Category Archives: Foreclosures

Power In Petitions, Numbers, and Voices

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Today, let’s talk about change.
 
When was the last time you decided it was time for a change?  
 
We easily change the small stuff; hair styles, clothing, or the store where we buy groceries.  The not so small stuff; a new car, taking a trip around the world, or going back to college for another degree.  And the biggest change of all; buying a new house, vacation home, condo, or a ranch where the neighbors can’t see you grilling steaks in your skivvies.  
 
We all know by now, buying any property with an HOA, COA, or any other association where neighbors are dictators over neighbors and your bank account is at risk for all debts of said “organization” comes as a life-changing experience.  A change you could never dream in your worst nightmare.
 
More and more of those who have suffered mercilessly in these hellholes are connecting and working hard to create changes that will benefit the homeowners.  One of those hard-working folks has created a petition that was found on the internet.  Whether you sign or not, reading the comments written by the hundreds of signers is confirmation that all across America HOA homeowners are living in misery. 
 
It’s time for our legislators to listen!
 
 
http://www.petition2congress.com/1940/stop-hoas-from-stealing-peoples-homes/view/1
 

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

Very Personal… On Easter

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In the past I’ve told my friends on this website about the sacrifices my dad made fighting with the 3rd Armored Division in France and Germany. And I’ve told you that I have five family members buried in Arlington. But I’ve never told you the following story because I didn’t know it until three weeks ago.

My dad was commanding one of General George Patton’s tank battalions in the last months of World War II when a German soldier fired a bazooka from the upper floor of a chalet in the town of Kaiserslautern, Germany. Dad, who had massive head wounds and extensive brain damage, was taken by the Nazis as a prisoner of war. How he got out is a story for another day. But he survived and after a long battle with Alzheimer’s he died in 1997. The basic facts are in his seventy year-old military and medical records.

Just a few weeks ago a close friend discovered that many graves in Arlington have their own websites. I never knew that! But it gets stranger, still. On my dad’s website is a poem posted by my younger brother several years ago. On this Easter Sunday I would be an irresponsible son and a horrible brother if I neglected to re-post it for you.

　
                               PASSPORT

Dedicated to LTC Edward D. Lucas, Jr.  1915-1997
　

Daddy was a soldier in 1942,

A quiet man who never told of all that he went through.

But this fading soldier was dying in his bed,

While memories and battle wounds made war inside his head.

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

His circuit board had failed him. He prattled as he went.

We heard his words but no one understood just what he meant.

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

　

Now some think there’s a Heaven for heroes who pass on,

Who give their lives for God and country until God calls them home.

But Daddy seemed to know that he’d never get that far,

Until Somebody put the perfect stamp upon his heart.

　

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

It was January when it was time to die.

They knew my Dad would pass that night,

But I could say, “Goodbye.”

　

His eyes were glazed and fixed upon the passport by his bed.

And finally I understood the countless times he said,

“A stamp is all I need. A stamp is all I need.”

 
As his light was fading, and I looked into his face,

Some mysterious visitor had stamped his passport with Grace.

By Gregory D. Lucas  Son of LTC Edward D. Lucas, Jr.
Added: Dec. 10, 2011

(link to Arlington gravesite)

 

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)

 

What Kind Of Egg Hunt?

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Some HOA photos really don’t need much comment. Others cry out for some kind of reaction. I don’t know anything about the Lakewood Springs Homeowners Association but millions of embattled homeowners would agree that this particular sign might be more descriptive than the HOA intends!