Mel Pittel has waged a years-long fight to bring transparency to his Meadow Creek Homeowners Association in a suburb of Minneapolis. Pittel was even voted in by fellow homeowners as a board member. But the board got a restraining order preventing him from even attending board meetings. Now, a judge has refused the board’s attempt to get the restraining order extended. “Free speech,” said the judge.
Pittel has worked long and hard to inform other HOA members of what he suspects is financial mismanagement by the board. The fight has taken a heavy toll on his finances. But this country has a long history of people who’ve sacrificed everything for their fellow man. The link below is worth reading.
Florida and Nevada are probably the worst states in the country for HOA abuse. There are a thousand ways to steal private homes from their rightful owners, and it happens many times each day, probably each hour. It’s a national tragedy that state and federal politicians are absolutely unwilling to examine. No, it’s much easier to turn your back in the direction of the proffered cash. A shame, for sure.
At least more and more members of the media are ‘getting it.’ The latest is Orlando Sentinel reporter Beth Kassab. Yes, if she Googles her own name, she’ll see this post!
Want to know how to crash an entire neighborhood’s property values? Just tell homeowners that absolutely no Christmas lights or decorations are allowed, even inside the windows of a home. Violators will be fined. Then spread the word to all Realtors who might want to list property in that area. Bam! Your home is worth tens of thousands of dollars less.
Muirfield Village Homeowners Association. Mesa, Arizona.
Yep. The board has been threatening action against any fool who puts up Christmas decorations. Most of them have been taken down. We’re not talking Dickens’ Scrooge or Suess’s Grinch, here. We’re talking about board members whose collective brain capacity is that of a pet rock. I take it back. A pet rock is probably a little smarter.
And this one, my friends, is being committed by a Federal Judge and a US Attorney. The hundred million dollar HOA scam that led to 43 federal convictions in Las Vegas is over. But the judge has ordered all the records from that scam and prosecution to be sealed.
As a reporter I spent a lifetime getting official records unsealed. When things are sealed, there are usually some dirty secrets in those records that make public officials not want to be accountable to the public they serve. This particular sealing of records is incredibly suspicious because of all the public officials who were involved. In the beginning of this investigation there were plenty of hints that one or more Nevada judges was involved. There was also suspicion about a ‘high up’ national political figure who had his fingers in the pie.
As long as these records remain sealed, there will be suspicions that U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr. is intentionally covering up something in his own ranks or his fellow judges. Too many people were hurt by this scam. Too many people lost their life savings and their homes. They absolutely deserve to know every detail of this investigation just to see how far the stench of corruption traveled. Nevada has a long history of being run by the mob. The voters deserve to know the truth. ALL of the truth.
Once again, kudos for the Las Vegas Review Journal. While the rest of the news media across America decided this story was too complicated to cover, reporter Jeff German published every possible detail. He deserves the Pulitzer!
I’ve only met her once during a brief luncheon in Denver, but Molly Dunn is one of a growing number of brave people trying to stand up for the rights of homeowners across America.
She testified before the Massachusetts Legislature to try to plead for more help for homeowners who run afoul of their HOAs. She worked with the staff of Massachusetts Senator Dan Wolf. Wolf has been trying to put some teeth into the law that supposedly requires HOA boards and management companies to let homeowners see the books. But many HOA boards and management companies are very reluctant to do so. A possible reason, Molly says, “is that homeowners might recognize inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the records.”
Molly says Senator Wolf and his staff who supported her through her struggle. And Senator Wolf was tenacious. He introduced pro-homeowner legislation four separate times. Molly says he’s retiring next year which is sad because a politician of his good character is rare these days. She asks that people drop him a short thank you note. (Daniel.Wolf@masenate.gov)
And here’s the link to the story about the Massachusetts Senate hearing.
