Category Archives: Duck Dynasty

Viciousness Toward The Handicapped

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This one comes to us from Miamisburg, Ohio. A handicapped woman who’s fitted with a prosthetic leg, was given a handicap parking spot in front of her house.

That angered at least one neighbor who began parking in her spot after leaving the nastiest note! The story has already gone viral on Facebook. After reading the note linked below, see if you think this story should go even more viral.

(link to story about 26-year-old handicapped woman)

 

All About Ella!

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Run get the tissues and prepare to watch this video!

Nobody will forget Ella Schultz and her Make A Wish playhouse dreams. As of April 1st Ella’s wish came true! JE Dunn built a beautiful playhouse complete with a Dutch door, porch swing, loft, kitchen, and a sweet pink mailbox! We wish her thousands of hours of happiness, laughter, and fun in her special playhouse that is currently restricted to “girls only.”

KCTV5 says the Stonegate HOA caved under the pressure of the public outcry to allow the playhouse. Nothing has been reported regarding the HOA not being in good standing with the State of Missouri. It’s fair to assume the Stonegate board of directors has learned more than one lesson from this experience.

And thousands of people are asking questions about HOAs and wondering why anybody would buy a home in a place like this?

This is why activists stand up and speak out against HOA abuses, because often times it makes all the difference.

(link to KCTV5 story on ella)

http://www.kctv5.com/story/28698085/ellas-elves-sneak-dream-house-into-ailing-girls-backyard

 

Child Discrimination in HOAs Illegal!

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guest blog by Dave Russell (community association manager)
Last week Minnetonka residents of a condo complex won a massive settlement agreement in a federal lawsuit contending that a ban on playing in the grass illegally discriminated against families with children.The settlement agreement, announced last Friday, by U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger, means that the Greenbrier Village Homeowners’ Association Inc. and Gassen Company Inc. must establish a new nondiscrimination policy and pay a $10,000 penalty to the federal government and $100,000 to six families.  We all know well who is going to foot the bill for this one. Don’t we?
 
Just days after the Minnetonka settlement another HOA in California was making headlines for smacking homeowners with $50 fines for basically the same thing.  It appears that the Agave and Saguaro HOA in Chula Vista , California prohibits a number of kid-friendly activities in their development. This HOA prohibits their resident children from riding skateboards, bicycles, roller-skates or anything with ‘wheels’ on their driveways, common areas, sidewalks or streets. So what gives with these kooky rules?
 
Well the reporters down at ABC 10 News went to Prescott Management (the management company for Agave and Saguaro HOA) to ask that very question. The HOA manager claimed that some of those rules were for the ‘safety of children.’  Are these ‘safety concerns’ really legitimate?
 
While I completely understand the need for kids to be able to play in their communities, what happens if something goes terribly wrong? Hypothetically, let’s say this HOA changes their rules and a child gets mowed down by a car in the driveway. Whose fault is it? Well that’s the question the parents attorneys will be asking.
 
The argument can easily be made that the HOA should have adopted rules restricting children from playing in dangerous areas, such as driveways. One has to remember, attorneys are always searching for the deepest pockets when it comes to lawsuits and settlements. Unfortunately, those deep pockets always belong to the HOA and their insurance carriers.
 
HOAs and community managers seem to be in a real pickle here. If you restrict child-friendly activities, even if they may be dangerous, the HOA could be sued for a fair housing violation. If you don’t have safety rules in place, and a child gets hurt, the HOA still gets sued if something goes ‘terribly wrong.’ When it’s all said and done, and dust settles from the lawsuits,  it’s the homeowners who will foot the bill once again. Well, don’t they always?
 
So what’s the solution to this seemingly new legal issue of Children vs. HOA’s? A large part of this problem was actually created by the developers themselves, who poorly designed these communities, and without children in mind. Very rarely do you see a developer put in a kid-friendly area where kids can just be kids. And for some reason if the developer does build a kid-friendly area, it’s always across a busy road like the development in the Minnesota case.  It’s all about jamming in as many units into one confined space as possible for profit.
 
There’s no doubt we’ll be seeing a magnitude of new lawsuits from homeowners and federal agencies like Fair Housing. These lawsuits are going to cost homeowners billions of dollars and make HOA insurance premiums skyrocket!  In my opinion, the best solution to this newly found problem is to stop building these damn liabilities!
 
If you ever needed another reason not to buy into an HOA……make sure that you add this one to the top of your list!
 

Incredible when an HOA Fines a Handicapped Person

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If you live in an HOA, remember you don’t actually own your own home. It’s owned jointly by every member of the neighborhood. That means when your HOA gets sued the damage judgments are shared equally by every member of the neighborhood. If your board does something outrageous enough to precipitate a lawsuit you could face an outrageous special assessment to pay the damage award.

With that in mind, read this next link. An HOA cuts off the water to a disabled resident. A lawsuit? Get ready to shell out big bucks.

(link to story on Atlanta surgery patient who lost her access to water)

 

Absolutely Off Topic, But Worthwhile

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Sometimes, this blog will stray far afield. But this one is still about human conflict.

American kids are not taught about Gallipoli. It was one of the most disastrous battles in the history of the world. A half million men were killed or maimed during the WWI attempted invasion, sort of like an Omaha Beach that lasted for eight bloody months. It was Winston Churchill’s biggest defeat.

As a war-baby in an American family that lost one dad in WWII and had another dad who was wounded and taken POW, I’ve always been sensitive to stories of war. And this video absolutely blew me away.

(the link to “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”)