Category Archives: Government

Another Consumer Blogger Gets It!

Ah, it’s so good when you see member of the real estate industry who finally discovers that all is not good in HOA Amerika! I hope he continues his research. He’s going to be stunned!

(link to Clark Howard News)

 

Madonna’s HOA problems

Madonna may decide her uppity New York co-op neighbors aren’t worth the rent. She’s suing because the co-op board doesn’t want Madonna’s kids or domestic help staying there when she isn’t physically in the building.

In the story linked below, I don’t read that she’s suing for racial discrimination, but I’d bet my last dollar that’s going to be a central point of her lawsuit. Some white folks just don’t like it when people of color are around. That’s how the whole HOA movement got started in the first place. Don’t believe me? Go look in the title history of your property deed!

ABC News (kind of) Discovers The HOA Scam!

The Nation’s news media are late to the table in discovering the national scam known as Homeowner Associations. One of the early ‘discoverers,’ though, was ABC News, although their first story was a little tepid. It’s linked below.

But the news agency kinda, sorta hinted that simple rules violations by homeowners could cost up to six figures before things get straightened out. Six figures? Some sad homeowners have spent more than a million dollars trying to straighten out an idiotic problem. Since HOAs are invariably backed by a huge insurance policy they just love for a homeowner to sue. It’s more satisfying than sex! The homeowner files suit, the HOA’s insurance policy kicks in and these criminals who run the HOA get a free ride while their insurance company tries to stretch the case out while whittling the homeowner’s life savings away.

Denver Snow

Sorry about getting behind on my Neighbors At War blogs but I have been slogging through this Denver blizzard. At first I didn’t think it was such a big deal, but that was before I got my Blazer and my snowplow stuck in ditches. Oh, and trying to dig out neighbors has been a huge stress producer. This really wasn’t much in terms of a Denver blizzard. We had one in March of 2003 that left snowdrifts up to twenty feet high. But this one, despite being just a couple of feet, is the wettest snowfall I’ve ever seen.

Kickbacks, Embezzling, Oh My, Ho Hum

It seems some homeowners in the Savanna, Georgia area have their panties-in-a-bunch over what they believe is an illegal kickback scheme between developer DR Horton and the cable company. They’ve filed a lawsuit saying they’re each being cheated out of $100 a month.

Sadly, they won’t win. Homeowners almost never, ever do, especially against giant developers like DR Horton. Nope, the developers have the inside track with local government officials. There’s lots of money that slides back and forth at that level.

Still, you’ve gotta give these homeowners credit for trying.

(link to story on Savanna NBC affiliate)