Tag Archives: HOA Hell

Near Tragedy At Palms West Condominiums

      4 Comments on Near Tragedy At Palms West Condominiums

guest blog by Nila Ridings

This story sends chills down my spine. Shoddy electrical work that was done at this Hialeah, Florida condo complex swimming pool nearly cost some children and the adult rescuers their lives. City records indicate NO PERMITS WERE PULLED before this “electrical” work (should be called electrocution work) was done on the pool.

Once again, as we’ve heard thousands, probably tens of thousands of times, the HOA or condo board hired some “jack of all trades” (who actually knows little to nothing at all) to do a job that only a licensed contractor should have been performing. The risks are too high not to hire professionals! The consequences can be catastrophic and deadly.

Was the board trying to save a few bucks? There is no “savings” worth risking injury or death as these condo owners are about to find out. Who knows if these children will suffer life-long effects from this one event? It could take years to learn the extent of their injuries. Just wait until the personal injury attorneys start circling and offering their services for a contingency fee! I can see it now. The finger pointing and lies and cover-ups will be countless. The attorneys already know every resident of the condo or homeowners association can be forced to pay damages. It’s that minor detail that buyers are never told about when they are looking to buy a home or condo.

I must say, if I was in charge of electrical work on a community swimming pool not only would I hire a licensed electrician, but I would hire a second one to double check the work of the first one. And I would ask to see their license and proof of insurance. I would add their names and contact information on the work order.

Whoever hired the person that did the work on this swimming pool should be charged with negligence and be sentenced to jail right along with the person who made a mess of the wiring. And if that person is part of a CAI property management company they should be paying all of the lawsuit settlements.

I’ve personally observed this in my own HOA. Shoddy work by “carpenters” who don’t know which end of the hammer to use and a CAI property manager who instructed them to do things that should never be done. Risking the safety of everyone living in these units due to rotten frames which was caused by failed maintenance on the exterior siding.

It’s long past time to stop this dangerous and risky stupidity!

The only good thing that will come from this will be the exposure to the fallacies and massive risks that one takes when they buy in an HOA or Condo Association!!!

(link to Local10 news story on this tragedy)

 

How to Build a Trustworthy Organization

      4 Comments on How to Build a Trustworthy Organization
guest blog by Robert E. Frank, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)
           (Founder, HomeOwnersCoalition.Org & Veterans Advocate)

My business experience has taught me over the past 50 years that if a process is designed to be as trustworthy as reasonably possible, EVERYONE benefits from being able to accept it as such.

But, if systems, such as board elections or controls of something like association credit/debit cards and checks, are allowed to be designed and implemented with very obvious loop holes in the audit trail, then no one can trust the system.

It is common for an organizational manager and/or board members to raise their voices and get belligerent when someone points out that an election or financial system component can be easily corrupted. They typically change the subject to “how dare you accuse my group of election fraud!”

Of course, that is not the point. The point is why would an honest, ethical person or organization (either board of directors, election committee, CAM or community management company) want to ALLOW an election process to exist where allegations of misconduct could be fairly suspected and/or made part of a criminal complaint?

Money is NOT the issue on implementing “trustworthy” board elections and trusted financial management processes. Nothing is more important for a board or CAM than to ensure that the member’s money and property is cared for according to statutes and common sense.

Much flexibility is allowed to developers, boards and CAMs when it comes to business system components of the association. Failing to ensure the key components are designed and managed to be reasonably trustworthy is, in my opinion, a sign of gross negligence and possible corruption.

The necessary tools and techniques are relatively easy and inexpensive to use to assure trustworthy systems for HOAs and Condos. In my opinion, blustering objections to implementing trustworthy systems within HOAs and Condos should be summarily rejected by all professionals. Such mismanagement puts a blight on all our business reputations.

Amazon Book Reviews

      1 Comment on Amazon Book Reviews

Numbers on this website continue to grow each month. We have a ton of new people logging in based on recommendations by friends. I’m also aware of a pretty good spurt in book sales right now and I hope you’re enjoying Neighbors At War. As you know, I am more than passionate about this mission of waking all Americans up to what’s going on in this industry.

Along that line, I’m once again encouraging readers to submit book reviews for Neighbors At War. I don’t recall the exact figures, but each five-star review leads to several thousand new book sales.

If you enjoyed my book or you’re angry about the housing industry’s lie that’s been shoved down our throats for far too long, please help me spread the word. Go to my Neighbors At War page on Amazon and tell the world whether my book helped wake you up.

We’ve got momentum. More and more people are learning the truth each day. But I’m only a tiny part of that equation. You are the 99%ers. You’re like the lead bowling pin in the alley. Each bit of influence you exert then passes that momentum on to others.

We will win.

 

The Slow Creep Toward HOA Honesty

      4 Comments on The Slow Creep Toward HOA Honesty

Well, the state of New Mexico has finally taken an official action to force Homeowners Associations to disclose their rules and budgets to prospective homeowners. A story detailing the changes is linked below.
It looks like board members can be liable for civil damages if they refuse to disclose lawsuits in which the HOA is involved, unpaid judgments, boards must be elected by majority vote, not the sneaky tactic of a majority vote by a minority sub-group (tricky wording; a more accurate name is ‘outright election fraud.’)
There are lots of other traditional HOA scams that look like they could undergo tighter scrutiny by the state. But as you read the article below, ask yourself, “Why wasn’t this done many, many years ago?”
Does anyone get the sense that we’re finally seeing the beginning of a growing national backlash against decades of corruption and fascist corporate control over innocent private homeowners? Are we making some progress here?
“I love it when a plan comes together.” (line from the old Mission Impossible show)

(link to Albuquerque Journal article)

 

What’s Up With The Realtors?

      1 Comment on What’s Up With The Realtors?

This blog is absolutely self-serving, and I have no problem admitting it. After all, I’m trying to sell my book and part of that means doing paid speeches across the country.

A few weeks ago a huge real estate firm in a major Midwest city offered a pretty nice fee to have me speak at their annual convention. I was out of state at the time, but rushed back to talk to these Realtors about the country’s HOA mess and the kinds of financial and housing disasters that are racing down on this country like a falling bomb. But while I was in the air, my agent got a call saying the company was cancelling my speech.

That’s OK, it happens. But it’s unusual enough that it got me wondering. I learned I was hired on a recommendation, but at some point someone in this real estate network must have read my book and discovered the topic was, shall we say, controversial?

Controversial?

Well, let’s take a second look. If a looming real estate disaster is about to destroy the financial well-being of millions of people as they buy homes and take out mortgages, shouldn’t someone advise them to be cautious about how they structure their new purchase? And who should that be? Are the Realtors giving their clients such warnings? Me thinks not.

If the entire Real Estate profession is on the verge of getting hammered by a housing disaster a hundred times bigger than the 2008-2009 recession, who should know about it first? Do you think the Realtors know? Me thinks not.

A lot of us are being blinded and hornswoggled about the state of our economy. I’m going to link to a 2008 Wall Street Journal column about a hedge fund manager who predicted the 2008 mortgage crash, and found several ways to ‘short’ the housing market. He made billions of dollars profit for himself, and many billions more for his hedge fund.

And who knows absolutely nothing about how this obscure investor made his billions? Do the Realtors? Again, me thinks not.

(WSJ column on John Paulson, hedge fund manager)