Hi Gang,
Since you’re all part of what’s getting our message out there, here’s an end-of-the-year look at website numbers.
A record 514,000 logins were recorded in 2014. And 4.8 million pages of material were either downloaded or read.
When you submit a guest blog here, just know that you’re having an impact.
Happy New Year!
Great guest post by Dave Russell yesterday, good enough that I’d like to add to it.
Around the country, Homeowners Associations continue to wildly discriminate against families with handicapped youngsters. They’re shunned, they’re fined, they’re labeled ‘bad people’ who aren’t allowed to use the common areas. These stories are as disgusting as they are endemic. And they should serve as a warning to any potential home buyer that HOA property is fundamentally diseased, unfit for Americans who believe in human rights.
Yes, H.U.D. occasionally comes to the rescue on behalf of a damaged family. But these federal lawsuits are so rare they can, at best, be described as ‘show trials’ similar to the massive HOA racketeering case now being conducted in Nevada. A show trial is exactly what it sounds like. The feds ride onto the scene like rodeo cowboys, crack a few whips, and hope that other criminals across the country will be deterred from committing similar crimes. They never are.
The only solution to human rights violations by the HOA system is federal fines massive enough to stagger the imagination. Under the current system the feds win an occasional lawsuit, the HOA insurance company pays for the lawyers and fines, and the homeowners never have a hint about what really happened.
How to solve the problem? When an HOA commits an ongoing violation of federal law confiscate the entire neighborhood under public nuisance laws. Every house, every family gets evicted without compensation.
Outrageous, you say?
Impossible and illegal you say?
Hey, just look at a 2006 Supreme Court decision called Kelo. The government essentially confiscated an entire neighborhood simply for the crime of “not looking nice enough.” Actually, there was some underlying corruption there. A pharmaceutical company wanted the neighborhood for a construction project and the state gave it to them. The irony is that the drug firm decided they didn’t really want the land after all. Now this former neighborhood is just a field of weeds.
Maybe what this country really needs is a few more weeds.
(link to story on cerebral palsy family driven from Kentucky neighborhood)
I hoped In time, just like in the Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens, each board member and the pond-scum attorneys who represented Andover Forest Homeowners Association would receive a visit from one of Dickens’ghosts.
Well whoever said that dreams don’t come true, and that Santa isn’t real, must have not seen the new lawsuit just filed by the United States of America vs. Andover Forest Homeowners Association, and their management company EMG Management Services, LLC. Seems like the ‘Ghost of Christmas Past’ is paying some folks a visit down in Lexington.
Yes, Cooper, there is a Santa Claus, and he’s fixin’ to put some reindeer hoof prints on those board members’ foreheads who took away your little therapy house.
Followers of this blog and anyone that follows real estate news will quickly notice that reality stands in stark contrast to Community Association Institute (CAI) rhetoric.
For readers who are unaware, “community association” is CAI’s official terminology for what the rest of America knows a Homeowners’ Association (HOA).
Time to debunk some proclamations made in CAI’s 2013 Statistical Review (link below), and repeated annually in their publications that tout “How and Why Community Associations Work.”
Let’s start with this one:
“Expanding Affordable Homeownership. There has been a persistent effort to increase homeownership in America, especially in underserved groups, such as minorities, women and immigrants, and in specific locations, such as urban areas. Almost from their inception in the 1960s, condominiums have tended to serve as lower-cost housing, especially for first-time buyers. This was especially true of early condominium conversions, in which apartment buildings were refurbished into condominiums. Without the construction and operating efficiencies inherent in association development and operations, affordability would be an even greater problem.”
Really? But here we are in 2014, with regional and national homeownership rates back where they were a decade ago. Most buyers cannot afford homes at current prices. If you have been following the blogs here on Neighbors at War, then you know that Florida, only high-end condos priced at approximately $500,000 and up, are under construction – most of them are snapped up by foreign investors in cash sales. Another 235 or so condominium projects have failed and have been terminated, most converted to rental properties, kicking over 17,000 condo owners to the curb after forcing most of them to sell at a fraction of what they paid for their units prior to 2007. You also know that lenders now avoid underwriting mortgages for condos and HOAs, due to high rental to owner percentages, underfunded Association reserves, and, in some states, the fact that mortgage holders risk losing their entire mortgage interest due to super priority lien status for HOAs.
All of these factors have eroded any temporary gains in affordability for buyers. When you add to the mix the fact that HOA assessments have increased significantly in recent years, well, that just decreases affordability of “community association” living even more.
And how about this bit of marketing hype and political puffery?
“Building a Sense of Community. We are, for better and worse, a highly transient society. Americans follow professional opportunities and other preferences from state to state. By their inherent nature, community associations bring people together, strengthen neighborhood bonds and promote a sense of community and belonging—attributes that are often overlooked. Many residents take advantage of community-sponsored activities, such as holiday events, social clubs, athletic and fitness activities, pool parties and more. These activities help residents get to know their neighbors and forge new, supportive friendships. Social opportunities exist even in smaller associations that don’t have the resources or critical mass to sponsor formal activities. Many Americans make enduring friendships by serving on association boards and committees and volunteering in other ways.“
If you follow national or state HOA news and issues on social media – or read print media, or watch television media – it becomes clear that there is a great deal of conflict in many “community associations.” We’ve blogged about unfinished subdivisions, abandoned condominium projects, and the growing percentage of absentee owners and renters that hardly result “neighborhood bonds” or “enduring friendships.” No doubt you have read about lawsuits and foreclosure threats over a flag in a flowerpot and access to financial records, disputes over lawn ornaments or service dogs for the disabled, threats and physical altercations at Board meetings, tens or hundreds of thousands of assessment dollars being embezzled, tenants and owners having their vehicles towed from city streets. It is common knowledge that many HOAs cannot find anyone willing to serve on their Boards. The list goes on and on.
Additionally, the NJ Supreme Court has acknowledged that CC&Rs do not protect First Amendment rights. And FHFA has objected that HOA super-priority liens divert taxpayer dollars to private communities.
Are HOAs really working to improve housing affordability and quality of life in American communities? Do they benefit American taxpayers in general?
Or are increasing reports of the struggles and strife of HOAs making a mockery of CAI’s glowing self-evaluation?
You be the judge.
How and Why Community Associations Work (Community Associations Institute Factbook)
Canadians often seem much more polite than Americans, but the BBC documentary linked below is one that everyone on this blog should watch. Downtown Toronto has been devastated by defective construction in many of its high-rise condo towers. The U.S. government is following the exact same political path as the governments of Toronto and of Canada have been following over the past seven years.
With the inevitable world financial collapse that’s coming, many building shortcuts are going to be overlooked in the U.S.. Massive construction projects will be seen by our government as an escape valve against the housing market bubble. Thousands of people in rapidly expanding financial markets like China and Dubai will be buying newly built American condos without ever making a personal visit or inspection. And American building inspectors will be ordered by their bosses to overlook common sense building regulations.
This blog is all about protecting you. My guest bloggers put a lot of work into researching and writing about certain subjects to protect you, the homeowner. But believe me, we’re getting pressure from the CAI cacophony and the realty folks and property managers. We make no money on this blog by encouraging our followers to be cautious in their investing.
Caveat emptor.
