VPM charges likely to be dropped

The Nevada County District Attorney’s office will drop six felony charges against the owner of Vacation Property Management in Truckee after the company made good on six bounced checks, Deputy District Attorney William Cornell said on Friday.

But Dean A. Clark, the owner of the Truckee rental firm, may not be out of hot water, Cornell said, as investigators pursue other complaints about the company’s business practices.

Cornell filed the felony counts against Clark in early May, but put them “on hold” after Clark’s attorney told the district’s attorney’s office that his client was making a good-faith effort to repay the recipients of six checks returned for insufficient funds.

Although Clark has now repaid the clients, he has run out of money to pay other claims, Cornell said.

The deputy prosecutor previously said Peter Tiemann of Placerville, Clark’s attorney, asserted that the bounced checks resulted from an honest mistake over the company’s bank accounts. The attorney told investigators that Clark had deposited $80,000 into a Plumas Bank checking account to pay customers. But the bank removed the $80,000 to satisfy an outstanding debt, leaving Clark insufficient funds for some of the checks he’d written.

Tiemann’s office did not return calls Friday asking for comment.

The district attorney said he is now focusing his efforts on new allegations from homeowners claiming their homes were rented to short-term tenants without their knowledge and that they were not paid for the rentals.

“A homeowner found the place had been lived in,” Cornell said of one of the complaints.

Truckee Police used a search warrant to seize computers and records March 13 from the property management firm on Donner Pass Road that Clark bought three years ago. Since serving the search warrant, police said they have received about 70 complaints from homeowners and renters claiming they hadn’t received payment from the business in months.

Truckee Police Detective Bill Mardison said he is investigating a specific complaint that also brings new evidence to the case.

Cornell said investigators were able finally to access Vacation Property Management’s computer records, copying the hard drives and returning the equipment to the business last week.