Category Archives: Horror Stories

Chicago Lawyers? Phew!

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Oh how a little power over your neighbors turns people into freaks! The neighbor battle linked below looks like fiction, but it really is happening in a Chicago condominium.

Ellis Levin is a lawyer who’s represented several condominium associations. He’s also been fired by a couple of them. But the bitterness that goes on in the Thorndale Beach North high-rise is beyond belief.

Sigrid Ingold is the president of the board, a position she’s held for 19 years. She and Lawyer Levin are pretty tight, and condo owners say the bullying by Ingold and Levin is crazy.

Catherine McCarty got herself elected to the board in an effort to thwart the ongoing threats and fines liberally handed out to other condo owners. But now McCarty, herself, is being bullied by this pair of ‘nut jobs’. When a contractor suddenly appeared in the building to do some very costly repairs, McCarty questioned the board president about why other board members were never asked to approve or oversee the contract or the charges.

Suddenly, Lawyer Levin hit her with a notice of a $150 fine for harassing his good buddy, board president Ingold.

It happened again, when McCarty tried to talk to yet another contractor. This time it was a $450 fine plus more than 1500 bucks for legal fees. She refused to pay and is now facing a lien and possible confiscation of her home.

McCarty is demanding financial transparency. She’s demanding to know why president Ingold pays herself a $43,000 salary as a property manager. She wants to know why her association’s legal budget suddenly doubled after Levin was hired.  She’s demanding an audit (there’s been only one audit on the building and that was eighteen years ago). Other condo owners are furious because it’s impossible to sell a unit if a buyer can’t see an audit of the association’s finances. Most are afraid to speak out for fear of getting a ‘Levin letter’.

Lawyer Levin used to be in the state legislature.

Now he’s is in the running to be elected as a Cook County Judge.

As I said in my headline…Phew!

http://tinyurl.com/lsuyecm

original source:

http://www.marinacityonline.com/news/levin0112.htm

People Are Learning

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Hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the country are getting educated about Homeowners Associations. They’re not doing it by reading my book, or any of the others on the market. They’re learning by cold, hard, first-hand experience.

A lady in Houston, Texas named Crystal Stemberger is an author, a successful personal finance blogger, and a fulltime blog advertising manager. Her business and blog are called Budgeting the Fun Stuff. And it really is a fun site for browsing.

But the reason I’m mentioning her is an excellent blog she wrote about her experience as a new member of a Texas Homeowners Association, where she’s discovering the unnecessary and demeaning bullying which is targeting her. A weed, a wrong-headed claim that her car was parked on the street for longer than the mandated six hours. Threats of fines. Not only is her column good, the many comments below it are also informative. And it shows that the word is spreading about the vulgarity of rogue Homeowners Associations. The national HOA movement is slowly killing itself.

Here’s the link to Crystal’s column:

http://tinyurl.com/pxdkgnv

original source:

http://www.budgetinginthefunstuff.com/home-owners-association-bullies/

 

 

 

 

Wacky Trayvon Martin Juror

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Actually, he was only a potential juror who was tossed out of the jury pool when defense attorneys discovered some prejudicial FaceBook postings.

But this goofball, Jerry Counelis, had apparently posted a comment that said, “Justice for Trayvon” two weeks before George Zimmerman was arrested for Martin’s murder. Then he lied about it during voir dire.

When Counelis was ousted from the jury pool he came back into the courthouse and tried to get into the jury room. He was yelling that his anonymity had been taken away from him. And this is the kind of nut case who could have gotten onto the jury? Dear Lord God!

Counelis was finally arrested and jailed for trespass. His mug shot will ensure that he has no anonymity. Ever.

Zimmerman was an HOA crime watchman for the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association in Sanford, Florida. He says he shot and killed Trayvon Martin after the teenager attacked him. Zimmerman was on a cell phone talking to police when the shooting happened.

This Homeowners Association has already paid Martin’s family more than a million dollars to settle a lawsuit against the HOA. But homeowners there haven’t begun to see the real costs of their gated neighborhood zeal. If Zimmerman is found ‘not guilty’ (as is probable), he’ll have a heck of a lawsuit against his own HOA. They put him at risk. They didn’t support him when he got into trouble while serving his official crime watch duties.

I would not want to be a member of that HOA when the special assessments start arriving.

That’s one HOA that could be going down the drain.

http://tinyurl.com/l2rbpaw

original source:

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/deputies-escort-dismissed-george-zimmerman-juror-from-courthouse/-/1637132/20575140/-/oyd2jo/-/index.html

Bieber Bashing!

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This one is actually kind of funny. Justin Bieber is apparently not well-liked by many of his neighbors. The singing sensation lives in the ritzy neighborhood of Calabasas, California, where homeowners pay $1000 a month in HOA dues.

But the teenager’s antics, including loud and late parties, driving like a maniac and threatening other homeowners are causing  a neighborhood revolt. Neighbors have repeatedly demanded that HOA officials take some kind of action.  Even Sheriff’s deputies are demanding that the D.A. charge Bieber with assault and battery.

Now, the revolt has escalated to the point that a number of homeowners are refusing to pay their thousand-buck-a-month dues until the HOA takes action.

It’s amusing. Not paying your HOA dues is a serious crime in HOA Amerika, even more serious than late parties, speeding and assault. So these neighbors have all decided to become even worse criminals than Bieber is.

Hypocrisy?

Yup.

http://tinyurl.com/lvcfc8t

original source:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/neighbours-want-home-owners-association-to-act-against-bieber-596428.html

The Drugging of an HOA

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There’s a new high rise luxury condo on Mission Street in downtown San Francisco. Built in 2009 with every classy aesthetic feature, it was high-priced and all the units on its 22 floors sold out quickly. It’s called The SOMA Grand. It’s governed by an HOA, of course.

Residents of the new building say almost immediately after they bought in, they started having problems with flooding during rainstorms, cracks in walls, and failures of sealant joints. The HOA has scrambled to get into court to sue everyone connected with the construction. “Going for the deep pocket”, as lawyers say.

The HOA is suing for four million dollars. And millions of bucks will be spent by both sides in legal fees. These brand new HOA residents will find their monthly dues are going to soar. If they win the suit, the biggest chunk will be taken by the lawyers. And if the residents get anything back, it’ll be pennies on the dollar.

The SOMA Grand.

You’ve gotta love the name.

What is SOMA?  It’s a high powered drug. It’s a drug that leaves you stoned and stupid. Then again, half of San Francisco is already stoned and stupid. And San Francisco sits on one of the largest earthquake faults in the country where they’re all waiting for ‘the big one.”

Soma.

Yeah, I do love the name.

http://tinyurl.com/laq5yp8

original source:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/05/soma-grand-homeowners-file-lawsuit.html?page=all