Tag Archives: foreclosure

Memorial Day

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On this Memorial Day I was going to post a very personal video I did back in my TV news reporting days. However, this email came in from Col. Robert Frank of Nevada. I think it’s more powerful than anything I could have written.

Dear Nevada Legislative & Constitutional Officers:

Memorial Day 2015.  It is the time for all to honor the 2,893,818 American military members who were combat killed, wounded or still missing in action since this unique Republic and Battleborn State was formed.

Time to reflect on what we really mean when we tell living veterans “Thank you for your service”.  Time to think about what we living American citizens and citizens of the free nations of the world owe to those war veterans who wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America’ for an amount of up to and including their life.

Time to remember that we veterans and elected officials share the solemn burden of having signed the same oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, “so help me God”.

In honor of all those war veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifices so we could be free, it would be most honorable if you would kindly take just a few minutes out of your very busy schedules to read and meditate upon the essence of an untold veteran story included with this email.

Even if you might have seen it or something like it before, I believe it will mean much more to you on this weekend, in this year, when so much of our freedoms and Constitutional Rights seem to be fading away.

Many thousands of citizens are praying daily for each of you to put aside your personal interests and receive God’s Grace and Wisdom as you complete your legislative session on behalf of Nevada citizens.  We are counting on you to support what is right for all citizens during the waning days of the 2015 session.

As you complete your work on so many vital policy matters, please remember to be faithful to the Judeo-Christian foundations of this Republic.  Never forget the almost 3 million who have selflessly died, were wounded, or went missing in action so that billions of unknown humans in the free world could have a chance to live as they choose.  And, please, always be mindful of the millions more who will inherit what survives from the fateful decisions made in this 2015 session.

May each you have a blessed and safe American Memorial Day, and be ever faithful to your public duty and the historic purposes of this solemn occasion!

Your friend,

    Robert Frank, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)


			

		
		
		
	


	

		
		

						

				Stupid, Stupid Aspen
			

						
			
            

				

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No, not everyone in Aspen is stupid. But this kind of a story is a national embarrassment and every rich person in this glittery ski town should be down the necks of the idiots who are allowing this to continue.


I’ve written about this service dog dispute before. The board of the Aspen View Condominiums on Midland Avenue has spent months harassing the owner of a condo because he rented it to a woman who has a service dog to help her deal with her epilepsy. After months of the most incredible nastiness toward this woman, she moved out.


But Aspen View bullies wouldn’t quit. They began assessing fines against the condo owner and have liened his home.


If you want to sleep tonight, do not read the Aspen Times story linked below. If, however, you want to see how low and morally degraded some HOAs get, then have at it. And think about sending a note to this disgraceful board.


(The Aspen Times makes you answer a question before the text appears. Just click a box and you’ll be able to read it.)


(link to story on service dog flap)


 


 

			

		
		
		
	


	

		
		

						

				Money and Power: A How-to Guide for Real Estate Developers
			

						
			
            

				

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan


1)  Promise local planning and development commissioners that your Utopian projects – including planned communities (HOAs) and condominiums – will increase tax revenues beyond their wildest dreams, without any fiscal impact to local government.


2)  Dangle the carrots: wealthy domestic and foreign investors willing to provide capital financing to get the project going.


3)  Promise to provide “affordable housing,” but make it clear that, in order to do so, you may have to cut corners and build crap. And, after you turn over the community to all of those homeowners, you don’t want them to come crying to you, when their homes and the whole darn place starts falling apart! Therefore, insist upon laws, policies, and procedures that will shield you from liability for construction defects. Otherwise, you won’t be able to deliver on your promises.


4)  Hire cheap labor, even if they lack skills or pride in their workmanship. Build as fast as possible! Get the state to allow you to hire your own private inspectors to verify that all construction meets code requirements. That takes city and county inspectors off the hook, right?


5)  Require that all construction defect claims and disputes must be settled in secret before an Arbitrator (preferably one that you choose). Write this into the deed restrictions, and don’t allow homeowners to amend this requirement without your consent. You don’t want future buyers to be afraid to buy your crap.


6)  Lobby state legislature for provisions that will reduce the statute of limitations for making defect claims, or reduce the scope of warranty coverage. Put the homeowners on the hook for the cost of repairs.


7)  Fund campaigns for political allies with direct or indirect ties to real estate development. Offer lucrative employment or investment opportunities after their term in office expires.


8)  Build your Real Estate Empire through vertical integration. Acquire construction and building material companies, as well as maintenance companies. Be sure to partner with at least one well-entrenched management company. When common area repairs are inevitably needed, tap into all of those affiliations for perpetual revenue streams.


Think I’m making up these “strategies” or exaggerating? Here are two links that will make your blood boil!


(First Coast News construction defect investigation, Anne Schindler, FL)


(precedent-setting interpretation of crafty Colorado construction defect law)


 

			

		
		
		
	


	

		
		

						

				Committed Christian? Bad Idea To Live In An HOA!
			

						
			
            

				

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Most HOAs have a regulation about “No Home Businesses.” With so many people working at home on the web that’s an almost meaningless rule…except when Board Bullies want to throw their weight around.


Sure, nobody wants to live next to a neighbor who operates a sawmill in his back yard. But sometimes the local HOA Nazi gets out of control and too full of himself. You’re an author and you write books and magazine articles? That’s an illegal business. You use your computer to fill out medical forms? Illegal home-based business.


The latest outrage comes from Senoia, Georgia, where a Christian family decided to help other families in need. In their garage they collect things like bed sheets, groceries, household goods. Nothing is stored in sight of any annoyed neighbors. Every so often the family delivers the goods to those who desperately need them.


“HOME BUSINESS!” screams the Summerfield HOA. “ILLEGAL!”


When you think about it seriously, Jesus Christ would be unwelcome in the vast majority of America’s Homeowners Associations. Riff raff. Healing cripples without a license. Restoring sight to the blind without permission from the HOA. Claiming to be God, when everyone in the neighborhood knows that only the HOA president is God.


Give me a break.


(link to HOA attempt to shut down family ministry)


 

			

		
		
		
	


	

		
		

						

				HOA Drone Inspections On The Way!
			

						
			
            

				

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Those who follow this website know that I’ve been predicting this for years: Drones flying over your property taking video of your covenant violations. Now a mainstream HOA promoter is actually whispering about the possibility.


The link below is disguised as a ‘warning’ for HOAs to be cautious as they approach the subject of drone inspections of private property. But the real message is “Our time has come! Get your drones ready.”


If you think your personal privacy is already violated by abusive HOAs, then all I can say is, “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Despite what this mainstream HOA booster says in the link below, you gave up your privacy when you bought into your HOA. I first discovered this when I bought a couple of condos in Vail in the late 1980s. When I changed the locks on the doors the HOA board just had the locks drilled and sent me the bill.


In California some HOAs are doing so-called ‘hoarding inspections.’ These are unannounced inspections of the interiors of private homes! One of the items in their list of things you’re not supposed to hoard are books. Shades of Fahrenheit 451?


But my three-year-old predictions about drones being used by HOAs is actually coming true. Video of you and your lover in the backyard hot tub is NOT a violation of privacy. Not in an HOA.


(link to industry newsletter hinting about coming drone inspections)