Category Archives: HOA violence

Oh Lordy, I Do Love My Readers!

      2 Comments on Oh Lordy, I Do Love My Readers!

How the heck do you keep finding such wonderful stories?!? I’m only a pajama-clad blogger sitting in my bedroom at night trying to find stories here and there that might amuse you. But you folks are so much better than I.

Wow!

A Statue of Liberty with glowing eyes!

An embarrassed and angry HOA!

And a new round of stupidity for the terminally stupid.

Lon Neuville,  homeowner in the Debary Plantation HOA got permission from his HOA to put up a replica of the Statue of Liberty. “Whatever,” the HOA said.

Well, boy howdy, if this statute didn’t jolt a few dim bulbs loose from their sockets. “Permission to put up the statue, denied!” the Florida HOA board said.

“Not so fast, ya dingbats,” DeBary said. “You gave me permission and now you’re saying you didn’t?”

“Well, we had no idea your Statue of Liberty was going to have those electrical glowing eyes!”

What a hoot! Now, both sides are hunkering down with lawyers. And the lawyers, ever the crocs in this bug-infested swamp, plan on taking a big financial bite out of both sides.

Chomp, chomp!

(link to Lady Liberty story)

 


Read more: http://www.myfoxphilly.com/story/24633092/debary-man-battles-hoa-over-lady-liberty-statue#ixzz32ygz066W

 

 

 

Pity the Boss Man

      2 Comments on Pity the Boss Man

You know, you’ve gotta start feeling a little sorry for Las Vegas crime boss Leon Benzer right about now. Gosh, dang! Another four of his co-conspirators have now pleaded  guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiring to steal massive amounts of money from Las Vegas homeowners. But Bobo Benzer hasn’t been able to keep his organized crime mob together. Gone are the days when a spaghetti-eating garlic-spitter could fire a .32 shell into the face of an adversary to shut him up. These days, you just can’t get good help.

Benzer is now just one of a tiny handful of crooks still accused of decimating Homeowners Associations in the Valley by putting ‘straw men’ into office as HOA board members and voting to divert millions of dollars in insurance mitigation work to his minions of willing wonks. (Actually, I was going to say ‘Wops’ but thought better of it. Besides, his name is Benzer, not Benzini). Sure, the first handful of people fingered in the HOA investigation ‘committed suicide.’ But in the old days a suicide really meant something, didn’t it? Suicide was a rite of passage, an honor befitting a snitch’s snitch. One couldn’t be an effective Capo without a few suicides scattered here and there around the landscape.

But, dang! Every time a ‘suicide’ happened in the feds’ Las Vegas HOA investigation, more rats started squealing. This wasn’t just a few rodents trying to find a wooden plank, this was swarms of rats diving off the decks of the Titanic.

Yep, it must be a lonesome time for Leon Benzer. Poor Babee!

 

Trustworthy and Tamper-Proof HOA/Condo Board Elections?

      10 Comments on Trustworthy and Tamper-Proof HOA/Condo Board Elections?
guest blog by Bob Frank (Air Force Col. Retired)

 

It is a fact that CID board elections are the ONLY way that members can actually influence the management of their common properties and finances.  And, since candidates for boards and members of community management companies are not routinely cleared as trustworthy according to government standards, the election processes themselves MUST be provable as being “trustworthy/tamper-proof” by the association members.

Therefore, I submit it should be mandatory that secret ballot board elections implement (1) audit-trails, (2) use “tamper-proof” devices, (3) be certified as end-to-end trustworthy, and (4) be capable of independent auditing by licensed, trained professionals.

And, I claim that any board election that can not be auditable as trustworthy should be invalid.  Why would government officials and trade association professionals be allowed to tolerate potentially corrupt board elections?

Should the trade association adopt the following or similar terms and require that all HOA/Condo board elections follow such definitions and implement “trustworthy board elections” capable of being audited by 3rd party professionals?

Or, should board elections be taken away from CID boards and management companies and that there be a new licensed and bonded, “Independent Trusted Elections Professional” be required on a part time basis by state statutes as auditors and attorney are?

