The story linked below is more than confusing. But I’ll try to boil it down.
A dishonest developer (imagine that!) creates a planned community with all its customary HOA rules, doesn’t provide the promised amenities, goes bankrupt the day before going to court; now the community is stuck with HOA regulations and dues created by this creepy developer.
Welcome to HOA Amerika.
Kenneth and Linda Anderson developed the Arcadian Springs Village Property Owners Association in Andersonville, Kentucky. Now dozens of homeowners are whining that they got duped. They didn’t get the Utopian neighborhood they dreamed of.
A bill that homeowners rights advocates say is one of the worst, most dangerous in the history of HOA law has just been approved by the California State Assembly by a 73 to 1 vote!
The bill, which is inevitably going to become law, has incredible implications for people living in smaller HOAs. It essentially wipes out the right of many California homeowners to vote on board officers, assessments, or changes in neighborhood covenants. Oh, they’ll get to vote. But the ballots won’t be secret. HOA elections won’t be overseen by any investigative office. Every vote will have to be cast in person. No longer do you have a say on your vacation home in the Golden State unless you fly there and personally cast your ballot. The vote totals can and will be manipulated at will by HOA board members because that’s what board members do when no one is looking.
Former Playboy Bunny Holly Madison thought it would be a fun idea to build a doghouse perfectly designed to match her own home in Las Vegas. She even hired a contractor to make sure it was perfectly built.
Well, someone in the HOA was upset with the way something was built. And Holly is losing a Ben Franklin each month in HOA fines. Apparently, it wasn’t the doghouse that upset the local HOA. It was just the fact that it’s painted pink.
In any event, Holly is moving and taking her perfectly built doghouse with her. She may have trouble finding another home in Las Vegas, though. The only new housing there is under HOA control. And Las Vegas HOAs have a horrible reputation.
Not too many years ago you couldn’t get any reporter anywhere to take a critical look at the national HOA mess. Even when the U.S. Attorney started getting guilty pleas in the Las Vegas organized crime/HOA scandal, you couldn’t find many news stories outside of Nevada, itself. And there was almost ZERO coverage by the national networks. (BTW, as a long-time reporter I plead guilty of neglecting the subject)
But these days it’s not uncommon to find several probing stories a day. Some in the news media, like the one linked below, are slowly beginning to realize there really is some dirt under these HOA sheets. Someday they might even begin recognizing how deep this dirt really is.
Jeff German of the Las Vegas Review Journal is one of the few who’s done ongoing stellar work in reporting on the massive Nevada HOA scandal. If there are still any skeptics in America who think I’ve been exaggerating about the American HOA Movement being rife with old fashioned organized crime, then please follow German’s reporting.
