Big Sky, Montana — After condominium owners sued Boyne Resorts, which owns Big Sky Resort, over what they claimed to be an unfair relationship, it appears that they will reach a settlement.
The Montana Free Press reports that Boyne USA (also known as Boyne Resorts) has reached a roughly $25 million settlement with condo owners at three properties at Big Sky Resort: Shoshone Condominium Hotel, the Summit Hotel, and the Village Center Condominiums. Big Sky was required to put $18.79 million to create a settlement fund by April 1, 2025. In addition, Boyne will pay out $6.2 million in two separate but equal installments, with the first $3.1 million payment being on April 1, 2026, and the second one occurring on April 1, 2027.
These three buildings are defined as condo hotels. These are where some or all of the hotel rooms are labeled as condominium units, which can be sold to people. From there, these owners can use them for the weeks they want to and sell the dates when they don’t plan on being at the ski resort.
Various condominium owners at Big Sky Resort started a class action lawsuit against Boyne USA and related companies in December 2021, accusing the ski resort conglomerate of the “manipulation of the rental program.”
As part of their condominium agreement, Boyne USA is the only one that can manage these rental properties. The condo owners allege that this structure violates federal and state law. The net rental revenue rate that goes to Boyne, which was listed as 50% in the lawsuit, was categorized by the plaintiffs as well above what is used at other condos. For example, other rates in Big Sky go for 25-30%.
This alleged manipulation led to condo owners not keeping all of their rental revenue. Some of the other alleged frustrations that condo owners had included that they had to pay for maintenance projects, Boyne didn’t provide monthly statements regarding where the money was going, and the requirement that for five nights a year, the units had to be reserved for colleagues of Boyne.
Ultimately, what the lawsuit alleges is Boyne got more money from this arrangement than they should have, and the condo owners wanted their fair share. However, Boyne has and continues to deny these allegations. By agreeing to a settlement, Boyne isn’t admitting to any of the allegations.
“Boyne has agreed to enter into this settlement agreement to avoid the further expense, inconvenience, and distraction of burdensome and protracted litigation,” said the settlement agreement.
With the trial initially scheduled to commence on March 10th, the two sides reached a settlement. Chief District Judge Brian Morris ended up giving the first needed approval of the settlement plan on February 27th. Those who have objections to the ruling have until May 2nd to state their opposition, with a potential court hearing for that being on June 12th. The judge will need to approve the finalization of the settlement plan, which is scheduled for June.
“While we cannot comment on specific details until court approval is granted, this resolution allows us to move forward with clarity while maintaining our focus on continuing to build Big Sky Resort as a premier mountain destination,” said Stacie Harris, a spokesperson for Big Sky Resort, to the Montana Free Press.
Image Credits: Big Sky Resort
