Tag Archives: foreclosure

YEAH! HUD vs. Las Vegas HOA!

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
 
Life is very different for those who have a severe handicap or live with someone who does. Social events are rarely, if ever, attended.  Most outings are spent at a medical office or hospital.  Transportation is restricted to a specialized vehicle that comes with a hefty price tag.  And vacations are nearly out of the question. 
 
Above all, these families deserve compassion and kindness.  But all too often, life in an HOA shows us how cold-hearted, selfish, and ridiculous some people can be towards others.  
 
At nineteen years old Eric Doyle has suffered 500 bone fractures due to a disease over which he has no control.  He can’t go out dancing or downhill skiing like others his age. But because his parents purchased an ambulance for his transportation he can occasionally go to the movie theater or to a BBQ dinner.  
 
But Eric and his family had to go through a nightmare of threatening letters, fines, and a battle with the Harbor Cove Homeowners Association in Las Vegas and their First Columbia Community Management, Inc. property manager.  Listen to this!  They demanded he re-paint the ambulance and remove the lights because that’s what THEY wanted in order to keep their perfect little HOA in pristine condition.  You know, so the property values don’t go down. HA!
 
Harbor Cove Homeowners, welcome to decreased property values with your $65,000 settlement to Eric Doyle and all the media exposure that comes with it!  Keep your noses in the air and your hearts on dry ice.  But never forget the day could come when life isn’t perfect for you either!
 
Kick ’em harder must be the motto in the HOA and property management rule book when they know somebody can’t stand up and fight back! And threaten them with fines, liens, and lawsuits until you bankrupt them or run them out through your golden gates.
 
Readers, we must never stop fighting against these injustices!  We are better people with bigger hearts than to let others be hurt like this.
 
The Doyle family has now moved to a non-HOA community with the $65,000 check in their hand. I wish them the very best in their HOA-free life! 
 
 
 

Wouldn’t It Be Great If We Could “Fix” HOAs This Same Way?

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
 
This link should put all sorts of ideas in your mind about how to fix up your failing HOA. If only we could Photoshop our neighborhoods the same way the fashion industry does its models:
 
 
 
36 seconds and “POOF!” Your HOA has no wood rot, no broken sidewalks, no dead tree limbs, dog poop, or peeling paint.  Wouldn’t that be amazing?
 
I actually have seen this very thing being done on real estate websites.  Potential buyers are stunned when they walk in and discover the kitchen is laminate, not granite. The pool isn’t out back, but three doors down in the board president’s back yard.  And the garage is a single not a triple.  And those beautiful multi-colored leaves on the maple tree outside the dining room picture window? That tree doesn’t even exist.
 
Deception is everywhere. Sadly, it’s becoming an acceptable practice.  But somebody always ends up a victim and reality hits like a brick.  This kind of deception is happening all across America’s homeowners associations.   
 
Life isn’t being lived like it’s portrayed in the pictures.

 

A Sexual ‘High’ From Hurting Others

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I wrote about this topic in my new book, Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association. Some readers were a little skeptical, but the latest study by scientists at MIT and Princeton University seems to back my claim up.

People actually take pleasure in hurting others. Obviously not everybody lacks empathy. But a solid majority of those studied shows that many folks get some kind of a ‘buzz’ when they hurt someone else, especially those they envy.

It’s not the first such study. Others have shown that a vast majority of people would actually hurt other people, even fatally, if put in a position of power.

But this latest study adds interesting information when you look at HOA board members who abuse their positions of power over others.

(click here for UPI story)

 

Thumbsucking HOA Idiocy in Florida

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What is it about service dogs that HOAs don’t understand? It’s federal law. You cannot keep a disabled person from owning a service dog even if you hate that homeowner’s guts.

Nick Spagnolo was disabled while fighting in Kuwait and Somalia. Now, as a disabled Navy veteran he has a service dog to help him cope with his daily life. The Veterans Administration says it’s a service dog. His doctors say the dog is a medical necessity.

But the Jamestown Property Owners Association in Hobe Sound, Florida says Spagnolo’s dog weighs 40 pounds and the HOA regulations clearly prohibit dogs over 20 pounds.

Homeowners Associations across the country have been hit with massive federal fines for ignoring the rights of handicapped persons to have service dogs.

The Jamestown Property Owners Association is going to lose this one, and they’ll lose big. And the homeowners will all be hit with special assessments to pay for the legal fees and fines that’ll begin mounting up.

How do you spell ‘sftupid’?

(click here for Hobe Sound TV story)

 

A Word of Appreciation

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I get many emails from folks who’ve discovered my book, Neighbors at War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association. All of them have been heartwarming and appreciated. Many have been written since the Kindle version came out a couple of months ago. And what really helps is the amazing number of positive reviews you’ve given my book on Amazon. Every time a new positive review comes out, I see book sales rise.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, review and refer my book to others. And thank you for your newly aroused activism in your own neighborhoods. In Kansas City, Las Vegas, Arizona, North Carolina, Florida and Texas, I see homeowners actually winning. We desperately need to keep reclaiming the Constitutional rights we’ve lost to the HOA movement. Every time I hear your horror stories it raises my ire, and doubles my determination to keep fighting. But it’s your victory stories which are the most encouragement to me.

Again, thank you.

Ward Lucas