Tag Archives: HOA Hell

Smoker’s Rights? Not In The Constitution, Buddy!

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A man in a Naples, Florida condo is steaming over his Homeowners Association voting to ban smoking on the front porch. He smokes cigars on his lanai. But under the new rules he’ll have to take his stogie indoors.

I understand his concern about personal rights, but he’s actually getting off pretty easy right now. Across the country the courts have ruled that HOAs can also ban all smoking indoors!

There are some well-recognized court cases including one in Jefferson County, Colorado where condo and townhome owners have complained that cigarette and cigar smoke seeps through walls and becomes an annoyance to others. In Naples, smokers are being ordered to take their habit indoors, while elsewhere in the country they’re being ordered to go outdoors. Whether they like it or not, smokers are discovering that the world is turning against them.

I’m not for or against the new laws, just an observer.

(link to FOX4 story on smokers)

http://www.jrn.com/fox4now/news/HOA-bans-smoking-at-Naples-condominium-255023971.html

Murdered By Swans, HOA Sued

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I’m not sure how far this lawsuit will go, but homeowners in this HOA will end up with special assessments to pay all the lawyers.

Have you ever heard of someone being murdered by swans? Me neither. But according to this Illinois lawsuit mute swans are capable of breaking a man’s leg. That probably makes them as dangerous as a vicious dog. And we all know that HOAs which use vicious dogs in their common areas are not immune to lawsuits.

Don’t count me as a skeptic on this one. I vividly remember being attacked by a vicious goose in the Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston when I was just ten or eleven years old. My younger brother and I were both attacked and injured and it’s given me a lifelong fear of certain angry birds.  So believe me that large birds won’t hesitate at taking on a human. And even though I love animals, I get a special kind of glee roasting and serving certain birds on holidays.

Maybe this lawsuit will be tossed out of court because it’s frivolous. Maybe that won’t happen until the lawyers make a few hundred thousand bucks in legal fees. In the end, though, the homeowners will get pummeled. And these angry birds will get away with murder.

Count on it.

(link to murderous swans)

 

Who Are These Creeps, Anyway?

      2 Comments on Who Are These Creeps, Anyway?

One of the only true homeowners’ advocates in Colorado is girding up for yet another battle against our ‘favorite’ HOA lobbyist organization, the CAI. But wait’ll you hear what Community Associations Institute has got up its sleeves this time!

A homeowners advocacy group has proposed a construction defects law which would allow homeowners to choose to settle disputes through low-cost out-of-court arbitration. It would also force HOA boards to seek the approval of homeowners before filing costly class action lawsuits. HOA boards can sometimes be very sneaky in secretly filing such litigation. In other words, THIS PROPOSED LAW PROTECTS HOMEOWNERS!

But CAI spokesmen have said they intend to fight this bill in the Legislature.

Stan Hrincevich, of Colorado HOA Forum makes an excellent point that not only does the CAI not represent homeowners, it represents property managers and lawyers and the ability to fine homeowners, and sue homeowners, and foreclose on homeowners for minor covenant violations. Of course, if homeowners are empowered to use arbitration and do their own defect litigation it might save a lot of homeowners a ton of money. This is pro-homeowner legislation. And CAI is fighting it?

Keep in mind the CAI has a massive amount of lobbying money. Yes, folks, that’s how lobbying is done. Cash. Tons of cash. And in Colorado, CAI wins just about every Legislative battle. With each lobbying victory more cash is taken from homeowners and poured into the private pockets of those service providers who pay dues to CAI.

If a CAI lobbyist ever tells a Legislative committee he represents homeowners, he is lying through his teeth.

The headline for Stan Hrincevich’s blog is: “CAI Misrepresents HOA Construction Defects Bill”

Come on, Stan. Don’t be diplomatic. They’re not misrepresenting. They’re lying.

More information at:

http://www.coloradohoaforum.com/   

Blondie & The Bimbo, “Back in the Saddle, Again”

      12 Comments on Blondie & The Bimbo, “Back in the Saddle, Again”

guest blog by Dave Russell　

The news this past weekend was shocking! Blondie Brewer signed Senate blondieBimboBill 1482 which prevents property owners from screening potential renters in Homeowners Associations. 

This controversial bill essentially eliminates crime-free programs in HOAs. It banishes criminal background checks on renters, and will allow criminals to move in right next door to your family.

Gal-Pals & Realtor chums Rep. Michelle Ugenti & Senator Gail Griffin plotted a sneaky scheme to bully their HOA legislation through. And they totally snowed fellow lawmakers into passing it.

Homeowner advocates are lining up at the courthouse to file their lawsuits to block SB 1482. As a community manager in Mesa, Arizona, I have now filed my own lawsuit to block this bill from becoming law.  I believe there are serious Constitutional issues with this legislation. 

The Stakeholders of this bill, none of whom were actually homeowners, told the Legislature that SB 1482 wouldn’t affect crime prevention programs. They’re dead wrong.

This same sneaky legislation slipped its way through last year. Rep. Ugenti hid it by tucking it away in a campaign finance bill. It was deemed illegal because it violated the state constitution and it was thrown out by the courts. 

Do Blondie Brewer and Bimbo Ugenti just not care about the safety of folks and their children who live in HOAs?

(CBS5 TV story on controversial law)

(link to Dave Russell’s lawsuit)

 

 

Found: More Petitions Against HOAs

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

I’ve learned some additional information and wanted to share it with our readers.
 
Go to www.petition2congress.com and  type HOA in the “search” box.  There are numerous petitions demanding attention from the legislators regarding the subject of HOAs.  
 
One petition started by a person in Nevada declared a hunger strike!
 
On another note, today, I received an email from a gentleman named Nathan Cline.  He said, “I would sooner jump into a river of molten lava than move into a house with an HOA.”
 
Nathan, the molten lava would take you out of your misery a whole lot faster.  Living in an HOA is a slow and painful death to the body and bank account.  It’s so refreshing to hear yet another person refuses to suffer in an HOA!
 
www.petition2congress.com