Across this grand country of ours, people are waking up to the massive corruption scheme known as the Homeowners Association Movement. This cash cow has transferred billions of dollars from the assets of homeowners into the pockets of the tort industry. No lawyer can afford NOT to represent Homeowners Associations against individual homeowners. And lots of HOA board officials get slipped cash for going along with the program.
Is this writer really serious? Isn’t he a little off his rocker? Organized crime? Didn’t we all think all members of the Mafia were either dead or in prison?
HOA lawyers tell their clients, “Show no mercy on neighborhood scofflaws. Warn them about the violation. Tell them this is a “no tolerance” neighborhood. Then pop them with a lawsuit.”
That kind of advice can tear a neighborhood apart. It also means some pretty nice paydays for lawyers.
Sammi Goldsten lives in the Southern Oaks Society Homeowners Association in the Stevens Ranch area of north Los Angeles County. The HOA asked Sammi to repaint her house, so she painted it almost the exact color as a house down the street. But the HOA decided her choice of colors was wrong and they filed a lawsuit. Surprisingly, they got an $18,000 judgment against Sammi, despite the fact that she wasn’t even aware the lawsuit had been filed.
The wise guys in Florida are picking up some sneaky new tricks. Most homeowners who are overdue on their debts to HOAs owe less than $15,000. HOAs aren’t required to notify primary mortgage holders that the homeowner is in arrears on HOA payments.
HOA lawyers tell their clients to file for repayment in county court rather than circuit court. Circuit courts, of course, are working on huge backloads. So the HOAs can get a foreclosure in about half the time by going through county court. The major lenders suddenly discover the rug’s been whipped out from under them, and the HOA which was owed the smallest debt now gets the entire foreclosed house.
