Tag Archives: HOA Hell

The Big Fat Greek Food Truck

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Greek food happens to be my favorite! As a matter of fact, I ate it for dinner tonight. This would be a dream come true for me to have Greek cuisine on wheels parked right next door! I would gladly offer to buy their leftovers.

But I do not live in Sugar Land, Texas in the New Territory HOA where the board president, Mike Pincomb is acting like a pinhead and bullying the owners of ‘Anna’s Greek Gourmet.’

It appears the CC&Rs allowed ‘work vehicles’ to be parked at a home until ‘Anna’s Greek Gourmet’ truck was considered to be one. Suddenly, the rules were changed and ‘work vehicles’ had to be parked inside the garage. Ahhhh, that prohibits this food truck from being allowed because it will not fit inside the garage. Next it was considered a home-based business because some lettuce is being cut inside the truck while it’s parked on the driveway. There was no mention that customers were coming up to buy gyro sandwiches or a speaker was blaring yia yia’s daily special. No, nothing distracting to their immediate neighbors is taking place. But somebody on the board has a bone to pick with this family business.

How is this truck any different than the plumber that is on 24 hour call and parks his truck with his tools in his driveway? Or the CAI card-carrying HOA attorney who loads his case files and computer into his Rolls Royce that he parks on his circle drive? Or even the Girl Scout leader who loads cases of cookies into her SUV for delivery?

The Zafiris family is trying to live the American dream. Like Anna says she is paying taxes and paying the HOA dues. She wasn’t breaking an HOA rule until the rule was changed in an effort that appears to target just her. Now, she’s losing sleep and probably wishing she’d never departed the Greek Islands.

This story brings back memories of AJ Vizzi and his pick-up truck ordeal in Florida. I sense this Greek food truck HOA battle will have the same outcome. (In case you missed the AJ Vizzi story, I’m posting it below.)

Opa, Anna! We are all behind you!

(link to Anna’s story)

Never forget A. J. Vizzi, the triumphant fighter against his HOA!

Goonan on CAI! Another Good One!

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

To legislators at the state and federal level, and housing policy makers, CAI (Community Associations Institute) presents itself as the sole authority on HOA issues, and an advocate for homeowners. In reality, CAI is a trade group that represents the interests of businesses that serve – or exploit – homeowners and residents in mandatory associations.

CAI’s recently published white paper on Association Governance reveals its true agenda – to perpetuate blind acceptance of the Association Governance as the only viable housing institution, and to simultaneously create an ever-growing need for “expert” services of managers, attorneys, and various HOA service providers.

Here’s a link to my own blog site where I take an in-depth look a few of CAI’s outrageous assumptions and objectives:

Dissecting the CAI white paper manifesto on Association  Governance (part 1)

Dissecting the CAI white paper manifesto on Association  Governance (part 1)

Important in California… & Elsewhere!

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 The 2013 Adams amicus curiae letter acknowledges that HOAs are mini-governments.

“As mini-governments, the state’s associations now lack clear policies for how boards participate in those elections, thereby making them vulnerable to litigation that ultimately is harmful to all association members. . . . A homeowners association is ‘a quasi-government
entity paralleling in almost every case the powers, duties, and responsibilities of a municipal government.’ (Cohen v. Kite Hill Community Assn. (1983).”

PLEASE READ, SEE ATTACHED, & CALL YOUR ASSEMBLY PERSON!!!
“NO!” on AB1799  The Floor Vote is Thursday/ CALL TO ACTION!
CAI – the Community Associations Institute – REALLY wants
AB1799 to get voted off the Assembly floor on Thursday.
Today it issued a CALL TO ACTION asking CAI members to
“fight the opponents of AB1799.
”Homeowners need to push back on this bill with their own
CALL TO ACTION! 

Why does CAI want this bill so much…?

Because the legislation would give boards the power to
decide (1) who can vote and (2) who can run for office and
(3) to cancel elections altogether.

