Category Archives: Duck Dynasty

Stealing Homes In Indiana

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Last year, residents of Charlestown, Indiana, thwarted an eminent domain attempt initiated by Mayor Bob Hall to allow developers to buy out, raze, and redevelop their entire Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. With pro bono assistance from Institute for Justice, and a well-organized effort, residents were able to put an end to those plans, and keep their homes.

Pleasant Ridge is still in need of improvement, however, and owners want to work with the Mayor on alternative plans to reduce crime and clean up problem properties. Therefore, several neighborhood leaders have proposed establishing a steering committee, to work with the Mayor’s office on revitalizing their Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. Mayor Hall has been asked to serve on the Board of this steering committee, along with one other representative from his staff.

But Mayor Hall has reservations about working with the Neighborhood Association.

Check out this statement made by the Mayor:

“Hall said Wednesday that the neighborhood association and the steering committee represent too few residents of the neighborhood.

“They are more of a special-interest group than they are a homeowners association,” Hall said of the neighborhood association. “They only represent less than 15 percent of the property owners in Pleasant Ridge. A real homeowner’s association will represent 100 percent of the properties in a subdivision.”

Hall said he has made efforts to revitalize the neighborhood since 2000, and it’s important to him that the area improves.

“I am not the mayor of the minority of Pleasant Ridge, I am the mayor of the whole city,” he said. “I am not going to be involved in a committee that has a very narrow focus and is only representing a very small interest.”

Recall from my previous blogs that the Mayor’s plans for redevelopment, though never solidified, included multifamily structures and mixed use development. In other words: establishment of Homeowners’ Associations. Apparently, Hall thinks mandatory membership HOAs would better represent owners’ interests than a voluntary membership resident-supported Neighborhood Association. Where on earth did he get that idea?

Apparently someone has been drinking the Kool-Aid, courtesy of HOA Industry special interest groups representing Community Associations and Developers.

Obviously, Mr. Hall hasn’t got a clue about the realities of HOAs! Although 100% of owners are required to be members, that does not mean that the HOA actually “represents 100 percent of the properties in a subdivision!” Note the use of the word “properties” with regard to representation — not “homeowners” or “people.”

Ask any minority property owner in an HOA if his or her interests are represented, or if those interests are merely outnumbered by majority stakeholders.

And as for having a “very narrow focus” and “only representing a very small interest,” — well, that’s the norm for HOAs. And the people of Pleasant Ridge weren’t very happy about the Mayor’s previous attempts to align himself with the narrow interests of the developer, who, along with the Mayor, wanted to get his hands on grant money.

So who is representing the interests of the homeowners in Pleasant Ridge at this point? At the last City Council meeting, neighborhood association representative Jason Patrone reportedly seemed to have the support of neighbors in attendance.

Let’s see how this one plays out.

(link to Charlestown News and Tribune)

 

Simple Explanation

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guest blog by Nila Ridings
HOAs! I am 100% convinced that is the answer to the mystery (no mystery to me) of the article linked below.Originally created to make neighbors with commonality friendly and social. But the HOA concept failed when the structure was established for neighbor to rule neighbor. Even to the point of being able to fine, lien, and foreclose on their home. With that being allowed to happen the trust is gone and the fear antenna goes up while the boxing gloves sit waiting by the front door to go on.

In multiple ways HOAs are destroying human life!

 

Repeal of Nevada HOA statute?

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

From the state that brought us the largest HOA federal fraud investigation EVER, now this:

Ira Hansen, a Nevada Republican Assemblyman, recently filed AB233, a proposal to repeal NV Statute 116, the statute governing homeowners’ associations. The intent, according to Hansen, is to delegate regulation to a lower level state agency, such as a commission on HOAs. Nevada HOAs are currently regulated by the Nevada Real Estate Division (NRED).

The reason for this proposed change? Essentially, according to Hansen, HOA disputes are too much trouble, the issues too “minor” to bother with! If you read the attached news release, the insinuation is that all HOA issues involve rules over flying the flag or other aesthetic concerns.

