Not sure why the game of Monopoly always led to fights when we were kids. Someone would invariably cheat, the others would protest, and….there went the neighborhood!
Same thing goes on today in many American Homeowners Associations! Your new retirement community seems perfect, the dues seem about right. Suddenly, without notice the rules change. Monthly dues skyrocket from $180 to $500 a month, with even more hikes on the way.
When you weren’t watching the rules changed. They changed because a new developer or a new majority took over the HOA. Now, you suddenly find yourself foreclosed upon, or you’re priced right out of the neighborhood where you once had your dream home.
It’s been an interesting evening just casually surfing around the Internet. Haven’t done that for awhile. There’s just too much work involved in researching and writing my daily blog to go back to the casual surfing that I used to do.
But I’ve noticed that the recent hacker attacks that took down and trashed my website have actually ended up scattering 300 to 500 of my past web posts all over the Internet! My old webposts used to be pretty well organized and confined just to NeighborsAtWar.com. But a search of “ward lucas” or “ward lucas hoa” show that the “gods of the Internet” never forget anything. And a trashed website actually leads to multiple sites around the world spreading the message of our Homeowners Rights Movement.
So, rather than condemn the recent hackers who caused us so much work, we’re just happy to sit back and bask in the kind of sunlight that brings enlightenment to people who’ve wondered if they’re all alone in their fight against the neighborhood ‘lawn nazis’. No, my friends, you are not alone. You are part of an awakening. You and your HOA problems are potentially viral.
“Dear God, thank You for free speech. It’s a beautiful thing. And it’s the only thing that keeps a free society free. Thank you, God.”
One of the weblogs that was lost in my recent hacker attack is going to be re-written here, simply because I have a quick break in my schedule. No, maybe it’s because I’m a little bit bored right now. But it has to do with the recent incident where Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill was outraged after being manhandled by an airport TSA worker.
LOL! I had a similar experience right after 9-11 while returning to Denver after giving a speech in New Orleans. I was dressed in my customary business suit and tie, minding my own business, when a female guard pulled me out of the line of passengers for ‘special’ treatment. I was told to stand at a spot about six feet away from my fellow travelers and spread my legs. This woman then dropped to her knees in front of me and began the patdown of all patdowns. She touched places that haven’t been touched since my honeymoon. I was speechless. The nearby passengers were speechless.
When this woman had thoroughly handled all my potentially dangerous body parts she instructed me to return to my place in the line. Talk about shock and awe. The passenger right behind me whispered in my ear, “Well, did she find out if you’re circumcised?”
Every word of that story is true.
Back to Senator Claire McCaskill. It’s interesting to hear you whining about the TSA, Senator. But now you know what the rest of us have had to endure for the past 12 years!
Dear Friends, I’ve spoken occasionally about keeping your sense of humor no matter what nightmare you’ve experienced. Yes, the battle against the national HOA scam can scar a person’s heart forever, but humor has the incredible power of healing the damage. And humor, in some cases, is more powerful than a nuclear weapon. Want proof?
United Airlines baggage handlers busted a guitar which (unhappily for United) was owned by Dave Carroll, a folk singer from Nova Scotia who has a finely honed sense of hilarious indignation. United refused to repair the damage to the guitar. And now there’s a song that’s gone viral. And another. And another. Now there’s even a book. And a speaking tour. A Google search turns up nearly four million hits. It’s all called, “United Breaks Guitars.”
United Airlines has lost millions and millions of dollars in its public image because of this one singer’s poetic irony. United has now offered to pay for a new guitar. It’s offered to buy the song rights. It’s offered the singer vast sums of money to take his songs and his story off of YouTube. But with millions of fans watching the song, Dave Carroll just can’t afford to quit singing. And United Airlines continues to lose millions in its public image. That’s how powerful humor is!
Dave Carroll’s second video is even funnier than the first.
United Airlines, the behemoth that it is, has learned that every single customer is important. In our fight against the racketeering that pervades the American Homeowners Association Movement, every single homeowner is important. And that’s what arrogant organizations like the Community Associations Institute may learn at some lovely point in the future.
It’s hard to sue the government. In fact, the federal government actually has to give an injured party permission to sue. Some states have imposed a maximum limit on how much an injured litigant can win in a lawsuit against the state. Colorado, for example, passed a law saying no prevailing party can win more than $250,000 in damages.
Well, that’s changing in the most unexpected ways.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that as tax revenue dries up, and police layoffs occur, wealthier neighborhoods are hiring private security companies to replace the lost police officers.
Whammo! Bammo! Here’s a tort lawyer’s wet dream! Private communities (read Homeowners Associations) are private non-profit corporations. And they do not have government immunity from lawsuits. The run-of-the-mill HOA can be successfully sued for millions and millions and millions of dollars.
Just think, twenty-four hours ago, we read that Trayvon Martin’s parents won an out-of-court settlement from the Retreat at Twin Lakes Homeowners Association of more than a million dollars. The future for tort lawyers and their clients against Homeowners Associations is golden. Let the lawsuits fly.
It’s spreading! There are more Trayvon Martin type confrontations/lawsuits in the works. This doesn’t amount to dipping your toe in the outhouse sludge. It’s a headlong dive! Hold your breath, Sucker!