CAI and the property managers (CACM) have “framed”
AB1799/Mayes as legislation that will save associations
money.

The two trade groups HIDE the fact that the bill
actually gives INCUMBENT boards total control over
elections.

This is like giving a city council or county supervisors –
or the California Legislature – the power to decide who
can vote and who can succeed them in office.

This is the THIRD ASSAULT that CAI and CACM have made on
the “Fairness and Integrity in HOA Elections Statutes”
(Civil Code §§5100 et seq. The other two assaults were in
20013 and 2014.)

Yes, CAI – the same organization whose lawyers fought the
Wittenberg decision all the way to the California Supreme
Court.

Homeowners will remember Wittenberg: this was the 2013
California Appeals Court ruling that associations SHALL
give dissenting homeowners equal access to association
media (newsletters, bulletin boards, website, dedicated
cable channel, etc) to present their opposing views.

In Wittenberg, the association wouldn’t even let the
homeowners RENT MEETING space to discuss their opinions.
[The election was later invalidated by the lower courts.]

CAI’s Adams Kessler and 20 other law firms – who are all
members of CAI — petitioned the California Supreme Court
to overturn the Wittenberg ruling. [The Supreme Court
refused.]

The Adams Kessler petition is posted on the CCHAL website
here:

http://www.calhomelaw.org/PDF/Adams%20Kessler%20petition%20to%20Sup%20Ct%20re%20Wittenberg.pdf
The letter signed by the 20 association law firms is
posted here: http://www.calhomelaw.org/doc.asp?id=1593
[Read the list to see if your association’s lawyers
signed the petition to overturn Wittenberg.]AB1799 is a bad bill. So says advocates for homeowner
rights:• the Rutgers Constitutional Law Center;
• the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA);
• the Center for California HOA Law (CCHAL.)

A homeowner’s RIGHT TO VOTE is created the moment s/he
buys an association home just as a new citizen acquires
voting rights the moment they’re sworn in as a new
American.

Don’t let CAI and CACM get this bill off the Assembly
floor.

CALL YOUR ASSEMBLY MEMBER AND URGE A ‘NO’ VOTE ON AB1799
WHEN IT IS VOTED ON THURSDAY ON THE ASSEMBLY FLOOR.

Don’t know who your Assembly Member is?

Go here to find out:

http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/

PHONE THE SACRAMENTO OFFICE (NOT THE DISTRICT OFFICE) AND
IDENTIFY YOURSELF AS A VOTER IN THE DISTRICT AND URGE A
‘NO’ VOTE ON AB1799.

Beware, Beware, Beware!

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Condo owners in a Cleveland suburb are suing their condo board because it hid the fact that the building needed millions of dollars in repairs. Recent buyers were told nothing about the massive repairs needed to keep the building from collapsing. It’s just another reason why more and more millennials are learning to rent…not own.

(link to expose’ of yet another failed HOA)

 

 

Fraudulent CAI!

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Longtime journalists know they’re never supposed to use the word, ‘fraudulent.’ Unless they can prove it.

The current CAI survey put out by Frank Rathbun and Tom Skiba, heads of the Community Associations Institute, is FRAUDULENT! How they’re able to get a respected polling agency like Zogby is beyond my comprehension. Line by line this poll is fabricated. But money buys anything. Zogby should be ashamed. CAI isn’t about building better communities. It’s about keeping the cash flow going. Keeping the lawyers well-fed. Hiding the amount of embezzling going on in Homeowner Associations across the country.

Hey! That brings up an idea for Frankie for next year’s poll! (Pay attention, Zogby!)

What percentage of HOAs have lost money to embezzlers?

How many board members and HOA managers have been hit with criminal charges?

How many homeowners have lost their life savings by buying an HOA home?

How much money has been made by CAI members who lie to the IRS and say they’re tax-exempt?

How many homeowners say they’ll never live in another HOA?

How many homeowners think of the name, ‘George Orwell,’ whenever they think about Homeowners Associations?

Egads, there are too many such questions to list here. I’m going to bed.