Tell Someone You Love, They’re Stupid

If you know someone in the Bayhead Landings Property Owners Association in Pasco County,  Florida, do us all a favor. Call them on the phone and tell them they’re stupid. Fundamentally stupid. And they’re going to lose their shirts.

Board members in this HOA are out of their minds. They believe that federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities just don’t apply to them. They’re special, you see. Federal civil rights laws don’t apply to them.

This is a really nasty fight among property owners in this otherwise idyllic Florida neighborhood. Kim and John Whitt bought what they thought was a dream home about five years ago. Problem is that an auto accident left John in a wheelchair. Federal law says a handicapped person MUST BE accommodated. Homeowners Associations ARE NOT exempt from federal law.

The Whitt couple wants to take part in POA/HOA meetings but wheelchair access is supposedly impossible. The Whitts have even offered to host board meetings in their own home, but the board members will have none of it.

This case is convoluted with a wild array of legal schemes to avoid accommodating the Whitts or paying their legal costs. The Whitts appear to have lost at least this stage of the lawsuit. But there’s more coming.

Although a County Judge has ruled against the Whitts, ultimately higher courts are bound to rule that a Property Owners Association MUST COMPLY with federal law. HUD occasionally files lawsuits against Homeowners Associations. But many board members have a special brand of arrogance that allows them to flout whatever laws they don’t like. 

The legal bills are piling up. The resentment is building. When the dust finally settles in this dispute it’ll mean a massive judgment and fine assessed against the entire neighborhood. 

So, if you’ve got friends in Bayhead Landings… tell them they’re stupid. Tell them this is one fight they’re not going to win. Let it go.

(link to Florida story)

President – James Jarboe 
Vice-President – Gary Yates
Secretary – Graeme Woodbrook 

While no direct emails could be located, the general email address for the HOA is: bayheadlanding01@gmail.com

 

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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.

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