Tag Archives: HOA Stories

Huh? There’s Jews In The Neighborhood?

Anti-Semitism is vile wherever it pops up. If you’ve read my book, Neighbors at War, you’ll read how the modern HOA movement was started in 1964 just months after the Civil Rights Law was enacted. In other words, Homeowners Associations were started as ‘private clubs’ to keep Jews, Negroes, and Orientals out of white neighborhoods. The language of those whites-only sentiments can still be found in millions of real estate deeds across the country. 

Keeping minorities out of ‘private clubs’ worked pretty well for a few decades. One of the heroes of the anti-HOA movement will never know the huge impact he had on the history of civil rights and HOAs. It was Tiger Woods’ victory in the Jerry Pate golf tournament that got the PGA scrambling to make sure it didn’t inadvertently schedule national tournaments in whites-only country clubs.

Back to discrimination against Jews, the latest fascinating court decision comes to us from Dallas. The Highlands of McKamy Homeowners Association tried to stop an Orthodox Jewish congregation from gathering in their neighborhood. And of course, the apparent timing was aimed at getting them tossed out before Passover. That story is linked below.

Ah, Passover. I have an incredibly personal story aimed for the coming Easter weekend, but in the meantime this article from North Dallas really ought to be read by all those who respect and revere the Jewish people. 

(link to Dallas story)

 

A Second Look At Fire Safety

guest blog by Nila Ridings

Wow! $20 and a canister the size of a tuna can proves to be a life saver.

Hardware stores sell them. Installation is simple. Buy one for you and one for a gift…far better benefits than another pair of slippers or a chotsky for the bookshelf.

(KCTV5 story on fire suppression device)

And…Don’t Let The Dryer Start A Fire!

Clean the lint trap with every use. And keep the exit lines cleaned, too.

Sometimes this might require hiring a professional. I found a company that cleans heating and cooling duct work that also cleans dryer lines. I had this done when I bought my townhouse and was shocked when I saw the pile of lint outside. The technician said from his experience I was lucky I did not have a fire. And from the volume of accumulated lint it probably had not been cleaned since the place was built twenty years earlier!

(Consumer Reports story on dryer fires)

 

Jack English Is Loving Life Until The End

guest blog by Nila Ridings 

93 years old, living in the wilderness, splitting wood, and making violin bows.  Will that be you?  Or me?  Jack English has loved the wild areas of California since he was a young boy.  And his wife’s dying words and his sentimental heart led him back there with plans to stay until the end.
 
Jack mades me think of Dorothy.  She lived in my HOA.  When it was discovered the audits had not been done, and  $10,000,000.00 was unaccounted for, and the bills weren’t paid, and the houses were rotting before our eyes, Dorothy invited me in for a talk.  She was 93, frail, but with fight in her eyes.  In my mind’s eye, I can still see her sitting there in the power blue velveteen chair with her walker at arm’s length.  Her eyes were locked with mine.  As the tears ran down her cheeks she said, “Nila, if I was younger I would be fighting as hard as you are to get to the bottom of this, but I’m too old and too weak.  Something sinister is going on here; you know it and I know it.  If you don’t get this mess straightened out, I am going to figure out a way out of here!  I don’t want to spend another day of my life in this horrible nightmare of a homeowners association.”  Sadly, Dorothy ended up in a nursing home and not long ago I read her obituary.  It still makes me sad to think that Dorothy, at nearly a century old knew she was being ripped off, but she was helpless.  She could be nothing more than a victim and hand over her money every month.
 
It’s really refreshing to see Jack English’s story.  Knowing he was one elderly person who didn’t get caught in some HOA maintenance-provided propaganda sales pitch like so many other 80 and 90 year olds.  And, it’s a reminder that when we fight these HOA battles it is not just for ourselves.  It’s for all the Dorothy’s across this country who have no clue that when they bought into an HOA they signed away their twilight years into a hellish nightmare like they have never known in the decades they’ve lived before.  We must never forget that their silence doesn’t mean they are not fully aware of the corruption.  Father Time has just weakened them enough to make them easy prey for the HOA monster.
 
Now, take a look at what life at 93 and HOA-free can be!
 
 
http://solarburrito.com/blog/93-year-old-man-lives-in-wilderness-cabin/
 

Time To Design Your HOA Dron-E-Ports

guest blog by Nila Ridings
 
We knew it was coming sooner or later.  Remember Ward’s predictions?  How will drone deliveries be handled in your HOA?  William W. Sleeth III is offering his insight and advice.  Get ready…he’s an award winning HOA attorney!
 
He’s suggesting that homeowners associations start discussing these drone landing ports now.  You know, so they can plan for where the Dron-E-Ports will be located, what sort of fencing will be erected, and what the hours of operation will be.  He failed to mention that HOA boards and property managers will conger up landing fees, fines for violations, liens, and lawsuits that will land the homeowners in the witness seat in the courtroom.  Ultimately, they will lose their home over a new pair of black tap shoes drone-delivered for their daughter’s dance recital.
 
And of course, while townhomes have rotten siding, condo roofs are leaking, units are mold-infested, paint is peeling, and dues are being spent on increased insurance premiums, Mr. Sleeth wants the HOAs to start running up billable hours discussing the legal aspects of drone landings!  
 
He’s thinking if drones aren’t allowed to land, the younger home buyers and tech savvy folks won’t buy in the community.  I’m going to give that group far more credit than that.  I predict they won’t buy in HOAs because they have heeded the warnings of those sounding the alarm about the nightmares of living in an HOA!  Drone landings will be the least of their concerns.
 
Drone HOA1178A is on the ground at Dron-E-Port Valley View 2.  Let the newest source of the HOA legal battles begin!!!
 
http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/drones-and-hoas-how-homeowners-associat-56540/?utm_source=brief_email

Structural Engineers Wail Warnings About HOA And Condo Design Projects

guest blog by Nila Ridings

In the same way homeowners are getting wiser and wiser to the nightmares of HOAs and condo associations so are the engineering professionals who get caught in the very early stages of this insanity. The HOA attorneys are wiping them out, too.

I love it when “insiders” open the can of worms on corruption.  This time it’s the structural engineers and their insurers sounding the alarm about working with architects and developers on condominium projects. And their insurance agents are giving them a “heads up” on how to protect themselves against the inevitable HOA lawsuit.

Reading between the lines it seems they’re saying, “Run from condo projects! HOAs and condos are a pain in the neck to deal with even in hard times when work is scarce! Don’t let the pockets of your engineering firm be the deepest ones in the courtroom” is the message I’m hearing.

It’s disgusting to see the vast numbers of people who are being harmed by this entire HOA and condo association mess. I think we should invite the structural engineers to join our activism. They can relate to the pain and suffering that homeowners are going through… and the fear of the inevitable legal battles with the HOA attorneys.

(the legal risk of working on a condo design)

(And another good link:)