Tag Archives: HOA Stories

Container Home VS HOA Living

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

 
Oh, to be HOA free!  People are finding all sorts of creative ways to put a roof over their heads.  Sometimes that means a sacrifice of space for the savings of money.  Which means less need for high-stress and high-income employment.  Or it’s an opportunity to pay off school loan debt. Or spend less of your retirement savings on empty space that eats utilities, creates taxes, insurance, maintenance and needs constant cleaning.  And yet for others it’s a way to stay out of an HOA or condo association.
 
It’s a housing movement that is catching on and growing by leaps and bounds.  Could it be because we are learning that life is about living not about servicing debt and empty spaces? Or it might just be the brutal experience of living in a nightmare condo association or HOA that has shocked us into seeking a place that can be moved if our surroundings start to feel like we are trapped.
 
Whatever the reason the creativity seems endless in our quest for uncontrolled shelter.  This one even offers a roof top deck!
 
 
http://www.tinyhouseliving.com/casa-cubica-a-tiny-container-home-2/
 

Freakin’ Flag Fury

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Yet another Homeowners Association is taking aim at a homeowner who’s flying a patriotic flag. Floridians who fly the American flag have been taken to the cleaners over the years by their HOA for flying Old Glory. Then, Governor Jeb Bush stepped in and signed a bill forcing HOAs to allow flag flying. Reluctantly, the HOAs gave in.

But keep in mind that an HOA management company isn’t making money unless it’s fining homeowners, towing away their cars, liening and suing them for one minor violation or another. Trust me, when HOA management companies have their morning meetings, employees are told, “Now GET out there and write some tickets!!! FIND me some violations!!!

So it’s no surprise when Tom Bagnoli of Palm Coast, Florida started getting fined because right under Old Glory he flies a Wounded Warriors flag. In fact, he’s being fined a hundred bucks a day! Keep in mind that there are flags and flagpoles all over the Grand Haven Homeowners Association. POW/MIA flags, flags representing each of the armed forces, and even some flags for sports teams.

But this HOA is definitely going to do its best to reduce Bagnoli’s net worth.

(link to WFTV story)

 

Crap Flies Sky High Over Virginia Capitol

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It’s extraordinarily rare for a homeowner to win a lawsuit against a Homeowners Association. The most memorable victory last year was by a couple in Olde Belhaven Town Owners Association in Northern Virginia. As you may recall, the couple put up an Obama for President sign in their front yard. Their HOA ordered it taken down because it was four inches too wide.

After the dust settled from the lawsuits, the couple won when the judge ruled that an HOA board couldn’t create resolutions to assess fines unless the covenants contemplated such actions.

This HOA, by the way, declared bankruptcy to try to keep the couple from collecting a dime.

In any event, the Virginia Legislature, ever anxious to protect the cash flow to lawyers, is now contemplating a new state law which would permit Virginia Homeowners Associations to assess fines against residents without having to change their covenants.

As always, there are greasy fingers all over this legislation. The Community Associations Institute (CAI) is out in force lobbying for this awful law. CAI rakes in billions of dollars each year on behalf of lawyers and management companies who kick back dues to the CAI. 

As I’ve continued to say on this blog, you don’t have to be a Republican, Democrat, Tea Partier or Libertarian to be repulsed by this kind of anti-homeowner legislation. It’s all wrong.

But as long as you have cash in your pocket and equity in your home, someone is trying to take it.

(click here for text to proposed Virginia legislation, HB791 – LeMunyon)

After reading this bill, consider contacting your Representative or State Legislator.

 

Different Kind of HOA, Same Old Corruption

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Egads! In Brooklyn a non-profit foreclosure-prevention outfit is officially named The Homeowners Association. With all the bad stuff going on in HOAs around the country wouldn’t you think they’d choose a different name?

Maybe it was a Freudian slip? State officials are accusing the head of this outfit of diverting taxpayer dollars into her personal assets. Sounds like a Homeowners Association to me!

http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/12/16/brooklyn-homeowner-group-chief-misspent-20k-comptroller/

HOA Embezzler Gets Prison

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One of the most bald-faced embezzlers in the country has been told he’ll be spending a little time in prison.

I wrote previously about Chris Barna, who swiped almost a million dollars from the California company where he worked as controller. His firm handles the finances of a number of Homeowners Associations in California. The parent company is Associa, the HOA management firm run by Texas State Senator John Carona.

Earlier this year Barna pleaded guilty to embezzling 980,000 dollars that came out of the accounts of California Homeowners Associations

This week, Barna was sentenced in Federal Court to three years and five months in prison and more than a million dollars in restitution. Judging from past white collar crime cases, though, he’ll only spend part of that time behind bars. And it’s highly doubtful that restitution will ever be made.

But that’s justice in America.

(click here for Justice Department press release)