Tag Archives: Texas HOA

“Though the Wheels of God Grind slowly,yet they grind exceeding small,

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The whole quote is:

“Though the Mills of God Grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small,

            Though With Patience He stands waiting, With Exactness Grinds He All.”

                                                        Friedrich Von Lougou

That’s one of my favorite quotes from The Retribution, and it’s been pasted on my computer since my first blue and gray Kaypro, purchased in 1985.

Yes, Heaven’s grinding mills are as vast as they are slow, but sooner or later every full circle comes about. Not soon enough, we mortal humans cry, but they do come around.

Comes now news that the Department of Justice is going to free up 39 million dollars for Overseas Service members who were shafted and ruined by Bank of America. It’s illegal to file civil actions against our military fighting on foreign battlefields, but that knowledge didn’t slow down Bank of America one whit.

No, when the Mortgage Crash and the Housing Bubble hit, Bank of America just played taps on the spines of our fighting men and women, while they forclosed on service members and kicked their families into the streets. Capt. Matt Clauer was a famous case that comes to mind, but there were many, many others.

Yeah, the Big Bank is going to refund some money, a little here, a little there. But by what means are they going to repair the many divorces, the shattered families and repair the misery of families who lost love and trust.

Bank of America, your fund is too low, your response is too weak, and you’re only doing this because you’d otherwise be facing contempt of court charges and a huge public black eye.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2013/April/13-crt-383.html

Looking Into The Face Of Evil

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There’s just no other way to put this, but the Community Associations Institute, along with its blood brothers including Associa, run by Texas State Senator John Carona, are just ugly institutions. Not illegal. Just ugly.  And every American homeowner needs to be educated to avoid the kinds of financial assaults that have victimized thousands of homeowners across the country.

Our American founders, afraid of ending up with the same kind of European monarchy they had just left,  wrote a Constitution that forbade our new government from interfering in rights that were bestowed on us, not by government, but by God. In their vision, God given rights could not be subsumed by a Monarchy or a Dictatorship, or even a ‘majority’ of the people. Remember that we do not live in a Democracy. A wild out-of-control mob is a democracy, and that is not our form of government.

No, our rights emanate from God. Remember that. Repeat that. All human rights emanate from God.

With that in mind, I provide you with a page from the CAI playbook as it begins using its vast wealth and power against the Homeowner Association reform bill now percolating in the North Carolina Legislature.  I will highlight some sentences that offend me and should outrage you.

 Here goes:

Repeal of Foreclosure Option for HOAs and POAs

February 13, 2013: Representatives R. Moore, Alexander and Hamilton introduced an NC House bill to repeal the ability of a HOA/POA to use foreclosure as a tool in the collection of delinquent dues. This bill modifies G.S. §47F-3-116 of the NC Planned Community Act and 47C-3-116 of the Condominium Act to accomplish its goal. The effect of this bill, if passed by the NC House and Senate and signed by the governor would be to remove the option for HOA/POAs to use foreclosure as a method of recovering unpaid dues and force them to use the much more expensive method of bringing a Civil Action in court to accomplish the recovery. The Civil Actions are much more expensive and the courts have not always awarded attorney fees and court costs to the winner of the suit. This can mean that even if the HOA/POA wins the suit, they may lose money because of their costs to bring the suit to trial. Removing the foreclosure option for HOA/POAs could have a devastating impact on the finances of HOA/POAs. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary A Committee.

The CAI-NC LAC opposes this bill and will use all of its resources to assure that it does not become law. HOA/POA Board members should contact their NC House and Senate members and request that they oppose passage of this bill, referred to as HB-175. For more information and current status of this bill, go to www.ncleg.net and search for HB-175.

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Dear Friends, I hope you understand that the CAI is acknowledging that it likes a slanted playing field.  It wants the law so biased that this massively wealthy organization acts as judge, jury, king and executioner. Under this system there are no God-given rights. If this law is passed in North Carolina it will amount to a massive restructuring of Society. Look for other states to do the same.

I’m am not trying to oversell this point, but I have read some history books. Adolph Hitler found a way to take control with a minority party behind him. He did not make the world a better place.

 

 

 

Hoo Boy! Let The Lawsuits Begin!

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It’s hard to sue the government. In fact, the federal government actually has to give an injured party permission to sue. Some states have imposed a maximum limit on how much an injured litigant can win in a lawsuit against the state.  Colorado, for example, passed a law saying no prevailing party can win more than $250,000 in damages.

Well, that’s changing in the most unexpected ways.

The Christian Science Monitor reports that as tax revenue dries up, and police layoffs occur, wealthier neighborhoods are hiring private security companies to replace the lost police officers.

Whammo! Bammo! Here’s a tort lawyer’s wet dream! Private communities (read Homeowners Associations) are private non-profit corporations. And they do not have government immunity from lawsuits. The run-of-the-mill HOA can be successfully sued for millions and millions and millions of dollars.

Just think, twenty-four hours ago, we read that Trayvon Martin’s parents won an out-of-court settlement from the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association of more than a million dollars. The future for tort lawyers and their clients against Homeowners Associations is golden. Let the lawsuits fly.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2013/0405/As-cities-lay-off-police-frustrated-neighborhoods-turn-to-private-cops?nav=87-frontpage-entryInsideMonitor

It’s spreading! There are more Trayvon Martin type confrontations/lawsuits in the works. This doesn’t amount to dipping your toe in the outhouse sludge. It’s a headlong dive! Hold your breath, Sucker!

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Houston-neighborhood-turns-to-private-security-firm-for-protection–201168841.html

 

 

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

 

Where Neighbors Are Neighbors

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Neighborhoods are supposed to be all about like-minded people working together to strengthen the bonds between each other. There’s a strange aloofness and paranoia among some of the country’s neighborhoods…. approximately one-out-of-five. You ‘in-crowd’ people know what that percentage is referring to.

But in my youth, I really do remember neighbors who’d talk over the fence, and gather for dinner, where the kids would take each others’ sons and daughters to the senior prom. Neighborhoods. Healthy. Old fashioned.

Yes, we’ve lost something in the madness of the modern HOA movement. We’ve learned how to keep those intrusive Negroes, Jews and Orientals from moving into our white ghettos. We’ve learned how to encourage the disabled, the single moms, the elderly, to find other places to live. After all, our exclusionary attitudes keep our property values up, right?

No, I kind of like that ‘old-timey’ feeling where we loved our neighbors with the full knowledge and assurance that they loved us right back.

The link below kind of moved me tonight, as I sat here contemplating where we’ve been, and where we’re going.

http://www.wkrg.com/story/21754502/whats-working-south-lafayette-street-community-association