Tag Archives: Florida

They Sure Wish They Could Shut Schutt’s Mouth

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
 
Bad actors in HOAs never want to be exposed.  They’re like termites, living in dark places, scurrying and hiding when light hits them.  The big difference is: Exterminators can get termites out of your life.  Board members and property managers…well, they’re not so easy.
 
With eighty-one years of life experiences, Jim Schutt feels he’s a pretty good judge of character.  And he has a keen sense of smell for all things rotten. When he openly expressed his concerns about his own HOA, the Fiddlers Creek Homeowners Association in Naples, Florida, he was hit with a SLAPP lawsuit. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation. And some HOA officers are learning to use them against any homeowner who criticizes them.
 
Theoretically, Americans have the right of free expression and free speech. Yet, some HOAs and property managers use lawsuits to keep critics silent as if their mouths were wired shut and their tongues cut out.  Why not criticize your HOA, if your criticism is 100% true and provable in court? Being dragged through court should not cost you your life savings. 
 
81 year old Jim Schutt took that risk and got hit with a SLAPP lawsuit. So even if he wins the suit, he will lose. In Jim’s case, the HOA Developer is using neighborhood dues to shut Schutt up. 
 
If I were the judge and the law allowed me, I would level the playing field.  If Jim Schutt is found to be telling the truth I would reimburse him 100% of his legal fees plus double that amount for his pain and suffering.  And for his bravery.
 
And that my friends, could possibly put an end to HOA SLAPP lawsuits. Just one case with a ruling like that could set the precedent, at least in Florida. Maybe Jim Schutt’s case is the one?
 
 
 

How to Comment!

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It’s come to my attention that some people haven’t been able to add comments to my posts. It’s incredibly easy. Right beside my photo at the upper right corner of each post there’s a bag.

Think of this as YOUR punching bag. Imagine that you were aiming at my head and missed and hit the bag! Then let us all know whatever’s on your mind.

Standard laws of Internet etiquette apply!  No cussing, swearing, flaming, threats, all the standard stuff. Oh, and don’t use all caps. that means you’re unnecessarily shouting and you’ll probably get deleted. And if I see something that looks libelous or slanderous your comment won’t appear.  

Finally, I do make a rare change on a post regardless of which side you’re on. I only do it to correct occasional grammar and spelling problems just to make you sound more articulate.

 

 

 

 

 

WANTED: Hair Stylist With Tree Extension Experience

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

If hair can be lengthened how about trees?

Quick! We need tree extensions in River Grove at Merritt Island, Florida before Pat Fitzgerald rips his Magnolias from the earth! His HOA is fining him $5000 because a couple of Magnolia trees he planted were too short. He’s already spent $1500 in an effort to mediate this idiotic dispute. Miracle Grow doesn’t work fast enough for this HOA board.

So, kiss those trees good-bye, Pat. Don’t you know you’ve destroyed all the property values in your neighborhood?

That’s right, Richard Rahn of the River Grove HOA board says Pat’s short trees have got to go! Yes, go! Not grow! I’m thinking things were better when board members didn’t make public comments. Because now that this board member has spoken out, HOAs everywhere should change their by-laws requiring elected officers to have an IQ of at least 50!

Pat never dreamed his military service during The Gulf War was going to be matched by the danger of growing trees in his front yard. But insanity never ceases to exist in HOAs!

Oh boy! Will it ever end?

(click here for KMBC story)

 

Whew! A New Housing Bubble?

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A lot of pundits have been predicting a new housing bubble, one even worse than that of 2008-2009. In this economy, of course, anything is possible.

But Bloomberg News now reports that the Fed is requiring a dozen major banking institutions in 2014 to stage a series of ‘war games’ if you will, stress-testing their ability to endure a plunge in the value of their portfolios.

How would they fare in another massive housing bust?

Hmmm, let’s toss into the mix a few factors that nobody ever talks about. 24% to 50% of the mortgage portfolios held by some major lending institutions are in homes located within American Homeowners Associations.

Several recent studies have shown that home values don’t appreciate or hold their value in Homeowners Associations as they do in properties outside of HOA control.

As documented in my new book, Neighbors At War, every foreclosure in a Homeowners Association drives down surrounding home values by several percentage points.

What’s that again?

Uh oh.

(Bloomberg News report)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-02/fed-gives-banks-new-dire-scenarios-for-2014-stress-tests.html

 

Florida Pro-Se Homeowner Strikes Out…One, Two, Three Lawyers!

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
 
Forget lawyering-up for Florida homeowner David Acosta.  He took the task of getting an injunction against Alaqua HOA on himself and Judge Marlene Alva ruled in his favor. Yep, the injunction against this maniac HOA bunch is on the record!
 
Acosta’s dues were in arrears so the HOA decided the best way to collect was to prohibit his family and friends from visiting him by calling the sheriff to have them arrested as trespassers!
 
David out-smarted three different law firms representing this Homeowners Association.  He got the judge to agree to let him pay his dues directly to the court  That fired up the HOA’s attorney who instructed the board to call a meeting and change the by-laws.  But Judge Alva ruled that meeting was illegal.
 
Acosta must have grown tired after swinging his bat at all these law firms.  He’s now hired an attorney and is suing for a settlement.  And I hope he gets a BIG one!  Six figures would be ideal.
 
Just for grins, he ought to sue the HOA attorney for malpractice, too.  And, David while you’re at it, go ahead and sue each board member for fiduciary failure!
 
Take em’ all down and send them off the field on a gurney!
 
This is one of the BEST homeowner WINS I’ve learned of to date!