The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against a Florida Homeowners Association. The issue is whether it’s legal for an HOA to discriminate against families with children. The Federal Government claims in its lawsuit that the Townhomes of Kings Lake HOA have a pattern of violating the Fair Housing Act by harassing and taking action against families with children.
In one such case, the HOA threatened to evict a couple and their six children because the number of children exceeded HOA covenants. The Justice Department claims by unduly limiting the number of children, the HOA was in violation of federal law.
A statement by Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez says, “The Fair Housing Act ensures that families with children have an equal right to use and enjoy housing of their choice. The Justice Department will continue its vigorous enforcement of fair housing laws that protect the rights of families with children.”
The statement by this federal official is nothing more than astonishing. There are 302,000 Homeowners Associations in the country. Most of them regularly violate the Fair Housing Act in one way or another. Anyone who signs an agreement to abide by HOA regulations essentially signs away all his or her Constitutional rights. But the thought of this federal agency filing 302,000 more lawsuits is beyond comprehension.
An amazing move was made today in Nevada, as the commission that regulates Homeowners Associations dropped a bombshell on three HOA directors. Joseph Bitsky, Barbara Bitsky and Hellen Murphy, directors of the Autumn Chase HOA, were hit with $104,000 worth of fines and barred indefinitely from ever serving again on any HOA board in Nevada.
The Bitsky couple were accused of stealing thousands of dollars from the HOA and retaliating against neighbors who complained about them.
Today’s action was a gutsy move by the Nevada agency, and absolutely unprecedented. Nevada has been hard hit by crooked HOAs where directors got themselves elected to boards that embezzled money and diverted it to attorneys and other public figures. A Federal Grand Jury has indicted at least 26 board members in recent months and is expected to hand down at least a dozen more indictments. The Autumn Chase HOA is apparently not a part of the federal investigation.
http://www.8newsnow.com/story/19776012/notorious-hoa-board-removed-by-state
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
A Pensacola Homeowners Association is juggling its debts, after discovering their treasurer swiped more than $90,000. Escambia County Sheriff’s deputies agree and they’ve charged Hedi Dyer with fraud and larceny.
They say the treasurer of the Lillian Woods HOA wrote checks to herself and her husband over a five year period. Now the neighborhood is struggling to keep its bills paid.
Like thousands of other HOAs around the country, the Lillian Woods HOA had no way to make sure their treasurer was being honest with the neighborhood’s funds. It now joins thousands of other HOAs which are whining, “We got swindled!”
http://www.weartv.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wear_treasurer-steals-90000-local-homeowners-association-25741.shtml
An HOA embezzler in Gypsum, Colorado is getting off easy, after stealing more than 20,000 dollars from her neighbors.
Brenda Elaine Dobbs is her name. She’s been in trouble before, with at least nine criminal cases in the past 20 years. Fraud, forgery, theft, and embezzling money from an animal rescue group. Yet some idiot at the Mountain View Homeowners Association thought she’d make a pretty good HOA treasurer.
She told the judge, “I am guilty, but I know my life is different now.” Some judges will bite on any fish bait, but this one took it hook, line and sinker. He told her he’d drop the charges if she’d just pay the money back.
Don’tcha just love lawyers? And judges? And HOA board members who think hiring a career criminal as treasurer is a good idea? Jeesh!
