Category Archives: HOA

Vistana’s Continuing HOA ‘Crime’ Wave

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People in Nevada know the name, “Vistana.” The Vistana Homeowners Association was ground zero for the massive FBI investigation of HOA corruption, rigged elections, racketeering, bribery, extortion, and maybe even a murder or two. Actually, they’re officially classified as suicides, but one of the lawyers who committed ‘suicide’ had his knees bashed in by ‘persons unknown’ inside his gated community. The kneecapping happened just a few months before his ‘suicide’. Ah, I forgot to add, this profoundly disabled lawyer was able to hang himself from the rafters of a barn. Suspicious? Hmmmm.

With the HOA scandal occupying all the headlines you’d think the current board and management of Vistana would be especially sensitive about obeying the letter of the law. But remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Yes, it seems the Vistana board needed to tow about 70 cars because of a paving project. Nevada has strict laws governing the towing of cars. But did the board follow the laws? Any of them? I’ll let KTNV reporter Darcy Spears answer that question in her HOA Hall Of Shame, linked below.

(link to HOA Hall of Shame)

Followup!

The State of Nevada has actually filed criminal charges against those responsible for the Vistana towing atrocity. Strange to think of a Nevada crime prosecuting body actually doing some prosecuting!

(link to HOA Hall of Shame followup story)

 

 

 

Conflicts of Interest Abound in the World of HOAs

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

What if your condominium leaks like a sieve? What if the streets flood every time it rains? What if your condo building develops foundation cracks and unexplained build up of mold?

Owners may assume that reporting serious problems to the Board will result in sincere concern and earnest investigation of possible construction defects. They might expect the Board to insist that responsible parties pay for damages and repairs. But what if one of the association Board members is affiliated with the Developer?

Residents of Boathouse Condominiums, Bay City, Michigan, have complained of numerous defects but have run into resistance. Their Board has denied their request to seek defect claims against the developer of their 37-unit high-end boathouse conversion, Marina Place LLC. The Agent of the Developer’s corporation just so happens to be a member of the Board at Boathouse Condominiums.

So nineteen residents have filed their own lawsuit against the Developer and construction company, alleging numerous defects that allow water intrusion into the units, and a faulty foundation. But the lawsuit also lists the HOA as a defendant, for failure to address their concerns.

The Developer denies knowledge of defects, and seeks proof of damages.

Attorneys for both sides are already engaged. This battle could get expensive.

(link to news story on Boathouse Condominiums)

 

More Embezzling, This Time New Mexico

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Yes, I know it’s wearying. But homeowners across the country just don’t realize how vulnerable their unregulated, uninspected, unwatched board members are to temptation. Egads! Give an ignorant board officer or property manager control over several million dollars in HOA funds….tell him or her that nobody’s watching, nobody’s prosecuting. Of course they’re going to steal! They will!  In fact, they’ll steal more and more as long as they think they’re getting away with it. Obviously, I’m exaggerating, but not by much!

The latest embezzlement apparently involves hundreds of thousands of dollars missing from Rio Rancho, New Mexico.

LOL! As I recall, this neighborhood had a very shady reputation right from the beginning. Some very suspicious characters (former Florida swampland salesmen) bought up tens of thousands of acres back in the 50s and 60s for pennies an acre. It was absolutely dry, worthless desert land. They advertised on the radio and in TV Guide, “Buy a five acre ranchette in Paradise for just 199 dollars. Know how I remember? My own parents bought  a parcel . In fact, it’s still in the family’s estate if anyone wants to buy it….cheap!

Anyway, decades later people actually started building houses, and Intel set up a big computer operation there to take advantage of the cheap labor. So fifty years later there’s actually a development….and a Homeowners Association. An Association that’s now complaining because some swine embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from the HOA bank account.

Life goes on.

(link to story on embezzling investigation)

Waterlogged At Lemiere Condominiums

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Condo owners in Chandler, Arizona are finding themselves under water, lots of water!

Irreplaceable family photos and damage to items stored in their garages, such as cars, are not their problem, says the HOA. The insurance company for the HOA says it’s not their problem, either. And the condo owners didn’t carry flood insurance. Whose problem is it? Well, it looks like that is going to be decided in lawsuits. (Oh! Here we go again!)

J. Roger Wood an attorney and supporter of HOA homeowners notes the owners did notify their HOA prior to the storm of drainage problems. Will that be sufficient to settle these claims? Or will the HOA just decide to spend the money that could be spent repairing the drainage problems on fighting these condo owners in court? Will failure to maintain the property that resulted in condo owners receiving personal property damage be enough to convince a jury?

What do you think?

This is probably an ideal time to remind readers that any time you are making a request of the HOA to always do it in WRITING and keep a copy. If you send an email, print a copy and keep it in a file.

(link to KPHO TV story on flood damage)

 

What Are The Implications Of This One???

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Regular readers of this blog know that I’ve preached from the street corners that an avalanche is coming which will send the American housing market into a massive tailspin. Billions of dollars will be lost and won. Ultimately, individual homeowners will be the big losers.

Remember the refrain? An avalanche starts with just a tiny imbalance, a molecule of ice falling from the crest of a snow ridge. But that tiny chip can hurl millions of tons of snow down a mountainside. Living in Colorado, all of us who love the outdoors have to be wary of this potential killer.

The Nevada Supreme Court might have just set off such a disaster. It ruled that a super priority lien, no matter how small, can destroy a first deed of trust. The implications for the Nevada housing industry are stunningly dismal. The court was narrowly divided. But the 4-3 majority ruled that a petty HOA lien can utterly wipe out the mortgage loan on a million dollar home.

A hundred dollar fine for a trash can left outside an hour after the deadline can be escalated into thousands of dollars in legal expenses and collection fees.

The boards of Homeowners Associations are cheering the news. This court decision now gives them unprecedented power to throw petty fines into the air to stifle any sign of dissent in a neighborhood. They’ll be able to grab million dollar properties and auction them off to fill the HOA budget.

Meanwhile, the boards of mortgage companies are now meeting to discuss two questions: Wouldn’t we be financial idiots if we ever loaned another dime to a Nevada homeowner? Or the alternative: How high shall we raise interest rates on every new mortgage to cover our expected losses?

Nevada! The nation’s focal point of HOA corruption is poised to do it all over again.

(link to Review-Journal article on court decision)