The first part of the story linked below is interesting, but not earth-shaking. It’s about apartments that are converted to privately owned condos, and then back to apartments. It happens all the time. But what happens next should shake you to your boots!
If 75% of the condo owners want to sell to a developer who’s converting condos back to apartments, then screw the remaining 25%. They pretty much have to take whatever the developer offers, which is sometimes a fraction of what those condos were worth.
In Florida, if a developer controls 90% of the units, the remaining residents may as well go live in a park someplace. They’ll get next to nothing as the developer seizes their homes.
Again, when a Realtor says HOAs protect property values, tell them they are pathetic liars. Then just walk out.
We haven’t talked about this enough, but one thing our ‘righteous anger movement’ needs is a little more humor. Humor and phone pranks are also a clue that what’s going on in the national HOA scam is finally getting out to the masses. Comedian Roy Wood, Jr. had a very funny one a few years ago, though it was a little too profane for me to want to link.
Of course, the Duck Dynasty HOA fight was priceless.
Mel Pittel has waged a years-long fight to bring transparency to his Meadow Creek Homeowners Association in a suburb of Minneapolis. Pittel was even voted in by fellow homeowners as a board member. But the board got a restraining order preventing him from even attending board meetings. Now, a judge has refused the board’s attempt to get the restraining order extended. “Free speech,” said the judge.
Pittel has worked long and hard to inform other HOA members of what he suspects is financial mismanagement by the board. The fight has taken a heavy toll on his finances. But this country has a long history of people who’ve sacrificed everything for their fellow man. The link below is worth reading.
Christmas is a time of joy and worship in the Lucas family. But there’s a certain sadness on Christmas Eve. My mother’s first husband was killed in the battle of St Vith, Belgium, Christmas Eve, 1944. The Nazis had broken through American lines and surrounded troops in Bastogne and St Vith. Our guys were fighting hard, but the Germans had superior fire power and better tanks. Thousands of men died in the Battle of the Bulge.
So I intend, each year, to honor the thousands who were killed, wounded and taken POW on this night 71 years ago through the story of Mathew Whalen, the father of my older half brother. I never met him. But I loved and respected my brother and mother. Through them, I got to know the character and the meaning of this man.
I’ve only met her once during a brief luncheon in Denver, but Molly Dunn is one of a growing number of brave people trying to stand up for the rights of homeowners across America.
She testified before the Massachusetts Legislature to try to plead for more help for homeowners who run afoul of their HOAs. She worked with the staff of Massachusetts Senator Dan Wolf. Wolf has been trying to put some teeth into the law that supposedly requires HOA boards and management companies to let homeowners see the books. But many HOA boards and management companies are very reluctant to do so. A possible reason, Molly says, “is that homeowners might recognize inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the records.”
Molly says Senator Wolf and his staff who supported her through her struggle. And Senator Wolf was tenacious. He introduced pro-homeowner legislation four separate times. Molly says he’s retiring next year which is sad because a politician of his good character is rare these days. She asks that people drop him a short thank you note. (Daniel.Wolf@masenate.gov)
And here’s the link to the story about the Massachusetts Senate hearing.
