Shakespeare once asked, "What's in a name?" While the Bard was discussing flowers, a newsletter recently mailed out to hundreds of property owners east of the river asking them to join the Rio Communities Landowners Association has caused confusion.

When members of the Rio Communities Association (RCA) and Tierra Grande Homeowners Association began receiving the six-page newsletter earlier this month, many of them called their respective association presidents.

"At our last meeting, we told our members, 'This is not us.' RCA is not associated with them in any way," RCA president George Moscona said.

That clarification was too late to stop two of RCAs own board members from joining the landowners association.

Moscona said he did speak with the consumer fraud division at the state attorney general's office, but was told they couldn't do anything about the association.

"In no way are we saying he doesn't have the right to exist," Moscona said. "But, there was certainly confusion among the people throughout our community."

RCA is a local neighborhood association representing more than 200 households, 300-plus individuals and 55 businesses, Moscona said. Its current initiative is to encourage their members to "shop locally."

"That is our entire thrust right now. Some of our business members are offering special incentives to our members when they show their membership card," he said. "Our commitment is to the local businesses because we feel that Rio Communities has a large economic block that will benefit Belen businesses."

Sue Moran, president of the Tierra Grande Association board, said her members were very upset.

"There were about 40 people who called asking what this was all about," Moran said.

Part of the confusion and ire was directed at the association to the north of them in Rio Communities.

"Sue did call me. She wanted to know what the heck we were doing," Moscona said.

Not only were the similar names a bit disconcerting for the local associations, but so was the fact that the newsletter was asking people to join the landowners association for an annual fee of $50.

"We do have annual dues," Moscona said of RCA. "It's $20 for our residents, and $25 for business members."

He pointed out that RCA does send out a quarterly newsletter called "The Current Quarterly," and reminded people that the publication from the association did not use the words "Rio Communities" in its masthead.

Moran called some of the information in the landowner's newsletter "questionable," and some outright misinformation.

"They go on and on about the Space Port. That's nowhere near us," she said. "If you read it closely, they advise land owners not to do anything with their land, but if they do, to use the association's lawyer and realtor. Ummm, cha-ching?"

Once the name issue was straightened out, Moscona and Moran had other questions — like who was this organization, and what do they do?

"Who is this?" Moscona asked. "How many members do they have? There's not a lot of information here except an 800 number and a P.O. Box in Florida."

The answer to the "who" question is Jim Ownby, a realtor based in Port Orange, Fla.

Initially, Ownby declined to speak with the News-Bulletin, but he eventually did agree to speak to the newspaper in general terms about the landowners association's purpose.

Ownby said he established the Rio Communities Landowners Association and accompanying newsletter service in 1992.

"We basically deal with absentee landowners who don't live in the area," Ownby said. "We are a DBA (doing business as) of Rio Rancho Landowners Association, Inc. I have landowners associations all across the country. We send out the newsletter depending on activities, on what's going on in the area."

According to the New Mexico Public Regulation Commission's online corporation database, Ownby is associated with only one corporation in New Mexico, the domestic profit that is Rio Rancho Landowners Association. He is listed as the president of the association, which was incorporated in New Mexico in 1992, and remains in good standing.

The Web site for Jim Ownby Realty, Inc. lists a total of six landowner associations, three in New Mexico and three in Florida, all saying there is land for sale by owner at the individual association Web sites. When the link for properties for sale is clicked on all six sites, a notice tells visitors to contact the property owners, not the association, if they are interested in purchasing a property.

The New Mexico landowner associations are in Rio Communities, Rio Rancho and Deming/Sun Valley. Five of the six associations were formed in 1992, including the three in New Mexico. The Citrus Springs Landowners Association was formed in 2000.

In addition to a post office box number in Port Orange, the Rio Communities Landowners Association newsletter lists an address on Southern Boulevard in Rio Rancho. Both addresses feature the same toll-free number. The Rio Communities Landowners Association Web site has a disclaimer that reads, "Our sole purpose is the promotion of Valencia County, and no other intentions are expressed or implied."

Ownby stressed that his association does not set local homeowners association rules, regulations or covenants for local associations.

"We don't infringe on what any local association is doing," he said. "We try to keep absentee landowners aware of what is going on that may impact their property. If they want to belong, fine. If they don't want to belong, fine."

The landowners association hasn't sent out a membership drive newsletter to the Rio Communities landowners in nearly five years, Ownby said, because, according to him, it is hard to get accurate data from the county to generate a good mailing list.

According to the association's Web site, the annual membership fee gets a landowner the quarterly newsletter, communications with a staff representative through a toll-free phone number, e-mail and Web site, premise liability insurance, legal representation when needed, a recommended attorney and recommended realtor and most importantly, Ownby says, unity.

