Tag Archives: foreclosure

“Complaints Against HOAs Are So Rare” -CAI

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When some media outlet reports on the latest outrage involving an out-of-control board of lawn Nazis, the CAI invariably sends out representatives who use the same old tire lined: “These complaints are so rare and isolate, they’re not even worth talking about.” They use that same lie whenever they testify in front of State Legislatures.

Here’s another of those “Oh, so rare,” and “Oh, so isolated” stories:

 

http://counton2.com/2016/08/22/neighborhood-attempting-to-overthrow-hoa/

 

Banks Win A Huge One In Nevada!

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I’m no big fan of court decisions that favor big banks, in fact, I’m a bitter critic of some of the financial scams the big banks run. But the latest one in Nevada is no miscarriage of justice.

A lower Nevada court had ruled that investors in foreclosed HOA loans had a super-priority right to grab up a foreclosed house for a few thousand measly bucks, and cancel the loan the original mortgage company had given the homeowner. For a few thousand bucks you could just ignore the entity that loaned the original homeowner the half million it took to buy the home in the first place.

I despise crooked banks, I’ve been personally victimized by a crooked bank. But still, the phrase ‘due process’ is woven into our Constitution. And due process is supposed to be accorded equally to all citizens and all corporate entities.

The decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will obviously be challenged. The 9th Circuit is famously the most liberal Court in the nation and overturning 9th circuit decisions is almost pro- forma for lawyers. So it’ll be interesting to see what direction this decision goes. With a 4-4 tie in the U.S Supreme Court the whole matter could boil down to which Presidential candidate comes out on top three months from now. If this decision is delayed by the lack of a deciding vote by the High Court’s pending 9th member it very well could stand as is.

(link to Las Vegas Review-Journal story on overturning of Super-priority lien)

 

 

Goonan on HOTMA

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One of the most articulate and intellectual bloggers in the homeowners rights movement is Deborah Goonan. A critically important recent column of hers is one that’ll be overlooked by most of us, the so-called Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act. It would force the FHA to ease regulations on mortgage financing for those buying condominiums. On the surface it sounds like a great thing, lowering down payments, reducing the mandated number of owner-occupied units.

But beware! We don’t know what the exact timing is, but there’s a mortgage/credit bubble headed our way that will make 2008 look like a walk in the park. Not a single banking expert is predicting otherwise. All it takes is for one branch to break and the whole tree will fall. Many expect the troubled Deutsche Bank to be the first to fall. Others think the controversial Presidential election cycle could be the trigger.

Regardless of your political persuasion, this is a dangerous time for homeowners, investors and virtually anyone trying to support a family. This bill had unanimous support in the Congress and Senate. But read Deborah’s column. Make your friends read it. And hold your breath because things are going to get interesting.

(link to Independent American Communities column on HOTMA) 

 

Judy Thomas On The Commons

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Most people in our network already frequently check into Shu Bartholomew’s incredible weekly radio show, On The Commons. Everybody who’s anybody in the homeowners rights movement has been interviewed by Shu at least once. But this weekend’s show had a ‘first-timer.’ And what a first-timer it was!

The guest was Judy Thomas, the reporter behind the huge HOA investigative series in last week’s Kansas City Star. Judy says she’s gotten responses from all over the country. Strange, because so many other major newspapers have turned down stories about the HOA mess because they assume it’s a non-issue.  It’s getting more and more difficult for professional lobbyists like the Community Associations Institute (CAI) to pretend that almost all homeowners are happy with their HOA. It’s obvious that millions, even tens of millions of homeowners have been burned by the national HOA scam.

Definitely listen to how this Kansas reporter uncovered the truth about HOAs.

(link to OnTheCommons.net)

 

More on Crooked HOA Nevada

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guest blog by Bob Frank

The massive corruption involved with major over-charging of assessments and accumulating hidden slush funds from surplus assessments is still going on in Sun City Anthem, Henderson, NV with no end in sight.  Neither the state nor the city leaders are willing to act to stop it.  The facts are plainly documented–even this year with yet another board member who got it, and was ignored.

The total waste and abuse in this association alone is over $10 Million by now and growing every year.  There has been no accounting for such fraud.   Annual budgets cover up the issues, and assessments are never reduced by the prior year’s surpluses.   After a decade of such openly illegal abuses, not a single dollar of over $10 Mil. of surplus assessments has ever been “returned/refunded” to the overcharged 7,144 unit owners.  Those thousands of dollars denied to be refunded or credited to members amounts to grand theft–accordingly to criminal law.

But, the Administrative Laws of Nevada give the Executive Branch no authority to punish financially corrupt board members (and that is how the legislative and executive branches want it to be)–except to remove them from a board–which almost never happens.  While board members can theoretically be fined $1,000 by the executive branch, it almost never happens (3 times in 10 years from 3,000 HOAs where there were over 1,000 unit owner complaints about law violations and gross board mismanagement) and when it does, the association is allowed to pay the fine and stiff the members for the second time!

Finally, after what happened to me with being falsely arrested, perp-walked, jailed for 4 hours, entered into the global criminal database, and finger-printed for daring to ask that such flagrant theft by the board be investigated and punished, others are understandably too afraid to file similar complaints with “law enforcement” in Nevada.  So, there is never meaningful punishment for stealing from HOA unit owners–even if it causes the association to go bankrupt.

In case anyone is interested, I have some first person experiences with “tolerated corruption” relating to my 3 years on the NV HOA Commission.   It is a fact that Administrative Law is knowingly and willingly unconstitutional by our federal and state legislators.  The combination of ignorance and greed (dependence on development, HOA management, and real estate industry campaign donations) is totally out-of-control.  It is hard to see through the fog of corruption to envision any progress in the future.  The abusive system seems perfectly protected from all angles.