Category Archives: lawyers

Hard To Get A Mortgage???

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Some folks thought I was crazy when I claimed a Nevada Supreme Court decision could make it impossible for many people to get a mortgage. The court ruled that a 6000 dollar HOA lien could extinguish an 800 thousand dollar mortgage.

How is that possible?

How is that fair?

What mortgage company official in his or her right mind make loans in such an area? Is it any wonder that thousands upon thousands of Nevada homes are for sale and there are no buyers?

(link to industry news column on super-priority liens)

 

Interesting Sentence for ‘Depressed’ Embezzler

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Question: If you knew you could steal $40,000 and only get a 60 day jail sentence, would you do it? $20,000 tax free dollars a month is pretty tempting, isn’t it?

Well, that’s the sentence given a 72 year old Idaho woman when she embezzled that amount from her seniors-only community, the Florida Estates HOA. She said she stole the money because she was depressed.

The sentence gets even more interesting. After her two month jail sentence she’s required to make $40,000 restitution at the rate of $200 a month. I’m not very good at math but it looks like that’s about 17 years. And she’ll be 89 when she’s finished paying. I suspect most of the neighbors she ripped off will be dead or institutionalized by that time.

Crime really does pay.

And the crooks know it.

(link to Idaho Press story about woman sentenced for grand theft)

 

What do you do with a Naked Neighbor?

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guest blog by Dave Russell (Arizona community manager)

While HOAs are usually the most disastrous organizations ever created, can they ever really be useful? Well the residents in the Cardinal Glenn Homeowners Association, in North Charlotte, NC are hoping their HOA will soon come to the rescue.

Seems this HOA has a major issue with one of their kookie residents and can’t get any help from city leaders or the police. It seems that one of Cardinal Glenn’s residents likes to wear his birthday-suit while standing outside of his home talking on his cellphone. This, according to the neighbors.

           Edited version of photo neighbors took of the man standing at his door.
Unfortunately, North Carolina law doesn’t prohibit neighbors from running around in the buff, as long as they stay on their own property. That’s right, it’s perfectly legal to expose yourself to the children in North Carolina.

But City Councilman Gregg Phipps, who has to be an HOA board member somewhere, came up with a great solution. The esteemed councilman says the HOA should go after the cell phone streaker because they can enforce some nuisance provision in their CC&R’s. Have I mentioned that the naked guy has been doing this for ten years? This HOA is fully aware of the situation.

Now, depending on how receptive the HOA is to the councilman’s ‘solution,’ it’s going to cost the homeowners plenty of money to take their nudist to court. With NC saying it’s perfectly legal to display your ‘goods’ on your own property, it’s going to be a stiff fight.

I’m now thinking that Councilman Phipps is just as big a nut-job as this naked weirdo. Does Phipps even know how much those legal fees can add up to? When the dust clears, homeowners could be hit with a huge special assessment.

You’d think a problem solving councilman could have come up with a new ordinance prohibiting naked cellphone calls.

 

Being an HOA Board Member Could Get Dicey!

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There’s a case awaiting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that could increase the risk for individual HOA board members and property managers. It involves passive and overt discrimination against certain protected classes. Overt discrimination needs no explanation. But passive or indirect discrimination, which often happens when no one intentionally means to discriminate, can lead to huge lawsuits and massive judgments against individual board members and homeowners. More and more protected classes have been filing lawsuits based on easier-to-prove passive discrimination.

If the Supreme Court declines to narrow the scope of federal discrimination laws then Katy bar the doors. Passive discrimination happens all the time in Homeowners Associations and it can only encourage more plaintiffs to make such claims. Insurance companies usually won’t pay for legal costs or judgments under federal or state discrimination laws.

When they begin to realize their personal liability HOA board members all over the country might start fleeing like rats from the Titanic. And many neighborhoods may decide to dissolve their HOAs forever.

The article linked below explains it far more intelligently than I did.

(pending Supreme Court decision)

(link to a prime example of the kinds of lawsuits that could start flying)

 

AirBnb, A Weird New Phenomenon

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I’m biased on this subject. I have to say that out front. For many years I owned two small condos in Vail and Beaver Creek which my agent leased out to skiers on a long-term AND a short term basis. The rents were the only thing that allowed me to financially own the two properties. And they were always available to my families during ski season and during the wonderful Vail summers.

Good experiences, and bad. I did get stuff stolen. I did have the two apartments trashed. In absolutely every case the damage was done by long-term tenants. The short-term tenants were respectful of my belongings and my interior improvements and they never cost me a penny in damage. Long-term tenants were a nightmare. They stole furniture, bed sheets, draperies, silverware, you name it.

So when AirBnb came along, providing homeowners with a way to provide housing for short-term guests I was all for it. ALL FOR IT! In my experience, temporary short-term guests were more respectful, more responsible, and they helped me pay for two condos I couldn’t otherwise have afforded. And during all those years of ownership, I never once got a complaint from management. AirBnb makes sure all clients submit references and they’re constantly monitored by the service to weed out travelers or homeowners who don’t follow the rules.

Oh, but those nasty HOAs are trying to put their fists where they don’t belong. A couple in Denver’s Baker neighborhood have hoisted a banner demanding an end to the AirBnb service. And the City of Boulder has issued a couple dozen cease and desist orders against homeowners who use AirBnb to lease out their homes.

Idiocy. Absolute idiocy. If my experience is any example, you definitely DON’T want to lease your home to long termers. Those travelers who stay there just a few days are the most respectful tenants you’ll ever meet.
But maybe that’s just me.

(link to Denver story on couple trying to stop AirBnb)