Tag Archives: HOA Embezzlement

A Handicapped Youngster? Screw ’em!

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Great guest post by Dave Russell yesterday, good enough that I’d like to add to it.

Around the country, Homeowners Associations continue to wildly discriminate against families with handicapped youngsters. They’re shunned, they’re fined, they’re labeled ‘bad people’ who aren’t allowed to use the common areas. These stories are as disgusting as they are endemic. And they should serve as a warning to any potential home buyer that HOA property is fundamentally diseased, unfit for Americans who believe in human rights.

Yes, H.U.D. occasionally comes to the rescue on behalf of a damaged family. But these federal lawsuits are so rare they can, at best, be described as ‘show trials’ similar to the massive HOA racketeering case now being conducted in Nevada. A show trial is exactly what it sounds like. The feds ride onto the scene like rodeo cowboys, crack a few whips, and hope that other criminals across the country will be deterred from committing similar crimes. They never are.

The only solution to human rights violations by the HOA system is federal fines massive enough to stagger the imagination. Under the current system the feds win an occasional lawsuit, the HOA insurance company pays for the lawyers and fines, and the homeowners never have a hint about what really happened.

How to solve the problem? When an HOA commits an ongoing violation of federal law confiscate the entire neighborhood under public nuisance laws. Every house, every family gets evicted without compensation.

Outrageous, you say?

Impossible and illegal you say?

Hey, just look at a 2006 Supreme Court decision called Kelo. The government essentially confiscated an entire neighborhood simply for the crime of “not looking nice enough.” Actually, there was some underlying corruption there. A pharmaceutical company wanted the neighborhood for a construction project and the state gave it to them. The irony is that the drug firm decided they didn’t really want the land after all. Now this former neighborhood is just a field of weeds.

Maybe what this country really needs is a few more weeds.

(link to story on cerebral palsy family driven from Kentucky neighborhood)

 

Rancorous Racism, HOA Style

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guest blog by Dave Russell
I have lived in HOAs for nearly two decades. I have also managed one for five years. Trust me when I tell you, I’ve heard and seen it all. I have also postulated a number of theories as to why HOAs seem to attract some of the craziest folks I have ever met.

I’ve seen seemingly normal neighbors turn into backstabbers, liars and some of the most unreasonable people you’ve ever met. I have seen neighbors hook up, break up, and then turn into complete psychopaths.

I have also seen neighbors join the board and steal their neighbors trust and money. But the one thing that just makes my skin crawl, is when one homeowner, goes after another homeowner, simply because of their race. It happens more often than you could ever imagine, especially in homeowners associations.

Sure, I’ve come across my fair share of racist homeowners. I’ve also seen my fair share of racist board and committee member. But I have never seen anything like the racial shenanigans going on in the Courtyards HOA in San Diego, California.

Seems like a homeowner has made some pretty damning accusations against his neighbors. A resident of the Courtyards HOA is in shock after she said a letter accuses her family of making meth, selling children and huffing paint was sent to 200 people in her condominium complex. Accusations that the targeted resident and her family adamantly denies.

Now the president of the HOA is calling an ’emergency meeting’ to discuss the matter with his fellow board members. It appears that the president of the association doesn’t believe any of the accusations contained in the hate letter.

I’m a little more than suspicious as to why the HOA President called an ’emergency meeting.’ Usually HOAs don’t get involved in neighbor vs. neighbor, unless perhaps, the perpetrator of the poison pen letter is an HOA committee or board member. I guess we will soon find out who he is, hopefully upon his arrest. Something about HOAs just seems to put the ‘S’ back in stupid.

Beware the Coming Building Craze! Caveat Emptor!

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Canadians often seem much more polite than Americans, but the BBC documentary linked below is one that everyone on this blog should watch. Downtown Toronto has been devastated by defective construction in many of its high-rise condo towers. The U.S. government is following the exact same political path as the governments of Toronto and of Canada have been following over the past seven years.

With the inevitable world financial collapse that’s coming, many building shortcuts are going to be overlooked in the U.S.. Massive construction projects will be seen by our government as an escape valve against the housing market bubble. Thousands of people in rapidly expanding financial markets like China and Dubai will be buying newly built American condos without ever making a personal visit or inspection. And American building inspectors will be ordered by their bosses to overlook common sense building regulations.

This blog is all about protecting you. My guest bloggers put a lot of work into researching and writing about certain subjects to protect you, the homeowner. But believe me, we’re getting pressure from the CAI cacophony and the realty folks and property managers. We make no money on this blog by encouraging our followers to be cautious in their investing.

Caveat emptor.

 

HOA Booting Anger in Albuquerque

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What gives an HOA the right to boot cars on public streets? Nothing. But that didn’t stop the HOA Nazis in an Albuquerque HOA from booting a work trailer in the middle of a resident’s work day. And these over-the-top idiots were busy booting cars parked in the residents’ own driveways.

Why do they think they can flout the law? Because homeowners are afraid to protest.

But one activist in Ventana Ranch HOA is making some waves. And the City Council is thinking about passing some laws to reign in abusive Homeowners Associations.

(link to New Mexico TV story on booting controversy)

http://krqe.com/2014/12/10/homeowners-association-boots-residents-on-city-streets/

Illegally booting cars in a neighborhood has an amazing capacity for massive damage suits. If someone had an emergency and needed to race a child to the hospital but discovered his vehicle improperly booted? The emotional damage factor alone could result in multi-million dollar verdicts. The sad thing is that the costs of paying such a judgment would be passed off to innocent homeowners. Management companies just seem to be above the law….and that’s a problem.

“That’s One for You, Ten for Me, One for You and Ten for Me.”

      7 Comments on “That’s One for You, Ten for Me, One for You and Ten for Me.”

The number of embezzlements by HOA officers is almost laughable. I’d say unbelievable but that’s not the right word. Greed is part of the human condition and has been around since Cain and Able.

Still, you’d think that some embezzlers would feel a little bit guilty.

Enter Elizabeth Mills Wilson, treasurer of the Manor at Harmon Lake Homeowners Association in Forsyth County. Now I’m not saying she’s guilty. That’ll be determined by a jury, or by a guilty plea. Her Sheriff’s booking photo makes her look a little bit arrogant. 

But then, you’d have to be a little arrogant to steal $40,000 from your neighbors. A judge will give her a suspended sentence and maybe a tongue lashing. What this country really needs is some real lashings!