Tag Archives: HOA Neighborhood

Hogtied & Hammered By Transfer Fee!

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I knew it was coming. I just didn’t realize how massive the damage would be. It’s huge.

Some close friends just sold their HOA home in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Before they could sell their house they had to come up with $10,000 at closing, much of that for a Transfer Fee. The Realtor didn’t warn them (they rarely do). Despite me writing Neighbors At War, and doing this blog nightly, these friends just didn’t understand what was coming. It’s hard for younger folks to listen to the ‘old man.’ I’m embarrassed to say that at their age I never listened to my own ‘old man’, either.

But these friends had counted on that $10,000 to help with the down payment for a new house (again, in an HOA!). In their position I would be seething with bitterness.

Dear Readers, Colorado Realtors stood silent when Homeowners Rights advocates tried to convince State Legislators that Transfer Fees are fundamentally unjust and illegal. Just three years ago the state passed a law which actually declared transfer fees to be illegal (except in Homeowners Associations). Why the exception for HOAs? Well, just a single HOA lobbying group takes in 55 billion dollars a year. How in Hell does an insider industry group NOT use that kind of money to ‘buy’ legislation?

Shame on the corrupt HOA lobby. Shame on the greedy legislators. Shame on the Realtors who stood silent when they could have made a difference.

I really think our rising movement should take aim at Realtors. They make 7% on a home sale. On a $400,000 house that’s $28,000.  All homeowners should begin demanding that Realtors agree IN WRITING that they will pay the cost of all transfer fees. You don’t agree? You don’t get the listing.

Maybe those Realtors will join us at the Legislature next year.

Taxpayers Screwed By The HOA Movement!

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This story, from NBC News and The Consumerist, really ought to get you steamed. Homeowners Associations on prime beachfront properties have figured out a way to make the taxpayers pay for their huge cost of flood insurance. It sounds like fiction, but it’s not.

Zillionaires who own oceanfront properties that get destroyed by hurricanes every couple of years theoretically should be paying a fortune for federal flood insurance. That’s the law.

But guess who figured out a way to make YOU pay for their flood insurance?

Yep. The zillionaires. They got the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to declare their constantly flooded properties as Low Risk/No Flood Zones. That means about a 95% reduction in their flood insurance costs.

So, every time you see on the news that a ritzy beachfront condo development has been destroyed by a hurricane, just remember that last check you wrote to the IRS. A good portion of it is paying for the reconstruction of the homes of zillionaires.

Now, do you feel like a sucker?

(link to story on The Consumerist)

 

Two Fantastic Quotes!

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Sometimes, a movement, a protest, a demand for decent treatment of others can be condensed to just a few words:

And another:

“Whenever one person stands up and says, “Wait a minute, this is wrong,” it helps other people to do the same.”   -Gloria Steinem

That’s all we’re trying to do in exposing the national HOA scam. We just want to help someone.

 

Jerry Brown! Jerry Brown!

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Governor Jerry Brown! In what orifice is your head hopelessly lodged?

California is in the middle of a horrible drought, even the drought of a lifetime. Farmers who generate most of the nation’s food are going broke. Governor Jerry has asked homeowners to quit using so much water on their lawns. In fact, he’s even declared a drought emergency.

A Republican State Senator has even proposed a law to force HOAs to quit fining residents over their brown lawns.

How impotent! And ignorant

Homeowners Associations are merrily fining, suing and foreclosing on homeowners who’ve followed the governor’s water rationing requests and have allowed their lawns to turn brown.

You see, Homeowner Associations are private non-profit corporations which are beyond the control of state and federal laws. After all, Americans have a Constitutional right to make contracts, even if those contracts are counter to decency and common sense.

Despite the efforts of the governor and other California legislators, Kentucky Bluegrass will continue to decorate the grounds of Homeowners Associations.

http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2014/01/24/drought-or-not-brown-lawns-bring-hoa-fines/

(link to Democratic Underground story)

(link to CVT HOA story on drought emergency)

(link to KTVU-TV news story)

 

Organized Theft IS Organized Crime

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The Colorado Legislature is embroiled in a controversy over ‘transfer fees’, a mysterious item that appears on closing papers when a homeowner is trying to sell his property.

What’s a transfer fee? It’s a mandatory fee the seller has to pay. It’s not related to any specific kind of work. It was recently outlawed on all real estate sales EXCEPT those in Homeowners associations. It can range from the hundreds…even into the thousands of dollars, and there are no state controls. A transfer fee doesn’t benefit the HOA, it just drops into the pockets of HOA management companies. Pure profit.

When CAI lawyers were asked, “Why do you charge these fees? The answer was stunning, “Because we can!” That kind of unmitigated arrogance is beyond appalling. Why do you steal cars? Because we can. Why do you steal little old ladies’ retirement money? Because we can. And legislators turn their heads the other way! Unbelievable.
 
With that in mind, here’s a recent blog from ColoradoHOAForum.com
 
First let’s thank Leslie Stevens, the victim of a transfer fee of over $1,000, for contributing to the news story and Channel 4 News (KCNC, Denver).
 
Transfer fees when real estate documents were exchanged are ILLEGAL in Colorado EXCEPT when a Homeowners Association is involved. If they’re so illegal for all other homes, what’s the difference with HOA homes? In a word, NOTHING!
 
 
 
 
Note, once again the CAI never attempts to explain what these costly, laborious, and time consuming tasks are that require hundreds to over one thousand dollars in transfer fees only “that is the way it is” (because of them).  They got away with this by slipping an exception into SB 11-234 and now again in 2014 with HB 14-1254 by actually crafting this Bill to ensure, if passed, nothing will change in picking the pockets of home sellers. 
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Because this is a breaking story in Colorado, there’s more to come on the subject tonight. We’ll post on NeighborsAtWar.com