Am I on the right track for this topic?  Do you agree it is likely possible to conduct such improvements in CID elections at reasonable costs?  If you wish, I can explain how I would design such a system using hard-copy and/or electronic processes.

Bob Frank

Near Tragedy At Palms West Condominiums

      4 Comments on Near Tragedy At Palms West Condominiums

guest blog by Nila Ridings

This story sends chills down my spine. Shoddy electrical work that was done at this Hialeah, Florida condo complex swimming pool nearly cost some children and the adult rescuers their lives. City records indicate NO PERMITS WERE PULLED before this “electrical” work (should be called electrocution work) was done on the pool.

Once again, as we’ve heard thousands, probably tens of thousands of times, the HOA or condo board hired some “jack of all trades” (who actually knows little to nothing at all) to do a job that only a licensed contractor should have been performing. The risks are too high not to hire professionals! The consequences can be catastrophic and deadly.

Was the board trying to save a few bucks? There is no “savings” worth risking injury or death as these condo owners are about to find out. Who knows if these children will suffer life-long effects from this one event? It could take years to learn the extent of their injuries. Just wait until the personal injury attorneys start circling and offering their services for a contingency fee! I can see it now. The finger pointing and lies and cover-ups will be countless. The attorneys already know every resident of the condo or homeowners association can be forced to pay damages. It’s that minor detail that buyers are never told about when they are looking to buy a home or condo.

I must say, if I was in charge of electrical work on a community swimming pool not only would I hire a licensed electrician, but I would hire a second one to double check the work of the first one. And I would ask to see their license and proof of insurance. I would add their names and contact information on the work order.

Whoever hired the person that did the work on this swimming pool should be charged with negligence and be sentenced to jail right along with the person who made a mess of the wiring. And if that person is part of a CAI property management company they should be paying all of the lawsuit settlements.

I’ve personally observed this in my own HOA. Shoddy work by “carpenters” who don’t know which end of the hammer to use and a CAI property manager who instructed them to do things that should never be done. Risking the safety of everyone living in these units due to rotten frames which was caused by failed maintenance on the exterior siding.

It’s long past time to stop this dangerous and risky stupidity!

The only good thing that will come from this will be the exposure to the fallacies and massive risks that one takes when they buy in an HOA or Condo Association!!!

(link to Local10 news story on this tragedy)

 

How to Build a Trustworthy Organization

      4 Comments on How to Build a Trustworthy Organization
guest blog by Robert E. Frank, Colonel, USAF (Ret.)
           (Founder, HomeOwnersCoalition.Org & Veterans Advocate)

My business experience has taught me over the past 50 years that if a process is designed to be as trustworthy as reasonably possible, EVERYONE benefits from being able to accept it as such.

But, if systems, such as board elections or controls of something like association credit/debit cards and checks, are allowed to be designed and implemented with very obvious loop holes in the audit trail, then no one can trust the system.

It is common for an organizational manager and/or board members to raise their voices and get belligerent when someone points out that an election or financial system component can be easily corrupted. They typically change the subject to “how dare you accuse my group of election fraud!”

Of course, that is not the point. The point is why would an honest, ethical person or organization (either board of directors, election committee, CAM or community management company) want to ALLOW an election process to exist where allegations of misconduct could be fairly suspected and/or made part of a criminal complaint?

Money is NOT the issue on implementing “trustworthy” board elections and trusted financial management processes. Nothing is more important for a board or CAM than to ensure that the member’s money and property is cared for according to statutes and common sense.

Much flexibility is allowed to developers, boards and CAMs when it comes to business system components of the association. Failing to ensure the key components are designed and managed to be reasonably trustworthy is, in my opinion, a sign of gross negligence and possible corruption.

The necessary tools and techniques are relatively easy and inexpensive to use to assure trustworthy systems for HOAs and Condos. In my opinion, blustering objections to implementing trustworthy systems within HOAs and Condos should be summarily rejected by all professionals. Such mismanagement puts a blight on all our business reputations.