OK. Here’s a confession. I’ve spent a lifetime going on vice raids with local, state, and federal cops. I’ve ridden in a DEA helicopter as it used an infrared camera to spot pot plants growing in the middle of corn fields. I was the first reporter on the scene of a plane crash where drug smugglers dumped their DC-3 on top of a mesa in Southeast Colorado. I’ve probably seen more marijuana in my lifetime than all the readers of this blog combined. But… here comes the big confession… I’ve never even had so much as a single puff. I guess that would disqualify me for running for the White House, right?
It’s one step at a time, but every milometer of achievements is worth its weight in gold.
In Arizona, one lawyer is trying to get Homeowner Associations to work with homeowners to end the nightmare of lawn Nazis and bully boards. The link below should be an easy way to spend a couple of minutes.
Before you hire an assassin to take me out, please listen to my reasoning.
Next door ‘party houses’ are the bane of the existence of any homeowner. People buy the house, then start renting it out to party-throwing wild people who screw things up for the entire neighborhood. Certainly, Homeowner Associations can take these houses down. They assess fines, file liens and lawsuits and can shut these places down.
Still, if you have a strong zoning department they can shut these houses down much more quickly and without costing HOAs a ton of money in legal fees. And Zoning Departments have to follow Constitutional law. It doesn’t make them slower in enforcing reasonable standards, but it does make them more accountable.
We’ve seen this over and over again. But keep in mind that when patriotism is banned we’ve reached the beginning of the end. Please, please, don’t think I’m exaggerating.
In North Carolina, a Homeowners Association (a trailer home association) has banned the flying of American flags. They want to ban all flags, which is probably understandable. But the American flag has special protections enacted by Congress and by many state legislatures. Banning American flags is on a par with banning any celebration of the 4th of July.
As a Realtor in Arizona, I recently went to a class presented by an HOA property management company. The topic was the various ins and outs of HOAs hiring a management company. But as the class progressed, I thought it really would be better taught by an attorney and not somebody within the HOA industry.
Here are my conclusions after going through this class:
