Well, at least one Florida lawyer is warning all Homeowners Association residents that they’d better start buying bear-proof trash cans. Seems that if a homeowner fails to buy one of these $140 trash cans a person mauled by a bear can start filing negligence lawsuits against every homeowner for miles around. Dang! I wish I’d gone to law school.
Colorado has its own bear problems. Aspen is especially famous for the dozens of bears that roam the downtown area each night. Bear maulings, of course, are a bad deal for the victims.
But my evil mind is running some quick calculations. 64 million HOA homeowners, each needing at least two bear-proof trash cans. That’s 128 million cans times $140 apiece. My mind doesn’t even calculate that high, but wouldn’t you like to buy stock in a trash can company? Heck, I’d be satisfied with just getting a dollar per can.
People in Nevada know the name, “Vistana.” The Vistana Homeowners Association was ground zero for the massive FBI investigation of HOA corruption, rigged elections, racketeering, bribery, extortion, and maybe even a murder or two. Actually, they’re officially classified as suicides, but one of the lawyers who committed ‘suicide’ had his knees bashed in by ‘persons unknown’ inside his gated community. The kneecapping happened just a few months before his ‘suicide’. Ah, I forgot to add, this profoundly disabled lawyer was able to hang himself from the rafters of a barn. Suspicious? Hmmmm.
With the HOA scandal occupying all the headlines you’d think the current board and management of Vistana would be especially sensitive about obeying the letter of the law. But remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Yes, it seems the Vistana board needed to tow about 70 cars because of a paving project. Nevada has strict laws governing the towing of cars. But did the board follow the laws? Any of them? I’ll let KTNV reporter Darcy Spears answer that question in her HOA Hall Of Shame, linked below.
The State of Nevada has actually filed criminal charges against those responsible for the Vistana towing atrocity. Strange to think of a Nevada crime prosecuting body actually doing some prosecuting!
What if your condominium leaks like a sieve? What if the streets flood every time it rains? What if your condo building develops foundation cracks and unexplained build up of mold?
Owners may assume that reporting serious problems to the Board will result in sincere concern and earnest investigation of possible construction defects. They might expect the Board to insist that responsible parties pay for damages and repairs. But what if one of the association Board members is affiliated with the Developer?
Residents of Boathouse Condominiums, Bay City, Michigan, have complained of numerous defects but have run into resistance. Their Board has denied their request to seek defect claims against the developer of their 37-unit high-end boathouse conversion, Marina Place LLC. The Agent of the Developer’s corporation just so happens to be a member of the Board at Boathouse Condominiums.
So nineteen residents have filed their own lawsuit against the Developer and construction company, alleging numerous defects that allow water intrusion into the units, and a faulty foundation. But the lawsuit also lists the HOA as a defendant, for failure to address their concerns.
The Developer denies knowledge of defects, and seeks proof of damages.
Attorneys for both sides are already engaged. This battle could get expensive.
In my earlier guest blog this month, Uncovering The Real Community Associations Institute (CAI), I presented a number of CAI quotes on where it stood regarding constitutional protections for homeowners, and its claim that HOAs are not governments in fact. What does the HOA Establishment find so horrible, so objectionable, so damaging as to give rise to its rejection of our system of constitutional government?
The only arguments of any worth, regardless of how slight, is the false claim that HOAs are businesses and that this new form of government is what all the members signed up for and is the voice of the members. Really? In earlier internet postings on HOA Constitutional Government I presented the alternative of using special tax districts as a vehicle to return HOAs to the Union. This week I presented arguments that HOAs violate local home rule doctrine and are outlaw governments. HOAs violate even the most liberal of home rule statutes; statutes that would give the HOA concept all the local government control of the community, except its creation would now be subject to state approval and to our system of constitutional government.
As an example of how this approach is very do-able, I received info on Florida’s Community Development Districts, a form of taxing districts, but one not quite suitable for HOA governance. However, the MEADOW POINTE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT, GENERAL AND PROCEDURAL RULES document provides an example of the benefits and protections of creating HOA taxing districts. The Rules document spells out the procedures for managing the district under the state’s Administrative Procedures Act, Rule-Making statutes. It contains rules for record access, open meeting, board conflict-of-interests, etc. all under the municipality statutes. This is important as district boards and officers, as government employees, are subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000.
What it shows by concrete example is the protections of rights and freedoms for all the people; and a long standing legal doctrine or set of laws written not by profit-seeking lawyers and developers, but by people concerned with good local government under the constitution. It is an extension of the liberal home rule doctrine for local government and good for the people, the community and this country.
Condo owners in Chandler, Arizona are finding themselves under water, lots of water!
Irreplaceable family photos and damage to items stored in their garages, such as cars, are not their problem, says the HOA. The insurance company for the HOA says it’s not their problem, either. And the condo owners didn’t carry flood insurance. Whose problem is it? Well, it looks like that is going to be decided in lawsuits. (Oh! Here we go again!)
J. Roger Wood an attorney and supporter of HOA homeowners notes the owners did notify their HOA prior to the storm of drainage problems. Will that be sufficient to settle these claims? Or will the HOA just decide to spend the money that could be spent repairing the drainage problems on fighting these condo owners in court? Will failure to maintain the property that resulted in condo owners receiving personal property damage be enough to convince a jury?
What do you think?
This is probably an ideal time to remind readers that any time you are making a request of the HOA to always do it in WRITING and keep a copy. If you send an email, print a copy and keep it in a file.
