Category Archives: HOA violence

How to Get Away With Being a Crook in Nevada

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How bad does a lawyer have to be to get five or six years in prison? If he’s stolen millions of dollars, if he’s got more bar complaints against him than any other lawyer, if he’s defrauded Homeowners Associations and other clients, if he’s cheated the IRS you’d think he’d at least get a few decades behind bars.

But lawyer Barry Levinson, who knows the legal system inside and out, put on an amazing performance for U.S. District Judge James Mahan, who’s overseeing that massive organized crime HOA scandal in Las Vegas. Levinson knows the ropes. He cried. He sobbed. He apologized. He said, “I stole from clients. I embarrassed Las Vegas. I let everybody down. I accept responsibility. I’m paying for it.”

Well, no, he’s not paying for it. This guy took part in a scam that will ultimately amount to hundreds of millions of dollars in losses to homeowners. He and his organized crime partners funneled millions of dollars away from Homeowners Associations in the Valley. But this scam has legs. Thousands of Nevada residents lost their homes which are still sitting unsold. Taxes aren’t being paid. Part of that was the housing bubble, but who in his right mind would want to buy a house in Las Vegas right now? Stupid people will, of course. But with the Nevada Supreme Court ruling that an idiotic one-dollar HOA lien against a house can extinguish a half million dollar mortgage, what sane mortgage company would lend money in Nevada? The ripples go on, and on, and on.

Barry Levinson cries a few tears. And the judge gives him six years in prison. He’ll probably get two or three of those years off for good behavior. Unless some angry imprisoned homeowner beats him to death.

(link to latest stupid prison sentence in Las Vegas HOA scandal)

 

Interesting Memorial Day

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No HOA news to pass on tonight. Lots more in the days to come.

I spent this Memorial Day watching D-Day documentaries. Kids today just have no idea how the Greatest Generation planned the biggest hoax and the greatest military invasion in world history. The landings in Normandy were accomplished only through two years of inventing ways of hiding two million Allied soldiers from Nazi spies. Absolutely beyond description and a work of pure genius.

D-Day is about 12 days away. In advance of that I’m listing some fascinating links below. The first link is a very abbreviated look at this incredibly secret military operation.

Below that is a five part video series. It could be one of the most fascinating one-hour documentaries you ever watch.

The Ghost Army

Operation Bodyguard part one

part two

part three

part four

part five

“Frickin’ Faggots!”

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Dang, I hate using that word. But like the so-called ‘n-word’ it’s bandied about freely in Homeowners Associations. Most HOAs have long-existing deed restrictions which prohibit sales of homes to minorities. Those restrictions, of course, have long been outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court, but does that stop discrimination? If you think so, you’ve gotta be kidding yourself.

A gay couple in the Monte Sereno Homeowners Association in Palm Springs is being targeted for ‘special’ treatment. One of them, Ken Seeley, is a star on the A&E show, ‘Intervention.’ Once or twice a month he has friends and co-workers over to watch the show. The HOA now says those gatherings are ‘business related’ and home businesses are outlawed by this HOA.

Now, the Monte Sereno board has deactivated Seeley’s transponder to the community gate so he can’t let his friends in.

The arrogance never stops, does it?

(link to story about A&E star)

 

Committed Christian? Bad Idea To Live In An HOA!

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Most HOAs have a regulation about “No Home Businesses.” With so many people working at home on the web that’s an almost meaningless rule…except when Board Bullies want to throw their weight around.

Sure, nobody wants to live next to a neighbor who operates a sawmill in his back yard. But sometimes the local HOA Nazi gets out of control and too full of himself. You’re an author and you write books and magazine articles? That’s an illegal business. You use your computer to fill out medical forms? Illegal home-based business.

The latest outrage comes from Senoia, Georgia, where a Christian family decided to help other families in need. In their garage they collect things like bed sheets, groceries, household goods. Nothing is stored in sight of any annoyed neighbors. Every so often the family delivers the goods to those who desperately need them.

“HOME BUSINESS!” screams the Summerfield HOA. “ILLEGAL!”

When you think about it seriously, Jesus Christ would be unwelcome in the vast majority of America’s Homeowners Associations. Riff raff. Healing cripples without a license. Restoring sight to the blind without permission from the HOA. Claiming to be God, when everyone in the neighborhood knows that only the HOA president is God.

Give me a break.

(link to HOA attempt to shut down family ministry)

 

Condo or Hotel?

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

AirBnB, VRBO, and online vacation rental sites have taken on a life of their own. Now condo owners can arrange to rent their units by the week, with the click of a few buttons. But some Florida condo owners are upset that their condo building has been overrun with tourists from all over the world, making their homes feel more like a hotel.

In the video report linked below, Michele Gillen, CBS4, Miami Beach, features Octagon Towers, just steps from South Beach. One condo owner laments that she no longer knows her neighbors, because they change every week. The problem has been ongoing.

The City of Miami Beach is threatening to shut off utilities to Octagon Towers, if owners do not cease and desist short-term rentals. That’s against city fire code. And Miami Beach already has dozens of hotels and Condo Hotels specifically permitted for vacation lodging.

But that doesn’t stop Condo Board member Sigmund Esposito from breaking condo restrictions and city codes all day long. Check out the interview of his vacation tenants, who were apparently unaware of the City’s ordinance restricting short-term rentals in residential condominiums.

Here’s my take on this. Octagon Towers is but one example of why condo owners frequently disagree about how their Association should be governed and managed. There is almost aways a conflict between the owners who actually live in their units and the owners who rarely stay in their units, but want to collect maximum rent.

So, here’s a suggested solution. If we are going to create RESIDENTIAL condominiums such as Octagon Towers (where long term leases may be allowed), then let’s not run the Association like a corporation! Don’t hand all the power to the Board, and don’t allow corporations to own individual units as if they were actual “persons.” (Searching public records for Octagon Towers, I noticed quite a few LLCs as owners.) Treat residents as actual citizens of their community, albeit a small community. Pre-screen buyers and long-term tenants to be certain they are looking for a place to live in peace and quiet, and not a money-making revolving door for vacationers.

Steer those hoping to make a killing on vacation rentals to what should be called INVESTMENT communities, such as condo hotels. Perhaps this is the kind of Association CAI had in mind when it decided years ago that “Community Associations” are businesses.

Some may be. But most aren’t — or shouldn’t be

(Miami Beach Condominium Reportedly Being Used As A Hotel « CBS Miami)

(Just in case you want to know what a condo hotel is:)