Las Vegas TV reporter Darcy Spears is the First Lady of HOA exposures and she’s got another great one. This time it’s not a crooked board. It’s an HOA management company that’s doing its level best to ruin a little old lady. Phony dues, phony charges, threats of liens and foreclosures. Even the HOA board which fired this company says it’s all bogus.
This has to be seen to be believed.
(link to the latest HOA Hall of Shame)
A few days ago, I wrote of a Homeowners Association in Hayden, Idaho that threatened to sue a homeowner who put up excessive Christmas lights and decorations. HOA officials were upset because the display attracted lots of traffic to the neighborhood.
But isn’t that what we all do at Christmas? We drive around looking for the most beautiful light displays. It’s a time when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. I know plenty of Jews, atheists and agnostics who drive around admiring all the wonderful decorations. “Peace on Earth, good will to men,” is how the song goes. And that message resounds through all religious barriers.
In any event, the national backlash against the West Hayden Estates Homeowners Association had an impact. The HOA now says it doesn’t plan to sue the homeowner after all. Some stories have happy endings. I really like this one.
(link to KREM-TV story on Christmas dispute)
HOAs are lawsuit machines, not a doubt in my mind. And keeping neighborhoods all stewed up is all about full-time employment for lawyers. With that in mind, you’ll be stunned reading a column in last week’s USA Today.
(link to column on the lawyer cartel)
Well, I’m no longer a fan of the so-called ‘Ahmed, the Clock Kid.’ He’s the Texas 14-year-old who assembled a clock and thought it was cool enough to show his science teacher. In our no-tolerance world a kid can’t even point his finger and say “bang, bang” without the police being called. When the cops started interrogating Ahmed about whether the clock was a bomb, it became a viral sensation. He was solicited by colleges, got an invitation to the White House.
Now, it seems that Ahmed and his family want to sue the school and the police department for $15,000,000. Apparently Ahmed was so ‘traumatized’ by the incident he deserves that princely sum to help him get his life back together. He once had a great future ahead of him. But I wouldn’t hire him now. I wouldn’t want to contribute to his tuition.
This country’s tort lawsuit machine gives a lot of people around the world some good reasons to despise us.
Rumors are that the mastermind of the 60 million dollar Las Vegas HOA scam has reported for his federal prison sentence. I’ve long predicted that Leon Benzer would never, ever report to federal prison. He knows how to get in and out of Mexico. He once owned a tequila company there. With a 15 1/2 year prison sentence would he not be tempted to cross the border?
I’m still not giving up my suspicion that Benzer will retire to a Mexican beach. He’ll only serve half his prison time, anyway, so maybe he actually will show up. And the white collar criminals I’ve known have absolutely loved their time in prison. They’re worshiped as heroes behind bars. Of course, Benzer knows that. But we’ll see.
And yes, I’ll admit it if my prediction was wrong.
