Tag Archives: HOA Nightmare Stories

Another Military Family Ordered To Remove Flag

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One often thinks of the people of Utah as being more patriotic than those in many other states. But Homeowners Associations in Utah can be just as ugly as elsewhere.

The Spring Creek Ranch HOA in Lehi, Utah, is ordering the wife of an active duty Navy man to remove the U.S. Navy flag from her home. Lucia Sandoval is being threatened with a fine and lawsuit because she had the temerity to put up her patriotic display. She says she intends to fight, but that probably means massive legal expenses for her and her family.

Patriotism is a no-win situation for people who buy into the HOA movement.

(link to KUTV, Salt Lake City)

 

Stealing Homes In Indiana

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Last year, residents of Charlestown, Indiana, thwarted an eminent domain attempt initiated by Mayor Bob Hall to allow developers to buy out, raze, and redevelop their entire Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. With pro bono assistance from Institute for Justice, and a well-organized effort, residents were able to put an end to those plans, and keep their homes.

Pleasant Ridge is still in need of improvement, however, and owners want to work with the Mayor on alternative plans to reduce crime and clean up problem properties. Therefore, several neighborhood leaders have proposed establishing a steering committee, to work with the Mayor’s office on revitalizing their Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. Mayor Hall has been asked to serve on the Board of this steering committee, along with one other representative from his staff.

But Mayor Hall has reservations about working with the Neighborhood Association.

Check out this statement made by the Mayor:

“Hall said Wednesday that the neighborhood association and the steering committee represent too few residents of the neighborhood.

“They are more of a special-interest group than they are a homeowners association,” Hall said of the neighborhood association. “They only represent less than 15 percent of the property owners in Pleasant Ridge. A real homeowner’s association will represent 100 percent of the properties in a subdivision.”

Hall said he has made efforts to revitalize the neighborhood since 2000, and it’s important to him that the area improves.

“I am not the mayor of the minority of Pleasant Ridge, I am the mayor of the whole city,” he said. “I am not going to be involved in a committee that has a very narrow focus and is only representing a very small interest.”

Recall from my previous blogs that the Mayor’s plans for redevelopment, though never solidified, included multifamily structures and mixed use development. In other words: establishment of Homeowners’ Associations. Apparently, Hall thinks mandatory membership HOAs would better represent owners’ interests than a voluntary membership resident-supported Neighborhood Association. Where on earth did he get that idea?

Apparently someone has been drinking the Kool-Aid, courtesy of HOA Industry special interest groups representing Community Associations and Developers.

Obviously, Mr. Hall hasn’t got a clue about the realities of HOAs! Although 100% of owners are required to be members, that does not mean that the HOA actually “represents 100 percent of the properties in a subdivision!” Note the use of the word “properties” with regard to representation — not “homeowners” or “people.”

Ask any minority property owner in an HOA if his or her interests are represented, or if those interests are merely outnumbered by majority stakeholders.

And as for having a “very narrow focus” and “only representing a very small interest,” — well, that’s the norm for HOAs. And the people of Pleasant Ridge weren’t very happy about the Mayor’s previous attempts to align himself with the narrow interests of the developer, who, along with the Mayor, wanted to get his hands on grant money.

So who is representing the interests of the homeowners in Pleasant Ridge at this point? At the last City Council meeting, neighborhood association representative Jason Patrone reportedly seemed to have the support of neighbors in attendance.

Let’s see how this one plays out.

(link to Charlestown News and Tribune)

 

Simple Explanation

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
HOAs! I am 100% convinced that is the answer to the mystery (no mystery to me) of the article linked below.Originally created to make neighbors with commonality friendly and social. But the HOA concept failed when the structure was established for neighbor to rule neighbor. Even to the point of being able to fine, lien, and foreclose on their home. With that being allowed to happen the trust is gone and the fear antenna goes up while the boxing gloves sit waiting by the front door to go on.

In multiple ways HOAs are destroying human life!

 

Repeal of Nevada HOA statute?

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

From the state that brought us the largest HOA federal fraud investigation EVER, now this:

Ira Hansen, a Nevada Republican Assemblyman, recently filed AB233, a proposal to repeal NV Statute 116, the statute governing homeowners’ associations. The intent, according to Hansen, is to delegate regulation to a lower level state agency, such as a commission on HOAs. Nevada HOAs are currently regulated by the Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED).

The reason for this proposed change? Essentially, according to Hansen, HOA disputes are too much trouble, the issues too “minor” to bother with! If you read the attached news release, the insinuation is that all HOA issues involve rules over flying the flag or other aesthetic concerns.

