The story linked below is mind boggling. A developer appoints himself as president of the HOA and appoints friends and relatives as board members. Then he proceeds to buy up 80% of the units making him eligible to force all remaining homeowners to sell their homes to him. Now people who used to own their own condo units have to rent them from this developer.
It should sound familiar to you. This kind of fascist neighborhood takeover has been happening for some time in Florida.
Homeowners are frustrated and tension is high in this Kansas HOA. One of the residents asked me to speak to a large group of homeowners with hopes of shedding some light on how HOAs are structured and lawsuits are financed.
The history of this HOA started with a developer that went broke. Sigh. Yes, another one. Residents claim the CC&Rs state between 1 and 15 people must serve on the BOD. For now they have 5, but until this meeting most of the homeowners had no idea who and how many people are serving on the board. For the most part, the HOA has been dormant for several years. It suddenly erupted back to life with the filing of a lawsuit.
At least four times over the past four months, I’ve listened to the TED Talk given by Monica Lewinsky. It’s a talk that brought a huge standing ovation. It’s the kind of talk that could change people’s lives forever. Her bravery is beyond description.
More than that, it has some very specific messages for those of us in this battle against the public shaming, humiliation and bullying that happens in Homeowners Associations across the country. It isn’t just the Internet that’s brought on public shaming. In my personal experience, there once was a time when neighbors actually talked to each other, brought each other dinners and birthday cakes, shared holidays together. If a neighbor to neighbor dispute arose it was most often settled quietly over the backyard fence.
Tennessee politicians have seen through the phony HOA argument that their petty little fines for HOA violations do not give condo and homeowner association boards the right to declare that they can extinguish the existing mortgage and then make a killing selling unburdened properties.
The Nevada Supreme Court shocked the nation by giving HOAs such powers. But a new Tennessee law will guarantee that a little of the HOA abuse in that state will be reigned in. The link below gives the whole subject a new angle.
All those board members and lawyers are having another annual convention, all at the expense of homeowners across the country. This time they’re gathered in the shadow of ‘the Sleeping Giant’ in Scottsdale, Arizona. Only the best for our CAI, right?
You’d think they could save some money by holding their convention in a motel in Boring, Oregon. But, no, they desperately need to spend homeowners’ money in the fanciest resort in the U.S.
