Tag Archives: HOA Neighborhood

My Mistake, My Apology!!

      No Comments on My Mistake, My Apology!!

 

I don’t know why I made such a horrible mistake, My error in judgment just baffles me. But for some reason, I always thought that people from New Hampshire were a little more reasonable, a little more gentlemanly in solving neighborhood disputes with more kindess, diplomacy and friendliess than the rest of us.. It was just a personal thing I always believed about people from New Hampshire. It just seems to have a ring to it, the abilty to believe that people from New Hampshire were above the common fray, just a little more reasonable than others.

Now, I’ve discovered that folks from New Hampshire don’t have any more class or honesty than the rest of us.

A lady name Kimberly Bois planted flowers in her yard. It was just a tiny garden in a townhome association. It couldn’t have attracted much attention. But her Portsmouth, New Hampshire Homeowner Association just decided that Kimberly was in violation, and they’re now fining her fifty bucks a day for trying to show some of nature’s beauty, that others could enjoy.

The fine is now up to $6000, not counting legal fees. But her HOA has every intention of taking her house if she doesn’t dig up and kill all those wonderful flowers. The goal, of course, to to make every home look identical, regimented, the thing you might see in front of an typical Army Barracks.

There’s nothing in the bylaws. It was just an arbitrary decision by a board majority.

Bois says it’s just not a happy place to live anymore. It just feels like a case of bullying.

Kimberly, just get out of there! Your beauty and grace is wasted on these lawn nazis and their lawyers. The HOA system is not based on traditional home ownership. It’s not based on raising the value of your home. It’s a legal scam where the lawyers insist on showing no mercy for covenant scofflaws. Keep each unit identical and file profitable lawsuits and foreclosures against every resident who shows any individuality. It’s all about finding an excuse for depriving you of your home equity. A perpetual cash machine for lawyers. No other explanation.

Kimberly, you’re needed elsewhere in neighborhoods where people actually love their neigbors and applaud their efforts to improve their homes and gardens. Get out before these parasites take you for every dime you own. Your talents, and your ability to bring about beauty is something that will be well respected elsewhere.

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

Stupid Reporters, but They’ll Learn

      1 Comment on Stupid Reporters, but They’ll Learn

An amazingly ignorant story was posted by reporter Jeff Skrzypek of WPTV this month. It noted that Homeowner Associations in Florida were crippled by the housing crisis. He did have the class to acknowledge that developers were also impacted.

Then, the reporter interviewed whiny homeowners in Lake Worth, Florida who pay their dues each month but just don’t see the neighborhood improving because so many foreclosed homes are driving down prices, and those homes don’t contribute to maintainance of the common areas.

Besides, they complain, the developer can’t sell 9 of the 60 homes there, so he’s decided to rent them out instead of selling them and turning control of the HOA over to the residents.

The average thumb sucking dullard could figure a few things out, here. Housing prices have nose-dived in Homeowners Associations because home buyers are getting smart. They’re figuring out that the worst investment in the world is an HOA home where the dues aren’t being paid. Yes, the local swimming pool is covered with green grunge, but that won’t change until every home is occupied and all dues are being paid again. That could take years.

And that rotten developer! What if he just turned those homes over to the bank? That’s nine more foreclosures in a neighborhood that’s already going through its death throes. He’s actually keeping that housing development on life support, probably at enormous personal expense.

Then the idiot homeowner complained that she thought she was moving into an ownership community? Wake up and smell the coffee. Pass a state law that says no HOA resident is allowed to rent out his home. Then you’ll see how low housing prices really can go!

One more thing. Homes inside Homeowner Associations take a faster dive in value than any other kind of housing. So much for the promise of protecting the equity of your home.

I just had an idea. What if all those weepy homeowners quit talking to reporters and walked around the neighborhood voluntarily cleaning things up. Nah, come to think of it, that doesn’t happen in Homeowner Associations. They’ll wait until they can appoint a cleanup committee.

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

A Trip through Hell in a West Palm Beach HOA

      No Comments on A Trip through Hell in a West Palm Beach HOA

The Summit Run, West Palm Beach.  It used to a heavenly place to live. But all of a sudden we had a little economic burp that sent a number of homeowners flying elsewhere. Adam Sinclair’s job is to fix up what’s wrong at Summit Creek, keep the water running and the trash picked up among its 254 residents.

He’s also supposed to collect HOA fees among the residents, and what a thankless job that is.  The residents see the trash and the unkempt grounds and the leaky faucets and they say, “Why should I pay dues? My neighbors aren’t!”  And they’d be right.  A quarter of Summit Run residents are late on their dues. And when they don’t pay, management has to go hire lawyers to kick in the heads of the recalcitrant owners.

I’m surprised no one has used this analogy before.  But if you train a dog with gentle praise, rewards and love you can train that dog to do almost anything.  If you yell at it, berate it, hit it with sticks, you can never again get that dog to love and respect you.

Our communities are dying, not because of the housing bubble, not because there weren’t enough owners vs. rentals, not because we didn’t try our hardest to keep our communities clean.  No, we lost the trust of homeowners who comprise the very thin veneer of a residential cell.  We beat them, we sued them, we screamed at them and slipped hate mail under their doors.

The HOA movement wasn’t prepared.  And it should have been.

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

God Bless George Staropoli!

      No Comments on God Bless George Staropoli!

George Staropoli, better known as “Starman,” one of the heroes of the American anti-HOA movement, has posted an amazing debate in the Arizona Legislature about abuses in the typical HOA.  The relevant portion begins at 39 minutes into the hearing.  It’s a perfect examination of some of the unconstitutional horrors that occur in today’s HOA.  Please watch. It’ll help you understand some of the idiocy that dominates some of the nation’s HOA madness.

My apologies for dropping this link earlier. Here it is:

http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=9887

Again, the apropos portion is about 38 or 39 minutes into the hearing. And again, thank you George for keeping us all informed.

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

Justice Department Fights for Homeowners. Feel better?

      No Comments on Justice Department Fights for Homeowners. Feel better?

The big news this week is that the U.S. Department of Justice, Eric Holder & Co., has reached a mass settlement in the housing bubble scandal.

It’s a settlement of more than $25 billion dollars. That’s to pay for all the phony loans, the robo-signing deals by phony bank officials who never ever looked at your real estate closing documents. Attorneys General across the country are hailing it as a landmark settlement, a massive achievement,  to help cash-strapped and bankrupted homeowners. They’re holding news conferences and talking about how hard they fight for the average consumer.

Hmm, let’s see. You got crushed in the Fannie/Freddie housing debacle. You lost your house in the mortgage slamdown. Your wife left you and went back to her parents in New Jersey. Your credit is crap. You’ll get to see your kids maybe one time a year. The settlement is for 25 billion dollars. That means at some point in the future, you might… you might, get a check say, for $2000.

That means IF you qualify for a settlement payoff, you COULD get a reimbursement of $2000.

Gosh, I suddenly feel all warm and fuzzy… just warm. And fuzzy.

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