"One of the main things, as a group through a large underwriter, we can provide premise liability insurance," he said. "We make landowners a little bit more aware of what is going on. One person can't do squat, but by getting people to stick together, we've won cases."

Ownby referred to a civil case in Luna County that was filed in 2003, in which he, as the plaintiff, along with 67 interested parties sued the county over a solid waste ordinance and accompanying assessments they felt were illegal. The judge ruled that the solid waste ordinance was invalidly adopted, and ordered that the annual assessment of $12 be refunded to the landowners.

The court ordered the county to pay Ownby $5,000 plus $290 in gross receipts taxes for attorneys fees.

When asked, Ownby refused to release the number of members in the Rio Communities Landowners Association, saying those figures were privileged information.

"I don't know the exact number, but even if I did, I wouldn't tell you," he said.

The idea of a landowners association started as a "genesis of the heart," Ownby said.

"Back in the day of land speculation projects, my father purchased some land in Florida," he said. "After he died, I began researching to find out what he really owned. I found that across the country, there were these groups who had sold all this land, but there was never any development. It is still sitting vacant. This started with the idea to help people get representation."

Dennis Gast with Dream Makers Realty in Los Lunas has been the recommended realtor for Rio Communities Landowners Association for almost a decade.

The real estate broker mostly sells undeveloped land and horse properties, he said.

"I do sell some residential properties on referral, but mostly, I sell dirt," Gast said.

Gast said most counties have been referring questions from absentee landowners to his office.

"I have heard horror stories about elderly people being scammed," Gast said. "Telemarketers will call elderly landowners and tell them their property can sell for $17,000, $27,000, and then ask them for their credit card number."

Gast called the properties in Rio Communities "beautiful," and said it's going to take a while to see any development.

Saying that the association's mission was to get the property developed, Gast said it is working to put property together in blocks for later sale and development.

"If the economy comes back, and these properties start to sell, we want to make sure none of these people get land locked or cheated by a developer," he said. "Some of these people have owned their property for 40 years."

Theresa Scott with the Valley Improvement Association (VIA) said their office has gotten a lot of calls from property owners since the mass mailing went out.

"There is confusion. Who are you? Who are they? We try to give them clarification," Scott said. "A lot of the property owners didn't realize that it's (the Rio Communities Landowners Association) not mandatory."

Scott said another thing that isn't mandatory is insurance on vacant land.

"It's not necessary," she said. "We have spoken with our attorneys, and the property owner's homeowners insurance covers it."

She also noted that the name "Rio Communities" means different things to different people. Currently, when someone references Rio Communities, they are speaking of the developed area east of the river and just south of Belen, Scott said.

"When Horizon first subdivided the property it owned east of the river, all of their holdings ran basically from Tomé Hill south to Tierra Grande," she said. "It was all considered part of the development they called the Rio Communities. It's a confusing issue for residents because of the current local group, the Rio Communities Association."

On the Rio Communities Landowners Association Web site, it offers plat maps for $18, unit maps and county road maps for $5 each. Also available is a publication called "Owners Guide to Clear Title" for $28. All six landowners association Web sites offer similar documents for varying prices.

Unit maps and plat maps are available through the Valencia County clerk's office for $4 to $6, depending on the size. Staff says whether a customer walks in with a request or makes it by phone, fax or e-mail, the cost is always the same.

Victor Gonzales with the county's geographic information system (GIS) department based in the assessor's office said his department can make custom maps for customers, but that could be cost prohibitive for some people. Custom mapping by the GIS department costs $25 an hour.

"As part of the assessor's office, our primary concern is land ownership," Gonzales said.

The GIS department can produce black and white and color copies of county maps as well as aerial photos ranging in size from an eight-and-a-half by 11-inch sheet of paper up to 34 inches by 44 inches, with prices as low as 50 cents up to $30.

For example, an 11 by 17 inch black and white copy would cost $1, color is $3.50 and an aerial photo that size costs $10.

Gonzales points out that people can access that information and more for free through the county's Web site.

"People can go online to our mapping section and look at their property — property they are interested in and get a clear view of what's around them and the roads in the area," he said. "The Valencia County Chamber of Commerce also has a good road map for free."

The county's GIS map also provides information on parcels such as the name of the current owner and most recent assessment on the property.

The county's Web site is www.co.valencia.nm.us. Click on the "mapping" link on the left side of the home page to access the maps. Under the GIS mapping and copy rates portion of the Web site it is noted that a taxpayer is entitled to a single copy of their property record at no charge, not included aerial photos. For more information, the GIS department can be reached at 866-2049.

According to public records from the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, Ownby has been a party in a dozen businesses incorporated in Florida.