Just when you think you’ve heard the stupidest story ever about an HOA board, along comes an idiotic decision that just makes you shake your head.
It’s election season, and you’d think Texans would have a little more common sense than most people. I spent some growing up years in Texas, and I loved considering myself a Texan. But combine the words ‘Texan’ and ‘Homeowners Association’ and you just get twenty-seven degrees of STOOPID.
The Stonebridge Ranch Homeowners Association in McKinney, Texas has a rule that a political sign can’t have more than one name on it. Huh? Yup. Y’all listen up, ya hear? Only one name on each sign. So, a McKinney homeowner fought the rule…and lost. But he came up with a solution that’ll just leave you shaking your head.
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/08/25/mckinney-homeowner-fights-back-whenb-hoa-cracks-down-on-political-signs/
http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/08/25/mckinney-homeowner-fights-back-whenb-hoa-cracks-down-on-political-signs/
Shaming. It’s another word for bullying. For abusing. Often, public shaming is more hurtful than physical abuse. If you’ve never read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, then you’re missing one of most powerful works in the history of literature. And if you’re honestly in this fight against the national Homeowners Association scam then you need to read Hawthorne to begin to understand how mean and horrible public shaming really is.
I don’t get too many emails from homeowners in Michigan, but there’s a big HOA controversy in that state right now. A new couple applied to their Livingston HOA to have their home construction plans approved. They were. Then the couple was asked if they could move their proposed home a few feet to save some trees. They did. After spending 200,000 bucks to build their foundation and do the framing they were hit with an HOA lawsuit, claiming they moved their house without permission.
Now the whole neighborhood is torn apart. There’s vandalism, there’s a petition to recall the board. But this new couple will forever live with the shame of having caused all this ruckus.
Shaming. It’s probably the most vicious weapon that HOA Nazis have in their evil arsenal.
(link to Livingston Daily story on the HOA feud in Michigan)
When some media outlet reports on the latest outrage involving an out-of-control board of lawn Nazis, the CAI invariably sends out representatives who use the same old tire lined: “These complaints are so rare and isolate, they’re not even worth talking about.” They use that same lie whenever they testify in front of State Legislatures.
Here’s another of those “Oh, so rare,” and “Oh, so isolated” stories:
http://counton2.com/2016/08/22/neighborhood-attempting-to-overthrow-hoa/
LOL! That’s the lie I’ve been railing against for the past half dozen years.
No, HOAs absolutely DO NOT protect property values. And across the country, homeowners are learning about that the hard way. The latest hair-raising story comes from North Carolina.
Police in Wake and Johnson counties confirm they’re investigating possible embezzlement of more than a half million dollars from more than two dozen Homeowners Associations managed by Kornerstone Community Management.
Let’s see, I’ve got a home in The Wellington HOA I’d like to sell. Oh, a special assessment? To cover all embezzlement costs? Now, where did my prospective buyer go? Guess I’ll have to lower the asking price again.
No, your HOA does not protect your property values.
(link to WNCN-CBS news in Raleigh, North Carolina)
The ripples from the investigative series in the Kansas City Star continue to move across the nation. Editors at many major newspapers are undoubtedly kicking themselves for not diving into the story earlier. Beleaguered homeowners in out-of-control Homeowners Associations who’ve been victimized by the local lawn Nazis are feeling a bit of satisfaction that someone in the newspaper industry is finally looking their way. And some HOA bully boards may be looking behind them to see if investigative reporters are shadowing their activities.
Lord Acton famously said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said, “Light is the best disinfectant.” The very structure of the modern Homeowners Association creates a system of absolute power. And only by opening up that corrupt and secretive HOA structure to public inspection will homeowners begin to reign in the abuses and financial corruption of a huge number of the nation’s HOA neighborhoods.
The editorial in the Kansas City Star is worth reading, although those of us in-the-know recognize that it doesn’t go far enough. Legislative control? Yes. It’s necessary. But a complete ban of these phony non-profit HOA corporations is the only way to truly restore Constitutional rights to tens of millions of homeowners who inadvertently signed them away.
(link to HOA editorial in Kansas City Star)
