Tag Archives: HOA corruption

Seething Over Solar Seems Senseless In Kehrs Mill Estates

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
Most of our readers can relate to being an activist working towards changes in America’s HOAs. We understand being passionate about sharing our knowledge of the abuses and corruption. We can relate to Frances and Jim Babb in many ways. For one, they live in an HOA. And they are strong supporters of solar energy. They believe it is right for America for many reasons. And it’s the most efficient way for them to provide energy to their upscale Victorian mansion in Clarkson Valley; a posh Saint Louis suburb.The Saint Louis Dispatch stated, “The Babbs’ ordeal has turned Frances Babb into a advocate. She’s lobbied state legislators over the past year for the Senate Bill 579, which bars homeowners associations from prohibiting solar energy.” The bill passed. End of the story…or is it? No, it isn’t.

The Babbs requested approval for the installation of the solar panels from their HOA board at Kehrs Mill Estates. There was no response within the time allowed by their CC&Rs. Next they applied for a permit from the City of Clarkson Valley where they ran into a snag that ultimately had to be resolved with litigation and a great deal of nonsense. The Babbs prevailed. The City of Clarkson Valley appealed the court’s decision but were again ordered to issue the permit. The Babbs installed the solar panels and looked forward to living in peace while setting a trend towards using cleaner energy and doing their part to make America less dependent on Arab oil.

Suddenly, guess who has an issue with their solar panels? I know you guessed it right, THE KEHRS MILL ESTATES HOA! Some neighbors claim the solar panels might cause car accidents or bring rabies into the exclusive community. So, now do they want them removed? The Babbs’ house sits a football field length away from the road surrounded by trees so it’s barely visible to passersby.

Will there be another legal battle or will the Kehrs Mill Estates BOD realize how senseless it would be to file suit when the State of Missouri has passed a law that allows solar panels, the City of Clarkson Valley has lost court battles twice, and they didn’t follow their own CC&Rs? We know how this historically goes….after $100,000 or more is spent in legal bills somebody gets tired or goes broke in the fight.

I’ve spoken with Frances Babb and I am 99.9% sure she isn’t going to take her solar panels off of her roof! I’m cheering her on and I hope you will, too. HOAs expect their members to jump at every command and demand but when they don’t follow their own CC&Rs it can sure come back and bite them. Perhaps this will be a lesson learned?

Oh! And a word of caution to our pilot readers. Please do not mistake the Babbs’ solar panels as the runway lights for Lambert Field. Landing your Boeing 757 on one of the HOA private streets is strictly prohibited!

The three attached links are well worth reading!)

(St Louis Post-Dispatch story on the solar fight)

(followup story on solar fight)

(story in Clean Technica)

Can an HOA Board Keep Homeowners Out?

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These stories just get wilder and harder to believe. The video linked below is beyond shocking. The only good news is that newspapers and TV stations are using HOA horror stories as regular features. Yep, it’s going to be a bad, bad time for these HOA board officers.

HOAs Claim Embezzling is Rare (LMAO!)

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Really! Ask any promoter of the HOA system about the national epidemic of board members and property managers embezzling from the neighborhood budget, and they’ll swear that it’s rare…so rare, the average homeowner needn’t worry about such a thing.

It’s true that prosecution of HOA embezzlers is rare. Prosecutors know it’s expensive to charge HOA embezzlers. They know that embezzlers get incredibly light sentences from judges. Steal a million bucks and get 18 months in prison? Hey, such a deal! So, prosecutors’ attitudes toward victims is, “Well, if you don’t like it, why don’t you just move?” Where’ve we heard that before?

But with every embezzlement story, property values in HOAs across the country go down. Maybe just a little bit, but how can property values go up when there are so many HOA embezzling and racketeering stories?
Here’s another:

(link to money-laundering in Jersey City)

Folks, if you think this country isn’t in bad, bad trouble, you’ve got your head someplace it really doesn’t belong.

 

What do you do with a Naked Neighbor?

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guest blog by Dave Russell (Arizona community manager)

While HOAs are usually the most disastrous organizations ever created, can they ever really be useful? Well the residents in the Cardinal Glenn Homeowners Association, in North Charlotte, NC are hoping their HOA will soon come to the rescue.

Seems this HOA has a major issue with one of their kookie residents and can’t get any help from city leaders or the police. It seems that one of Cardinal Glenn’s residents likes to wear his birthday-suit while standing outside of his home talking on his cellphone. This, according to the neighbors.

           Edited version of photo neighbors took of the man standing at his door.
Unfortunately, North Carolina law doesn’t prohibit neighbors from running around in the buff, as long as they stay on their own property. That’s right, it’s perfectly legal to expose yourself to the children in North Carolina.

But City Councilman Gregg Phipps, who has to be an HOA board member somewhere, came up with a great solution. The esteemed councilman says the HOA should go after the cell phone streaker because they can enforce some nuisance provision in their CC&R’s. Have I mentioned that the naked guy has been doing this for ten years? This HOA is fully aware of the situation.

Now, depending on how receptive the HOA is to the councilman’s ‘solution,’ it’s going to cost the homeowners plenty of money to take their nudist to court. With NC saying it’s perfectly legal to display your ‘goods’ on your own property, it’s going to be a stiff fight.

I’m now thinking that Councilman Phipps is just as big a nut-job as this naked weirdo. Does Phipps even know how much those legal fees can add up to? When the dust clears, homeowners could be hit with a huge special assessment.

You’d think a problem solving councilman could have come up with a new ordinance prohibiting naked cellphone calls.

 

Being an HOA Board Member Could Get Dicey!

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There’s a case awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that could increase the risk for individual HOA board members and property managers. It involves passive and overt discrimination against certain protected classes. Overt discrimination needs no explanation. But passive or indirect discrimination, which often happens when no one intentionally means to discriminate, can lead to huge lawsuits and massive judgments against individual board members and homeowners. More and more protected classes have been filing lawsuits based on easier-to-prove passive discrimination.

If the Supreme Court declines to narrow the scope of federal discrimination laws then Katy bar the doors. Passive discrimination happens all the time in Homeowners Associations and it can only encourage more plaintiffs to make such claims. Insurance companies usually won’t pay for legal costs or judgments under federal or state discrimination laws.

When they begin to realize their personal liability HOA board members all over the country might start fleeing like rats from the Titanic. And many neighborhoods may decide to dissolve their HOAs forever.

The article linked below explains it far more intelligently than I did.

(pending Supreme Court decision)

(link to a prime example of the kinds of lawsuits that could start flying)