Category Archives: construction defects

HOA Trouble In Colorado

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guest blog by Stan Hrincevich   (coloradohoaforum.com)

Colorado Springs Town Hall Meeting: let us know how you can help get the word out about this meeting on Feb 13: contact legislators, post flyer at your HOA, local media, etc.

Construction Defects Legislation: here we go again with the Denver Post exclusively contacting the Community Associations Institute (CAI) to represent homeowners’ interests in how homeowners’ money is used in litigation. Below is our letter to the editor of the Denver Post and copied to legislators:

“The Denver Post again allows those making millions of dollars from HOA Construction Defects (CD) litigation to represent the voice and rights of homeowners and distort the debate in CD legislation reform. No input is accepted from any recognized homeowner’s organizations. Once again, the only point person on homeowner’s rights is none other than the Community Associations Institute (CAI). The CAI represents the interests of property managers and HOA lawyers, NOT HOMEOWNERS! If CD legislation is ever be explained in a truthful, balanced, and productive manner it must first get by the pervasive CAI smoke screen.

First, almost all HOAs created in the past 15 years mandate in their Declaration that arbitration must be used in CD dispute resolution. Of the 8,500+ HOAs in the State most are beyond the statute of limitations and cannot sue. As a percentage or relative number of all HOAs, those that changed their Declaration (at the encouragement of HOA lawyers) is very, very small. Thus, precluding HOAs from changing their declaration and infringing upon homeowner’s rights is a weak argument. Furthermore, a recent Colorado court case has ruled HOAs can be prevented from changing their Declaration. The CAI would have the public believe the inability to change the Declaration will have a profound impact on homeowners’ rights but the reality is that it would mostly impact the ability of HOA lawyers to promote litigation in our costly court system.

The other issue involves requiring homeowners to vote on the approval of the use of their own funds in CD litigation. Currently, any HOA Board at the encouragement of their attorney can spend unlimited HOA funds on litigation without the knowledge or approval of homeowners. The CAI opposes this empowerment of homeowners as it would effectively reduce litigation.

We at the Colorado HOA Forum offer the following CD legislative proposal to mitigate litigation and empower homeowners: “HOA homeowners are required to be apprised of and vote on the use of HOA funds in all litigation.” Why is this so difficult?”

 

Impact of Embezzlement in an Emergency!

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OK, the biggest reason for a Homeowners Association is to protect property values. Right? Well, let’s visit another of hundreds of thousands of parallel cases around the country. This one involves the Big Wood Springs HOA in Winnsboro, Texas.

I’ve lived in Texas, El Paso and San Antonio, and even as a kid I knew how powerful some of those winter and spring storms could be.

Members of this HOA were trapped when a December storm damaged the only bridge that separates them from the rest of the world. They need tens of thousands of dollars to repair the bridge along with a number of HOA roads which were damaged by the rains. Emergency vehicles can’t reach them, visiting nurses can’t reach elderly homeowners. Government agencies can’t help out because the damaged bridge is on private property. It’s illegal to use state funds to improve or repair privately-owned structures.

The problem is that the former HOA treasurer was recently arrested for embezzling 60 to 80 thousand dollars from the neighborhood’s budget. Now, there’s no money left for the emergency repairs.

Who’d have thought? Who’d have thought that an embezzler could cause an emergency that would risk the lives of an entire community?

What are your property values now, Big Wood Springs?

(link to KLTV report on HOA embezzlement)

 

Followup to Condo Confiscation

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guest blog by Sara Benson

Last night’s post on Neighbors At War referred to a Chicago high rise condo building where many homeowners are about to lose their shirts. Once the developer has control of 75% of the units he can begin to put the remaining owners out of their homes.

The frightening thing is that the American Bankers Association stopped tracking foreclosure rates in condos. We have documented severe erosion of values in condo associations–as high as 77 percent in one building alone where 100 percent of the condos went into foreclosure. The average special assessment in older high rise buildings that were converted in the 1970s and 80s is a whopping $50,000 per door. And we’ve seen some special assessments that high in buildings that were converted in the mid-2000s due to faulty construction. One owner reported a special of $150,000. All this in addition to the “regular” monthly fee.

It’s a nightmare out there.

Confiscating Your Condo

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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.

(link to article on how they seize your home)

 

Suck ’em in with Humor!

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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.

But the phone prank linked below is amazing!