Sorry about getting behind on my Neighbors At War blogs but I have been slogging through this Denver blizzard. At first I didn’t think it was such a big deal, but that was before I got my Blazer and my snowplow stuck in ditches. Oh, and trying to dig out neighbors has been a huge stress producer. This really wasn’t much in terms of a Denver blizzard. We had one in March of 2003 that left snowdrifts up to twenty feet high. But this one, despite being just a couple of feet, is the wettest snowfall I’ve ever seen.
In an Atlanta Homeowners Association (linked below) screaming and death threats are becoming a common experience. Homeowners are upset that the management company built a gate and is charging the homeowners $135,000. A hundred-and-thirty-five thousand bucks? For a frickin’ gate?
It’s long been my observation that the louder the screams at the HOA meeting, the higher chance there’s some embezzling or raw theft involved. If people are screaming, it’s time for a forensic audit…and a couple of pairs of handcuffs.
It seems some homeowners in the Savanna, Georgia area have their panties-in-a-bunch over what they believe is an illegal kickback scheme between developer DR Horton and the cable company. They’ve filed a lawsuit saying they’re each being cheated out of $100 a month.
Sadly, they won’t win. Homeowners almost never, ever do, especially against giant developers like DR Horton. Nope, the developers have the inside track with local government officials. There’s lots of money that slides back and forth at that level.
Still, you’ve gotta give these homeowners credit for trying.
Yes, always, always learn from your enemy. That’s why we have a CIA. It’s why we have an NSA. These top secret government spy organizations were created to eavesdrop, to snoop, to sniff out what America’s enemies were thinking, and planning, and doing.
That’s why this peek at the CAI, the Community Associations Institute is so important. They’re urging homeowners to attend HOA meetings and vote. CAI is arrogant enough to figure that homeowners will vote to keep their corrupt HOA lobbying organizations in power. But their message shouldn’t be lost on any of us.
Poll any number of people on the street about their opinions of Homeowners Associations. I’ve done it, and it’s really difficult to find people who like them. In fact, HOAs are so vociferously disliked that homeowners tend to avoid the monthly or the annual HOA meeting. So read the link below and understand that we really can make a difference. But it takes guts. It takes standing up for your rights. It takes YOU attending your HOA meetings and voting to end the nonsense, the illegalities, the harassment of helpless homeowners, the embezzling, the secret payments to lawyers and management companies. It is possible to have an honest neighborhood association. But that requires your vote, your activism and your attendance.