Tag Archives: Florida

HooRay for Florida!!!

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Boy, howdee folks, this here Colorado cowboy never thought he’d see this day. But it looks like another fascist HOA state has just dipped its little toe into the waters of a free man’s land.

Governor Rick Scott has just signed HB-7119 into law! This law isn’t terribly radical. It just requires that all Homeowners Associations (or common area maintenance communities) in the state get registered. They have to report their federal tax I.D. numbers, the number of parcels within their subdivison. Most radical of all? They have to report their mailing and physical addresses. Ah yes, and they have to report their annual revenues and expenses for each association.

Sounds suspiciously like Open Government, doesn’t it?

Guess who viciously opposed this bill and demanded that the governor veto it? Two guesses? OK, three guesses. It’s the HOA board members and the industry that manage the HOA scam. Somehow, financial transparency scares the crap out of these people. Somehow, transparency unravels embezzlement, extortion, kickbacks, and pay-to-play schemes.

There are some heroes who stood up to the many bullies in the HOA industry.

Jan Bergemann. God bless you.

Rep. Michael Larosa. God bless you.

Rep. Debbie Mayfield. God bless you

Sen. Alan Hays. God bless you.

And God bless the American people who are slowly waking up to what has to be one of the most massive financial scams in the history of our country.

Sadly, there’s still such a long way to go to bring freedom to all of our people.

Such a long, long journey.

But it begins with a step.

Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman

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George Zimmerman goes on trial this week for the killing of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Zimmerman was the security watch captain for the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association when he reported that Martin was taking a late night walk through his gated neighborhood in February 2012. A police dispatcher told Zimmerman not to get involved, but a few moments later Zimmerman fired a handgun and killed Martin, who he said had attacked him. Zimmerman had multiple abrasions on his face which appeared to back up his story of being attacked by Trayvon Martin.

The judge in the case has ordered that the defense may not introduce photos from Martin’s cell phone that show him smoking dope and flashing a handgun a few days before he was killed. The judge has also disallowed testimony that Martin had been involved in previous fights. Some of those facts may still find their way in front of the jury. Finally, Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law supports those who use deadly force when they’re afraid of death or serious bodily harm.

A few observations from this longtime investigative reporter: I’ll be roundly criticized for this, but I predict Zimmerman will not be convicted. The jury will either be hung or it will find Zimmerman not guilty. Yes, the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association recently forked up a million dollars in a settlement with Martin’s family, but that was just a routine and legal extortion scheme which essentially ensures that all the lawyers get paid. Trayvon Martin’s family won’t see much, if any, of that settlement money.

If I’m wrong about any of these predictions, I’ll go off and sulk in a corner of my bedroom. And I won’t even complain about the chastisement that will surely follow. But folks, if you really want to analyze how the average HOA court case resolves itself these days, just look at the craziest of all possible outcomes. It’s a sad fact of life, but more times than not, in our current legal system, that’s what you’ll inevitably see.

George Zimmerman: Not guilty.

And homeowners in the Retreat at Twin Lakes HOA have yet to see the massive special assessments they’ll be hit with to pay for this debacle.

Wanna buy a home in the Retreat at Twin Lakes HOA?

Me neither.

There goes the neighborhood.

more information:

http://tinyurl.com/kxswtns

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/06/07/18832092-jurys-look-into-trayvon-martins-past-has-its-limits?lite

Solving HOA Problems With A Gun!

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Violence rarely solves a problem. But as Arizona psychologist Dr. Gary Solomon has long predicted, we’ll see ongoing increases in the number of angry HOA members using violence against board members and board members using violence against homeowners.

Thus, you have a homeowner beaten with a crowbar by an HOA board member in Kansas, angry homeowners in Arizona and Kentucky shooting and wounding or killing multiple board members during public meetings, a Colorado homeowner setting fire to a board member’s home, also a Colorado board member’s adult son setting fire to a homeowner’s home (in this case, mine). You have multiple instances of violence in the turbulent HOAs in Florida. In fact, that’s where the latest case happened.

Police in Port Orange arrested 67 year old Ronald Lovejoy for firing gunshots into two homes in his Countryside Homeowners Association. He was in some kind of dispute with his HOA and he apparently discharged his anger along with a few bullets. The homes were occupied at the time, but no one was injured.

Life in a rogue Homeowners Association can be incredibly stressful, and every so often some lunatic uses a weapon to settle the score.

What we really need is a national database of HOA related violence. Not emotional violence, there’s no way of ever accurately keeping track of that.

But physical HOA violence? That might be a little easier to track.

It’s also a reason to avoid life in HOA Amerika.

http://tinyurl.com/l2pmjzl

original source:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/article/20130601/NEWS/130609984?Title=Port-Orange-man-shoots-into-homes-after-disagreement-with-HOA-police-say

Ah! The Whiners!

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In days of old, when a neighbor was having a problem and couldn’t maintain his property because of disease, disability, aging, family emergency, bankruptcy, all the other neighbors would pitch in and help out. Well, don’t expect that in HOA Amerika.

No, these days it’s all about humiliating, fining, suing and foreclosing on the properties of the less fortunate. And the new leader of the anti-homeowner rights movement may be Gary Walsh, president of the Meadow Walk Homeowners Association in Sarasota County, Florida. His story is linked below.

Yep, ten percent of Meadow Walk’s homeowners are in the process of losing their homes in this ongoing recession. But whatever fast is, it’s not fast enough for Walsh. He wants the Florida legislature to fast-track the ability of HOAs to seize the homes of scofflaws. Damn their Constitutional rights, just take their homes, auction them off and put the proceeds into the HOA budget.

While Walsh complains that defaulting homeowners aren’t paying their fair share of the HOA budget, note carefully that Walsh complains about weeds on his neighbor’s property. Yet he has a tractor that he can use to help maintain his bankrupt neighbor.

What a guy!

http://tinyurl.com/cabgqyj

original source:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20130512/ARTICLE/130519909/2055/NEWS?Title=NEW-HOAs-embrace-fast-track-foreclosure-bill

No Angels Allowed in HOA Hell

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By Guest Blogger Nila Ridings

An HOA in Port Orange, Florida, has suddenly decided that yard art or statuary of any kind must be removed. Homeowners who don’t comply face fines, liens, and possible foreclosure of their homes.

Mrs. Freiji is one of many in the Ashton Lakes Homeowners Association. She loves the angel statue in her yard because it reminds her of her recently deceased husband. But she’s been told either the statue goes, or she does.

That’s the decision of the neighborhood lawn Nazi. The angel has to go.

And that basketball hoop at the end of a cul-de-sac? If that’s not taken down, the owner of that home gets fined a hundred bucks a month.

BTW, the neighborhood lawn Nazi is OK with making widows cry while passing out fines. However, an inspection of his own lawn shows just as many violations as the neighbors he’s harassing. He’s exempt, apparently, from his own mandates. Not surprisingly, he’s yet another lawn Nazi who won’t open his door when reporters start asking questions.

Is it any wonder that homeowners across the country are beginning to get angry?

http://tinyurl.com/cyj2uxn

original source:

http://realestate.aol.com/blog/on/port-orange-hoa-statues/

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