Tag Archives: HOA

Do HOA Embezzlement Stories Bore You?

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The Good Lord knows I don’t want to bore readers of my blog posts! But my feeling is that there are so many HOAs being victimized by embezzlers, that the name of every HOA crook ought to be publicized far and wide. These crooks are not only rotten people for stealing, but they’re stealing from neighbors who put them into positions of incredible trust. In many cases, they’re stealing from elderly retired people who just can’t afford to pay special assessments to cover the HOA’s losses.

Well, bore you or not, the latest embezzler to be sentenced to prison is 63 year old Nancy Walker. She managed the treasury of the Ballenger Creek Meadows HOA in Frederick County, Maryland. She stole more than 137,000 bucks. She claims she gave the money to an internet acquaintance she’d never met; a man who alternately claimed he was in a South African hospital, and later in a South African jail. It’s a great sob-story, but it doesn’t change the fact that Walker stole from neighbors who had trusted her.

She got a sentence of 18 months in prison and restitution. Why HOA thieves never get more than 18 months is a mystery to this blogger. But the restitution is no mystery. She’ll never pay it.

Embezzle! Embezzle! Embezzle!

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Oh yes, embezzling is endemic in American Homewers Associations. Just Google “homeowner association and embezzle.” Then stand back and watch the numbers.

The latest one is Dale Palmer, a Kansas City man who managed HOAs in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois and Wisconsin. This creep thought he could get away with embezzling more than 750,000 dollars. He’s going to prison for 46 months, but that’s a laugh. He’ll get off about two years for good behavior.

And the $825,000 restitution?

Don’t count on it, folks.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2012/10/25/kansas-city-man-lands-in-big-house-for.html

Is Your HOA Racist?

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Treading where angels fear to go, a columnist for the Press-Enterprise in Inland Southern California wades into the swamp of HOA racism. He ponders whether a Sun City HOA there is racist, because it wouldn’t allow the NAACP to use its meeting house.

Certainly, racism is an oft-documented problem in American HOAs. There are too many such cases to even count. And subtle racism is even harder to measure. But many HOAs across the country have either no minorities at all, or percentages as small as one or two percent. While that’s no way to measure racial divides, it can make one pause and reflect.

In any event, this column by reporter Peter Surowski, is well worth reading.

http://blog.pe.com/menifee/2012/10/17/menifee-is-sun-city-racist-naacp-national-association-of-colored-people-national-association-of-retired-federal-employees-scca-mary-venerable-christopher-whitt-augustana-college/

LOL! Free Speech and Clint Eastwood’s Empty Chair

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This is hilarious! A Homeowners Association in Debary, Florida, refuses to let homeowners post political signs in their front yards. As we all know by now, the right to free speech in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights is not recognized by the American Homeowners Association movement.

Now, homeowners throughout the neighborhood are placing empty chairs in their yards where they could have placed their political signs. It’s an obvious reference to Clint Eastwood’s empty chair speech at the Republican National Convention.

Presumably, Republicans and Democrats in Debary ought to be concerned about their lack of access to free speech rights.

http://www.wogx.com/story/19804347/residents-protest-hoa-with-empty-chairs?clienttype=printable

You’re STOOPID To Buy An HOA Home In Nevada!

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The Bank of America lawsuit against dozens of Nevada Homeowners Associations chugs onward. Earlier this Fall, B of A filed a federal lawsuit claiming that HOAs were illegally charging excessive collection fees and arbitrary fines against homeowners who committed minor infractions of HOA rules and covenants.

In one such case, a family in North Las Vegas moved out of their home and attempted to short sell it through the Bank of America. But the HOA in question decided the home in question had too many pine needles and weeds on the property, and they filed a lien against the home. Although the initial fine was only a few hundred dollars, the HOA dramatically escalated its fines and costs to more than $16,500. That made the home virtually unsaleable.

In another case (reported by Darcy Spears, KTNV-TV in Las Vegas), homeowner Char Vanderveen had her home seized by the Mountain’s Edge Homeowners Association. The HOA sold her $700,000 home for $7000, less than one percent of its true value.

There are hundreds, if not thousands or even tens of thousands of similar cases.

Bank of America says that kind of thing is happening all over Nevada and they want a federal judge to intervene. Any kind of major judgment against Nevada HOAs could cost them millions of dollars. HOA board members and their attorneys are now whining that if they lose the case, the costs will have to be assessed against all other homeowners.

To refer back to the headline of this story, would you buy a home in an HOA that’s potentially facing multi-million dollar judgments, legal fees and huge special assessments against all homeowners? Wouldn’t you be stupid to do so?

http://www.ktnv.com/news/local/174865911.html

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