Category Archives: miltary

Sara Benson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Egads! I’ve never met Sara Benson, never even talked to her on the phone, but I’d have an affair with her in an instant, if she’d agree! (Yep, I’m not very classy, but I’m sincere!)

This incredible Illinois Realtor has discovered that up to 80% of Illinois Homeowners Associations are unknown and untracked by the state! The implications are massive. It means that huge numbers of Americans have signed away their access to rights conferred by the U.S. Constitution by buying homes in private corporations where they’re lying naked in front of all their fellow homeowners. They think they’ve bought private homes, but what they’ve actually bought is shares in unregulated corporations in which they can be taxed, liened, sued and bankrupted with their life savings going into a common pot owned by all their fellow neighbors.

It’s the biggest transfer of private property wealth to government in the history of America. Seductive. Illegal. Subversive. There just aren’t words enough to express it. I thought I was pretty smart about the evils of Homeowners Associations. I hate to admit it, but I didn’t have a clue. Not a clue.

This should be the Number One headline in every news organization in America. Sadly, it won’t be. I love America, but Americans are fundamentally stupid. Like the frog in the pot we just enjoy the increasing heat. Until it’s too hot.

Sara Benson and Don DeBat, I hope you sell a zillion copies of Escaping Condo Jail!.

(link to Chicago Tribune article on Sara Benson)

 

Boom Goes The Egg Money!

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That’s Pennsylvania Dutch, and you can look it up if you’re interested.

But it basically means that a homeowner’s savings are all gone. And that’s exactly what’s happening as FEMA redraws its maps for flood zones. A couple of years ago 20,000 homes were damaged or destroyed in a devastating flood in Boulder, Colorado. I remember it well because a close friend and I spent 12 hours trying to find a way out of the flooded streets, the collapsing pavement and entire homes drifting down the middle of major boulevards. We survived, but we had to endure waves of water crashing over my 2001 Blazer. I can personally testify that Chevy Blazers actually float…at least for a little while.

The federal flood maps didn’t list any of those Boulder neighborhoods as flood zones and many homeowners discovered, to their horror, that as members of HOA corporations they didn’t qualify for federal emergency relief. If you own a home you get federal relief. If you’re in a Homeowners Association you are considered a stock holder, not a homeowner. Who knew?

Now, thousands of people around the country are discovering that their membership in Homeowners Associations won’t save them from future weather disasters as FEMA re-draws all the flood maps. What does that do to HOA property values? You get just one guess!

(link to the redrawing of flood maps by FEMA)

 

 

A Great Resource & Great Publicity

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guest blog by Jill Schweitzer

I’m a painter, and painting a picture: Imagine living in a neighborhood where you can’t have a bench to sit on in your front yard. Imagine a Board member tries getting the board to fix a drainage issue multiple times, the Board and HOA property manager do nothing, and the condo eventually floods. Imagine having a leak for 11 months in your dining room, HOA still has not fixed it. Imagine an HOA trying to get the Board to agree to sign a Code of Conduct giving all control to the President and property manager, the rest of the Board does nothing in between meetings. Imagine a property manager that is so bad that 12% of the owners sell and move out in approximately six months, and note that the management company makes $4800 in transfer/disclosure fees as their reward for poor management?

Also note that most of those new buyers probably weren’t too happy this week to receive notice there may be a 3-5 thousand dollars special assessment. Imagine a property management company trying to charge for coupons, charging for printing because they think it’s different from copies, and trying to pay the old company a ridiculously high termite warranty renewal fee and then pretending the new termite company only gave a two year warranty, when it’s actually five years…all these situations have happened.

“Buying into an HOA with your eyes wide open” is a 22 page report about HOAs in Arizona, but basically applies everywhere. The situations above didn’t make it into the report. This week the report is being released to the world…if everyone gives it to five people, with the ‘give to five people’ message, the information could spread. Send to friends, realtors, legislators, Association of Realtors, Real Estate Commissioner, judges, news stations..even leave copies in your Doctor’s office. How refreshing to grab this report rather than your typical waiting room magazine.

One piece of material educating people on many aspects of HOA living, with a multitude of examples, written to help buyers know what they need to look for when buying into an HOA. A real eye opener…change occurs one buyer and one HOA at a time.

Legislators need to make substantial changes to the law and can’t ignore this. If they do, lets hold a rally. Most real estate agents I know are disgusted and want this changed. Today it was made available to 4700 of them. Please help by giving this report to 5 people and ask them to give it out to five people.

