Tag Archives: foreclosure

Fury Building in Arizona Over Sneaky HOA Bill

Steam is rising from the ears of homeowners rights advocates in Arizona over a supposed ‘jam-down’ of a last minute bill controlling Homeowners Associations. At first glance it looked as if there was a little for everybody in the bill, but analysts are saying a lot of people got hoodwinked. Either Governor Jan Brewer, herself, was hoodwinked…..or more likely, she was the Hoodwinker-in Chief because she signed it into law.

More to come as we count the wood ticks in the picnic basket.

 

Balls the Size of Texas!

Our old buddies, the ethically-challenged Associa Companies are trying to bribe homeowners into ‘liking’ them on FaceBook. Associa is the massive HOA management company run by the infamous Texas state senator, John Carona. Billions of dollars flow through his fingers as he rams pro-HOA, anti-homeowner laws through his state legislature. But if a Georgia homeowner ‘likes’ his or her Associa-run neighborhood on FaceBook that homeowner just might win a 200 dollar prize.

Nah, I have to amend that: The neighborhood that racks up the most ‘likes’ can win a 200 dollar prize.

Oops! Let me amend that again: The neighborhood that wins, doesn’t get 200 dollars. It gets 200 dollars worth of ‘vendor services’. And it just so happens that Senator Carona and his Associa affiliates also own all the vendors which supply his own HOAs. It’s amazing the way this billionaire politician’s pockets are all connected with each other.  

http://tinyurl.com/m8e9r5b 

original source:

http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/06/17/4952620/associas-homeside-properties-launches.html

 

Some Fun From Blog Fans

 guest blog by Nila Ridings
 
“If you wrote a blog post about your own HOA (or one you know about), what would the title be?”
 
That was the question Ward tossed out to his Facebook followers.  In the same way he didn’t disappoint us with his book, we hope he isn’t disappointed with our bloggin’ titles.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy YOUR FANS’ creativity, Ward!
 
Presenting the titles:
 
“Wake Me Up When This Nightmare Is Over!”
 
From the Board Of Directors: “Don’t Ask For Any Records, Or You Will Be Wearing Cement Shoes!”
 
“The Inmates Are Now In Charge Of The Asylum.”
 
“Do Not Threaten To Sue Me And Invite Me To Eat A Hamburger With You In The Same Sentence!”
 
“HOAs…The Gathering Place For People Of Short Stature Who Are In Need Of Being In Power!”
 
Board member to resident: “Crowbar Or Gavel; Either Way I’ll Win!”
 
“Share The Truth”
 
“What’s Mine Is Mine..And What’s Yours Is Mine!”
 
“How To Supplement Your Retirement Income By Skimming, Scamming, And Being On An HOA Board.”
 
“Elect Me To The Board! I Need One Accomplishment To Put In My Obituary!”
 
“Predator Lawyers: The Fallacy And Foolishness Of Thinking You Own Anything!” 
 
“Watch Out For The Mink Creek HOA Board Of Directors – The GOOD OLD BOYS Are Up To Their Old Tricks!”
 
“Evil Behind These Gates!”
 
“I Will Never Buy In An HOA Again!”
 
“The Self Serving Board Of Directors At Mink Creek HOA”
 
One contributor even offered up the perfect HOA Board spy song! 
 
 
Music video by Rockwell performing Somebody’s Watching Me. (C) 2004 Motown Records, a Division of UMG Recordings, Inc.
 
Now, who was it that said HOA members have lost their sense of humor?  Pick your favorite and comment on it!
 

People Are Learning

Hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country are getting educated about Homeowners Associations. They’re not doing it by reading my book, or any of the others on the market. They’re learning by cold, hard, first-hand experience.

A lady in Houston, Texas named Crystal Stemberger is an author, a successful personal finance blogger, and a fulltime blog advertising manager. Her business and blog are called Budgeting the Fun Stuff. And it really is a fun site for browsing.

But the reason I’m mentioning her is an excellent blog she wrote about her experience as a new member of a Texas Homeowners Association, where she’s discovering the unnecessary and demeaning bullying which is targeting her. A weed, a wrong-headed claim that her car was parked on the street for longer than the mandated six hours. Threats of fines. Not only is her column good, the many comments below it are also informative. And it shows that the word is spreading about the vulgarity of rogue Homeowners Associations. The national HOA movement is slowly killing itself.

Here’s the link to Crystal’s column:

http://tinyurl.com/pxdkgnv

original source:

http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/home-owners-association-bullies/

 

 

 

 

A Mess In Mesa

While this blogger continues to be hypercritical of uninformed reporters, sometimes they actually do get it right when it comes to rogue HOAs.

At the links listed below, reporters and anchors with the ABC affiliate in Mesa, Arizona, knew how to ask the right questions and expose the contemptible HOA president of the Superstition Lakes Condos.

Seems that president Michael Cassady has asked his treasurer for lots of unusual ‘reimbursements’ supposedly for HOA board meetings. Things like vodka. Laundry detergents. Big restaurant bills. More liquor. In two years, $38,000 worth.

Then there’s the reimbursement for nearly six hundred dollars for ‘gate repairs’. But officials with the company listed on the receipt says they never repaired any gates for Cassady or the Homeowners Association.

This kind of thing goes on in HOAs across the country. And HOA board officers continue to insist that homeowners do not have the right to see the books and discover how their mandatory dues are being spent.

That’s what’s so beautiful about a society with a free press. Once in a while it can pry open some secrets.

http://tinyurl.com/kp5t7fr

original source:

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/money/consumer/alerts/mesa-hoa-out-of-control-homeowners-accuse-board-of-misspending-funds