This blogger saw it coming last year when the indictments and highly suspect “suicides” first started happening. Now the federal judge in the Las Vegas HOA corruption case says he’s sympathetic. But he’s telling scammed homeowners, “Don’t hold your breath. You probably won’t be seeing any restitution.”
Imagine for a moment that your company has transferred you to California’s Central Valley. Lots of warm days are in your future, you get a chance to dry out from all the rain and snow in your old home town.
Your Realtor has been driving you around several neighborhoods in Angels Camp: Saddle Creek Resort, Copper Cove and the little community of Copperopolis. Suddenly you see it! The house of your dreams! The yard is nicely kept, the rooms are large, the last owner has really taken good care of the place. “What’s the neighborhood like?” you ask the Realtor.
As I’ve said before, once in a while you’ll find a lawyer who may actually be given a spot in Heaven. Is this another one?
Fraud in community associations. by: Bill Raphan September 13th, 2012 | 2:41 PM
Unfortunately, there is fraud being committed in community associations throughout the State of Florida every day.
I spent 5 years working with the Economic Crimes unit of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in their Condominium Anti Fraud program.
The good news is that the majority of the complaints that were submitted turned out not to be fraud but were only mismanagement or misappropriation of funds.
I promise you, I absolutely promise you I have tried to avoid writing about this story. It first popped up about three years ago, and is so far outside the realm of common sense that I haven’t wanted to damage my own credibility by retelling it.
Still, more and more HOAs around the country are turning to DNA analysis to find out whose dog is pooping on whose lawn.
No, really.
There’s nothing that drives an HOA board member nuttier than seeing someone else’s dog squat on an unapproved lawn. And technology has made it cheaper for an HOA to actually trace a dog dump.
It’s pretty amazing to see the way some neighborhoods tear themselves apart.
The latest goofball story comes from Lake Asbury, Florida. The HOA is threatening to foreclose on the homes of 26 families because they don’t want to pay a dues increase of $50. The HOA needs the money to help maintain docks and boat ramps on the lake. Fifty bucks seems pretty trivial, but the homeowners are taking it to court.
In the meantime, the anger, the frustration, the hatred has made Lake Asbury a pretty attractive place to live, right?
