Category Archives: Fraud

Light At The End Of The Quivira Falls Tunnel

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Today, I had lunch with one of the escapees from Quivira Falls Community Association. Sixteen years of his life was spent in this rotten hellhole. He finally walked away and let the place foreclose. Only to say today he wishes he had done it years ago.

He tried for years to see the financial records. Filing a pro se lawsuit produced no results. When it rained, the hillside between his and his neighbor’s front door washed mud all over his sidewalk. It was often times over an inch deep so walking to the door resulted in muddy shoes. The front door has big pieces of peeling paint to greet visitors.

A dead tree stood out front for a long time before somebody took a saw and cut it down leaving the stump to rot. His fence around the patio is falling down and missing pickets. The hillside behind it is all weeds.

This is the ‘quality’ of maintenance provided by Quivira Falls if you are one of the “pariahs” as a former board president called those she does not like in the community newsletter.

When this man tells the story about the “blow and go” paint jobs prior to my mistaken purchase into Quivira Falls, it’s hysterical. The board hired a painting company that sprayed the townhouses with paint; windows, screens, doors, and foundations included. One warm night after the “blow and go” he decided to open his second story bedroom window. One push and the entire window flew out and crashed onto the patio below. Fortunately, he had some carpentry skills and was able to install a replacement window.

After lunch we removed all of the new door knobs, light fixtures, tools, and other supplies from the garage. I will donate all of it to Habitat Restore tomorrow. At one time, he had plans to completely redecorate the inside of his unit, but finally accepted the fact it was a waste of time and energy. He stopped paying the HOA dues and mortgage payments. And gave up hope for better days in Quivira Falls. He set himself free of the insanity to live out the rest of his life in a rented apartment which he loves.

To help him walk away and never look back, I agreed to be the Power of Attorney and coordinate the foreclosure with the attorneys and mortgage company. Without any hassle, they were nice enough to give me a set of keys after they changed the locks. Imagine that: A foreclosure company is far more pleasant to work with than the Quivira Falls board members that are also neighbors! They asked me if they should expect the owner to protest the foreclosure and I said, “Oh no! That will never happen because he’s delighted that you are taking the place off of his hands!”

And the light at the end of the Quivira Falls tunnel is getting brighter for another escapee.

Vile HOAs Finally Attract Lawmakers’ Attention

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Well, well. A North Carolina legislator has introduced a bill that would strip Homeowners Associations of their ability to foreclose on homes. It won’t pass, of course. The lobbying powers that profit from the HOA business will pour millions of dollars into defeating any such bill anywhere in the country.

Still, it’s interesting that HOA abuses and bully boards are entering the collective consciousness of American homeowners.

(link to North Carolina proposal)

 

Got $60,000 to Spare?

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Do you have $60,000 to spare?

Imagine you own a one or two bedroom condo in Fort Lauderdale, with a balcony view toward the Intracoastal, and within walking distance to the Atlantic Ocean and beach city night life. Ah, paradise!

Until you get a letter from the Condo Association, demanding that you cough up nearly $60,000 for needed repairs in just a few weeks. You read that right: SIXTY.THOUSAND.DOLLARS.

According to a Channel 10 news report by Bob Norman, owners received notice of the special assessment on February 20, 2015. The first $20,000 was due on April 10, with the full balance due by June 10. Nearly half of owners were unable to come up with the first $20,000 installment. It’s not looking good when the Association cannot collect even one third of what it says is needed to make repairs.

Now many owners are understandably stressed out, knowing they face possible lien and foreclosure if they are unable to come up with all the money within a few weeks. The Association Board is reportedly looking into loan financing to raise the balance of the money needed for repairs, and to allow owners to pay over time. It’s looking like a loan — if they can secure one — will be for millions of dollars plus interest. Either way, assessments will increase dramatically. So much for the argument that condos provide affordable housing.

A quick check of public records for Embassy Tower II Condo reveals recent sales values of perhaps $170,000 – $300,000 per unit, depending on the size and number of upgrades inside. This special assessment amounts to perhaps 20-33% of the value of the unit at the time of sale. Even if owners are able to come up with this sizable chunk of change, will they ever see a good return on their investment?

Also according to public records, Embassy Tower II condo was built in 1973. That makes this condominium complex 42 years old. If owners had been setting aside reserves all along, there would be no need for a $60,000 special assessment. But, as readers of this blog know, it is rare for HOAs to adequately fund reserves.

Let’s do the math, 102 units times $60,000…that’s about $6.1 million shortage of reserves!

So, I’ll make a prediction. Because of its location near both the Atlantic Ocean and the Intracoastal, I’ll bet investor groups are keeping a close eye on Embassy Tower II, just waiting to snatch up units from owners desperate to sell, or facing foreclosure. Why, as soon as they can oust enough current owners, and take control of the Board, they can terminate the Association, and boot out the remaining owners. Then they can raze the 42-year-old building and put up a shiny new condo tower with twice as many units! They’ll make millions!

You see, the dirty little secret about many “affordable” condominiums is that planned obsolescence is part of the equation, virtually guaranteeing redevelopment every 30-50 years.

 

(link to Channel 10 report on huge special assessment)

Disaster Relief for HOA Members? Ha!

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I’m linking to the CAI site only for the purpose of backing up a previous blog.

If you are living in a Homeowners Association which experiences a weather or earthquake disaster, don’t count on getting federal help of any kind. An HOA member hit by a flood is not considered a homeowner, but an investor in a corporation. When 20,000 homes were damaged in the Boulder flood two years ago, many homeowners discovered they were flat out of luck. Those inside HOAs found that FEMA wouldn’t help them and they couldn’t get federal loans. They couldn’t buy federal flood insurance either because they didn’t live inside recognized flood zones. Who knew Boulder Creek could ever launch that big a flood?

We learned recently that if HOA boards in California don’t buy earthquake insurance for the whole community, then individual homeowners can’t get coverage either.

CAI reports that a couple of Democratic Congress members have made some progress in getting the feds to help Homeowners Associations badly hit by Hurricane Sandy.

CAI’s press release is about as dishonest and disingenuous as they come. What they should really be talking about is not about federal exemptions, but about the fact that the very membership of an HOA in CAI is a red flag to the feds. You HOA members are investors, NOT HOMEOWNERS!!!

(link to CAI press release)

 

A Good Reason for an HOA?

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I will certainly concede that I wouldn’t like living across the street from this guy. Still, I suspect that many victims of HOA abuse would rather live next to this house than next to the bullies who run much of HOA Amerika.