Category Archives: lawsuit

Kicking Kids Around

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guest blog by Dave Russell

How to ‘legally’ discriminate against children in HOAs…… It’s pretty simple, and it only takes one word!

A Fair Housing case was just settled in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Six families in the Greenbrier Village Homeowners Association won a settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit. The feds say the HOA was violating the law when it banned children from playing in the grass.

The Greenbrier Village Homeowners’ Association and Gassen Company had to establish new nondiscrimination policies, pay a $10,000 fine to the federal government and $100,000 to six families for their illegal discrimination

How to legally discriminate? Just use one tricky word

Shortly after the Minnetonka settlement, HOA lawyers started sending notices to every HOA in the land warning about discriminatory rules and policies relating to children and families.

The legal advice was: “When drafting rules and policies, it is in the best interest of the community to use the word ‘All’ during the rule drafting process.” In other words, if you have a rule against ‘children’ riding bicycles in the common areas, you should replace the word ‘CHILDREN with the word(s) ‘ALL’ or ‘EVERYONE.’ Example: ALL residents are prohibited from riding bicycles in the common areas.”

The arrogance continues

Apparently, the Villas of Summerfield HOA, in Hilton Head Island South Carolina, took those HOA attorneys’ advice but added their own sneaky twist.

2Q==The sign says “No Rollerskating, No Skateboards, No Bicycle Riding, No Scooter Riding. Even though 99% of anyone doing those things are kids, the sign doesn’t specifically discriminate against children, at least according to the HOA lawyers. Still, is this keeping with the spirit of the Fair Housing Act?

This Hilton Head enclave may soon be another one that learns a very expensive lesson.

 

Interesting Sentence for ‘Depressed’ Embezzler

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Question: If you knew you could steal $40,000 and only get a 60 day jail sentence, would you do it? $20,000 tax free dollars a month is pretty tempting, isn’t it?

Well, that’s the sentence given a 72 year old Idaho woman when she embezzled that amount from her seniors-only community, the Florida Estates HOA. She said she stole the money because she was depressed.

The sentence gets even more interesting. After her two month jail sentence she’s required to make $40,000 restitution at the rate of $200 a month. I’m not very good at math but it looks like that’s about 17 years. And she’ll be 89 when she’s finished paying. I suspect most of the neighbors she ripped off will be dead or institutionalized by that time.

Crime really does pay.

And the crooks know it.

(link to Idaho Press story about woman sentenced for grand theft)

 

Stupid, Stupid Aspen

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No, not everyone in Aspen is stupid. But this kind of a story is a national embarrassment and every rich person in this glittery ski town should be down the necks of the idiots who are allowing this to continue.

I’ve written about this service dog dispute before. The board of the Aspen View Condominiums on Midland Avenue has spent months harassing the owner of a condo because he rented it to a woman who has a service dog to help her deal with her epilepsy. After months of the most incredible nastiness toward this woman, she moved out.

But Aspen View bullies wouldn’t quit. They began assessing fines against the condo owner and have liened his home.

If you want to sleep tonight, do not read the Aspen Times story linked below. If, however, you want to see how low and morally degraded some HOAs get, then have at it. And think about sending a note to this disgraceful board.

(The Aspen Times makes you answer a question before the text appears. Just click a box and you’ll be able to read it.)

(link to story on service dog flap)

 

 

New Web Design

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There are always a few bumps in the road when a website is re-designed. The new look of the Neighbors At War website makes it more friendly to mobile devices, so I hope you like it. Google required this re-design to make websites retain their searchability rankings. My site designer and webmaster, BTW, is one of the best in the business. Shannon Parish of Illustrating You is pretty busy with all her clients, but I’ll put her name out there anyway. Just don’t hire her away from me. I’d be lost in the woods without a compass!

Outright Bald-Faced Theft From Florida HOAs!

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An astonishing blog was just published by our friend in Florida, Jan Bergemann. He points out that the trust fund, which was created to help members of Homeowners and Condo Associations, is being looted annually by the Florida State Legislature.

This money was not meant to be transferred to the Legislature’s general fund. It’s paid by HOA members and should be held in trust for HOA members.

It’s just another in a thousand ways that HOA members are getting ripped off. How many other states are seeing such theft?

(link to Jan Bergemann’s story on plundering of the HOA Trust Fund)