CPA asks court to order release of housing fees
 
By Jennifer Dobner
The Associated Press
Deseret News
 
A court-appointed accountant has asked a judge to order Utah's attorney general to release $192,600 in occupancy fees from residents of homes held in a polygamous church land trust.

The trust has been under state control since 2005 when Warren Jeffs, the jailed leader of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, was accused of mismanagement. Occupancy fees from residents, some of whom are no longer FLDS members, provide the funds to manage the trust.

In court papers filed late Monday, attorneys for fiduciary Bruce Wisan say a request by FLDS members to withhold the occupancy fees payment is an attempt to starve the cash-strapped United Effort Plan Trust.

"The trust is in a severe liquidity crisis," attorneys Jeff and Zach Shields wrote. "Without the funds, the fiduciary is also severely limited in his ability to administer the trust in accordance with his court-ordered responsibilities."

That includes hiring attorneys and others needed to defend the trust in numerous lawsuits.

The Unified Effort Plan Trust is a communal property trust and an arm of the FLDS Church. Formed in 1942, the trust holds most of the land and homes in Hildale, Utah, Colorado City, Ariz., and a church enclave near Bountiful, British Columbia.

A settlement to end state intervention in the trust was proposed last month. Wisan objects to the settlement.

The FLDS asked the attorney general to withhold a June 15 payment because Wisan sold trust assets — $360,000 worth of cows from a dairy once run by church members — during the negotiations without disclosing his plans.

FLDS attorneys contend that conditions of the settlement negotiations preclude Wisan from selling the cows.

The cows are part of the Harker Farm, a Beryl dairy that was deeded to the church years ago. It was sold at auction and bought by Wisan in 2007 to satisfy a $8.8 million judgment against Jeffs and other church leaders. The farm is a key asset in the settlement proposal.

"(Wisan) knew very well those assets were central to the negotiations and he sold them right out from under us, for less than they were worth," FLDS attorney Rod Parker said Tuesday.

Parker denied accusations that the FLDS want to starve the trust. He contends the sect is seeking to reclaim properties purchased by FLDS members and donated to the trust in keeping with the tenets of the religion that call for the sharing of assets.

By selling trust assets, Wisan is "actively trying to destroy the future of the trust," Parker said.

Wisan's attorneys contend that 3rd District Judge Denise Lindberg ordered only the stay of trust litigation, not its administration.

They note that a Nov. 10, 2008 court order allows for the sale of assets without prior disclosure because some attempts at transparency have resulted in objections by "individuals intent on undermining the trust," causing additional expenses or losses.

The same order gives Wisan the approval to sell trust assets of up to $500,000 without prior court approval.

As an alternative to ordering the release of funds, Wisan's attorneys asked Lindberg to lift a stay on the sale of a trust parcel known as Berry Knoll -- grazing and farm land, some of which was set aside for a church temple.

FLDS objections to the proposed sale of Berry Knoll last year prompted church members to sue to regain control of the trust and ultimately led to settlement negotiations.
 
DeseretNews.com
Originally published July 7, 2009
 
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