Those Honest, Honest Lawyers

An expose’ by the Denver Post shows that many Colorado homeowners have been forced to pay legal bills to law firms which had never filed foreclosure lawsuits against their properties.

“Phantom court cases” the Post calls them. Homeowners afraid of losing their homes have been sent legal bills by county public trustees saying that foreclosures could not be stopped unless homeowners forked over the legal fees for these nonexistent lawsuits.

The homeowners always did.

Grift? Graft? Regardless of what it’s called lawyers and law firms are rarely, if ever, sanctioned. They participate in confiscation of private homes yet if they’re caught they face no penalties. Our society has been turned upside down. Shoplift more than $200 in Colorado and you face prison time for a felony. Steal thousands of dollars from distressed homeowners and you can buy your kid a Ferrari.
A strange legal system in this country.

(click here for Denver Post story)

 

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About

Ward Lucas is a longtime investigative journalist and television news anchor. He has won more than 70 national and regional awards for Excellence in Journalism, Creative Writing and community involvement. His new book, "Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association," is now available for purchase. In it, he discusses the American homeowners association movement, from its racist origins, to its transformation into a lucrative money machine for the nation's legal industry. From scams to outright violence to foreclosures and neighborhood collapses across the country, the reader will find this book enormously compelling and a necessary read for every homeowner. Knowledge is self-defense. No homeowner contemplating life in an HOA should neglect reading this book. No HOA board officer should overlook this examination of the pitfalls in HOA management. And no lawyer representing either side in an HOA dispute should gloss over what homeowners are saying or believing about the lawsuit industry.

4 thoughts on “Those Honest, Honest Lawyers

  1. Nila Ridings

    The system is broken to say the least! Between the HOAs and now this, I would be very reluctant to purchase real estate in Colorado. How did this gorgeous state get so twisted up with insane real estate problems? It sounds to me like Colorado homeowners need to be contacting their legislators en masse.

    Reply
  2. Albert

    HOA, Board and Property Management ABUSE must be stopped.

    The Texas Property Code grants homeowners the right to inspect HOA records. My HOA,BOD and PM have failed and they have refused to produce the records. They have violated the property code by refusing to allow me to inspect the HOA financial documents.

    It has been over 3 years since I’ve tried to get my HOA to give me the HOA financial documents so I could inspect the financial records. The Board of Directors and the Property Manager conspired and connived and played every dirty game and excuse imaginable to avoid giving me the financial documents. I got angry and I sued the HOA, the Property Manager and the Board of Directors in District Court in Dallas Texas in October, 2012. The case is set to go to trial in September 2013.

    Interested readers may read about the case – DC-12-12648-G

    Reply
    1. Ward Lucas Post author

      Albert, I hope you win it. And I hope you win it before these creeps force you to spend every dime you have. You’re one man against a massive organized crime operation. So I thank you for your heroism. And understand that there are thousands and thousands of people on your side!

      Reply
  3. Nila Ridings

    Albert,

    Been there. Done that. Judge ordered HOA to turn over the records to me. The president told the judge under oath there were no records. The treasurer told me there were no bank accounts, no bank records. Nothing. He thought I was stupid enough to believe over $100,000.00 per month is checks coming into the HOA and they had no bank accounts!!! A year later board members were caught shredding records. I was called. My attorney told me to head down to the clubhouse with witnesses and cameras. You should have seen them…shaking and making up lie after lie. When I contacted the detective to let him know records had been “found” he said that was a flat out lie because he had been in those records after the District Attorney’s office put him on the case. I could have taken them back to court on perjury charges but it wasn’t worth the money. To this day, my HOA has 10 Million dollars unaccounted for. The guy that was the president for 26 years died as soon as the investigation started. I hope you have better luck but trying to get records from these lying crooks is next to impossible. Just remember: People who have nothing to hide…hide nothing! That includes your HOA. I’ve learned first-hand they are dirty, rotten, and no good. Please keep us posted on your case.

    Reply

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