Tag Archives: Oregon

Trayvon Martin Lawsuit Settled

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No one will say for sure, but the parents of Trayvon Martin have settled their lawsuit against the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association, in Sanford, Florida, for more than a million dollars.

Martin was shot to death during a struggle with George Zimmerman who was serving as the neighborhood watch chairman.

It’s unclear whether this HOA was covered by insurance at the time of Martin’s death. It is clear, however, that the Retreat at Twin Lakes board quickly bought a Travelers Casualty insurance policy a few weeks after the incident. But Travelers Casualty has made it clear the insurance company was not a part of this settlement.

So, a big mystery: Was the Retreat at Twin Lakes insured when Trayvon Martin was shot? If so, why did the HOA do such a mad scramble to get insured after-the-fact. If not, then individual homeowners there are going to get hammered with a huge special assessment for legal fees, for the judgment, and for the inevitable hike in their insurance premiums.

Now, for those of you who think a Homeowners Association protects your property values, how do you think that’s working out for the folks who live in the Retreat at Twin Lakes? Home prices there are somewhere at the bottom of the outhouse.

This chart from Zillow.com is fascinating:

http://www.zillow.com/homes/sanford,-fl_rb/#/homes/for_sale/Sanford-FL/33865_rid/28.823696,-81.244841,28.746365,-81.344404_rect/12_zm/1_fr/

Will the last one leaving Sanford please turn out the lights?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/trayvon-martin/os-trayvon-martin-settlement-20130405%2c0%2c6893976.story

 

“One Small Step For A Man, One Giant Leap (still to come)”

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Wow! Jan Bergemann, you are somethin’ else! I didn’t think your proposed legislation had a ghost of a chance of even getting out of committee. But Jan, my brother, you have accomplished a miracle. Just remember it’s only a small step, and you’re up against a massive HOA tort industry that will do anything in its power to ruin you, your reputation, your health, your bank account. Remember, you’re threatening the income stream of a very powerful and unscrupulous monster.

But you are among a small handful of pioneers who opened the eyes of many of the rest of us around the country. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. Of course, we know and you know that you’ve got a big red target on your back.

Those of you who’d like to read the progress and the text of Jan’s proposed Florida reform legislation, it’s linked below.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=99asbrdab&v=001PAHSyKgq2Iq97r8N_9ppO1dwdqJSFmw_AolLy6KxC7oRT38uuDvHhB18C0poQ7wX8fZnNwKErzSWQxtLNTHsRahyAldp-aluI_tbop7rEJp-xT3Hehp-YgI263W39r0hSS3cqzw8jBE%3D

Hilarious! An Anti-HOA Drone Hoodie?

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As readers of my book and blog already know, I’ve long been predicting that HOA boards would begin buying surplus military drone aircraft to spy on homeowners to ensure nobody in the neighborhood had installed an unauthorized hot tub in the back yard.

LOL! There’s already a prankster out there in the cyber world who occasionally pops up with a phony HOA-drones-for-sale website. His last posting was on April 1st, which might give you a key to his mindset. He even provided his phone number and it must be a hoot to answer calls from HOA board members who are actually serious about buying a drone to cruise for covenant violations.

But the story linked below takes the prize. It’s a company that’s come up with a ‘hoodie’ that can defeat air photography by drones. It’s still so close to April Fool’s Day that I’m not sure what to believe. But for some fun reading pretend that you’re really paranoid of neighborhood spying and figure out how to use this new ‘hoodie technology’ to cover your whole house!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/mar/31/anti-drone-hoodie-big-brother

We the People, Screw the People

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Across this grand country of ours, people are waking up to the massive corruption scheme known as the Homeowners Association Movement. This cash cow has transferred billions of dollars from the assets of homeowners into the pockets of the tort industry. No lawyer can afford NOT to represent Homeowners Associations against individual homeowners. And lots of HOA board officials get slipped cash for going along with the program.

Is this writer really serious? Isn’t he a little off his rocker? Organized crime? Didn’t we all think all members of the Mafia were either dead or in prison?

Well, RICO statutes (racketeering) were certainly aimed at the Mafia. But RICO laws were also aimed at any and all white collar crime that crossed state borders and was therefore subject to federal law. It’s under these very statutes that FBI agents raided scores of Homeowners Associations in Nevada, and under these statutes that the U.S. Attorney was able to indict at least forty lawyers, police officials, HOA board officials, political figures, management company executives and others in the last four year’s worth of Federal Grand Jury investigations.

I started this blog off by talking about how people are waking up. Well, so is the massive tort industry. It’s working madly to smash down any legislation aimed at stopping the organized and profitable abuse of homeowners. The latest proposed HOA tort reform is in North Carolina. But it appears from the article linked below that yet another attempt to restore the Bill of Rights to homeowners is being sucked down the tube.

Do you feel ill, yet? You should.

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20130326/ARTICLES/130329770/1177

 

You’re Only A Paraplegic! You’re Not Disabled!

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There must be a hundred-and-one schemes to get rid of the ‘gimp’ in your life. Yes, that’s the word once hurled at my wife, who has multiple sclerosis. The first time I ever heard that word was from my HOA president.

Now, the number one ‘gimp’ in Hollywood, Florida is a lady whose HOA is trying to sue her for being disabled. Yep, we don’t want disabled people ruining our property values, do we?

Larraine Best rides what she calls her ‘trike’. The Summit Towers Homeowners Association says it’s a motorcycle and she clearly has no business parking it at her home, especially in a handicap slot. She has a damaged spinal cord and gets around on crutches, and on her trike.

Lordy, lordy, federal lawyers and Broward County lawyers are now planning to sue Summit Towers on her behalf. The HOA says any such lawsuit would amount to a mockery of truly disabled people. Huh? Whazzat?

ADA lawyers have a nasty habit of always winning lawsuits on behalf of the disabled. And civil suits against HOAs by disabled people are almost always successful.

Citizens of Summit Towers? Plan on going to the bank to withdraw money for the big special assessment that’s coming your way.

Have a nice day.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-02-11/news/fl-ada-motorcycle-lawsuit-20130209_1_condo-rules-condo-board-motorcycle