Tag Archives: HOA

Astounding Honey Bee Deaths!

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I’ve debated with myself long and hard over the story I’m about to tell you. It really zeroes in on a personal situation I faced with an HOA bully. I swore I would keep the story to myself until I read today’s article about America’s tragic loss of honey bees. Forty percent of all honey bees in the country died last year. Forty percent!

(link to 40% loss of honey bees in just one year)

You cannot imagine how important honey bees are to our agriculture and our very survival as a species. Man just can’t do what bees do for us. Without bees there is no produce in your grocery store. None!

Now, my personal story. I own some acreage in Colorado adjacent to a Homeowners Association. Several years ago, a teenager who raises bees and produces honey for a hobby asked if he could place a half dozen bee hives on my property. There’s no way I would have refused him. For several years the hives were thriving and pollinating vegetation for miles around.

Last year I was away at a publishers’ conference when I got an angry call from a typical HOA bully. He demanded I remove the hives immediately. Mystified at his sudden rage I asked him why? Believe it or not, this guy said “Your bees are drinking from my wife’s pond!”

This is not a joke. Despite the fact that there are several bee keepers within a four mile radius of this property, MY bees were drinking from his pond!

I guess I shouldn’t have ignored him because a few days later every single one of the bee hives was dead. Stone cold dead in just one night. I seriously doubt they died that suddenly from natural causes.

Two Wildly Different Views of HOA Embezzlement

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“Embezzlement is so rare in HOAs that it’s almost non-existent.”
(What the HOA industry would have you believe.)

“Another embezzler hits an HOA for nearly a quarter million bucks.”
(What those of us at Neighbors At War would have you believe.)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot!

(link to another one of those thousands of embezzlement cases)

And another….

(link to another embezzlement the HOA industry just doesn’t want you to know about)

And the list goes on and on. HOA life is hazardous to your life savings. Believe it!

 

 

Las Vegas HOA Sentences Handed Down

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Well, well! The sentencing of the Las Vegas HOA scammers has begun. Readers of this blog know that that I predicted the vast majority of these dirtballs will spend no more than eighteen months in prison. That’s what most white collar crime leads to. Steal a million or a hundred million and our judicial system doesn’t have the guts to hand down sentences these people actually deserve. You can get more time behind bars abusing an animal than for ruining the lives of thousands of humans.

This federal judge has already told the thousands of victims of the Vegas swindling machine that they’ll probably never see their money again because it’s all gone. It seems to me these 41 crooks should stay in prison until each and every victimized homeowner gets ALL his money back. It’ll never happen.

Steve Wark is the first to be sentenced. He’s a well-known political strategist in Nevada. Incredibly, he only got 366 days in prison. Counting his time off for good behavior he’ll spend far less time behind bars than the 18 months I predicted.

Other sentences today:
15 months in prison.
21 months in prison.
21 months.
15 months.
3 months of home confinement.

For all the thousands of people who lost their homes and life savings to this mob: How do you feel now?

(link to Review Journal in Las Vegas)

Oh, and BTW, if you think I’m crazy about animal abuse being more serious than ruining thousands of human lives, try this link:

(man gets year in prison for killing dog)

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/05/12/southern-california-man-gets-year-in-jail-for-beating-death-his-pet-poodle/

More Segregation In This Economy

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There’s a fascinating article in the Washington Post about how the foreclosure crisis is leading to increased segregation in American neighborhoods. The article is worth reading, even though it doesn’t directly target Homeowners Associations.

 

There are interesting implications, though. The big irony is that the modern homeowner association movement started in 1964 shortly after the Civil Rights Act was passed. White homeowners and developers recoiled at the thought of minorities moving into white neighborhoods and made sure subtle racial controls were woven into the HOA system.

 

The recent mortgage crisis hit HOAs especially hard with foreclosures being done both by mortgage companies and HOA boards. And there’s no question that many ‘private governments’ have used their ‘secret rules and powers’ to come down harshly on minorities. Keep that in mind as you read the Washington Post story, linked below.

 

(link to story on increased segregation)

 

Timberlake Management, aka “The Condo Crime Family”

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Former FL Representative Julio Robaina calls the Timberlake management company run by the Duggers the “Condo Crime Family,” in this special News 10 report by Bob Norman. Take a look at the video of some of these communities that the Duggers manage – clogged storm drains, flooded streets every time it rains, trash all over the place. Exactly all of the blight that HOAs are supposed to prevent, right? Have these HOA property values been enhanced over the years? Not on your life!

Supposedly, Florida has the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) to oversee condominiums, timeshares, and mobile home parks, to protect homeowners from financial misconduct and abuse. But how many complaints must be filed before Timberlake is shut down for good, and the Dugger family is held accountable? Apparently more than 30! Florida’s DBPR, a state level agency, does very little to protect condo owners.

That may explain why, for two years in a row, the FL Legislature has not even considered a bill that would extend DBPR authority to include oversight of Homeowners Associations. Meanwhile, the state has taken nearly half of the revenue paid by condo owners ($4 per condo unit across FL) and spent it on other services. Another slap in the face to condo owners.

Anyone who owns or resides in Association-governed property in Florida should be outraged. In fact, even if you are lucky enough not to have to live under HOA rule, as a taxpayer, you should still be very concerned about obvious incompetence and corruption that affects the lives of millions of your family members, friends, and neighbors.