Category Archives: Home Assoc

Wacky Trayvon Martin Juror

Actually, he was only a potential juror who was tossed out of the jury pool when defense attorneys discovered some prejudicial FaceBook postings.

But this goofball, Jerry Counelis, had apparently posted a comment that said, “Justice for Trayvon” two weeks before George Zimmerman was arrested for Martin’s murder. Then he lied about it during voir dire.

When Counelis was ousted from the jury pool he came back into the courthouse and tried to get into the jury room. He was yelling that his anonymity had been taken away from him. And this is the kind of nut case who could have gotten onto the jury? Dear Lord God!

Counelis was finally arrested and jailed for trespass. His mug shot will ensure that he has no anonymity. Ever.

Zimmerman was an HOA crime watchman for the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association in Sanford, Florida. He says he shot and killed Trayvon Martin after the teenager attacked him. Zimmerman was on a cell phone talking to police when the shooting happened.

This Homeowners Association has already paid Martin’s family more than a million dollars to settle a lawsuit against the HOA. But homeowners there haven’t begun to see the real costs of their gated neighborhood zeal. If Zimmerman is found ‘not guilty’ (as is probable), he’ll have a heck of a lawsuit against his own HOA. They put him at risk. They didn’t support him when he got into trouble while serving his official crime watch duties.

I would not want to be a member of that HOA when the special assessments start arriving.

That’s one HOA that could be going down the drain.

http://tinyurl.com/l2rbpaw

original source:

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/deputies-escort-dismissed-george-zimmerman-juror-from-courthouse/-/1637132/20575140/-/oyd2jo/-/index.html

My Book’s Declining Price

LOL! I have no idea how Amazon used book sellers work. But it’s only fair to note that TSC books apparently feels my book isn’t as saleable as it was a few weeks ago. Initially, TSC said a used copy of my book (in perfect condition) was available for 735 dollars.  That made me laugh, of course. Sadly, they’ve downgraded the price of a used copy of Neighbors At War to just 555 dollars.

Funny. For that price I’d still fly to your city, drive to your home, and personally autograph the book!

Ah yes, I’d also personally feed your dog and water your lawn!

Have a great Father’s Day!

Bieber Bashing!

This one is actually kind of funny. Justin Bieber is apparently not well-liked by many of his neighbors. The singing sensation lives in the ritzy neighborhood of Calabasas, California, where homeowners pay $1000 a month in HOA dues.

But the teenager’s antics, including loud and late parties, driving like a maniac and threatening other homeowners are causing  a neighborhood revolt. Neighbors have repeatedly demanded that HOA officials take some kind of action.  Even Sheriff’s deputies are demanding that the D.A. charge Bieber with assault and battery.

Now, the revolt has escalated to the point that a number of homeowners are refusing to pay their thousand-buck-a-month dues until the HOA takes action.

It’s amusing. Not paying your HOA dues is a serious crime in HOA Amerika, even more serious than late parties, speeding and assault. So these neighbors have all decided to become even worse criminals than Bieber is.

Hypocrisy?

Yup.

http://tinyurl.com/lvcfc8t

original source:

http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/entertainment/neighbours-want-home-owners-association-to-act-against-bieber-596428.html

The Drugging of an HOA

There’s a new high rise luxury condo on Mission Street in downtown San Francisco. Built in 2009 with every classy aesthetic feature, it was high-priced and all the units on its 22 floors sold out quickly. It’s called The SOMA Grand. It’s governed by an HOA, of course.

Residents of the new building say almost immediately after they bought in, they started having problems with flooding during rainstorms, cracks in walls, and failures of sealant joints. The HOA has scrambled to get into court to sue everyone connected with the construction. “Going for the deep pocket”, as lawyers say.

The HOA is suing for four million dollars. And millions of bucks will be spent by both sides in legal fees. These brand new HOA residents will find their monthly dues are going to soar. If they win the suit, the biggest chunk will be taken by the lawyers. And if the residents get anything back, it’ll be pennies on the dollar.

The SOMA Grand.

You’ve gotta love the name.

What is SOMA?  It’s a high powered drug. It’s a drug that leaves you stoned and stupid. Then again, half of San Francisco is already stoned and stupid. And San Francisco sits on one of the largest earthquake faults in the country where they’re all waiting for ‘the big one.”

Soma.

Yeah, I do love the name.

http://tinyurl.com/laq5yp8

original source:

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/05/soma-grand-homeowners-file-lawsuit.html?page=all

 

“Utopia: Kill All The Lawyers” -Shakespeare

After more than 40 years as an investigative reporter, I’ve sat in hundreds of courtrooms and watched thousands of lawyers up close and personal. And I have many friends and two family members who are lawyers. But I make no secret of the fact that the legal practice is in desperate need of reform. Over the four decades I’ve watched defense attorneys lie their butts off in the courtroom. And I’ve seen the same thing from prosecutors. Sure, the Constitution guarantees that each accused suspect gets to have the best possible defense. But if that defense is an outrageous and provable lie, then something is fundamentally wrong with the American legal system.

F. Lee Bailey claims in his book, The Defense Never Rests, that he has never defended a guilty man. “If they’re guilty, I plead them out,” he says. “But when I take their case they’re all innocent.” OK, OK, I get that. Every suspect is innocent until proven guilty, but that begs the point. The entire world knew that O.J Simpson was guilty as sin. But through manipulation, distraction, and lies, Bailey and his phalanx of fellow attorneys got the contemptible Simpson off of his murder charge.

The civil arena is just as corrupt. How else could lawyer Senator John Edwards earn 40 million dollars in his pharmaceutical malpractice case? That forty million bucks came right out of the pockets of the common man who has to buy prescription medicine. It led pharmaceutical companies not to release new medications which could have saved thousands of lives.

This perspective leads me to link you to a recent story from the Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. The writer wonders about the rash of Kentucky lawyers who’ve committed suicide in recent months. Although suicides are rarely tallied by profession, the reporter discovered that since 2010 fourteen lawyers in that state took their own lives. And across the country, the number of lawyers who kill themselves is way above the national average among all other occupations.

Suicide is tragic. It will always be tragic. But one wonders if some of the guilt and depression among those in the law might be eased if all lawyers honestly believed their profession was always ethical and above reproach.

http://tinyurl.com/161

original source:

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20130602/NEWS01/306020065/Rash-of-Kentucky-lawyer-suicides-concerns-colleagues?odyssey=underbox%7Ctext%7CHome&nclick_check=1