Tag Archives: HOA Neighborhood

Star War’s Revenge!

Movie producer George Lucas must have incredible patience. But even the most patient man in the world burns out sometime.

Lucas has owned a large ranch in Marin County for the past forty years. His dream was to create a 300,000 square foot movie studio that would have brought 300 million dollars worth of new economic activity to that part of California. Despite the fact that his studio would not have been visible to his rich neighbors, the adjacent Homeowners Association has spent two and a half decades fighting him every step of the way.

Lucas is well-known for his previous environmentally sensitive projects. He has planted thousands of trees on his properties and spent millions making sure his movie developments were low key. He has also built many miles of hiking trails for his neighbors.

But George Lucas has finally given up. A press release from his office says, “The level of bitterness and anger expressed by the homeowners in Lucas Valley has convinced us that, even if we were to spend more time and acquire the necessary approvals, we would not be able to maintain a constructive relationship with our neighbors.”

But then comes the zinger that’ll be talked about by Lucas fans for many years. He agrees that Marin County is a bedroom community. So he’s now going to use his ranch to build housing for low income families. It’s a perfect movie plot ending, as his foul-mouthed millionaire neighbors watch all those “po’ folk” move into their new double-wides. This blogger seriously doubts Lucas will plant trees to screen off the view.

Lucas’s press release is linked here:

http://gradyranch.com/pdf/Grady_Ranch_4_10.pdf

And it’s priceless.

And if you know george lucas, Please tell him we’d love to talk to him!  He’s our hero. We’d love to complete the circle! There’s not much time to interview him for our blog! God loves those who take a public stand! Help us if you can.

Are HOAs Facist?

I like pondering this question. Sadly, I can’t find the link for proper attribution. But the blogger talked about a statement made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt to a 1938 session of Congress. Here it is:

“The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to the point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That, in essence, is fascism – ownership of government by an individual, by a group or by any controlling private power.”

Whew! Sort of takes your breath away, doesn’t it? By casually stepping into a new form of government called the Homeowners Association movement, are we not giving away all of our Constitutional freedoms without giving it a second thought?

Sure, we’d all like to live in neighborhoods where property values aren’t brought down by some goofball with the muscle car on blocks and a trash can that never leaves the curbside. But at what cost? In the 1930s millions of people joined the Nazi party because they truly thought their membership was bettering themselves. They were truly enthusiastic about where their new party was leading them.

But are we going to sit back some day and ask ourselves, “did we once have something very special in this country, and we gave it all away?”

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Texas Takes Aim Against Another Serviceman

Bill Fry, an officer with the Army National guard, was returning from fighting in Iraq. All of a sudden he learned his HOA, The Spring Lake HOA of Mineoloa, Texas, had filed a lawsuit against him and his family because they put up the swingset to keep his kids company while he was gone.

It’s not an outrageous swingset. It’s not candy apple red and doesn’t flash with florescent colored lights. It’s just a nice wood and canvas politically correct swingset. But the officials at Spring Lake have gone apoplectic. They want it taken down, NOW!

Fry says the HOA approved the swingset before he left for Afghanistan. But the new board claims Fry’s wife didn’t get final approval and obtain final plans. It’s not that the swingset is wrong. It’s that someone on the board had a bruised ego because she wasn’t personally asked for her permission. There’s a chapter in my upcoming book, “Neighbors At War” which scientifically shows the changing chemistry in the brain when someone feels they’re not being awarded enough power over others.

In any event, whatever compromise Fry attempts to make, the HOA turns him down flat.
Spring Lake HOA, in Mineola, Texas. It might be nice to visit. But I sure as Hell wouldn’t want to live there.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Homeowner Association Beaten by a Pig!

Wilbur the Pig’s family had to spend thousands of dollars defending their pet pig. So did the Harris County, Texas HOA, which did everything it could to have Wilbur thrown to the wolves. Wilbur is a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, an extremely intelligent species which has been bred as housepets. Tens of thousands of pig owners say they make marvelous companions.

But The Thicket at Cypresswood Community Improvement Association thought otherwise. Just the thought that the Alex Sardo family was keeping a non-traditional pet in their home threw the HOA into histrionics. Threats to sue, threats to poison, threats of vandalism, threats to seize the Sardo home and sell it at auction.

Wilbur finally got his day in court, and for once a District Court Judge was not friendly to an HOA. He ruled that the evidence was clear that this breed of pig is definitely considered a household pet. But Judge Mike Engelhart went further. He warned that Homeowners Associations have a responsibility not to infringe too much on homeowners’ use of their land. He said it’s time to set a precedent: that Homeowners Associations cannot micromanage their residents behavior.

There was obvious pissing and moaning on the HOA side of the room. There’s no word on whether the Sardo family will be awarded legal fees. It will be a tragedy if they don’t get back every dime in this stupid dispute. It would also be true justice if a special assessment had to be levied against the whole neighborhood to pay for the wasted legal expenses.

Sadly, this won’t be the end of the story. Beware the “neighborhood nazi.” The Sardo family is going to be made just as miserable as this HOA dares.

It Can Be Tough Being A Victimized HOA Member

OK, so you were incautious enough to buy a house in an HOA neighborhood. Now you realize you’re about to get sued for some offense against a member, or even non-member.

Concerned owners, of course, need to communicate with their neighbors about how much they’re going to lose in this lawsuit.  Those HOA do-gooders have just handed out some brochures to get all the lawsuit victims on board.

Oops! Those HOA do-gooders have just lost their attorney-client privilege. All privileged documents now have to be turned over to the suing attorney, all legal strategies, all incredibly personal information that might have used to defend the HOA against the suit.

Isn’t it just wonderful how the legal system is designed to reward the tricky, and punish the honest?

http://blogs.sun-sentinel.com/condoblog/2012/04/lawyer-client-privilege-can-be-unintentionally-waived-voluntary-associations-hoas-and-condos-take-note.html

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association