The link below is horrifying, but really should be read by everyone concerned about elder abuse. It involves state agencies that declare an elderly person ‘incapacitated’ and appoint a guardian who takes over that person’s care and gives the guardian unlimited access to the older person’s bank accounts.
While I was an investigative reporter for the NBC affiliate in Denver I reported on several such cases. Then, attending my 50th class reunion last month, I spoke to a longtime neighbor (and a good-lookin’ gal, too!) about a different kind of theft. Seems that a sibling was executor of her parents’ rather substantial estate and that sibling stripped out all the assets. My friend didn’t get a dime of what her parents left her.
State governments and the courts look the other way when these financial crimes are committed. They just don’t seem to care. When an old person is involved it’s just easier not to have to think about the abuse.
With all that in mind, please, please don’t neglect reading this linked web post. And apply it to your own situation and where you might find yourself some day.
(link to article on ‘theft by guardian’)
The video associated with this news story is actually pretty funny. But the subject matter isn’t funny. Killer mosquitoes actually do exist!
In Smyrna, Tennessee, a homeowner is furious because the town won’t do anything about an outbreak of giant mosquitoes in the retention pond behind his house. With Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya, dengue fever and who knows what other diseases carried by these bugs, the lawsuits are going to be flying.
More amazing is the size of these bugs. The homeowner in the video captured one and said this is the size of the mosquitoes that are biting him and his family. The retention pond is owned by the developer, which means there’s probably a Homeowners Association involved. With a few multi-million dollar verdicts it’s not hard to imagine that massive special assessments will soon start hitting all the homeowners. A situation like this can end up bankrupting an entire neighborhood and the typical HOA homeowner has no access to basic Constitutional rights.
(link to stories about the outbreak of giant mosquitoes)
guest blog by Nila Ridings
Purely by accident Mr. Plumbean changed his neighborhood. I think if he would attend some HOA meetings across the country he could change the mindset in HOA Amerika!
Like many of you, I follow the HOA stories that Judy Thomas has been writing in the Kansas City Star’s HOA Hell series. The comments that people make are very interesting and most are supportive of the homeowners, not the HOA. One comment read something like this: “This story reminds me of a book I read in elementary school.” I was so curious I asked for the name of the book and she wrote back The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Manus Pinkwater.
The orange splot starts a chain reaction of major change in the neighborhood by Mr. Plumbean. Prior to its appearance every home looked exactly alike and that’s the way everybody wanted it to be. They liked the “neat street” sameness. I will not give away the story line but I think the HOAs of Amerika desperately need Mr. Plumbean! And I feel sure the author was a victim of an HOA at some point in his life.
While this is a children’s book it’s one that HOA homeowners will no doubt relate to and hopefully learn from. The answers we have been seeking can be found in just 32 pages!
Egads! I hate to publish links to CAI press releases. As I do this, just remind yourself that CAI rhymes with lie. The Community Associations Institute just loves to help struggling seniors, right? That’s what they’re trying to pretend right now. They’re going to help pack meals for low-income or struggling old folks.
If CAI really wanted to help seniors, then they’d start advising some of their hundreds of thousands of member Homeowners Associations to quit fining, liening and confiscating the homes of seniors who are too weak to fight the petty dictates of the local lawn Nazis.
Want to really help seniors? Give them back their access to Due Process and the Bill of Rights.
(link to press release on CAI’s amazing lie)
Not HOA related.
Be cautious of a phone scam that’s sweeping the country. You get a text on your cell phone supposedly from Bank of America. It says “Your Bank Card has been locked as a security measure! Follow http://xxxxxxx(my deletion)xxxx and update your profile to unblock your credit card.”
This scam has been used for a number of years, but several friends I called tonight said they had just gotten such a text. So apparently this one is going around again. Banks won’t text you and tell you to update your profile. So beware!
Ward
