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

Neighborhood Bird Brains

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The whole idea behind Homeowners Associations is to address neighborhood problems caused by bird-brained homeowners. As we all know, in actual practice many HOAs cause more problems than they actually solve. When one neighbor is pitted against another, pride gets in the way and stupid things start happening.

But stupid neighbor fights happen in non-HOA neighborhoods, too. An ongoing case in Seattle has now led to a $200,000 lawsuit.

Several years ago, a young girl began feeding the crows in her backyard. The crows began bringing trinkets to the youngster, and a YouTube video of the feeding ritual went viral.

Well, 51 of her neighbors signed a petition to encourage the family to end the bird feeding operation. They say it has become a major health problem because too many birds are gathering. One of those homeowners has filed a public nuisance lawsuit against the girl’s family to try to get the bird feeding stopped.

(link to story on bird lawsuit)

 

 

HOA Scam Lawyer Dies In Prison

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Barry Levinson, a disbarred attorney who was one of the top figures in the massive Las Vegas HOA scam, has died while in federal custody. Now his lawyer is planning to sue the prison system for medical negligence.

The federal HOA investigation was the first of its kind in the country. Forty-two people were convicted, but most were given very light sentences. Officially, about 20 million dollars was stolen from residents in Las Vegas HOAs. But because of the collapse in value of all Las Vegas real estate the impact of the HOA scam rises well above 100 million in losses.

(link to Las Vegas Review Journal story on Levinson’s death)

By the way, reporter Jeff German deserves every journalism award in the book for his ongoing and thorough reporting of the Vegas HOA scam.

 

 

HOA Racism Remains

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In my book, Neighbors At War, I delve deeply into this nation’s history of the enforcement of racially restrictive covenants in millions of property deeds across the country. Yes, we’ve made a ton of progress in the last five decades in wiping out housing discrimination. But in little spots around the country the old mindset remains. Every time I see one of these stories pop up I consider it a national shame that a few people still live in the racist past.

A black man in Texas is in court trying to rent a home in an all-white property owners association. A covenant in the Clearwater Bay POA mandated that homeowners never rent or sell to “anyone of African descent.”

As I write these words I’m looking at an amazing anthropology article in the current issue of National Geographic. The article is about the recent discovery of a new species of bi-pedal hominid in a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa.  No matter what your religious or political beliefs are, every human being on the face of this planet is “of African descent.” The black man in that Texas POA should hire a few expert witness anthropologists for his federal discrimination case. They’ll be able to prove in court that not a single member of that Association qualifies for home ownership under its own covenants.

We are all black. And yes, black lives matter.

(link to KSLA story on Texas discrimination case)

(link to National Geographic story on Homo naledi, a new species on the human family tree)

 

 

 

Tiny Gains in Arizona

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It’s one step at a time, but every milometer of achievements is worth its weight in gold.

In Arizona, one lawyer is trying to get Homeowner Associations to work with homeowners to end the nightmare of lawn Nazis and bully boards. The link below should be an easy way to spend a couple of minutes.

(link to HOA arbitration story on KPHO-TV)

 

 

OK, I Admit It! HOAs Have A Purpose!

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Before you hire an assassin to take me out, please listen to my reasoning.

Next door ‘party houses’ are the bane of the existence of any homeowner. People buy the house, then start renting it out to party-throwing wild people who screw things up for the entire neighborhood. Certainly, Homeowner Associations can take these houses down. They assess fines, file liens and lawsuits and can shut these places down.

Still, if you have a strong zoning department they can shut these houses down much more quickly and without costing HOAs a ton of money in legal fees. And Zoning Departments have to follow Constitutional law. It doesn’t make them slower in enforcing reasonable standards, but it does make them more accountable.

As a property owner in an HOA, wouldn’t you rather deal with Zoning than with a bunch of slander-slinging neighbors? Wouldn’t you rather have your insurance and legal fees remain stable so you don’t get hit with special assessments to pay for legal fees? Wouldn’t you rather be in a position where the HOA insurance company doesn’t cancel the community policy because of an excess of Board lawsuits?

It’s all about peace and quiet enjoyment of property. Wouldn’t you rather have the county cracking the whip than your next-door neighbor, or your Nazi-minded board member?

It’s all about common sense, which apparently isn’t a factor in the national HOA scam.

(link to story on party houses)

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