Ocoee retirees hope lawsuit turns nightmare into promised dream resort

Ocoee Mountain Club resident Kathi Barrett stands on her front porch. Residents of the housing development have been plagued by financial and logistical issues surrounding the development which range from sewage problems to contractor debts left over from construction, and the problems have spawned several lawsuits against the developers.

BENTON, Tenn. – Gerald and Kathi Barrett’s first years of what they thought would be glorious retirement to quiet, beautiful Tennessee have become a fight with land developers who promised more than they could deliver.

Their neighbors at the Ocoee Mountain Club in Polk County, Joan and Kenneth McIlrath and Carolyn and Mike Van Demark, are in a similar spot.

All three couples were lured from other states by lovely advertisements for inexpensive Tennessee mountain living in a posh clubhouse resort specifically aimed at retirees.

Instead, they say, they’ve met one broken promise after another, along with mishandled down payments, contractor liens and a neighborhood and resort that have stalled around them.