Category Archives: Free Speech

Debtors Prisons? This Blows My Mind!

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Where have I been? As a reporter, I think I’m pretty streetwise. I know the controversies involving private prisons. But private debtor prisons? That’s beyond belief and I can hardly believe the judicial system has not taken aggressive action against these outrageous prisons. As you watch this short documentary imagine if HOAs could gain the power to create private prisons!

Portland Porch Painter

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

One the the greatest things about this Neighbors At War website is it brings people together in a very unusual way. Most women meet for coffee, a museum tour, book club, or quilting retreat to enhance their social lives. Men meet for a beer, golf outing, or a fishing trip to Alaska. But regardless of our “outside” interests we all “meet” every day or a few times per week on this website. Are we just compelled to read about the sickness that prevails in America’s HOAs? Or are we hoping for an outside chance of some humor to be found here?

This story was sent to me by a friend who finds herself reading the fascinating entertainment of Neighbors At War has become part of her daily routine. She sends me emails that only say: “OMG!” or “CRAZY!” or “NO WAY!” And on a rare occasion she sends “LOL!” With each passing day she is more and more thankful she does not live in an HOA! Today, she sent this story from Portland. I see a good deal of humor in it, so I’m sharing.

Thank you, MG for emailing the link! (I’m using initials to protect identity since her home is surrounded by HOAs. I don’t want her to end up on the area’s HOA radar screen and become their newest target)

This gal lives in Portland and tells her story of the challenging and tiring efforts she made to paint her front porch. She shares the pictures and it’s obvious she likes her house to look cheerful and welcoming. She shares her back story of what a painted porch meant in her growing up days. It certainly would not hold that meaning in the HOAs of America. It could be the catalyst to having her house foreclosed on by the HOA but she was brave…and now…she awaits the arrival of the Porch Paint Nazis.

I hope this story will make you smile, too!

 
http://thepaintfactorypdx.com/

Great Proposed HOA Bill In Colorado

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Guest blog by Stan Hrincevich

SB 15-177 concerns proposed construction defects litigation in Colorado. No Bill is perfect and in the world of HOA homeowners’ rights we seize the moment for any reform especially when it reins in the influence of HOA lawyers, property managers, and abusive Boards. This Bill would require HOA homeowners to approve the use of HOA funds in litigation.

Homeowners would have to be apprised of any intended litigation, informed on the substance and estimated costs, the consequences of unsuccessful litigation such as special assessments, and how the lawsuit is to be financed. A majority vote would be required to use HOA funds. HOAs can still bring legal action for construction defects and individuals can still pursue legal action using their own funds.

The Community Associations Institute (CAI) and HOA lawyers hate this Bill as it reins in their mostly open and easy access to HOA funds for litigation by requiring homeowners to first approve of such action. This can save large amounts of money for homeowners and safeguard reserve funds that can now be used for lawsuits. The CAI’s latest and weak argument on this Bill contends a Board would require a homeowner to vote for legal counsel on everyday, routine matters but no such verbiage is in the Bill and this is called desperation. See the article below for more information.

Please take a few minutes to write your legislator asking them to support SB 15-177. If the content of the Bill changes to lose our support we will let you know. Your email does help and helps home owners. Get involved!

CAI Threatened If Homeowners Are Empowered

(article from HOAforum.org)

The Community Associations Institute (CAI), long incorrectly identified as a homeowner-centric organization in the press and by State legislators, is again attacking the idea of HOA homeowners’ rights. The CAI represents the interests of property managers and HOA lawyers and not homeowners. This time they are objecting to a provision in proposed Colorado SB 15-177 (construction defects) that requires HOA homeowners to approve the use of HOA funds in litigation. Why the opposition? The CAI and HOA lawyers view the HOA as a profit center and easy money. Empowering homeowners on how their funds are used considered disruptive and meddling.

Too often HOA lawyers raid HOA bank accounts for legal fees and costly legal cases that should never have been litigated. That leaves homeowners with depleted reserve funds, special assessments to pay legal costs, and/or increases in HOA dues to replenish reserve funds. HOA Boards can currently enter into litigation without apprising homeowners of their intent, the cost and consequences of litigation or how they intend to finance legal fees. Boards can incur unlimited legal expenses and even take out debt instruments to pay legal fees. Home owners in too many cases only know of the financial consequences after the case has been litigated and they are stuck with the bill. This Bill simply reins in the authority of an HOA Board (that is highly influenced by HOA lawyers and property managers) in making decisions on litigation that can have significant if not catastrophic financial impact.

