Tag Archives: HOA

Where Neighbors Are Neighbors

Neighborhoods are supposed to be all about like-minded people working together to strengthen the bonds between each other. There’s a strange aloofness and paranoia among some of the country’s neighborhoods…. approximately one-out-of-five. You ‘in-crowd’ people know what that percentage is referring to.

But in my youth, I really do remember neighbors who’d talk over the fence, and gather for dinner, where the kids would take each others’ sons and daughters to the senior prom. Neighborhoods. Healthy. Old fashioned.

Yes, we’ve lost something in the madness of the modern HOA movement. We’ve learned how to keep those intrusive Negroes, Jews and Orientals from moving into our white ghettos. We’ve learned how to encourage the disabled, the single moms, the elderly, to find other places to live. After all, our exclusionary attitudes keep our property values up, right?

No, I kind of like that ‘old-timey’ feeling where we loved our neighbors with the full knowledge and assurance that they loved us right back.

The link below kind of moved me tonight, as I sat here contemplating where we’ve been, and where we’re going.

http://www.wkrg.com/story/21754502/whats-working-south-lafayette-street-community-association

“One Small Step For A Man, One Giant Leap (still to come)”

Wow! Jan Bergemann, you are somethin’ else! I didn’t think your proposed legislation had a ghost of a chance of even getting out of committee. But Jan, my brother, you have accomplished a miracle. Just remember it’s only a small step, and you’re up against a massive HOA tort industry that will do anything in its power to ruin you, your reputation, your health, your bank account. Remember, you’re threatening the income stream of a very powerful and unscrupulous monster.

But you are among a small handful of pioneers who opened the eyes of many of the rest of us around the country. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. Of course, we know and you know that you’ve got a big red target on your back.

Those of you who’d like to read the progress and the text of Jan’s proposed Florida reform legislation, it’s linked below.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=99asbrdab&v=001PAHSyKgq2Iq97r8N_9ppO1dwdqJSFmw_AolLy6KxC7oRT38uuDvHhB18C0poQ7wX8fZnNwKErzSWQxtLNTHsRahyAldp-aluI_tbop7rEJp-xT3Hehp-YgI263W39r0hSS3cqzw8jBE%3D

Hilarious! An Anti-HOA Drone Hoodie?

As readers of my book and blog already know, I’ve long been predicting that HOA boards would begin buying surplus military drone aircraft to spy on homeowners to ensure nobody in the neighborhood had installed an unauthorized hot tub in the back yard.

LOL! There’s already a prankster out there in the cyber world who occasionally pops up with a phony HOA-drones-for-sale website. His last posting was on April 1st, which might give you a key to his mindset. He even provided his phone number and it must be a hoot to answer calls from HOA board members who are actually serious about buying a drone to cruise for covenant violations.

But the story linked below takes the prize. It’s a company that’s come up with a ‘hoodie’ that can defeat air photography by drones. It’s still so close to April Fool’s Day that I’m not sure what to believe. But for some fun reading pretend that you’re really paranoid of neighborhood spying and figure out how to use this new ‘hoodie technology’ to cover your whole house!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/mar/31/anti-drone-hoodie-big-brother

HOA Murders! Again!

Professor Gary Solomon, one of the prominent national voices in the Homeowners’ Rights Movement, has long predicted that the nation will see a wave of violence in Homeowners Associations. There’s no doubt this man is precognizant. This weekend’s news proves him to be a real prophet.
 
In Harrisburg, North Carolina, Anthony Charles Hardy lived exactly between homes of the president of the Windsor Forest Homeowners Association and a house occupied by another member of the board. This weekend Hardy murdered both board members, and then committed suicide in a subsequent standoff with the SWAT team. Three people dead.
 
Do you want to be a prophet? Just go to your annual homeowners association meeting and watch the fury and frustration vented by homeowners against the board of directors. It really is a little scary.
 
Of course, there’s absolutely no excuse for murder. None. But is this violence just wildly coincidental?
 
Arizona resident George Staropoli, one of the pioneers of the Homeowners’ Rights Movement, points out in a recent blog the arrogance of the national HOA lawsuit industry with the artwork on the covers of industry magazines from several years ago. The industry, the CAI in this case, is absolutely mocking the coming wave of homeowners who are screaming about the rights they’ve unexpectedly lost by signing the CC&R papers for a new home.
 
While realizing that homeowners are turning to murder and mayhem in states like North Carolina, Kentucky, Missouri, Florida, Arizona and others, try to comprehend why leaders of the HOA money scam would mock simple homeowners who are just trying to understand how and why they lost all their Constitutional rights.  Please, please read Staropoli’s blogpost linked below (all the way to the end to see the magazine covers) and make sure you take in the full impact of the HOA industry’s attitude toward the rest of us. They owe us a huge apology.
 
 

My Typos

I usually write these blogs in the middle of the night when I’m barely awake. So I’m constantly finding embarrassing typos. Of course, I realize you’re never supposed to admit these things publicly, but after forty years in a TV newsroom I’m used to having others correct my spelling and grammar. We’re all on the same team, here, right? And we all want to be credible, right? So please don’t hesitate to point out errors that need correcting.

I’m easy to reach at Ward@NeighborsAtWar.com.  And I will correct any and all errors when I get the signal. Egads, I love the Internet!