Tag Archives: foreclosure

Net ‘Neutrality’ and this Website!

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Well, the news this week is pretty bad for net neutrality. The White House has come up with a 332 page book of regulations that it’s going to hand to the FCC for implementation. Just as in the Affordable Care Act, they have to pass the bill so we can all see what’s in it. A lone renegade on the FCC is warning that this bill is so heavy handed that it will fundamentally change the way the Internet is governed, essentially treating it as a public utility.

Hundreds of billions in new taxes, controversial websites (like this one) may be subjected to a version of the old (and failed) Fairness Doctrine, and smaller businesses and smaller political operatives will essentially be driven off the web. Websites will be censored. Another name for the bill is “full employment for trial lawyers.”

The Internet has given us a measure of freedom that never would have been granted by traditional government. It has fundamentally changed the world, both socially and financially.

FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai says the future looks pretty grim.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/02/10/fcc-commissioner-unprecedented-involvement-of-executive-branch-in-our-decision-making/

 

HOA Drives Man to Commit Suicide

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

This story brought tears to my eyes! Another one out of Florida.

(man kills himself over emotional support dog)

This on the heels of the man in a Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who killed three neighbors, possibly over parking disputes.

The comments on threads related to the senseless shooting of three young students, who happen to be Muslim, are shocking, disturbing, and heartbreaking. I cannot believe the number of people who believe this “gun-toting atheist” was justified in taking three lives because these three allegedly drove him to that point over parking disputes! Was this a hate crime as well? It wouldn’t surprise me, the way that HOAs are set up to intentionally exclude and harass residents who may be different or unpopular. The social structure just reinforces prejudices.

What is happening to our country, when a significant portion of our population is so unable to deal with conflict that they must resort to abuse, violence, and suicide?

 

 

Stop Building Crap!

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That’s the power phrase that came out of an interview with Jon Harris, who owns a condominium in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. Five Points leaders tried for decades to turn around its image as a run-down part of the city. Back in the 20s and 30s it was the home of some of the best jazz clubs in the country. But as Denver expanded in all directions of the compass, Five Points was subjected to typical inner city decline.

Still, neighborhoods can be reborn and Five Points leaders have worked hard to try to make the neighborhood a showplace once again.

The problem is that they mandated higher density ‘affordable’ housing which meant developers were ordered to create Homeowner and Condo Associations. To encourage developers to build such high density housing the city loosened zoning regulations and inspections.

Condo owner Jon Harris desperately wanted to buy a quality home and live in a neighborhood rich in Colorado history. Now, he says, every condo in his complex is beset with construction defects. Meanwhile, the State Legislature is trying to pass a bill that would limit lawsuits against builders.

Harris says the legislation is wrong. The only right answer is for builders to “STOP BUILDING CRAP!”

Most of us could agree with that.

(link to KDVR-TV story on construction defects)

 

AirBnb, A Weird New Phenomenon

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I’m biased on this subject. I have to say that out front. For many years I owned two small condos in Vail and Beaver Creek which my agent leased out to skiers on a long-term AND a short term basis. The rents were the only thing that allowed me to financially own the two properties. And they were always available to my families during ski season and during the wonderful Vail summers.

Good experiences, and bad. I did get stuff stolen. I did have the two apartments trashed. In absolutely every case the damage was done by long-term tenants. The short-term tenants were respectful of my belongings and my interior improvements and they never cost me a penny in damage. Long-term tenants were a nightmare. They stole furniture, bed sheets, draperies, silverware, you name it.

So when AirBnb came along, providing homeowners with a way to provide housing for short-term guests I was all for it. ALL FOR IT! In my experience, temporary short-term guests were more respectful, more responsible, and they helped me pay for two condos I couldn’t otherwise have afforded. And during all those years of ownership, I never once got a complaint from management. AirBnb makes sure all clients submit references and they’re constantly monitored by the service to weed out travelers or homeowners who don’t follow the rules.

Oh, but those nasty HOAs are trying to put their fists where they don’t belong. A couple in Denver’s Baker neighborhood have hoisted a banner demanding an end to the AirBnb service. And the City of Boulder has issued a couple dozen cease and desist orders against homeowners who use AirBnb to lease out their homes.

Idiocy. Absolute idiocy. If my experience is any example, you definitely DON’T want to lease your home to long termers. Those travelers who stay there just a few days are the most respectful tenants you’ll ever meet.
But maybe that’s just me.

(link to Denver story on couple trying to stop AirBnb)

 

The Viciousness Knows No Bounds!

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What is it about the ‘control’ issues many HOA board members have? And why is it that brand new Ford F-150 pickups are so hated?

The board of the Kimry Moor Homeowners Association in Fayetteville, New York has decided that homeowners David and Arna Orlando are scofflaws because they park their pickup in the driveway instead of in the garage.

Never mind that people all over this HOA park their trucks in their driveways.
No, I strongly suspect the issue isn’t the truck. It’s that somebody on the board thinks the Orlando family are of the wrong race, the wrong income level or because their kid might have smart-mouthed a board member’s kid at school.

I hope the Orlando’s attorney looks at an almost identical case in Texas where the owner of the Ford F-150 got sued for his truck…and he actually won the case against his power-mongering HOA. It’s too bad that HOA homeowners have to pay special assessments to support this kind of insanity.

(link to latest HOA lawsuit against an F-150 owner)

(for the Orlando’s attorney, this might save you a couple minutes of research time)

And yet another!

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/28/florida-man-spends-k-right-park-driveway/