrictions were applied to the Plat of South Rose Lake Forest. For earlier Plats these additional restrictions were filed via separate documents; for later Plats the additional restrictions were combined in one instrument together with the General Covenants.

  6. The General Covenants all contained a typographical omission, in that the scrivener neglected to label the transition between Article VII, and Article VIII. This resulted in Article VII - Section 4 being directly followed by Section 1 (Duration), Section 2 (Notices), and Section 3 (Enforcement). It seems to me that any reasonable man would deem this to be Article VIII, and I will hereafter refer to it as Article VIII. I mention this to avoid confusion, as some of the General Covenants filed later contained an Article VIII which embodied the above-referenced additional covenants.

  7. Article VIII, Section 1, Duration, of the General Covenants is hereby quoted verbatim, as follows:

    Article VIII, Section 1. Duration. The covenants and restrictions of this Declaration shall run with and bind the land and shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by The Association, or the owner of any land subject to this Declaration, their respective legal representatives, heirs, successors and assigns, for a term of twenty years from the date this Declaration is recorded, after which time said covenants shall be automatically extended for successive periods of ten (10) years unless an instrument signed by the then owners of two-thirds of the lots, subject to this Declaration, including all lots if any still owned by the Developer or its successors or assigns, has been recorded, agreeing to change said covenants and restrictions in whole or in part. Provided, however, that no such agreement to change shall be effective unless made and recorded three (3) years in advance of the effective date of such change, and unless written notice of the proposed agreement is sent to every owner at least ninety (90) days in advance of any action taken.
  8. On May 9, 1991, an instrument was filed with the Osceola County Register of Deeds at Liber 537, page 224, entitled Declaration of Restrictive Covenants, Rose Lake Forest Property Owners Association. Said Instrument purported to affect the Plats referenced in paragraph 1 above, and claimed that it "replaces and supersedes all prior declarations recorded for any of the [Plats]." The Instrument was signed by Leonard F. Michaels, president, and by Robert E. Fontaine, director, both of the Rose Lake Forest Property Owners Association. Other than the signatures of two witnesses, one of which also acted as Notary Public, no other signatures appeared on the Instrument.

  9. On May 24, 2001, an instrument was filed with the Osceola County Register of Deeds at Liber 705, page 629, entitled Declaration of Restrictive Covenants, Rose Lake Forest Property Owners Association. Said Instrument purported to affect the Plats referenced in paragraph 1 above, and claimed that it "replaces and supersedes all prior declarations recorded for any of the [Plats]." The Instrument was signed by Gerald W. Cornell, president, and by Kelli Hayden, secretary, both of the Rose Lake Forest Property Owners Association. Other than the signatures of two witnesses, one of which also acted as Notary Public, no other signatures appeared on the Instrument.

  10. On May 24, 2001, an instrument appearing to be an affidavit was filed with the Osceola County Register of Deeds at Liber 705, Page 636, in which the Declarant/Affiant attaches a copy of the Declaration mentioned in paragraph 9 above and recorded at Liber 705, Page 629, and claims in part:

    "3. The attached Declaration of Restrictive Covenants were adopted by the requisite number of votes of the owners of lots in Rose Lake Forest and the related plats described in Exhibit "A" to the attached Declaration (collectively, the "Forest").

    4. The owners of more than five hundred twenty (520) lots in the Forest voted at the meeting of the Association held on September 5, 1998, and its adjournments, to adopt the attached Declaration which were duly adopted by the Association on August 20, 2000."

    Other than the signatures of two witnesses, one of which also acted as Notary Public, no other signatures appeared upon the Instrument. The acknowledgment on this instrument does not, in my experience, meet the statutory requirement for an affidavit.

  11. I conducted a diligent search of the records in the office of Register of Deeds in and for Osceola County, Michigan, looking for any instruments containing the signatures of owners of lots within above-referenced Plats in support of either or both of the instruments above-mentioned in paragraphs 8 and 9, and found none.

  12. Beginning with first development, and continuously unto the present date, Allan Wood and Pine River Timber Co., and their successors-in-interest have been members of RLFPOA and owners of land within some of the above-referenced Plats. From at least 1988 and until his death in August of 2001, Allan Wood made it his habit and practice to consult with me on all legal matters, both personal, and corporate. He never once mentioned to me he had received prior notice of any initiative to amend or replace the restrictive covenants for the above-mentioned Plats. Further, I have access to extensive records with regard to both Pine River Timber Co. and Allan Wood, and having searched through them diligently I can find no evidence that Allan Wood or Pine River Timber Co. were ever given prior notice of any initiative to amend or replace the restrictive covenants for the said Plats.

Further, Affiant saith naught.


______________________________
Gregory Wood, Affiant

Subscribed and sworn to before me, a duly authorized Notary Public, this 8th day of August, 2014 by Gregory Wood.

My Commission expires: 02/07/2021

________________________________
Ellen K. Grubaugh, Notary Public

[seal]

Prepared by Gregory Wood, General delivery, Lynnville, Tennessee




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