John Potter, a 92 year old veteran of World War II is trying to stay in the house he built for himself 56 years ago. It only appraises for about $50,000. Several years ago, Potter signed over his Power of Attorney to his daughter Janice Cottrill. Now she wants him gone even if she has to evict him.
Potter’s granddaughter went on an internet crusade and raised more than $140,000 to shut her mom up. But even though that’s nearly three times the value of the house, Cottrill is going through with the eviction. She wants the old man on the street.
How the heck did we lose all our freedoms in this country? When did it happen? Did it begin with Political Correctness? Is it an actual political movement, or just what happens when a government grows too big? I have no answers. But I do have the ability sometimes to point to a bureaucracy gone nutz.
Alfred and Annette Rockefeller of Ramsey, New Jersey were shocked to discover they were criminals because they had installed a bird feeder in their yard. A simple birdfeeder. Not a mass wildlife feeding center, just a bird feeder.
The couple are in their 70s. Alfred is disabled. At age 77 you’d think he’d be allowed the simple pleasure of sitting back and watching the birds. It’s done by millions of homeowners across the country.
But a neighbor complained. He complained that the bird feeder was attracting other unwanted creatures, like ducks, deer, chipmunks.
This week, the couple had to appear in court to be fined anywhere from 250 to 500 bucks for illegally feeding wildlife.
In years past, feeding the birds would just be considered an old man’s pleasure. These days, you’re a creep for wanting to watch the wildlife.
I have a lot of sympathy for Chris Gilson, a homeowner in the Brandermill Community Association in Chesterfield County Virginia. But I also have a prediction. He’s about to lose his home and his life savings.
After years of unsuccessful attempts to plant a lawn in his rocky front yard, he planted a vegetable garden, which has grown quickly. Now his HOA is fining him ten bucks a day until he removes it. The HOA says it’s going to assess that fine each day for 90 days. Gilson says he’ll be glad to pay $900 for the privilege of keeping his garden. But the poor fellow just doesn’t get it.
Disobey a mindless demand from your HOA and you’ll be fined, of course. But the HOA doesn’t like being scorned. So what’s waiting for Gilson at the end of those 90 days is a lien on his home, massive new fines, legal fees, debt collection costs, a lawsuit, and eventually the foreclosure and sale of his home at auction. His house, of course, will be auctioned for just a few thousand dollars. The most likely buyer will be a friend of a board member or a buddy of the lawyer that brings the lawsuit. That ‘buddy’ will then kick back some money to the board member or the lawyer, and the home will quickly be sold and resold through a series of quick transactions. Those quick sale transactions are designed to make it impossible for Gilson to ever get back his home.
It’s the same kind of scam that cost Captain Michael Clauer his home while he was deployed in Iraq. His home was sold and re-sold in several transactions designed to make it impossible for him to get it back. The foreclosure against a serviceman deployed overseas was a blatant violation of federal law. So in Clauer’s case, a judge ordered a secret settlement that allowed Clauer to partially recover what he had lost.
Chris Gilson doesn’t have that kind of protection in the fight over his garden. He will lose. He will lose big time. With a scam as well-entrenched and as profitable as the HOA scam, very few if any people win. The one percent, or so, who actually win in court against an HOA end up with a massive net loss once the legal bills are paid.
Chris Gilson? Get out. Leave the neighborhood. This HOA will forever slander you, harass you, and vandalize you. Your daughters will be tormented by schoolmates. Anonymous calls will be made to your employer demanding that you be fired.
Well, I’ve been predicting for months that George Zimmerman would never get convicted in the murder of Trayvon Martin. At the most, I’ve been predicting a hung jury.
Folks, now I’m not so sure I was right. It turns out that Zimmerman’s defense attorney is dumber than a box of rocks.
