Nevada psychologist and Homeowners Rights advocate Dr. Gary Solomon has an incredible way with words; cogent, insightful, powerful. His paper on ‘HOA Syndrome’ made headlines. His paper on elder abuse in Homeowners Associations is absolutely worth printing out, and possibly mailing out to some of your HOA neighbors.
Dr. Solomon believes that elderly homeowners are intentionally farmed by HOA management companies because they have trouble fighting back, and this 50 billion dollar a year lawsuit machine creates unbelievable financial and medical distress for hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of elderly homeowners across the country.
Do yourself a favor and read his elder abuse paper linked below. If HOA abuse of elderly homeowners is ever stemmed, Dr. Solomon will have been one of the three or four national leaders who made it happen.
Elizabeth Hazan, how do we thank you? Ordinary people have been fighting, feuding, suing, and slugging it out in courtrooms across America because of HOA and Condo Association problems and bullies on the board. You have now raised it to the celebrity level where more exposure will be given to the nightmares that exist in HOAs.
The accusations: Ripped wires and glued door locks. Denied access to Ms. Hazan. A claim that she hasn’t paid her condo dues. Could this be a breach of contract on the part of the condo association? Or is it a cat fight between two women with plenty of money who have chosen to beat each other up in the courtroom?
A court date in November. A courtroom in New York City. How I wish I could be there to watch this one!
Ah yes, we need an update on this one. These ‘gal pals’ in Arizona pulled a fast one a number of months back. Governor Jan Brewer signed into law an anti-homeowner law which had been introduced twice in the Legislature, and had failed twice. So Representative Michelle Ugenti (no fan of homeowners rights) introduced it a third time. But the third attempt was as disgusting a move as you could expect from a well-recognized Bimbo.
It was introduced at 12:59 AM just as the Legislature was closing out it’s last day of the session. Even worse, the bill permitted HOA management companies (professionals at appearing in court) to represent Homeowners Associations whenever a homeowner tried to take a dispute into Small Claims Court. It was a maddeningly putrid move against all homeowners.
Longtime homeowners rights advocate George Staropoli filed a lawsuit. He pointed out that Arizona State Constitution law mandates that the contents of a bill must be reflected in its title. The purpose of the law is obvious. It’s to keep corrupt politicians from jamming corrupt legislation down the throats of citizens before anyone knows what’s it’s all about. In this case, the HOA secret was hidden inside a bill that pertained to state elections. Remember the line from a certain leader of Congress: “We have to pass the bill so we can all see what’s in it.”
Well, George Staropoli was right. Most of Bimbo Ugenti’s law was struck down in court and Staropoli was awarded legal expenses.
But Staropoli went further: He asked that Ugenti be officially sanctioned for sneaking in a patently illegal special interest amendment which had failed twice before. His request was denied. So all you Bimbo watchers be forewarned: She’s gonna do it again!
If you live in Arizona, please spread my blogsite far and wide.
The American legal system is the best, we’re told. Point out one that’s any better!
Well, I could certainly point out a number of other legal systems where the tort industry isn’t so rampantly out of control. The impossible cost of paying for medical malpractice suits, for example, has persuaded a lot of doctors to get out of their chosen profession. And it could very well be a driving force behind the move to Obamacare, a program which current polls say has only 12 percent support of the American public.
Ultimately, though, HOA tort lawyers are destined to kill the “goose with the golden eggs.” Rampant embezzling, harassment lawsuits and foreclosures can only lead to one thing: Mortgage companies will stop lending to homeowners in HOA Amerika. If U.S. Bank, Bank of America, or Wells Fargo are paying attention they’ll discover that loans are riskier inside Homeowners Associations. They’ll find that property values are not protected in the typical HOA. When that happens a lot of high-priced HOA lawyers are going to be looking for jobs at the local 7/11.
Shadowglen Homeowners Association, Austin, Texas. Homeowners are beginning to get hefty fines if any vehicle parks in front of their house. It doesn’t matter if the car belongs to the next door neighbor, a delivery company or just a friend dropping by, homeowners are getting slammed with fines of $500 and more.
Isn’t it strange how all these HOAs start off so benign, yet end up so fascist? All it takes is a couple of new board members who suddenly find themselves in the first position of power they’ve ever possessed.
In my new book Neighbors At War, I explain the chemical reaction that happens in the brains of those who get that first taste of raw power. And in Chapter 15 there’s a discussion of two of the most controversial sociological experiments ever conducted. Each experiment attempted to explore what goes on in the minds of people who suddenly feel the need to damage another human being. In one of the experiments, the scientist pondered why it was so easy to persuade German guards to mindlessly slaughter prisoners of war. What he discovered shocked and outraged the entire psychology community.
There’s a reason that board members and managers in a place like the Shadowglenn Homeowners Association are often referred to as the ‘lawn Nazis’ or the ‘HOA Nazis’. Power is an incredible aphrodisiac!
