This one comes to us from Miamisburg, Ohio. A handicapped woman who’s fitted with a prosthetic leg, was given a handicap parking spot in front of her house.
That angered at least one neighbor who began parking in her spot after leaving the nastiest note! The story has already gone viral on Facebook. After reading the note linked below, see if you think this story should go even more viral.
(link to story about 26-year-old handicapped woman)
One of the few ways that Homeowners Associations consistently lose is discrimination against the disabled or handicapped. Still, in HOA Amerika it’s all about intentionally violating the law because the disabled generally don’t have the money to fight. Occasionally HUD will move in and assess massive fines against an Association. But even that hasn’t made much difference.
The story linked below is about an elderly Florida woman, Claribel Ruiz, who has crippling anxiety and depression. Her doctor advised her to get a companion animal, a Chihuahua which has become a life saver for her.
“Not so fast!” said the Chancellor Hall Condo Association. “Dogs aren’t allowed. We don’t give a flying fig about the American Disabilities Act. Get rid of your dog or we’ll do it for you!”
Claribel’s dog is a registered therapy dog and she even gave her HOA the doctor’s prescription for a therapy dog. The HOA’s attorney then demanded that Claribel surrender all of her medical records to the Association. She refused and finally told the Association that she would give up her dog.
“Great!” said the Association. “That’ll work, but only as long as you pay all of our legal fees!”
As this blogger sits here reading this poor lady’s story, three things stand out: The woman is single, she’s elderly, and her last name is spelled ‘Ruiz’. That’s three strikes, right there!
Where’s HUD help when someone really needs it?
Shame on Chancellor Hall Condo Association.
It’s amazing to discover how few people know that Homeowners Associations routinely discriminate against the handicapped. Despite federal law against such discrimination, HOAs generally do what they dang well please. Once in a rare while HUD will file a lawsuit. Invariably that means a huge fine assessed against every member of the neighborhood. You can be a completely innocent homeowner and suddenly find tens of thousands of dollars assessed against your home because some idiot on the board did something stupid.
This story is not about HOA discrimination, just the nastiness that routinely happens around families with disabled children.
Fountain is a small town on the outskirts of Colorado Springs. A family there has a 16 year old daughter with Cerebral Palsy. The City of Fountain gave them a permit to build a wheelchair ramp to their front door, but the neighbors are outraged. They say the wheelchair ramp could destroy their property values. The family says the next-door neighbors are threatening to sue.
If this actually was a Homeowners Association, the couple with the handicapped child would already be out on the street. It’s happened before.
It really has….happened before.
Larry Delassus lived in a condominium at Hermosa Beach. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and is badly disabled. Wells Fargo apparently didn’t take any of that into consideration when it seized his home and quickly auctioned it off.
Delassus filed a lawsuit, and his attorney tried to present evidence that Wells Fargo had combed its records for homeowners who had more equity available for the taking. Those records included requests for loan modifications, a horrible violation of trust by those homeowners who filled the re-fi paperwork out.
In any event, Delassus finally did get his case into court. Wells Fargo admitted that it had made a mistake in Delassus’ foreclosure because it used the wrong parcel number from the assessor’s office when it targeted his home.
But Delassus didn’t get to see how the case turned out.
He died in the courtroom.
original source:
There must be a hundred-and-one schemes to get rid of the ‘gimp’ in your life. Yes, that’s the word once hurled at my wife, who has multiple sclerosis. The first time I ever heard that word was from my HOA president.
Now, the number one ‘gimp’ in Hollywood, Florida is a lady whose HOA is trying to sue her for being disabled. Yep, we don’t want disabled people ruining our property values, do we?
Larraine Best rides what she calls her ‘trike’. The Summit Towers Homeowners Association says it’s a motorcycle and she clearly has no business parking it at her home, especially in a handicap slot. She has a damaged spinal cord and gets around on crutches, and on her trike.
Lordy, lordy, federal lawyers and Broward County lawyers are now planning to sue Summit Towers on her behalf. The HOA says any such lawsuit would amount to a mockery of truly disabled people. Huh? Whazzat?
ADA lawyers have a nasty habit of always winning lawsuits on behalf of the disabled. And civil suits against HOAs by disabled people are almost always successful.
Citizens of Summit Towers? Plan on going to the bank to withdraw money for the big special assessment that’s coming your way.
Have a nice day.