SB 15-177 would not preclude legal action but require a majority of home owners to approve litigation. This would mitigate the number of law suits and the abusive practice of an HOA Board suing on behalf of a very few (as few as two) vs. the community at large. More cases would be handled in the less expensive legal venue of arbitration thus saving HOAs significant sums of money. Home owners could still pursue individual actions using their own funds.

The CAI is fabricating a tall tale in contending that any legal fees paid to an HOA lawyer related to routine advice and counsel would take a majority vote of home owners. This Bill doesn’t get involved in regulating or interfering with the operations and daily functions of the HOA. Legal counsel on enforcing covenants, controls, restrictions, and debt collection or other issues involving common and routine HOA issues would not require a majority vote of homeowners. It’s just not in this Bill. Payment of routine legal counsel doesn’t require a lawsuit today nor would it under this Bill. This Bill is directed at legal cases filed in a court of law that are specific, unique, non-recurring and financially impacting. The CAI is embarrassing itself by claiming that any payment to an HOA lawyer would have to be voted upon. Obviously, the CAI is desperate to kill this bill.

The winner in this Bill will be homeowners in HOA community associations, not the Community Association Institute. Homeowners will now have more control over how HOA assets are used. They will still retain the right to litigate construction defects. This Bill does not impair the ability of any HOA Board to govern but contributes to open governance.

 

Orange County officials dealing with Blossom Park, Tymber Skan Residents living in unsafe condos

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

I have blogged about the Blossom Park condo conversion recently. In recent weeks, Orange County Fire Department has stationed one of its trucks at the scene, and a structural engineer has examined the buildings, including the staircases and upper decks, deeming most of them unsafe. An official report is due this week, and in the WFTV report linked below; Orange County officials expect to order an official evacuation within days.

The County is now providing financial assistance to move the residents – mostly low-income tenants – to safe housing.

Court-appointed receiver, Frank Barber of Deer Run Realty & Management Company, insists that the problems are not that dire, and has reportedly urged residents to stay. He is relying on fees collected to pay for needed repairs, and — let’s not miss the obvious — to pay for services provided by his company.

Left unsaid in the many news reports: the taxpayers of Orange County are footing the bill to assist Blossom Park residents. And the bill must be substantial, as it includes increased police protection due to high crime and three recent murders in Blossom Park, stationing the Fire Department adjacent to the condo complex, assigning a structural engineer to inspect the condo buildings, and evacuating and then providing 30-days of free housing to hundreds of low-income residents.

Nearby Tymber Skan is another troubled condo complex, complete with squatters, criminals, dilapidated structures, and rats climbing the walls. Taxpayers have paid hundreds of thousands to cover unpaid water bills, police protection, demolition of buildings, and relocation of residents. This has been going on for several years, and its still not over.

So are HOAs really “no-impact” or “low-impact” tax revenue cash cows for local governments? Perhaps in the short term, but what about over the long term?

And are County officials now “heroes” stepping in to save the day? Hardly. Where have they been all these years, when these distressed condos have been left mainly to their own defenses, living conditions growing progressively worse? No one has been held accountable for allowing residents to live in squalor, for failure to manage the financial affairs of these failed Associations, for creating the conditions that allow violent crime and blight to flourish unchecked.

Better yet, how were these condo projects approved in the first place, with such shoddy construction, and why weren’t regular inspections done to ensure deficiencies were identified and repaired early on? It should have been clear to planning and development commissions that many of these developments and redevelopments were doomed to failure and premature obsolescence.

And what about the social impact to residents and surrounding neighborhoods, where people fear for their health and safety? Can we really put a price on the total costs? Decades of neglect by local governments – preferring to allow thousands of HOAs to attempt to govern themselves and manage their own affairs, while collecting property tax revenues from owners – has led to this chaos.

From deteriorating infrastructure to Bully Boards to neighborhoods divided over how their money is being spent, more and more of these stories are being reported and brought to the attention of the public. And what we see reported on the news is only a small percentage of the problems, because, in many HOAs, owners resist going public for fear of scaring away future buyers (or tenants) and reducing property values. In fact, the outspoken owner is often intimidated, harassed, or ostracized for daring to air the dirty laundry, so to speak. It’s a sick, twisted mindset that threatens the very foundation of the American Dream for millions of Americans.

(link to WFTV story on Blossom Park)

(link to Tymber Skan story)

Movies About Homeowners Associations

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I know of at least four HOA movies in various stages of production. Movies are extraordinarily expensive to do, and to do right. One of the older ones that appears to have stalled had a wonderfully clever trailer….worth watching.

If anyone has an update on this production, please let me know.