Really? Tell that to the thousands of members of 37 HOAs affected by a massive construction defect fraud scheme! Ask them if they think HOA election fraud is a “minor” issue that does not deserve the attention of state lawmakers. Ask these owners if dealing with the aftermath of crooked attorneys, property managers, and fraudulent straw buyers are other “minor” issues that continue to plague HOAs. Does NRED lack jurisdiction to handle these serious matters? If so, then what’s the point of having a regulatory agency with limited authority?

Of course, most would agree that HOAs have some rather unrealistic restrictions, oppressive covenants, and crazy rules that often do result in overblown disputes over trivial matters – mainly because they can. Restrictive Covenant “contracts” can say just about anything a Developer’s Attorney can dream up. Let’s face it, a lot of these claims that Hansen finds so time-consuming would qualify as frivolous, because the rules themselves are often petty, vague, and unnecessary.

But, rather than wash their hands of HOAs as inconvenient annoyances (despite the fact that all of the owners pay substantial property and various state taxes), why won’t NV lawmakers take a stand and simply declare such trivial “keeping up appearances” restrictions and rules unconstitutional and therefore invalid? Why not return full control of individual lots or units to individual owners, instead of the Association? Or how about repealing the authority of NV HOAs to fine or otherwise unilaterally penalize owners, without the benefit of due process?

Think about it, if the HOA Board had to initiate a legal suit over the color of window shades or a flag display – before the alleged offender could be fined or otherwise penalized – I suspect there would be very few lawsuits filed, and more effort to work out disagreements amicably. That would be especially true if either party – HOA or homeowner – had to pay stiff penalties for bringing frivolous claims that waste the court’s time.

And, truthfully, if HOAs are really that troublesome, why not just stop creating more of them?
(link to news release about NV AB 233)

(link to Nevada AB 233)

The God of Poop!

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Poop. Feces. Droppings. Excrement. Cow pies. Dung. Guano. Meadow Muffin. Stool.

Do you realize that humans have hundreds and hundreds of different words for this little bit of matter that is so disgusting to us? It’s almost as if we worship it. Who invented such awful substance? God did. It’s the ultimate recylable material. And you would be stunned to know that every speck of this stuff, depending upon which species deposited it, has an entire ecosystem which depends on getting a steady supply.

Next time you visit the Gulf Coast or the Caribbean and you stretch out on those warm white sands just remind yourself that 70 percent of that white sand was once pooped out by parrot fish. Each parrot fish poops out about 200 pounds of white sand a year! Look it up!

On the other side of the coin, at least a thousand Homeowners Associations are now running madly through their neighborhoods collecting DNA samples from every dog in the hood, and sending each harvested dog pile to the lab to be matched to the offending pooch. The owner then gets a fine of say, $500 per pile. Someone more clever than I might come up with a good name for a new TV reality show. “CSI Poopami,” or possibly, “PoopNet-HOA.”

Now, I’m a dog owner. I carry all the appropriate plastic bags and gloves because I want to be a good neighbor. At the same time I find all this poop hysteria to be hysterically stupid.

All it would take to thwart the system is to organize a neighborhood Poop Brigade to collect hundreds of samples and dump them all on the HOA president’s lawn. Let him pay the fines.

BTW, if you do that, definitely send me pictures that I can publish!

(latest poop from the Seattle P.I.)

 

Monsters in Michigan!

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If you want to find out for yourself how monstrous HOA legislation can be, you need look no further than Michigan.

This state has just passed a law the shields non-profit boards of directors from all liability and accountability. Whew! All? Homeowners Associations, Condo Associations, Co-ops are all non-profit corporations. They handle all our money, they casually throw around our home equity and our life savings, and they’re now exempt? What hath God wrought?

Read the link below and weep.

And remember the words of Gideon J. Tucker and Samuel Clemens: “No man’s life, liberty or property are safe while the Legislature is in session.”

(link to news on the most idiotic law in state history)