Category Archives: Government

Smoker’s Rights? Not In The Constitution, Buddy!

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A man in a Naples, Florida condo is steaming over his Homeowners Association voting to ban smoking on the front porch. He smokes cigars on his lanai. But under the new rules he’ll have to take his stogie indoors.

I understand his concern about personal rights, but he’s actually getting off pretty easy right now. Across the country the courts have ruled that HOAs can also ban all smoking indoors!

There are some well-recognized court cases including one in Jefferson County, Colorado where condo and townhome owners have complained that cigarette and cigar smoke seeps through walls and becomes an annoyance to others. In Naples, smokers are being ordered to take their habit indoors, while elsewhere in the country they’re being ordered to go outdoors. Whether they like it or not, smokers are discovering that the world is turning against them.

I’m not for or against the new laws, just an observer.

(link to FOX4 story on smokers)

http://www.jrn.com/fox4now/news/HOA-bans-smoking-at-Naples-condominium-255023971.html

Murdered By Swans, HOA Sued

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I’m not sure how far this lawsuit will go, but homeowners in this HOA will end up with special assessments to pay all the lawyers.

Have you ever heard of someone being murdered by swans? Me neither. But according to this Illinois lawsuit mute swans are capable of breaking a man’s leg. That probably makes them as dangerous as a vicious dog. And we all know that HOAs which use vicious dogs in their common areas are not immune to lawsuits.

Don’t count me as a skeptic on this one. I vividly remember being attacked by a vicious goose in the Quadrangle at Fort Sam Houston when I was just ten or eleven years old. My younger brother and I were both attacked and injured and it’s given me a lifelong fear of certain angry birds.  So believe me that large birds won’t hesitate at taking on a human. And even though I love animals, I get a special kind of glee roasting and serving certain birds on holidays.

Maybe this lawsuit will be tossed out of court because it’s frivolous. Maybe that won’t happen until the lawyers make a few hundred thousand bucks in legal fees. In the end, though, the homeowners will get pummeled. And these angry birds will get away with murder.

Count on it.

(link to murderous swans)

 

Who Are These Creeps, Anyway?

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One of the only true homeowners’ advocates in Colorado is girding up for yet another battle against our ‘favorite’ HOA lobbyist organization, the CAI. But wait’ll you hear what Community Associations Institute has got up its sleeves this time!

A homeowners advocacy group has proposed a construction defects law which would allow homeowners to choose to settle disputes through low-cost out-of-court arbitration. It would also force HOA boards to seek the approval of homeowners before filing costly class action lawsuits. HOA boards can sometimes be very sneaky in secretly filing such litigation. In other words, THIS PROPOSED LAW PROTECTS HOMEOWNERS!

But CAI spokesmen have said they intend to fight this bill in the Legislature.

Stan Hrincevich, of Colorado HOA Forum makes an excellent point that not only does the CAI not represent homeowners, it represents property managers and lawyers and the ability to fine homeowners, and sue homeowners, and foreclose on homeowners for minor covenant violations. Of course, if homeowners are empowered to use arbitration and do their own defect litigation it might save a lot of homeowners a ton of money. This is pro-homeowner legislation. And CAI is fighting it?

Keep in mind the CAI has a massive amount of lobbying money. Yes, folks, that’s how lobbying is done. Cash. Tons of cash. And in Colorado, CAI wins just about every Legislative battle. With each lobbying victory more cash is taken from homeowners and poured into the private pockets of those service providers who pay dues to CAI.

If a CAI lobbyist ever tells a Legislative committee he represents homeowners, he is lying through his teeth.

The headline for Stan Hrincevich’s blog is: “CAI Misrepresents HOA Construction Defects Bill”

Come on, Stan. Don’t be diplomatic. They’re not misrepresenting. They’re lying.

More information at:

http://www.coloradohoaforum.com/   

Who’d Have Ever Thought?

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Yes, folks. Some home sellers know exactly how to market their properties! The photo is a bit blurry. But the second panel is what’ll get this guy the highest possible price: “No Homeowners Association.”no HOA

This Bubble Will Burst

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If you wanted to sell your home in a Homeowners Association, what would be a best case economic scenario for you and your prospective buyer? You’d want that buyer to be able to get a loan, right?

If you wanted your home to be more marketable, you’d want your HOA to seem less litigious, right?

If you wanted a quick sale, you’d want all HOA homes to be owner-occupied, right?

And to get top dollar for your home, you’d want no vacancies in the neighborhood, right?

Well, let’s toss a monkey wrench into the machinery and see what happens.

The housing bubble that popped in 2008 and 2009 led to a huge number of foreclosures as mortgage companies tried to limit their losses. It also led to more Homeowners Associations liening and foreclosing on homeowners who got behind in their dues. The typical HOA has a super-priority lien on all homes within its borders. That means that when the homeowner gets a few hundred bucks behind on his mortgage, the HOA can grab that property and auction it off at the nearest courthouse for a few thousand bucks. The HOA gets paid, the mortgage company does not. And that means the mortgage company gets screwed out of the entire value of its loan.

Now, suppose you’re an executive in a mortgage company. If you know that a certain neighborhood is in crisis, i.e., foreclosures, lawsuits against owners, a high number of vacancies, a high number of rentals, and the HOA doing its own foreclosures through super-priority liens, how willing would you be to offer mortgages to would-be buyers?

Thought so.

If you happen to be the homeowner who’s trying to sell a home in a neighborhood where no potential buyer can get a loan from traditional lenders, what do you do? You lower your price, lower your price, lower your price, lower your price.

And the housing bubble bursts. The economist linked below thinks the housing Armageddon is coming.

(link to the coming housing bubble)