Walter A. Barniskis and Mary Sue Barniskis - Page 13




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          which some of the owners had created to challenge respondent's              
          position in cases such as this one.  Mr. Rysdahl stated in the              
          letter that he was personally contributing on behalf of the unit            
          that he owned and explained his motivation as follows:                      
                    [I] do so mainly based on the concern that, since                 
               tax benefits are useful to at least some of our owners,                
               a victory in this case would make ownership of a unit                  
               more desirable for some prospective buyers, and                        
               therefore help retain the re-sale value of our units.                  
               Immediately prior to the submission of this June 30, 1997,             
          letter as evidence, Mr. Rysdahl had testified as follows:                   
               Q:   Mr. Rysdahl, you, in fact, own a unit at Bluefin                  
               Bay, don't you?                                                        
               A:   I am a 50 percent owner in one unit at Bluefin                    
               Bay.  Actually I'm a 50 percent owner in a unit at                     
               Tofte Cove Townhomes, which is a more recent and                       
               adjacent development.  I no longer own any part of a                   
               unit at Bluefin Bay.                                                   
               Q:   But it -- and it's your opinion or belief that the                
               outcome of this case will affect the resale value of                   
               your unit?                                                             
               A:   No.  It won't affect the resale value of my unit.                 
               Mr. Rysdahl later testified about the type and extent of               
          TMC's employees' participation in the management and operation of           
          Bluefin Bay.  In light of his personal and business interests in            
          the outcome of this case, we discredit Mr. Rysdahl's testimony              
          concerning the number of hours spent by TMC's employees in the              
          activity of renting petitioners' unit.  We rely on his testimony            
          only to the extent it is corroborated by other reliable evidence.           







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