(go to report, print this out and distribute)

(KPHO-TV news story about Jill Schweitzer’s brochure!)

Condo Owners vs. Rent-Controlled Apartment Dwellers

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

In the Los Angeles Bunker Hill community, condo owners and traditional apartment dwellers have been locked in a 3-year long legal battle over their once-shared pool and barbecue area, with no end in sight.

The two articles referenced below explain some of the details of how the dispute began, but, in short, there has been a disagreement over cost-sharing of recent improvements made to the pool area. A few years ago, the Bunker Hill Tower condo association dictated expensive changes, apparently without agreement from the apartment owner, Essex Property Trust. Essex objected, refusing to pay for the renovations. The owner of the 2 apartment buildings has been paying two-thirds of maintenance costs since the 1980s, following the condo conversion of one of the three original buildings.

As of today, the condo association has installed a fence around the pool to lock out the tenants. At the same time, the owner of the 2 rent-controlled apartment buildings (that were never converted to condos) is planning to build a separate pool and common space on the roof of the parking garage that serves tenants.

What I find intriguing about this situation: the conflict is between a Condo Association and non-members of the Association. Ironically, even if you’re the type of person that purposely avoids condominiums, because you don’t particularly like the fact that your neighbors can tell you what you can and cannot do, you cannot always escape the condo conflict madness that is encroaching upon residents in surrounding dwellings!

Sometimes an Association-Governed Residential Community Board over steps its authority and attempts to impose its rules or its ideas of aesthetic appeal on its neighbors. In this case, the Condo Association decided that everyone, including Essex Property Trust, should want to invest in a resort-style pool renovation. Perhaps a more basic facelift would have been sufficient, not to mention less costly. I’d be willing to bet some of the condo owners feel the same way, although they are all obligated to pay assessment increases to cover the cost.

Come to think of it, the behavior of Bunker Hill Tower Association toward Bunker Hill Apartment tenants reminds me of the bossy kid on the block, back when we were all in grade school. Whenever that annoying kid started telling me what to do, my favorite response was, “You’re not the boss of me!”

Apparently Essex Property Trust feels the same way, and is not interested in appeasing the Condo Association.

Source articles:

Bunker Hill Residents Have Been at Legal War For Three Years Over a Pool

The Battle on Bunker Hill

 

Condo Owners vs. Rent-controlled apartment dwellers

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By Deborah Goonan

In the Los Angeles Bunker Hill community, condo owners and traditional apartment dwellers have been locked in a 3-year long legal battle over their once-shared pool and barbecue area, with no end in sight.

The two articles referenced below explain some of the details of how the dispute began, but, in short, there has been a disagreement over cost-sharing of recent improvements made to the pool area. A few years ago, the Bunker Hill Tower condo association dictated expensive changes, apparently without agreement from the apartment owner, Essex Property Trust. Essex objected, refusing to pay for the renovations. The owner of the 2 apartment buildings has been paying two-thirds of maintenance costs since the 1980s, following the condo conversion of one of the three original buildings. 

As of today, the condo association has installed a fence around the pool to lock out the tenants. At the same time, the owner of the 2 rent-controlled apartment buildings (that were never converted to condos) is planning to build a separate pool and common space on the roof of the parking garage that serves tenants.

What I find intriguing about this situation: the conflict is between a Condo Association and non-members of the Association. Ironically, even if you’re the type of person that purposely avoids condominiums, because you don’t particularly like the fact that your neighbors can tell you what you can and cannot do, you cannot always escape the condo conflict madness that is encroaching upon residents in surrounding dwellings! 

Sometimes an Association-Governed Residential Community Board over steps its authority and attempts to impose its rules or its ideas of aesthetic appeal on its neighbors. In this case, the Condo Association decided that everyone, including Essex Property Trust, should want to invest in a resort-style pool renovation. Perhaps a more basic face lift would have been sufficient, not to mention less costly. I’d be willing to bet some of the condo owners feel the same way, although they are all obligated to pay assessment increases to cover the cost. 

Come to think of it, the behavior of Bunker Hill Tower Association toward Bunker Hill Apartment tenants reminds me of the bossy kid on the block, back when we were all in grade school. Whenever that annoying kid started telling me what to do, my favorite response was, “You’re not the boss of me!”

Apparently Essex Property Trust feels the same way, and is not interested in appeasing the Condo Association. 

Source articles:

Bunker Hill Residents Have Been at Legal War For Three Years Over a Pool

The Battle on Bunker Hill