Tag Archives: Realtor

Chicago Lawyers? Phew!

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Oh how a little power over your neighbors turns people into freaks! The neighbor battle linked below looks like fiction, but it really is happening in a Chicago condominium.

Ellis Levin is a lawyer who’s represented several condominium associations. He’s also been fired by a couple of them. But the bitterness that goes on in the Thorndale Beach North high-rise is beyond belief.

Sigrid Ingold is the president of the board, a position she’s held for 19 years. She and Lawyer Levin are pretty tight, and condo owners say the bullying by Ingold and Levin is crazy.

Catherine McCarty got herself elected to the board in an effort to thwart the ongoing threats and fines liberally handed out to other condo owners. But now McCarty, herself, is being bullied by this pair of ‘nut jobs’. When a contractor suddenly appeared in the building to do some very costly repairs, McCarty questioned the board president about why other board members were never asked to approve or oversee the contract or the charges.

Suddenly, Lawyer Levin hit her with a notice of a $150 fine for harassing his good buddy, board president Ingold.

It happened again, when McCarty tried to talk to yet another contractor. This time it was a $450 fine plus more than 1500 bucks for legal fees. She refused to pay and is now facing a lien and possible confiscation of her home.

McCarty is demanding financial transparency. She’s demanding to know why president Ingold pays herself a $43,000 salary as a property manager. She wants to know why her association’s legal budget suddenly doubled after Levin was hired. She’s demanding an audit (there’s been only one audit on the building and that was eighteen years ago). Other condo owners are furious because it’s impossible to sell a unit if a buyer can’t see an audit of the association’s finances. Most are afraid to speak out for fear of getting a ‘Levin letter’.

Lawyer Levin used to be in the state legislature.

Now he’s is in the running to be elected as a Cook County Judge.

As I said in my headline…Phew!

http://tinyurl.com/lsuyecm

original source:

http://www.marinacityonline.com/news/levin0112.htm

Some Fun From Blog Fans

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

“If you wrote a blog post about your own HOA (or one you know about), what would the title be?”

That was the question Ward tossed out to his Facebook followers. In the same way he didn’t disappoint us with his book, we hope he isn’t disappointed with our bloggin’ titles. Sit back, relax, and enjoy YOUR FANS’ creativity, Ward!

Presenting the titles:

“Wake Me Up When This Nightmare Is Over!”

From the Board Of Directors: “Don’t Ask For Any Records, Or You Will Be Wearing Cement Shoes!”

“The Inmates Are Now In Charge Of The Asylum.”

“Do Not Threaten To Sue Me And Invite Me To Eat A Hamburger With You In The Same Sentence!”

“HOAs…The Gathering Place For People Of Short Stature Who Are In Need Of Being In Power!”

Board member to resident: “Crowbar Or Gavel; Either Way I’ll Win!”

“Share The Truth”

“What’s Mine Is Mine..And What’s Yours Is Mine!”

“How To Supplement Your Retirement Income By Skimming, Scamming, And Being On An HOA Board.”

“Elect Me To The Board! I Need One Accomplishment To Put In My Obituary!”

“Predator Lawyers: The Fallacy And Foolishness Of Thinking You Own Anything!”

“Watch Out For The Mink Creek HOA Board Of Directors – The GOOD OLD BOYS Are Up To Their Old Tricks!”

“Evil Behind These Gates!”

“I Will Never Buy In An HOA Again!”

“The Self Serving Board Of Directors At Mink Creek HOA”

One contributor even offered up the perfect HOA Board spy song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YvAYIJSSZY

Rockwell – Somebody’s Watching Me

Now, who was it that said HOA members have lost their sense of humor? Pick your favorite and comment on it!

Colorado Fires

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This is a tough time of year for many Coloradans. Our summer skies are filled with flashes of lightning; a gorgeous sight from a distance, but dry lightning can play havoc when the vegetation is dry. Over the past few days more than 500 homes and a number of businesses have been destroyed here. One of the most devastating fires was in the Black Forest, a hilly, tree-filled area just north of Colorado Springs. At the time of this writing, the fire is still burning, only half controlled.

Over the next few months, I’ll be monitoring the news from there very closely. Many of these homes are in subdivisions controlled by a Homeowners Association. In recent years, storm and fire devastated HOAs have been completely unreasonable with homeowners who are trying desperately to rebuild. There are cases in Florida where homeowners have been slammed with fines because the tarps used to cover damaged roofs were not of a uniform blue color. No kidding! And in New Mexico, a homeowner was sued because he was living in a small trailer while trying to rebuild his burned-out home.

From a Constitutional standpoint Homeowners Associations are fundamentally flawed. They have nothing to do with democracy, and everything to do with fascist minority control over the majority. And when Nature, herself, demands that neighbors cooperate to recover from disaster, Homeowners Associations often go to extremes to make sure cooperation is impossible.

In my heart I hope that Colorado residents work together to recover from this nightmare of flames and ash. In my mind, I know I’ll be doing stories on those who are doing their best to increase the emotional and financial damage to their fellow neighbors.

People Are Learning

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Hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country are getting educated about Homeowners Associations. They’re not doing it by reading my book, or any of the others on the market. They’re learning by cold, hard, first-hand experience.

A lady in Houston, Texas named Crystal Stemberger is an author, a successful personal finance blogger, and a fulltime blog advertising manager. Her business and blog are called Budgeting the Fun Stuff. And it really is a fun site for browsing.

But the reason I’m mentioning her is an excellent blog she wrote about her experience as a new member of a Texas Homeowners Association, where she’s discovering the unnecessary and demeaning bullying which is targeting her. A weed, a wrong-headed claim that her car was parked on the street for longer than the mandated six hours. Threats of fines. Not only is her column good, the many comments below it are also informative. And it shows that the word is spreading about the vulgarity of rogue Homeowners Associations. The national HOA movement is slowly killing itself.

Here’s the link to Crystal’s column:

http://tinyurl.com/pxdkgnv

original source:

http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/home-owners-association-bullies/

A Mess In Mesa

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While this blogger continues to be hypercritical of uninformed reporters, sometimes they actually do get it right when it comes to rogue HOAs.

At the links listed below, reporters and anchors with the ABC affiliate in Mesa, Arizona, knew how to ask the right questions and expose the contemptible HOA president of the Superstition Lakes Condos.

Seems that president Michael Cassady has asked his treasurer for lots of unusual ‘reimbursements’ supposedly for HOA board meetings. Things like vodka. Laundry detergents. Big restaurant bills. More liquor. In two years, $38,000 worth.

Then there’s the reimbursement for nearly six hundred dollars for ‘gate repairs’. But officials with the company listed on the receipt says they never repaired any gates for Cassady or the Homeowners Association.

This kind of thing goes on in HOAs across the country. And HOA board officers continue to insist that homeowners do not have the right to see the books and discover how their mandatory dues are being spent.

That’s what’s so beautiful about a society with a free press. Once in a while it can pry open some secrets.

http://tinyurl.com/kp5t7fr

original source:

http://www.abc15.com/dpp/money/consumer/alerts/mesa-hoa-out-of-control-homeowners-accuse-board-of-misspending-funds

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