PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Members of the Serenata Beach Club in Ponte Vedra Beach are feeling more confused than ever after receiving a note from the owner saying the club is temporarily closing due to financial issues.
“Chaotic. Just frustrating more than anything else,” Serenata Beach Club member Kevin Stitt said.
Money is on the line for members like Stitt, who paid $13,000 in initiation fees and annual dues for his family to spend their free time at the Serenata Beach Club just six months ago.
Then he got an email in his inbox Wednesday night from Molly Butler, the owner of the club.
“As is public knowledge, we were victims of a crime last year during the process of refinancing the club. We have been playing catch-up ever since and it is not easy. I have been promised by lenders that they could quickly close with us only to be let down,” Butler wrote.
Read the full message below:
Stitt does not think the email explains anything.
“It was just run-on sentence of a run-on sentence,” Stitt said.
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News4JAX went to the Serenata Beach Club on Thursday afternoon and did not see any employees or anyone else there, just a few cars in the parking lot. There was also a note from Butler saying to contact her with any questions.
“I’m so fed up with it, though, this morning, I just sent an email back and said, ‘Since you guys aren’t going to communicate with me, and let me know what’s going on, I just sent a note to the state attorney and said, let them investigate it,’” Stitt said.
The I-TEAM has reported multiple foreclosure lawsuits against the business and its owners totaling almost $15 million owed.
Butler seems to point to the fact that they were victims of a crime involving a fake COVID-19 loan scheme in 2021 for the problems the club is facing now.
Stitt said that’s not enough of a reason to keep paying his dues to the private club. He called the communication from the owners “bizarre.”
“I have an issue paying dues when like, we don’t know what’s going on. So, until I have the opportunity to actually talk to the owner, which I’ve requested several times. Just give me clarification, what’s happening, what’s going on? What was the crime that happened? Why are there two foreclosures right now going on that are pending in St. Johns County?” Stitt said.
News4JAX has reached out to Butler but she did not immediately respond.
News4JAX is also waiting to hear back from the State Attorney’s Office on how many complaints have been filed against the Serenata Beach Club.