Tag Archives: HOA residents

HERE COME THE LAWYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!

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When the American Disabilities Act was approved in the 1990’s, it was designed to help disabled people have access to the same amenities as non-handicapped people.

But the big laugh, at the time, had nothing to do with the disabled. It was that the new law was a full-employment plan for lawyers.

Now comes the Jeffrey and Judi Weiss family of Palm Beach. Several years ago their son was paralyzed. His only moments of joy were when his family took him to the beach. So his family bought a condo right on Palm Beach just a few steps away from the ocean.

The Sloans’s Curve Homeowner Association blocked the family’s access to the beach, supposedly to preserve sand at the high water mark. The HOA’s solution was to build a huge A-Frame of stairs. To reach the beach, the family now as to carry 62 pound Justin UP THE STAIRS, and DOWN THE STAIRS, over the high-water mark. It’s extremely difficult and an obvious violation of the ADA law.

And the circling creatures, the gray masses in the water, folks….they are lawyers, each wanting a piece of the action.
Ah, and the people really losing all their money are the innocent homeowners who thought that by buying into a Homeowners Association, they might protect themselves from such legal costs.

Floridians! Open up your wallets. You’ve been screwed again by a Homowner Association movement that lied to you from the beginning about protecting your investment behind the shield of a convenant protected community.

You really have no protection. In fact, in the colorful verbiage of the insurance industruct: You’re practicing naked.

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

Subject: Editorial in Raleigh News & Observer 2/3/12

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Gather a group of people who are members of different homeowners associations and you’ll hear tales across the spectrum of human behavior. Some HOAs are run by groups of well-intentioned, reasonable people who want to help their neighbors and see to it that their association quietly performs the duties of mowing grass, doing repairs on common areas, maintaining a certain level of neatness, watching safety. They try to do their duty without interfering much in neighbors’ day-to-day lives.

And then there’s the other end of that spectrum, where perhaps one or two association leaders mistake their roles for those of drill sergeants or monarchs. It’s their way or the highway, and if they have a grudge against a neighbor who, say, once dared to complain, they don’t mind using the association to intimidate that person.

There’s a reason why a legislative committee has been hearing various accounts about HOAs with an eye toward further regulation, and it looks as though further regulation is needed. There were too many accounts recently at a committee meeting about associations that went after neighbors, including to the point of trying to foreclose.

The General Assembly can start right there. No homeowners association should have the power of foreclosure, end of story, period. Taking someone’s home because they’re late with dues? No. Some association leaders who appeared before lawmakers actually tried to defend that right. And, there should be a line of appeal for alleged excesses on the part of associations besides an expensive trip to court.

Some HOA leaders resist the idea that anyone needs to tell them how to operate or put limits on their powers. But they need instruction, and they need regulation. Strict regulation, with consequences for associations that don’t comply.

Written by: A.A. Friedrich — Raleigh, NC, USA

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/03/1826206/whoa-hoa.html#storylink=cpy

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

On the 7th Day, God Didn’t Actually Rest: He Sent Mankind an Honest Lawyer

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This blog credits honesty. And in the HOA quagmire that is North Carolina, one lawyer has raised his head and taken an extreme moral, social and safety risk by speaking his heart. He says he’s seen the HOA mess from both sides and has strong opinions about the need for reforms.

If you’re a Christian, you’d better drop to your knees and thank God for this Jewish lawyer. He speaks the Truth, and is certain to be crucified for it.

I’ll link his editorial right here. And if you know this guy, tell him you appreciate his honesty.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/03/1826206/whoa-hoa.html#storylink=cpy

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

Disabled Child Gets the Finger from his HOA

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Handicapped youngsters are often the target of ire from Homeowners Associations. Despite laws to protect the handicapped, there’s a special kind of rancor directed at families who have special needs children.

The latest example is in Lexington, Kentucky. The Andover Forest Homeowners Association has told the parents of a child with cerebal palsy that no exception from HOA rules would be granted their son.

Three year old Cooper Veloudis is the center of the storm. His therapist told his parents, Tiffiney and George, that their special needs son might be encouraged to be more active if he had, say, a playhouse in the backyard.

A playhouse? For a handicapped kid? Outrageous violation of the rules, according to the HOA. And it’s fining the Veloudis family fifty dollars a day for each day that Cooper’s new playhouse is left standing.

“Illegal structure!” the HOA told the family. “Get rid of it!”

George Veloudis says he has pictures of other such “illegal structures” throughout the neighborhood. Ah, but the typical HOA isn’t required to enforce the law evenly. Besides, pressure on the family might encourage them to pack up and move out, a common plight facing families with a handicapped youngster.

HOA officials won’t talk to the media. Perhaps they’re embarrassed?

On second thought, probably not.

A tip-o’-the-hat to LEX 18 Television in Lexington for reporting on this story.

http://www.lex18.com/news/playhouse-for-boy-with-cerebral-palsy-causing-controversy-in-lexington-neighborhood#!prettyPhoto/1/

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

HOA Dues: For Some, it’s Poison

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Members of Homeowners Associations must pay their HOA dues, on time!

That’s as it should be, of course. After all, homeowners agree in their original real estate purchase agreements to abide by all HOA rules and restrictions. But in thousands of cases across the country, people’s homes are being snatched and sold at auction, sometimes without notice, after a late payment or other violation of vague neighborhood rules.

Tony Goodman, of San Antonio, Texas, is just another in a long line of homeowners to find themselves threatened with homelessness.

Goodman, who was unemployed for nearly a year, says he was unable to pay HOA dues on his $165,000 home in the Lookout Canyon Creek Homeowners Association. He owed $769. With surprise collection fees and attorney’s costs that sum rose to more than $2000. Goodman says he worked out a payment plan with the HOA’s lawyer, Tom Newton, but the plan was rejected by the HOA twice.

Reporter Brian Collister, of WOAI TV, says he tried to get both the attorney and the Homeowners Association to discuss the Goodman case. Neither would talk to him. Collister says he then showed up at a Homeowners Association meeting and tried to ask questions about the home seizure, but the HOA ordered Collier to leave and then called the police.

Tony Goodman was eventually one of the few “snatch and sell” victims who was able to save his house. After all the negative publicity in Texas, the Lookout Canyon Creek HOA agreed to let Goodman make payments to head off the foreclosure.

Others, many others, have not been so “lucky.”

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

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