Tag Archives: Ridings

What Will The HOAs Say?

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

For those seeking a shaded space with outdoor exposure this could be the perfect solution. It looks like the next best thing to a screened porch minus the crosswinds. And perfect for a smaller home where making the garage a multi-purpose room would be nice. Well, unless they live in an HOA.

What will happen when these start to appear? HOA board members will lay awake at night crafting new rules to prohibit them. That’s what. And they will dream of ways to spend the money they collect in fines from those who disobey the new rule.

For the lucky folks who are living HOA-Free this could really come in handy for Saturday night card parties, Sunday afternoon game watching, kids birthday celebrations, and craft projects that require ventilation. It would also be an incentive to keep the garage nice and clean!

I like it!

 

Young Boy Drowns At Remington Point HOA

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Nothing I can think of could possibly be more painful than losing a child.  Micah Wheeler was only six years old and swimming in the pool at the Remington Point HOA in Fort Worth, Texas when he drowned.

The HOA did not hire life guards to watch over the innocent children that frolicked in the pool under the hot summer sun of Texas.  They opted to pay security guards to keep the unwelcome guests out of their private pool.

The “what if” and “if only” questions will never come with an answer.  Little Micah’s family will suffer this loss and feel this pain forever.  I am so sorry for his family and loved ones.

Perhaps the board of directors will weigh their priorities more carefully in the future?

Neighborhood pools…are they worth the risks?  I think not.

(link to story on Texas drowning)

‘Charlie Chairs’ Placed By Neighbors Who Care

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

North Houston Texas has a street named Azalea Lane. This street not only has a beautiful name, but it is lined with houses filled with beautiful people. They understand what being a good neighbor is all about and Charlie their neighbor with leukemia and his wife are the recipients of their kindness and neighborly love.

Reading this story warmed my heart and made my eyes tear up. And the comments made by thousands of people after reading this story (now spreading around the internet) clearly shows that others miss the neighborhoods of yesteryear that resembled Charlie’s neighborhood.

HOAs have destroyed today’s neighborhoods. For every 1 story like Charlie’s, I hear 1,000 stories of HOA neighborhoods that are war zones! Neighbors targeting neighbors and board members bullying those they dislike is what neighborhoods have become with HOAs.

“Chairs For Charlie” would bring fines, liens, and foreclosures to neighbors in many modern day HOAs. The legal bills would run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the Charlie Chairs would be confiscated for evidence of neighbors violating those precious CC&Rs.

As I watched the video I loved the difference of chairs with the welcoming signs on them for Charlie. The other things that caught my attention were the baby swing in the tree, the address sign at the street, and the iron bridge over the drainage ditch. And that told me this neighborhood was not part of the 350,000 “matchy matchy” HOAs now poisoning American home ownership. After living in an HOA for a decade I have such an appreciation for those little things that give the homeowners the pleasure of living in their homes as they wish. Not one of them looked trashy to me. I see them more as priceless homes where families live free and have big hearts and express love for their neighbors.

Do any of our readers know if Charlie’s cancer is in remission? I sure hope so.

 

 

Lemons And Float Away Living

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

It’s been awhile since we took a break from HOAs and let our thoughts float out to Tiny House living. If living in a Tiny House is not your dream the tremendous energy those who are putting it in the spotlight should be motivation to keep going as an HOA Warrior. It hasn’t been all that long ago only a handful of people knew anything about Tiny Houses. But the promoters of their movement have waved their magic wands and today it’s rare to meet someone that has never heard of them. Proof positive that perseverance produces exposure for options on housing sources!

A few months ago, I talked to a man involved with Lemon Cove Village in California. We had a nice visit. Of course, after the friendly ‘howdy and how are yous’ I asked if his Tiny House village had an HOA? He chuckled and asked if I didn’t like HOAs? His first clue to my answer was probably the fire that shot out the speaker on his phone! I told him I despise them!!! He was delighted to tell me there is no HOA at Lemon Cove Village. If this location is successful will there be others around the country, I asked? Indeed there will be if all goes well.

So, if you’re looking for a place to land when you’re HOA-Free you might want to check-out Lemon Cove Village where you could be sipping on sweet lemonade and laughing like a prisoner escapee

If you’re looking for some Tiny House floating and boating this uniquely designed waterworthy hotel just might suit your taste. I’m envisioning the perfect setting for this concept on the Ruedi Reservoir. That would be nothing short of amazing.

With wheels or floats there are ways to live maintenance-free, escape the HOAs, and maintain your money and your sanity.Check out Lemon Cove Village.

(link to Lemon Cove Village)

(link to Floating Hotel)

 

Just Another HOA Thief

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

No surprises here. HOAs and condo associations are nothing more than a thieves’ paradise. A simple internet search or glancing through neighborsatwar.dot com will reveal the massive numbers of thefts by HOA board members and HOA managers. The penalty…maybe a few days of community service and a little “talking to” by the judge and they are punishment free.

Here’s one in Still Meadows Condominium Association in Severn where Wanda Brooks could hardly shuffle into the courtroom with her walker but she was able to dine out, get her hair done, pay utilities, and buy gas on the HOA credit card.

Makes me wonder how many Mercedes have been purchased? How many kids have gone to college? (on a fully-paid HOA “scholarships”) How many luxury vacations have been taken? How much real estate has been purchased? How many bottles of booze have been consumed? How much jewelry has been bought? How many kids have had orthodontics? And how many boxes of diapers, dog food, and cigarettes have HOA dues paid for? Far more than we know about, I’m sure of that. Hundreds of millions of dollars per year are being stolen from homeowners and they don’t even know it.

The massive corruption in HOAs is beyond words. Yet, we have 1 in 5 Americans living inside of these hellholes under the belief their property values are protected by signing up for the HOA. What a joke!

Isn’t it interesting how people get so upset when somebody robs them of their wallet in a parking lot and it has $20 in it, but think nothing of all the years of being robbed blind by their volunteer HOA board member neighbors and paid property managers?

The more HOAs that are built in America should reduce the number of bank robberies, I would think. One comes with time in the federal penitentiary, the other with best wishes kisses from the judge.

(read it and weep, another embezzlement case)