Category Archives: beekeeping

Second Arrest in HOA Embezzlement

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They got him! A couple of days ago a longtime HOA manager in San Mateo, California was arrested and accused of stealing 2.8 million dollars from the Woodlake Homeowners Association. Now they’ve arrested her partner, a man who allegedly wrote fake invoices for construction work that was never done. It sure sounds like a copycat of the decade-long swindle of homeowners in Las Vegas.

And it sounds a lot like the multi-million dollar organized crime racketeering swindle of Homeowners Associations in Colorado.

And Homeowners Associations in Florida.

In Alabama.

Virginia.

Texas.

And every other state.

Still, you keep hearing from Realtors, and Congressmen, lawyers, city officials and state representatives that this kind of swindle is extremely rare. What are these guys smoking, anyway?

(link to arrest story in San Mateo Daily Journal)

 

Corruption in Hotel California

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it in the future. When you’re investing your life savings in your home, don’t trust anybody. Don’t trust the Realtor. Don’t trust the county’s master plan, and above all do not trust your HOA. Homeowners in Chula Vista, California are learning about what all west coast residents know as ‘Californication.’

They bought into a peaceful valley where traffic was minimal, wildlife was everywhere, no smog was in the air. Life in the Eastlake III Homeowners Association was Heaven on Earth. The master plan showed their pristine way of life would last forever. But that kind of promise evaporates the minute land developers start knocking on doors. All of a sudden builders began jamming high density neighborhoods all around, packing in low quality homes like sardines in a can.

Eastlake III is no longer the promised land. The Homeowners Association is embroiled in legal disputes, recall elections, charges of corruption, violence threatened. Police are being hired to maintain the peace in HOA meetings.

Promises are like…. no, discretion says “don’t go there.” Let’s just say that promises are hollow. And promises made by a Homeowners Association are especially worthless.

(link to story in the San Diego Reader)

 

To Counter-Act C.A.I. Disinformation

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The Community Associations Institute (CAI) is famous for testifying before state legislatures that it represents all homeowners living in HOAs. Absolute nonsense. In the beginning it probably did. But in the early 1990s a conscious decision was made to turn the organization into a referral group, sending high-dollar referrals in HOA disputes to its member lawyers, property managers and contractors. Under its phony non-profit shield it sent out surveys on how satisfied Americans were with their Homeowners Associations.

Whoa! Any legitimate, honest survey of homeowners living under the HOA yoke should have told a far different story. Finally, some in the anti-HOA movement are releasing studies which appear to be far more legitimate than the pablum being spread by the CAI. It’s hard to get legislators to pay attention to what they see as a non-issue. But surveys like the one linked below tell a more interesting story about homeowner dissatisfaction and abuse.

(link online survey of homeowners, real estate professionals and homeowner associations)

Also, housing consumer advocate Deborah Goonan was interviewed about this story today by Shu Bartholomew, host of OnTheCommons.net. It really is worth listening to.

 

 

Backyard Chickens? NIMBY! NIMBY! NIMBY!

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Whew! The racket coming from Clay County, Florida is pretty funny. The county is considering an ordinance that would allow homeowners to own up to four chickens apiece, just no roosters.

Backyard chickens are a growing fad all over the country. But three Homeowners Associations on Fleming Island are kicking up a fuss. They don’t mind chickens elsewhere, but just no chickens where gentrified people can see them. The excuses they give (in the story linked below) are pretty amusing. They’re afraid if a dog sees a chicken and jumps the fence it might injure a child. (Huh?) They’re also afraid a county ordinance would supersede their contractual covenant rights. (It won’t.)

But the squawking and henpecking is really something to behold.

I’ve got a great solution for chicken lovers. Just release a truckload of chickens and roosters into the middle of these HOAs. If you’ve ever vacationed on Kauai you’ve undoubtedly seen some of the tens of thousands of chickens and roosters running wild. Seems a hurricane or two knocked down their pens and they’ve been breeding faster than anyone can hunt them. The screeching and crowing is beyond description.

To me, that sounds like it would be a hoot!

(link to story on Florida chicken controversy)

 

 

“Every HOA Should Be Worried”

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Yep, that’s the quotable quote emerging from an HOA scandal in Anne Arundel County, Maryland.

Residents of the Russett Community Association voted to throw out the top two board members who homeowners claimed were misusing HOA funds. True to form, the two board members voted that the recall elections weren’t valid because they weren’t approved by the board. Then they fought the recall election in court, and of course they spent neighborhood dues money to pay for their own defense. It happens in thousands of HOAs across the country!

Power play in Russett: But many residents unaffected by battle over community leadership

In this case, though, a judge ordered that the two board bullies step down from their positions. They’re not going easily, though. They’ve squandered anywhere from 80 to 100,000 bucks and more in dues money to fight the homeowners in court.

Those of us ‘in the know’ just shake our heads in wonder.

(link to HOA scandal in Capital Gazette)