Tag Archives: HOA Abuse

Are We Winning? Hunter’s Run Decision Says We Are!

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I never thought I’d see this day. But doesn’t it seem to you like more and more Homeowners Associations are losing big court cases involving fines, judgments and legal fees?

There’ve been several in a row where the feds came down hard on HOAs that overtly or passively discriminated against families with children or handicapped members.

The latest is an Indiana family that moved from their home and rented it out without asking HOA permission. The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the fines and the lien the Hunter’s Run HOA filed on the family were illegal. More than that, the lien was invalid and a slander against the homeowner’s property title making the home unsaleable. Now the Hunter’s Run HOA will have to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to this family to make them whole.

I would bet dollars to donuts that members of this HOA didn’t have a clue their bully board’s actions were going to lead to huge assessments against every homeowner.

See this as a victory, folks! Homes in Hunter’s Run have lost all their value. They can’t be sold. The equity is gone. What fool would buy a home in an HOA where the board was stupid enough to lose this kind of case?

The tide is turning, and you and I are finally having an impact!

(the losers in Hunter’s Run HOA)

Texas Man Accused of Sharing Sex Romp Videos

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Hoo, boy, I’ve got several reactions to this story. First is disgust. This dirtball spent six months secretly video taping his bedroom romps with his girl friend. When the relationship developed some cracks he paid her back by sending tapes to her co-workers.
He also sent those naughty pictures out to the Homeowners Association! He’ll probably get off with a warning.

I can already hear his argument in court: “Your Honor, my actions were no more insidious than what’s done in Homeowners Associations across the country! Look, they’re all flying drones to peek into backyard hot tubs and bedroom windows and they pass those videos around the HOA board. HOAs are all about shaming homeowners for breaking the rules.

This girl broke my rules so I shamed her. But that’s what our neighborhood teaches us to do.”

Depending on whose pocket the judge’s fingers are in, this guy could actually win.

(link to story of illegal taping of sex romps)

From Robert Racansky

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from Ward Lucas:

This poor guy has been battling what appears to be a brain-dead HOA bent on no other goal than destroying a homeowner who stood up to them and won. Here’s his latest letter to me:

from Robert Racansky:

What is revealing is the account ledger and how much
they spent on Hindman Sanchez (law firm). Buckingham (atty) told me in person that he was being paid by the insurance company.

Per the account ledger I received yesterday, the total amount of
attorney fees paid to Hindman Sanchez P.C. was $19,184.35.

Obviously I’m biased here, but crap like this a perfect example of the
underlying fundamental problems with H.O.A. corporations — the lies,
the unaccountability, the imbalance of power, the perverse incentives
and moral hazards, etc. The problem is that it’s not as “sexy” as a
story about American flags being banned or an H.O.A. board being dicks
to a dying 6 year old girl, so it’s hard to make our policy makers and
pundits understand what needs to be done. Instead, we get a law
saying “H.O.A.s must have a written collection policy”. However, for
those of us who go through this — as I have been for six years — it
is an INCREDIBLY frustrating experience for so many reasons. 6 years
is more than 10% of my life, and more than 20% of my adult life.

Something else occurred to me last night:

People can — and do — lose their homes over trivial amounts,
sometimes a few pennies, sometimes a few dollars, etc. Sometimes
those amounts are nothing more than arbitrary and artificial
accounting artifacts. But our legislators and courts treat those
amounts as “damage” done to the H.O.A. corporation, which must be
permitted to exercise incredibly draconian powers because….well, I’m
not sure why.

But if an H.O.A. corporation f*s up in the amount of, say, nearly
$7,000, nobody will ever be held accountable. The home owner is
expected to just grin and bear it, because our legislators and courts
don’t treat that as a “damage” that the home owner is entitled to
collect.

“Equality before the law” is a sick lie we’re told as children to make
us accept any injustice in our lives.**

The Loss of Childhood Innocence

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Today, while driving to the Post Office in my old Denver neighborhood, I passed a little girl’s lemonade stand. She couldn’t have been more than eight years old but she was shouting at motorists like a professional carnival barker. Had I not been in traffic I would have pulled over and bought a cup. In fact, I may even go back tomorrow to see if she’s still there.

It brought back childhood memories of life at Ft. Sam Houston, Texas, where our home was located immediately across the street from a ball field where Army soldiers played softball every weekend. Mom taught us how to make and sell something she called ‘duros.’ It might have been a totally made-up name. I never knew. But a duro was Kool-Aid in a Dixie cup, a Popsicle stick in the center, frozen hard in our big basement freezer. In the hot Texas sun the softball teams lined up to buy duros from my little brother and me.

The coincidence of seeing today’s news story linked below was remarkable. An Overton, Texas cop has put a little girl’s lemonade stand out of business because she didn’t have a permit.

I’m glad I grew up in a more innocent age when political correctness wasn’t used to beat up little kids.

(link to East Texas Popsicle scandal)

The Wisdom of Solomon