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

Interesting Sentence for ‘Depressed’ Embezzler

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Question: If you knew you could steal $40,000 and only get a 60 day jail sentence, would you do it? $20,000 tax free dollars a month is pretty tempting, isn’t it?

Well, that’s the sentence given a 72 year old Idaho woman when she embezzled that amount from her seniors-only community, the Florida Estates HOA. She said she stole the money because she was depressed.

The sentence gets even more interesting. After her two month jail sentence she’s required to make $40,000 restitution at the rate of $200 a month. I’m not very good at math but it looks like that’s about 17 years. And she’ll be 89 when she’s finished paying. I suspect most of the neighbors she ripped off will be dead or institutionalized by that time.

Crime really does pay.

And the crooks know it.

(link to Idaho Press story about woman sentenced for grand theft)

Screwy Stuff From This Former Texas Senator

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I’ve written repeatedly about the ethics-challenged former Texas state senator John Carona. He’s the billionaire who owns a company that oversees about 9,000 Homeowners Associations across the country. And his rules for homeowner behavior are beyond bizarre.

One that still gets my goat is that a homeowner can be fined for the behavior of any guest who ‘intends’ on visiting his property. No kidding! A Home Depot truck was stopped for speeding. The fake officer asked where the driver was making his delivery. And that homeowner got fined because the Home Depot truck’s first stop was at that homeowner’s house.

Every time you think it can’t get any wilder, just hang around this website. It just gets crazier. I’m surprised more authors haven’t written fiction books about the HOA movement.

Stephen King, are you listening?

(link to two-part series on John Carona)

How to Get Away With Being a Crook in Nevada

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How bad does a lawyer have to be to get five or six years in prison? If he’s stolen millions of dollars, if he’s got more bar complaints against him than any other lawyer, if he’s defrauded Homeowners Associations and other clients, if he’s cheated the IRS you’d think he’d at least get a few decades behind bars.

But lawyer Barry Levinson, who knows the legal system inside and out, put on an amazing performance for U.S. District Judge James Mahan, who’s overseeing that massive organized crime HOA scandal in Las Vegas. Levinson knows the ropes. He cried. He sobbed. He apologized. He said, “I stole from clients. I embarrassed Las Vegas. I let everybody down. I accept responsibility. I’m paying for it.”

Well, no, he’s not paying for it. This guy took part in a scam that will ultimately amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to homeowners. He and his organized crime partners funneled millions of dollars away from Homeowners Associations in the Valley. But this scam has legs. Thousands of Nevada residents lost their homes which are still sitting unsold. Taxes aren’t being paid. Part of that was the housing bubble, but who in his right mind would want to buy a house in Las Vegas right now? Stupid people will, of course. But with the Nevada Supreme Court ruling that an idiotic one-dollar HOA lien against a house can extinguish a half million dollar mortgage, what sane mortgage company would lend money in Nevada? The ripples go on, and on, and on.

Barry Levinson cries a few tears. And the judge gives him six years in prison. He’ll probably get two or three of those years off for good behavior. Unless some angry imprisoned homeowner beats him to death.

(link to latest stupid prison sentence in Las Vegas HOA scandal)

Don’t be a Christian in a Homeowners Association!

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I’ve said it before: If you live in an HOA keep your religion to yourself. The mindless, self-absorbed bullies who rise to the top in a typical Homeowners Association think it’s OK to harass people for their Jewishness, their Christianity, their sexual orientation, their race or age.

Keep in mind that HOA board members and management companies always know exactly how much equity is in your home. The more equity you have, the bigger a target you are.

Here’s a Christian family in Senoia, Georgia, who use their garage to collect Christmas presents and furniture for people living in poverty. They don’t have garage sales, the collected goods are never visible to others, there’s nothing stored on the driveway. But Barbara Walton, the property manager for the Summerfield Homeowners Association, has decided this Christian family is operating an illegal home business. She’s given the family ten days to shut their charity down or else face fines, liens, lawsuits and possible loss of their home.

I’m guessing this family has some equity in their home. And equity attracts sharks like blood in the water.

There’s a reason the phrase ‘lawn Nazis’ came about.

For shame!

(link to story on family ministry & the Summerfield HOA)

Memorial Day

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On this Memorial Day I was going to post a very personal video I did back in my TV news reporting days. However, this email came in from Col. Robert Frank of Nevada. I think it’s more powerful than anything I could have written.

Dear Nevada Legislative & Constitutional Officers:

Memorial Day 2015. It is the time for all to honor the 2,893,818 American military members who were combat killed, wounded or still missing in action since this unique Republic and Battleborn State was formed.

Time to reflect on what we really mean when we tell living veterans “Thank you for your service”. Time to think about what we living American citizens and citizens of the free nations of the world owe to those war veterans who wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America’ for an amount of up to and including their life.

Time to remember that we veterans and elected officials share the solemn burden of having signed the same oath of office to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, “so help me God”.

In honor of all those war veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifices so we could be free, it would be most honorable if you would kindly take just a few minutes out of your very busy schedules to read and meditate upon the essence of an untold veteran story included with this email.

Even if you might have seen it or something like it before, I believe it will mean much more to you on this weekend, in this year, when so much of our freedoms and Constitutional Rights seem to be fading away.

Many thousands of citizens are praying daily for each of you to put aside your personal interests and receive God’s Grace and Wisdom as you complete your legislative session on behalf of Nevada citizens. We are counting on you to support what is right for all citizens during the waning days of the 2015 session.

As you complete your work on so many vital policy matters, please remember to be faithful to the Judeo-Christian foundations of this Republic. Never forget the almost 3 million who have selflessly died, were wounded, or went missing in action so that billions of unknown humans in the free world could have a chance to live as they choose. And, please, always be mindful of the millions more who will inherit what survives from the fateful decisions made in this 2015 session.

May each you have a blessed and safe American Memorial Day, and be ever faithful to your public duty and the historic purposes of this solemn occasion!

Your friend,