We discussed this recently: the California bill to forbid Homeowners Associations from fining homeowners who allow their lawns to go brown.
The drought in the Southwest is historic, with water to Southern California all but going dry. The Central Valley is dry, the Colorado River is almost a dry basin. Commercial irrigation in much of the state has evaporated. People in Los Angeles County who suddenly can’t get drinking water from the tap are going to be astonished.
Despite the water disaster, arrogant HOA boards have been fining homeowners who don’t water their lawns enough. It took a state law to forbid HOAs, their management companies and their lawyers from ordering homeowners to ignore drought warnings. And now all those board members are whining that they have a new law they have to obey.
Strange that HOA boards can be so short-sighted. No concience, I guess.
Since we seem to have tens of thousands of people who log in here regularly, I try to keep a running chart of adjectives and descriptive words that embattled homeowners use for abusive HOA board members and managers. A frequent one that comes up is ‘rattlesnake’, as in “my board president is as dangerous as a rattlesnake.”
Really, that word comes up a lot in your emails and in news stories about out-of-control HOAs.
So I YouTubed the word and came across a funny video that’s been viral several times over the past few years. As you watch this, just remember that sometimes the Good Guy wins!
As I’ve said before, the biggest avalanche begins with a tiny grain of ice slipping down the hillside. Well, beginning next week we’ll witness another chunk of ice becoming unstable. And the beneficiaries will be homeowners in Idaho.
The Gem State has a new law that will begin to reign in some of HOA abuses of homeowners. No longer can a single board member slam his or her weight around a neighborhood bullying people over minor violations. From now on each violation and fine can’t be levied unless a majority of the board approves.
Also, homeowners must have 30 days notice that the board is going to take such a vote.
Finally, and I love this part, you can’t fine a homeowner who’s making a good faith effort to correct a violation.
CAI hates this new law with a passion.
Of course they do. And it gives the lie to claims of CAI members that their organization represents homeowners.
A California Homeowners Association, The Lake of the Pines HOA, is up in arms because an old war veteran uses his garage to build furniture for military families who can’t afford to buy their own.
He’s been building and donating the furniture for a decade. He makes no profit at all. But his HOA says he’s not allowed to use any part of his property to cut wood, sand, paint, or screw. (Yes, I know I’m overlooking a fun comment about that last line, but I’m resisting the urge).
But Vietnam war veteran Dennis Kocher is facing fines of 100 to 500 bucks if he doesn’t click his boot heels together and salute these lawn Nazis. Thugs, is what they are. And I’ve got so little patience for thugs.
It’s so fitting to be able to write this after two incredibly strong guest blogs by George Staropoli and Deborah Goonan. But sometime over the past 48 hours we passed another readership milestone. In the 12 month running average we have now surpassed 400,000 readers and more than 3.2 million pages of material read.
I haven’t tallied up all the readers since this website began, but I know by now it’s well over a million. So, together we really are reaching people.
Certainly, ongoing problems in the economy are bringing out the mean side in many HOAs and this obviously is causing homeowners to search the web to see if they’re all alone in their personal struggles. It’s also a strange weekend to have CAI come out with more blatantly fake polling data claiming that people in Homeowners Associations are happy with their HOAs. Both George and Deborah have written papers that prove what a sham these CAI polls are. But CAI has billions of dollars to pour into the halls of the nation’s legislatures. We’re just the people.
