Tag Archives: HOA Abuse

Sara Benson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Egads! I’ve never met Sara Benson, never even talked to her on the phone, but I’d have an affair with her in an instant, if she’d agree! (Yep, I’m not very classy, but I’m sincere!)

This incredible Illinois Realtor has discovered that up to 80% of Illinois Homeowners Associations are unknown and untracked by the state! The implications are massive. It means that huge numbers of Americans have signed away their access to rights conferred by the U.S. Constitution by buying homes in private corporations where they’re lying naked in front of all their fellow homeowners. They think they’ve bought private homes, but what they’ve actually bought is shares in unregulated corporations in which they can be taxed, liened, sued and bankrupted with their life savings going into a common pot owned by all their fellow neighbors.

It’s the biggest transfer of private property wealth to government in the history of America. Seductive. Illegal. Subversive. There just aren’t words enough to express it. I thought I was pretty smart about the evils of Homeowners Associations. I hate to admit it, but I didn’t have a clue. Not a clue.

This should be the Number One headline in every news organization in America. Sadly, it won’t be. I love America, but Americans are fundamentally stupid. Like the frog in the pot we just enjoy the increasing heat. Until it’s too hot.

Sara Benson and Don DeBat, I hope you sell a zillion copies of Escaping Condo Jail!.

(link to Chicago Tribune article on Sara Benson)

 

HOA Swingers! Ya Gotta Love It!

I don’t know much about swingers’ clubs. Yeah, I’ve been on a few vice raids in my career of such clubs. And one such raid was on a home in Greenwood Village, a super-ritzy HOA just south of Denver. Even for a hardened investigative reporter it was pretty eye-opening. So this headline caught my eye.

Swingers Club May Be Forced to Produce Guest List

Seems that an HOA lawsuit against a Texas homeowner may lead to some interesting discovery, i.e., the guest list of all those who’ve attended swingers’ bashes in the past few years. One doesn’t usually think of HOAs as being bawdy. But as a former Texan, I can say that Texans can be just as raunchy as people in any other state.

Still, this could be an interesting case, especially if the guest list turns up any Congressmen, Senators or certain HOA management officials. Any names come to mind?

(Texas swingers’ club being sued)

 

On Hating Kids!

It’s amazing how much kids improve our lives. And since the typical Homeowners Association has no interest in improving the lives of families it’s not impossible to imagine that some HOA boards will do everything in their power to drive families out.

How’s that for protecting your property values?

(article from Reno Gazette Journal on ‘kid noise’)

 

Sigh. Another Day, Another Dollar.

Or another thousand dollars. A couple of Homeowners Associations in Southern California are still trying to figure out how much was stolen from them. Fortunately, at least one of them had insurance but it’ll be a while before they find another insurance company. HOAs are getting a stinky reputation in the insurance industry because embezzling is so rampant. The seemingly massive theft linked below is just another average day of looting the HOA treasury.

(link to Ventura County Star story on HOA embezzlers)

 

 

Homeowners Association Fraud

Investigative reporters just LOVE websites like ScamBusters and Snopes. It saves us a lot of research time. Those sites are not always right and are subject to mistakes like most of the rest of us. But what a resource! Another of my favorite ones was CSICOP (Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal.) But that last one is a little esoteric.

I’ve just learned from one of my frequent email contacts that ScamBusters actually has a blog post about Homeowners Associations. It’s not perfect but it shows how suspicions about HOAs is going mainstream.

Protect Yourself Against Homeowners’ Association Fraud