Tag Archives: Home Assoc

How D’ya Like Your HOA Re-sale Value Now, Bunky?

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Washington State is such a pretty place to live. They call it “The Evergreen State.”

And a boat-load of Homeowners Associations were all going to help protect and preserve property values for all those new owners. Well, it’s not working out so well for folks in the Hazel Dell Townhomes, part of the Timbers at Town Center HOA in Vancouver. About six years ago, crowds of real estate agents dragged their clients in to buy some of those ritzy new townhomes. Now, HOA dues are going unpaid, a lot of personal wealth has been shredded, common areas are uncommonly unkempt. At this point, a townhouse owner probably couldn’t unload his property in a bad poker game.

It’s an old, sad story. The developer went broke in 2006, leaving a bunch of homes unsold. He transferred his bankrupt company along with the CC&Rs to the neighborhood. One of those rules is that it takes a quorum of 50% of the community to elect a board, to hold a meeting or even to petition the courts for help.

Now the homeowners are whining to the State Legislature that it’s “just not fair.” Maybe the Legislature will help out, and maybe not. The problem isn’t the developer. The problem is that investing in covenant-controlled housing is a big fat “P.S.I.” (pretty stupid investment). It’s just another case of “the big lie” being told over and over again by every real estate agent in Kingdom Come.

They’ll call me a fibber for saying it, but the real truth is that, “No, the HOA does NOT protect your property values.

In the meantime, many homeowners in The Evergreen State could reasonably call it “The Ever-Broke State.”

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Legacy Park Community Association – An HOA Thief In Their Midst

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We’ve frequently talked in this blog about thieves who steal from their Homeowners Associations. There’s another one. There’s always another one.

Douglas Gilpatrick Tulper, a treasurer for the Legacy Park Men’s Club took almost 18,000 dollars from his organization which is part of the Legacy Park Community Association in Kennesaw, Georgia. He says he needed it to pay bills.

His attorney may use his age as an excuse. He’s 78. But the problem isn’t age, or senility, or dementia. The problem is that HOA officers can do whatever the heck they want to with other people’s money. There is no oversight. There are no rules. And where there is no oversight, greed has no chains. It’s extremely rare when somebody actually gets caught.

America has 300,000 Homeowner Associations, little fiefdoms where the U.S. Constitution is not observed, respected or acknowledged.

Embezzlement arrests are rare in our gated communities. Yet every one seems to have some little “bit of history” with HOA thieves.

Isn’t something wrong here?

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Do You Smell Something Rotting in the Air of Las Vegas?

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With several dozen Las Vegas Homeowner Associations mired in the muck of a federal corruption investigation, members of one association have learned they may be targeted by huge IRS assessments and fines.

Sun City Summerlin Community Association is not one of the Nevada HOAs where investigators have found corrupt cops and judges and lawyers. But this HOA’s accounting practices are attracting lots of federal attention.

The HOA operates several commercial golf courses and restaurants. So in addition to HOA dues, there’s a chunk of money coming into the coffers of the HOA from outside sources. Theoretically, taxes should be paid on that income. But Sun City Summerlin Association has been deferring millions of dollars on its annual tax forms. Homeowners don’t seem to be aware that their snowbird homes may end up as tax magnets instead of tax shelters.

Sun City Summerlin is a not-for-profit organization, so theoretically homeowners should have been given some rather large refunds. Instead, each homeowner may be given some rather large surprise tax assessments.

Other Homeowners Associations across the country area are closely watching what happens in Las Vegas. Elderly homeowners may suddenly discover a downside to investing their life savings in a retirement home in the Sun Belt.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

The Wonders of Childhood

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Seven youngsters in the Twin Cities area will always remember the winter they learned to skate.

On a small piece of land where their backyards adjoined, their dads nailed some boards on top of one another. When the Minnesota skies turned frigid, the families turned on their garden hoses and filled the enclosure with water. It froze over, and they poured in another inch of water. Then another.

After just a week or so the families had created a miniature ice rink. The youngsters strapped on their new Christmas skates and with pint-sized paddles they learned to swat a puck back and forth. Eventually, two nets went up and the dads began teaching their youngsters all the finer mysteries of the sport of hockey. The miniature ice rink was envied by other children in the neighborhood and each afternoon they’d gather and play. They learned the rules of sportsmanship. And of friendship. And of taking turns.

Then the letter from the Homeowners Association arrived. The ice rink was illegal and had to be immediately removed. A violation of the demand would mean fines, liens, lawyers and lawsuits. There was no one to appeal to, no neighborhood gathering where the kids could plead their case. The ice rink had to go.

Seven youngsters will always remember the winter they learned to skate. And the winter they learned their backyard activities weren’t welcomed.

Yes, those seven children will always remember their childhood in Oakdale, Minnesota. And the Oak Run Shores Homeowners Association.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Do We Owe Them Anything?

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Sherman McCray is 81 years old. He was an Army veteran who saw the brutality of the Korean War, but he fought because he thought it was his duty to protect the honor of his fellow Americans.

In the post-war years, he married the love of his life. When she died, he tried to build a life for another. She, too, succumbed to the cruelties of age. A pension helped with some of Sherman’s expenses.

But over a period of years he began to feel the ailments and pains that take apart and disintegrate an old man’s life. After the heart attack and a gall bladder operation, there wasn’t much money left over.

One of the bills that arrived was from the Vista Homeowners Association in Orlando. Sherman McCray says he tried to call the HOA lawyer to discuss the bill. But each time he did, another one hundred dollars was tacked onto his $339 dollar dues.

With collection costs, attorney’s costs, and 18% interest, the overdue amount rose into the thousands. The lien from the HOA said they planned to take his house. He just couldn’t understand how his entire life could be stolen from him over a paltry bill. In a hand-written note, he pleaded with the judge not to take away an old man’s home, one that he’d worked so hard to build.

The lawyers for the Vistas Homeowner Association essentially said, “it’s too bad. It’s just the way the law in Florida works.”

In a few days, the desperately ill 81 year old veteran will be kicked out into the streets where he’ll sit among a pile of his belongings. His old black dog will comfort him while he figures out what to do. His home will be auctioned off for a few thousand dollars to help fill the HOA’s treasury.

Mary Goldin, president of the Vistas Homeowners Association refused to come to the door to talk to a reporter.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/os-lk-lauren-ritchie-home-foreclosure-20120122,0,6837576.column

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

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