Tag Archives: HOA

A Nod To Robin Williams

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I’ve frequently said on this blog that our fight against HOA abuse is not a liberal/conservative fight, or a Republican/Democrat fight. It’s a fight by any patriot who believes our Constitution is a document worthy of the utmost respect. So if I tip my hat here to a performer at the 1982 convention of People For The American Way, I am not endorsing the organization.

I do think the performance by Robin Williams should be watched by everyone, especially in view of the vulgar meanness of many HOAs toward homeowners who want to display the American flag. In the video linked below, Williams takes the stage to become The American Flag and shows once again the comic genius that we all will miss.

(link to Robin Williams, 1982)

Indiana D.A. Threatens Lawsuit Against HOA Over Flag Dispute

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Finally, some common sense prevails in an Indiana flag dispute, thanks to intervention by Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney Michael Griffin.

In an October 23rd letter to the Fieldstone HOA Board of Directors, Griffin strongly urges the Association to resolve its dispute by November 1, or face legal suit to stop enforcement of penalties against the Willits household.

Check out the link to Griffin’s letter below, in which he states, among other things: “In summary, the association does not have a legally‐sufficient “substantial interest” invoked by the Willits’ display. Under the Flag Act, without a “substantial interest,” the association cannot regulate the Willits’ flagpole and American flag.”

And, furthermore, that “Aesthetic preference is not a legally‐sufficient “substantial interest” of the association with respect to American flag display, and I know of no other reason for an association to distinguish between flagpoles attached to the facade of a home and free‐standing flagpoles.”

By October 29, the matter was resolved. The Willits’ flag can stay; pole and all, including the POW-MIA flag. Fox 59 news reports that a compromise deal has been reached. The Willits will have to remove the flag and flagpole in the future when their house is sold.

The dispute dragged on for months. Griffin became involved after the story received national attention in the media.

Although the dispute is officially resolved, and the Willits received hundreds of phone calls of support, some of their neighbors have sent them anonymous hate mail, and Board members have also received threats.

What price, happiness in your HOA?

ps: Perhaps in Florida, Duval County Prosecuting Attorney can follow Griffin’s lead, with regard to Larry Murphree’s flag dispute with Sweetwater by Del Webb Master HOA?

(link to Fox 59 television news report on flag dispute)

(link to letter from Prosecuting Attorney Griffin to Fieldstone HOA Board)

 

Indiana Residents Fighting Eminent Domain for Private Development

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

I follow Institute for Justice on social media. See the link below for their recent press release about the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood of Charlestown, Indiana. This is yet another case where the city seeks to declare several city blocks “blighted” and to use state grant money to purchase 350+ homes for the paltry sum of $6000 each.

According to a June television report (link below), which includes interviews with Pleasant Ridge residents and Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall, early plans for development are to create a mixed use neighborhood consisting of duplexes, single family homes and affordable housing for seniors. In other words, probably another HOA, this one subsidized by tax dollars.

In June, Hall was quoted as saying that owners would not be “low-balled” on prices offered for their properties. At that time, Hall said owners would only be offered up to $15,000 from grant funds, and developers would have to contribute the rest toward market value. So the proposed offer price has already dropped by $9,000 in just 5 months, with no mention of Developer contribution.

The bottom line is that private developers want the land, so they can build new properties. The Mayor wants to collect higher tax revenues. Instead of dealing with individual properties that are in need of being condemned or demolished, the plan is to raze the entire neighborhood and displace hundreds of residents. Once again, the Supreme Court’s twisted definition of “public use” comes back to haunt American citizens. Fortunately, Indiana’s laws stipulate that eminent domain cannot be used for private development.

I find the following statement from the Mayor’s office particularly interesting,

“This area was declared blighted in 2002 in connection with a revitalization grant received then. The housing in this area was temporary housing bought by the army to house workers at the ammunition plant in 1940,” the mayor’s spokeswoman, Geneva Adams, said.  “They were not meant to be permanent housing. The decline of these structures is evident as you drive through the area.”

Has Ms. Adams taken a close look at the construction quality of many modern homes? I would be willing to bet that the majority of them will not stand the test of time as well as the Army’s temporary housing that is now 74 years old.

(link to Institute for Justice news release)

(WLKY-News video of Pleasant Ridge and Charlestown Mayor, June 2014)

(WDRB coverage from earlier this year)

Dumber Than Dirt In Delaware

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The Maple Hill Homeowners Association is becoming the laughingstock of Bear, Delaware. There are only 23 homes in this HOA, but these idiots have picked the most unbelievable fights with each other and have made their own neighborhood toxic to anyone thinking of buying a home there.

Dues are cheap. About $280 a year. But the petty bickering and the downright nastiness has churned up more than $45,000 in legal fees as various neighborhood crybabies run to the courts to try to get their problems solved.

Ken and Joanne Holbert have tried for years to pay their homeowners association dues by sending checks to the HOA’s mailbox. The president, Jutta Douglas, refused to accept the certified mail in a patently obvious effort to slander the couple with terms like “deadbeat” and “freeloader.” Those actually are actionable terms and the Holberts could probably win a good-sized slander lawsuit.

The numb-skulls at Maple Hill then filed liens against the Holberts’ home. Under Delaware law, you don’t even have to notify a homeowner that a lien has been filed. Just file and foreclose. It’s mean. It’s vulgar. It’s the kind of thing that’s led to violence in a number of other states.

A couple of Delaware politicians are talking about creating an Ombudsman’s Office to deal with petty strife like the viciousness in Maple Hill.

You can fix a law. You can change the way that some HOAs operate.

But you just can’t fix stupid.

(HOA disputes in Delaware)

 

Another Flag Fight

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It always saddens me to see these stories. But with the number of flag fights going on around the country, is it any wonder that many of us think of the HOA movement as fundamentally anti-American? The latest is the Fieldstone Homeowners Association in Greenfield, Indiana.

(another veteran slammed for his flagpole)