I’ve linked to this story before, but exposing this kind of person never gets old.
John Carona owns and runs Associa, the largest HOA management firm in the country. Many homeowners have bought into his neighborhoods and long regretted that decision. It’s tough to understand why Texans keep putting him in office.
This politician and his questionable business tactics need to be exposed at every opportunity.
(click here for link to Texas Tribune story)
Shadowglen Homeowners Association, Austin, Texas. Homeowners are beginning to get hefty fines if any vehicle parks in front of their house. It doesn’t matter if the car belongs to the next door neighbor, a delivery company or just a friend dropping by, homeowners are getting slammed with fines of $500 and more.
Isn’t it strange how all these HOAs start off so benign, yet end up so fascist? All it takes is a couple of new board members who suddenly find themselves in the first position of power they’ve ever possessed.
In my new book Neighbors At War, I explain the chemical reaction that happens in the brains of those who get that first taste of raw power. And in Chapter 15 there’s a discussion of two of the most controversial sociological experiments ever conducted. Each experiment attempted to explore what goes on in the minds of people who suddenly feel the need to damage another human being. In one of the experiments, the scientist pondered why it was so easy to persuade German guards to mindlessly slaughter prisoners of war. What he discovered shocked and outraged the entire psychology community.
There’s a reason that board members and managers in a place like the Shadowglenn Homeowners Association are often referred to as the ‘lawn Nazis’ or the ‘HOA Nazis’. Power is an incredible aphrodisiac!
(click here for KXAN-TV story)
http://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/hoa-parking-rules-upsets-homeowners
This was sent to me by a friend of the Neighbors At War blog. I think it’s wonderful and describes perfectly what Homeowners Rights Advocates are up against!
guest blog by Nila Ridings
LOL! I found the first one! A homeowner in a Texas Homeowners Association is furious because his HOA used satellite photos to spot covenant violations in his backyard.
Gavin Henry bought his house in the Highland Park North Homeowners Association about three years ago. One of the things he liked about the house was the garden tool shed in the backyard. He could keep his lawn mower and tools put away and he liked the nice clean look of the neighborhood.
All of a sudden Henry got a notice of violation for the shed. If he didn’t remove it he was going to be fined and sued.
“Why?” he wondered. The neighbors can’t see it. It can’t be seen from the street. Henry inquired further and was told that the HOA uses online satellite photography to track all the neighbors and micro-manage their private behavior.
Count me as a cynic, but after watching the television story on Gavin Henry’s predicament, three things stood out to me. He’s a veteran. He’s disabled. He’s a minority. After all, the Homeowners Association Movement was originally founded to get around the 1964 Civil Rights Act. And disabled veterans are often targets of HOA bullying. That’s the mindset.
There’s actually a fourth element at work here, pure speculation on my part. But I would bet dollars to donuts that Gavin Henry has some equity in his house.
The equity in your house is on the public record and it’s tracked by every HOA board official and manager. If you have significant equity in your house it’s like painting a bull’s eye on your back.
Just sayin’.
(click here for KXAN story on Gavin Henry)
