Yes, most of us would like to see the Homeowners Association Movement go extinct. But the kind of violence in the story linked below is unacceptable. Anyone who tries to take another’s life and property deserves a life sentence in prison.
This incident happened at the Pointer Ridge HOA in College Park, Georgia. If you can help identify this suspect, please call police.
(arson attempt at HOA president’s home)
During a recent TV interview I was challenged by the host when I talked about connections between traditional organized crime and the Homeowners Association movement. The host was great and gave me some latitude to explain.
But next month the entire nation should be riveted by the federal racketeering organized crime trial involving Las Vegas Homeowners Associations and the Mafia. Nobody will pay attention, of course, especially the national media. But the FBI has found that there are very interesting connections between a Mexican drug cartel, corrupt government officials in Mexico who are doing money laundering for the American HOA business, and corrupt cops and lawyers in Las Vegas. This is a huge trial, one of the largest the FBI has ever undertaken. And 36 of 41 organized crime suspects have already pleaded guilty.
Mafia? Homeowners Associations? Exaggeration? Not by much.
Just keep in mind the question, “Who is Joseph Angelo Bravo?” What are his connections to the Mexican drug cartels and the Italian Mafia families in Buffalo, New York and why is he so deeply involved in the Homeowners Association movement in Nevada? Why is this convicted cocaine smuggler the airport manager in Baja, California?
It’s a perfectly written script for a Hollywood movie scandal.
But no matter how much you try, YOU WILL NOT get the American networks’ attention. It just not on their radar screens.
I guess that’s why you keep logging in to Neighbors At War.com… to get the real truth.
(link to allegations about drug cartels and HOAs.)
I don’t have to exaggerate this one since it’s coming out in next month’s federal HOA racketeering trial in Las Vegas. No, there are positive links between money laundering in American Homeowners Associations through Mexican drug cartels. As absolutely incredible and impossible it sounds, everything’s fair game when it makes its way into sworn federal court testimony.
Sound weird? Impossible? Just remember that when crime gets organized, organized crime becomes endemic.
And remember that the national news networks are totally avoiding any in-depth reporting on this story. Shame on the national media.
(link to connections between Mexican cartels and HOA business)
Whether you agree or disagree with the Wall Street Journal columnist linked below, the term ‘hate speech’ is a constantly sliding scale. And it usually slides in ways that benefit the current political power. The first act of dictators is to ban some kinds of speech. Certainly, some speech is in bad taste but if you allow any ruling power to regulate what can and cannot be said in public, then you’re on a decidedly slippery slope.
On the Neighbors At War blog we frequently take note of certain Homeowners Associations where a battered neighbor who tries to run for the board is banned from speaking out, banned from handing out campaign literature, forbidden from expressing opinions to neighbors. That kind of fascism threatens the very homes and neighborhoods in which we live.
At the same time, censorship of any kind is a double-edged sword. On a website like this, the moderator has the power to permit or to edit out language or thoughts that he deems are simply in bad taste. But this website is not a government institution. It’s a place where we share concerns, thoughts, feelings.
Our Republic is unique in that the very first right granted to Americans was the right to express thoughts without government censorship. Are there limits? Of course. And we granted the Supreme Court the power to analyze certain kinds of speech to see if they constituted an endangerment to others. In some cases (yelling fire, libel, slander) the Court ruled that freedom of speech is not absolute.
Although Wall Street Journalist Bret Stephens is being pilloried for writing this column, in my opinion he should be congratulated for his analysis.
Your thoughts?
Several weeks ago, I told you about a pending legal dispute between Plantation Resort 2 HOA vs. City House, a non-profit organization that assists homeless youths. Several months ago, City House purchased and remodeled a 5-bedroom home in PR2 HOA, for use as transitional living for young adults in need of a home. Shortly after the purchase, PR2 notified City House that it would not be permitted to use the home as intended, citing violation of its Restrictive Covenants.
Earlier this week, WFAA Channel 8 was notified that a confidential, out-of-court settlement has been reached. The video and transcript is linked below.
The dispute centered on PR2 HOA’s restrictions. The attorney for the HOA, Chad Robinson, had argued that the proposed use of the residence City House now owns – as transitional living for up to 8 young women that would otherwise be homeless – does not fall within their definition of “single family use.” Monica Velazquez, attorney for City House, has maintained that “single family use” pertains to how the property is used, not the people who live there. City House planned to use the residence to meet basic housing needs of its residents, all of whom work and attend school, but share expenses for rent, utilities and meals. The dispute was headed for court, where a judge would decide the matter.
But, in typical HOA fashion, a legal settlement has been reached, complete with a sealed file and a gag order. Rob Scichili of City House states that they have decided not to pursue the expense of litigation and to instead move away from PR2 HOA, where they are clearly unwelcome anyway.
Sound familiar? Ah, yes, the old HOA playbook: “We have rules here, and if you don’t like them, MOVE.” The HOA gets its way once again. Of course, with a confidential settlement, the public will never know the details of what was discussed by the parties involved. And that’s just the way the HOA likes it. I certainly hope that City House was at least able to recover its closing costs, remodeling costs, and relocation expenses.
Watching the video report made my blood boil. The arrogance of the two neighbors interviewed, with their not-in-my-back-yard attitude, was nothing short of outrageous, in my opinion.
Do all PR2 residents share these NIMBY views? Probably not, but they will all have to pay for the attorney fees and the legal settlement. They will all have to live with negative publicity for their HOA. Hard to say what effect that might have on their property values.
It seems like we publish at least one blog on NAW each week, featuring yet another story of HOA discrimination, harassment, or bullying. Talk about a huge deterrent for a buyer (or tenant) to living under the HOA regime. Anyone who cares about social justice, fair play, kindness, or compassion will be sorely disappointed under corporate governance by CC&Rs.
(link to WFAA Channel 8 news report on legal settlement)
The previous blogs can be found
Here http://neighborsatwar.com/2014/10/texas-judge-decide-meaning-family-hoa/
and here http://neighborsatwar.com/2014/11/judge-rules-frisco-city-house-can-stay-hoa-civil-case-pending/