Really? Tell that to the thousands of members of 37 HOAs affected by a massive construction defect fraud scheme! Ask them if they think HOA election fraud is a “minor” issue that does not deserve the attention of state lawmakers. Ask these owners if dealing with the aftermath of crooked attorneys, property managers, and fraudulent straw buyers are other “minor” issues that continue to plague HOAs. Does NRED lack jurisdiction to handle these serious matters? If so, then what’s the point of having a regulatory agency with limited authority?

Of course, most would agree that HOAs have some rather unrealistic restrictions, oppressive covenants, and crazy rules that often do result in overblown disputes over trivial matters – mainly because they can. Restrictive Covenant “contracts” can say just about anything a Developer’s Attorney can dream up. Let’s face it, a lot of these claims that Hansen finds so time-consuming would qualify as frivolous, because the rules themselves are often petty, vague, and unnecessary.

But, rather than wash their hands of HOAs as inconvenient annoyances (despite the fact that all of the owners pay substantial property and various state taxes), why won’t NV lawmakers take a stand and simply declare such trivial “keeping up appearances” restrictions and rules unconstitutional and therefore invalid? Why not return full control of individual lots or units to individual owners, instead of the Association? Or how about repealing the authority of NV HOAs to fine or otherwise unilaterally penalize owners, without the benefit of due process?

Think about it, if the HOA Board had to initiate a legal suit over the color of window shades or a flag display – before the alleged offender could be fined or otherwise penalized – I suspect there would be very few lawsuits filed, and more effort to work out disagreements amicably. That would be especially true if either party – HOA or homeowner – had to pay stiff penalties for bringing frivolous claims that waste the court’s time.

And, truthfully, if HOAs are really that troublesome, why not just stop creating more of them?
(link to news release about NV AB 233)

(link to Nevada AB 233)

Child Discrimination in HOAs Illegal!

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guest blog by Dave Russell (community association manager)
Last week Minnetonka residents of a condo complex won a massive settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit contending that a ban on playing in the grass illegally discriminated against families with children.The settlement agreement, announced last Friday, by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, means that the Greenbrier Village Homeowners’ Association Inc. and Gassen Company Inc. must establish a new nondiscrimination policy and pay a $10,000 penalty to the federal government and $100,000 to six families.  We all know well who is going to foot the bill for this one. Don’t we?
 
Just days after the Minnetonka settlement another HOA in California was making headlines for smacking homeowners with $50 fines for basically the same thing.  It appears that the Agave and Saguaro HOA in Chula Vista , California prohibits a number of kid-friendly activities in their development. This HOA prohibits their resident children from riding skateboards, bicycles, roller-skates or anything with ‘wheels’ on their driveways, common areas, sidewalks or streets. So what gives with these kooky rules?
 
Well the reporters down at ABC 10 News went to Prescott Management (the management company for Agave and Saguaro HOA) to ask that very question. The HOA manager claimed that some of those rules were for the ‘safety of children.’  Are these ‘safety concerns’ really legitimate?
 
While I completely understand the need for kids to be able to play in their communities, what happens if something goes terribly wrong? Hypothetically, let’s say this HOA changes their rules and a child gets mowed down by a car in the driveway. Whose fault is it? Well that’s the question the parents attorneys will be asking.
 
The argument can easily be made that the HOA should have adopted rules restricting children from playing in dangerous areas, such as driveways. One has to remember, attorneys are always searching for the deepest pockets when it comes to lawsuits and settlements. Unfortunately, those deep pockets always belong to the HOA and their insurance carriers.
 
HOAs and community managers seem to be in a real pickle here. If you restrict child-friendly activities, even if they may be dangerous, the HOA could be sued for a fair housing violation. If you don’t have safety rules in place, and a child gets hurt, the HOA still gets sued if something goes ‘terribly wrong.’ When it’s all said and done, and dust settles from the lawsuits,  it’s the homeowners who will foot the bill once again. Well, don’t they always?
 
So what’s the solution to this seemingly new legal issue of Children vs. HOA’s? A large part of this problem was actually created by the developers themselves, who poorly designed these communities, and without children in mind. Very rarely do you see a developer put in a kid-friendly area where kids can just be kids. And for some reason if the developer does build a kid-friendly area, it’s always across a busy road like the development in the Minnesota case.  It’s all about jamming in as many units into one confined space as possible for profit.
 
There’s no doubt we’ll be seeing a magnitude of new lawsuits from homeowners and federal agencies like Fair Housing. These lawsuits are going to cost homeowners billions of dollars and make HOA insurance premiums skyrocket!  In my opinion, the best solution to this newly found problem is to stop building these damn liabilities!
 
If you ever needed another reason not to buy into an HOA……make sure that you add this one to the top of your list!