One of the heroes of our movement, Dr. Gary Solomon, has won a round in his own battle against an out-of-control HOA in Nevada. It involved an idiotic fine of $100 so he tried to get it heard in Small Claims Court, where it really belongs. That court kicked him upstairs to District Court which really has no business hearing 100 dollar claims. After two years, Solomon has won the right to take the case back to Small Claims. Here’s the decision:
Well, the news this week is pretty bad for net neutrality. The White House has come up with a 332 page book of regulations that it’s going to hand to the FCC for implementation. Just as in the Affordable Care Act, they have to pass the bill so we can all see what’s in it. A lone renegade on the FCC is warning that this bill is so heavy handed that it will fundamentally change the way the Internet is governed, essentially treating it as a public utility.
Hundreds of billions in new taxes, controversial websites (like this one) may be subjected to a version of the old (and failed) Fairness Doctrine, and smaller businesses and smaller political operatives will essentially be driven off the web. Websites will be censored. Another name for the bill is “full employment for trial lawyers.”
The Internet has given us a measure of freedom that never would have been granted by traditional government. It has fundamentally changed the world, both socially and financially.
FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai says the future looks pretty grim.
That’s the power phrase that came out of an interview with Jon Harris, who owns a condominium in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. Five Points leaders tried for decades to turn around its image as a run-down part of the city. Back in the 20s and 30s it was the home of some of the best jazz clubs in the country. But as Denver expanded in all directions of the compass, Five Points was subjected to typical inner city decline.
Still, neighborhoods can be reborn and Five Points leaders have worked hard to try to make the neighborhood a showplace once again.
The problem is that they mandated higher density ‘affordable’ housing which meant developers were ordered to create Homeowner and Condo Associations. To encourage developers to build such high density housing the city loosened zoning regulations and inspections.
Condo owner Jon Harris desperately wanted to buy a quality home and live in a neighborhood rich in Colorado history. Now, he says, every condo in his complex is beset with construction defects. Meanwhile, the State Legislature is trying to pass a bill that would limit lawsuits against builders.
Harris says the legislation is wrong. The only right answer is for builders to “STOP BUILDING CRAP!”
Most of us could agree with that.
(link to KDVR-TV story on construction defects)
As we gear up for the Legislative session in Tallahassee, beginning March 3, we are starting to hear the buzz about HOA-related bill proposals.
Florida HB 78, a proposed amendment to Statute 558, is among one of the most preposterous bills I have seen. Written by and for the benefit of general contractors and design professionals, the amended version seeks to substantially reduce their liability for construction defects.
As currently written, the bill proposes that owners and Associations meet difficult and costly legal standards prior to filing the initial claim. For instance, the claimant would have to provide a complete and detailed list of each instance of every defect and cite the specific code(s) violated, plus reference all pertinent spec sheets and project drawings, among other details. Essentially, the contractors are insisting that owners or Associations undertake the discovery process prior to filing the first defect claim.
Let’s say your condo building or HOA clubhouse has numerous water leaks. It would be up to your Association to hire the necessary experts to figure out the cause or causes of each and every leak, even if that means removing drywall to get to the plumbing, or removing earth from the foundation wall to look for cracks in the concrete slab. It means your HOA would have to hire an attorney to locate all of those pertinent documents that may have gone missing during the transition process. Then the attorney would have to work with experts to complete detailed reports to attach to the initial claim.
Thousands of dollars in legal costs can accumulate before the Contractor will even consider confidential settlement talks with the HOA or owners. Of course those settlements have to be confidential, so that future buyers will never know what kind of a time bomb they intend to purchase.
And if it turns out that the owners miss some hidden defects, too bad! If a judge decides that the Association is to blame for insufficient maintenance, then the HOA would be on the hook for all of the Contractors’ investigative and legal expenses! But if the Contractor turns out to be 100% to blame for shoddy construction, there is no equivalent sanction requiring that all of the HOA’s legal costs will be reimbursed. I have included a link to a Florida attorney’s blog and the bill itself below, for any skeptics among you who might think I am exaggerating.
This is the kind of legislation that, if enacted, will ensure full employment for construction defect attorneys all over the state of Florida, or alternatively, extort owners to simply pay dearly for all of the mistakes made – and corners cut – during construction.
(link to Florida HOA Lawyer Blog critique of HB 87)
During a recent TV interview I was challenged by the host when I talked about connections between traditional organized crime and the Homeowners Association movement. The host was great and gave me some latitude to explain.
But next month the entire nation should be riveted by the federal racketeering organized crime trial involving Las Vegas Homeowners Associations and the Mafia. Nobody will pay attention, of course, especially the national media. But the FBI has found that there are very interesting connections between a Mexican drug cartel, corrupt government officials in Mexico who are doing money laundering for the American HOA business, and corrupt cops and lawyers in Las Vegas. This is a huge trial, one of the largest the FBI has ever undertaken. And 36 of 41 organized crime suspects have already pleaded guilty.
Mafia? Homeowners Associations? Exaggeration? Not by much.
Just keep in mind the question, “Who is Joseph Angelo Bravo?” What are his connections to the Mexican drug cartels and the Italian Mafia families in Buffalo, New York and why is he so deeply involved in the Homeowners Association movement in Nevada? Why is this convicted cocaine smuggler the airport manager in Baja, California?
It’s a perfectly written script for a Hollywood movie scandal.
But no matter how much you try, YOU WILL NOT get the American networks’ attention. It just not on their radar screens.
I guess that’s why you keep logging in to Neighbors At War.com… to get the real truth.
(link to allegations about drug cartels and HOAs.)