From many media sources quoting the opening statements, Zimmerman’s lawyer started with the following knock-knock joke:
“I know how this may sound a bit weird in this context under these circumstances. But I think you’re the perfect audience for it as long as you — if you don’t like it or find it funny or appropriate, that you don’t hold it against Mr. Zimmerman, you can hold it against me. I have your assurance you won’t? Knock, knock. Who’s there? George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? Alright, good, you’re on the jury.”
The jury didn’t laugh.
Zimmerman, I’m telling you now. Your attorney is the biggest loser on the block. You’re facing second degree murder charges, my friend. You’re facing years in the slammer. The facts may ultimately show that you were actually on your back defending your own life when you fired that gun, killing Trayvon Martin. But the jury won’t remember any of those facts. They will, however, long remember that knock-knock joke. Zimmerman, my man, fire your lawyer and start representing yourself. You couldn’t do much worse.
Homeowners Associations everywhere should be trembling at the thought of the kinds of lawsuits they’re going to be facing. If Zimmerman is convicted, it’ll be a national symbol of the disgrace known as Homeowners Associations. It’ll be a symbol of the reality that people living in those precious gated communities are living under a false pretense of security. Zimmerman’s HOA has already paid out at least a million dollars to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.
If Zimmerman is found not guilty, he’ll have all the excuse in the world to sue his own HOA for not supporting him in his time of need. After all, he was the neighborhood watch captain. If he’s found guilty, then every HOA in the country will become a magnet for lawsuits.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, it’s going to be a grim time to be a member of a Homeowners Association.
The initial news was stunning. Arizona Governor Jan Brewer had just signed a campaign finance bill that radically changed the powers of Homeowners Boards and HOA managers. That little contradiction should raise your eyebrows. A campaign finance bill that allows untrained HOA managers to appear in Small Claims and Administrative Law Courts playing like make-believe lawyers on behalf of Homeowners Associations? A Campaign Finance bill that regulates whether Homeowners Associations can have on-street or off-street parking?
The story behind the story is that the Community Associations (CAI) Institute is in every Legislature in the land, constantly lobbying to increase the powers of HOAs, and weaken the Constitutional powers of average citizens. This organization has done a stunning job to radically transform our government. In the process, billions and billions of dollars have been sucked away from homeowners in these gated communities and funneled into the pockets of lawyers, property managers, favored vendors, and in many instances into the pockets of board members themselves. So there’s a steady stream of proposed HOA laws constantly flowing over the desks of confused lawmakers.
Arizona Representative Michelle Ugenti, a cute young thing, thought it would be a great idea to jam all these individual HOA proposals into a single package, House Bill 2371. It was defeated.
Then a few nights ago, while Legislators were debating Senate Bill 1454, the Campaign Finance bill, Michelle Ugenti, the cute young thing, sneakily slipped her failed HOA bill into the Campaign Finance bill which was passed amidst a slurry of other legislation.
Sneaky, underhanded, and exactly the kind of legislative dirty tricks that generate voters’ contempt for lawmakers.
Governor Brewer, faced with a mountain of bills to sign, signed off on the Campaign Finance bill. The process is eerily reminiscent of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s comment during the jam-down of the national health care law. “We have to pass the bill so we can all see what’s in it,” Pelosi said. Again, it’s the reason lawmakers are so despised.
The future of this fundamentally dishonest Arizona law is still up in the air for at least a couple of days. It becomes law this Wednesday, June 26th. But in the Arizona Constitution there’s a well-known rule that demands that the major content of a bill be reflected in the bill’s title. There’s nothing in the HOA reform montage even remotely connected with the title of the bill.
Blondie Brewer has every reason and responsibility to veto this bill and order the cute young thing to start being honest with the voters. They’re both Republicans. Brewer should show some leadership.
Not a word from CAI during this whole scam. They’re collectively holding their breath, of course. But if Brewer doesn’t catch on, there’ll be a hundred thousand champagne corks popping.
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Potter’s granddaughter went on an internet crusade and raised more than $140,000 to shut her mom up. But even though that’s nearly three times the value of the house, Cottrill is going through with the eviction. She wants the old man on the street.
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