Summit County attorney David Brickey has determined that Deer Valley Lodging and David Holland Resort Lodging did nothing illegal in failing to pay condominium owners their share of nightly-rental revenue two winters ago.

“We could not find any criminal conduct,” he said Wednesday. “They followed appropriate practices that the owners of the condos have allowed them to follow in the past.”

In the case of Deer Valley Lodging owned by Premier Resorts International, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the bankruptcy attorney’s forensic accountant agreed nothing illegal had transpired.

“It was bad business practices. Horrible decisions were made, but it was not fraud,” he said. “As a sworn prosecutor, it’s our job to enforce the laws, not write them.”

Park City Police Detective Robert deBotelho said the contracts signed by condo owners did not forbid co-mingling the funds.

“The money was spent as it was spent before, and they had the ability to use it however they wished,” he said.

Last year, victims of the two companies lobbied state lawmakers to regulate the nightly-rental industry. Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, who represents Park City, met with local advocates on both sides of the issue and decided there was no systemic problem.

The Utah Code explicitly excludes nightly-rental management from the list of business practices for which property managers receive state oversight. The only oversight of nightly-rental managers comes from local authorities.

Neither the Park City or Summit County business licensure requirements forbid the co-mingling of funds.

Michael Kovacs, assistant city manager for Park City, said the issue has never been raised with the city. As with the county, the regulations in place regard zoning, maintenance and taxation.

County councilmen Chris Robinson and John Hanrahan said no one has ever asked them to get involved in the issue.

Councilwoman Sally Elliott agreed, but added that she would likely oppose the idea.

“I would be reluctant to do that without the request of the (Park City Area) Lodging Association and Park City Municipal,” she said.

Many businesses already reserve deposits automatically.

“I would be reluctant to interfere with their good practices,” she said.


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