Tag Archives: Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Intriguing Massachusetts Court Decision

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I’m not smart enough to figure out all the implications of this decision. It has to do with collections of HOA and Condo fees by law firms and how they may violate the letter of federal law governing Fair Debt Collection.

If you’re as attention deficit disordered as I am, you can quickly skip down to the section entitled “Implications of the McDermott decision to get a general sense of what this decision could mean nationally.

If this decision spreads to other states, it might be a ticklish time for HOA lawyers to get into the collection business. They just might find themselves hit with massive damage suits.

Two for the Price of One? The First Circuit Holds that a Violation of the FDCPA is a Per Se Violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Statute | JD Supra

 

 

Dead Beavers?

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I thought I’d heard of everything, but readers of this blog site send me the most wonderful material. Homeowner association disputes go to cops and courts all the time. But the latest one from Forsyth County, Georgia got me chuckling.

A board member upset a homeowner who went home and told her husband. The husband then slimed the board member on Facebook. The board member promptly filed a police complaint saying he was afraid of this neighbor for a variety of reasons such as guns, alleged PTSD, and of all things….

Hold your breath….

…leaving dead beavers in a parking lot to retaliate against a business owner.

(link to story on the dead beaver guy)

 

 

Chikungunya Virus In Our Neighborhoods

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Bouncing around the HOA warrior network right now is an interesting email from future Congressman Andy Ostrowski. He’s concerned that our political impact will be diluted because only 20% of Americans live in HOA gulags. He says to get any rational national reforms enacted we need to appeal to 80% of the voters. Reading the current Science News article on the Chikungunya virus gave me an inspiration. If it’s too juvenile a corollary then please forgive me.

Chikungunya is a nasty virus that’s made its way from Southeast Africa and Asia to America. It’s a horribly painful disease that can leave an infected victim with massive joint pain that lasts for years. If it infects babies 20% of them can become permanently disabled. In a matter of weeks it can infect hundreds of thousands of people, even up to 20% of the region where it’s spreading.

The virus spreads through mosquitoes and now for the first time it’s hopped from one species of equatorial mosquito to the tiger-striped mosquito that can be found in many parts of America. Now, if only 20% of the population gets infected, should the other 80% be concerned? Absolutely, say scientists at the Centers for Disease Control.

The HOA virus is another nasty disease that only infects about 20% of the population in this country. It’s spread by lawyers and is rapidly mutating and hopping to other hosts like property managers, Realtors, judges and low-level politicians. This disease is another one that’s spreading rapidly. Should the remaining 80% of homeowners be concerned? Absolutely.

The remaining 80% tell themselves, “I’ll never get infected. I’ll never live in a Homeowners Association. I’ll never have to deal with a relative’s estate that’s located in an infected zone.” Yet a simple job change, the desire to move to a warmer climate, any number of life’s challenges can put you into right into the middle of a zone where the HOA virus is epidemic.

Yes, absolutely, the 80% should be concerned.

(Science News article on runaway Chikungunya virus)

 

 

 

Give This To Your Lawyer!

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No one is more insightful or articulate than Arizona HOA warrior George Staropoli. When he comments on an HOA issue, you really want to stand up and pay attention. He’s written an incredibly interesting analysis of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that he says could ultimately have a direct impact on the national HOA scam. I would do a disservice to him if I tried to sum up his argument.

I would also do a disservice to you if I didn’t give you a link to his paper and urge you to read it, print it out and give copies to every influential person you meet. Your lawyer should have a copy of this. At some point our movement is going to reach a tipping point. Who knows? This could be that point.

(link to “Supreme Court says corporate entities cannot be used to evade Constitution”)

 

 

Civil Forfeiture

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I’m quite sure HOA warriors like George Staropoli and Evan McKenzie have written about this subject. But it’s really kind of spooky to chart the parallels between Civil Forfeiture laws and seizure of private property by Homeowners Associations.

Civil forfeiture laws are a horrendous holdover from the American Civil War and prohibition. They allow police the power to seize vehicles or property of people suspected of carrying on some kind of illegal activity. in the 70s and 80s police began seizing private homes that were suspected of being crack houses. At no time were the police required to prove guilt. Many times a homeowner who unknowingly leased his house to bad people ended up with no rights, no house, and no way to get it back.

In the 1980s Congress allowed police agencies all over the country to keep what they seized, even if there was absolutely no proof that a crime had been committed. Try to board a plane with too much cash in your wallet or purse the money? It can be legally seized. When do you get it back? In most cases, never. All the cops have to do is claim they suspected the money was involved in some kind of crime. No proof of guilt was needed. What rights do you have? You have the right to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit to get it back. Anything else? No. No due process, no way to prove your innocence. The money simply disappears into what’s little more than a police slush fund.

It’s stunningly evil. In a country where the Constitution created rights to protect citizens against the government, justice has been turned on its ear.

Across the country, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of homeowners have been victimized in much the same way. Wrong kind of window shades or a kid’s toy left out overnight? A big fine, then a lien, then forfeiture of your house. Your rights? You get to hire a lawyer and sue to try your stuff back. The boards of Homeowners Associations have absolutely the same power of civil forfeiture as the cops. And the money they seize also goes into HOA slush funds, or into the pockets of embezzlers.

What have we done to ourselves, folks?

(link to booklet on civil forfeiture)

http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2015/pdf/Forfieture-Booklet-FINAL-Full.pdf