Category Archives: The Book

Harriet Vallen Is A Brave Woman

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

There is one thing I have never figured out about HOAs. Why do they hate the American flag so much? Why is it so wrong to be patriotic in an HOA? What is it about the stars and stripes that irritates the nerves of an HOA board so badly?

Harriet Vallen currently lives in The Ranches HOA in Eagle Mountain, Utah and she is moving to another home inside this same HOA. She is taking her magnetic American flag mailbox wrap with plans to attach it there. I say “plans” because she may change her mind when she learns how brutal the HOA board can be over something as small as a flag on the mailbox or in a flower pot. Remember Larry Murphree in Jacksonville, Florida among many others?

Mrs. Vallen has apparently stood up to this HOA board in the past. She is on their radar screen now. It’s just a matter of time before she’ll wish she had moved miles and miles away from The Ranches in Eagle Mountain. It won’t be long before those letters will arrive on the letterhead of the HOA attorney’s office. Oh, how I wish I could have a sit down visit with Harriet!

I did find several bits of humor in the video. One shot shows the back of an enclosed trailer parked on the street with the tire on the curb. Another shows a travel trailer attached to a pick-up truck and parked on the street. And it appears the mailbox is leaning towards the street with chips in the brown paint. All of that, but the focus is on the removable magnetic American flag. Most of all, I cracked up seeing the dinner bell used as the “A” on The Ranches entrance sign. It makes me wonder? Do they ring that at six o’clock sharp and every homeowner must sit down for dinner or be found in violation of The Ranches “time to eat” rules?

Keep in mind the more power these HOAs get, the more power they want! And their lobbyists will see to it they get it!

(link to KSL story on the next big nastiness)

Thanksgiving

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There’s a lot of history behind this holiday. Most of us know it so I won’t rehash it. I just want my friends to know that I am thankful for you. 

I hope your day is splendid.

Most Evil Homeowners Association In America

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OK, this story’s a little goofy. But as a reporter I have some first-hand knowledge of this group.

In 1996, I spent a weary week in Jordan, Montana covering the three-month-long standoff between the Freemen and the F.B.I..  Attorney General Janet Reno’s debacle in Waco, Texas was still fresh in the public’s mind. When a right-wing separatist group called “The Freemen” barricaded themselves in a ranch 20 miles outside of Jordan, the word went out that the Clinton administration didn’t want another Waco. The Freemen believed they could declare themselves a Sovereign State, not bound by state or federal laws or taxes. They manufactured their own money. They refused to pay taxes or get drivers licenses. They believed American flags with yellow fringe weren’t true American flags.

Now, nutty right-wing ‘Sovereigns’ are causing more trouble in northern Montana, filing ‘tax liens’ against property owners and using the courts to grab large portions of land for their future Sovereign America.

Can they really get away with this stuff? It’s not much crazier than the stuff that Homeowners Associations get away with on a daily basis. The right wing Sovereigns write their own law as they go along. So do Homeowners Associations.

(story on the anti-government Sovreigns)

(Wiki account of the FBI standoff with the Freemen in Jordan, Montana)

 

Service Dogs and some Nasty Lawsuits

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Not a week goes by that we don’t learn of yet another Fair Housing lawsuit, usually involving discrimination on the basis of disability. This time, the Condo Association will have to answer to two lawsuits, one filed by the owner of a condo unit, and the other by his former tenant.

The latest report comes from Aspen View Condominiums in Colorado. Natasha MacArthur leased one of the 18 units from condo owner Alvara Arnal, beginning in November 2013. MacArthur has a golden retriever, and claims her dog, Stevie Nicks, helps her cope with a seizure disorder.

The condo association forbids dogs, but MacArthur claims her pet is a service animal, and that the association is obligated under Fair Housing law to provide reasonable accommodation to allow Stevie Nicks to reside with her.

According to a report in the Aspen Times, MacArthur provided documentation of her disability from a physician, as well as documentation from the organization that trained the dog as a service animal. The former (now deceased) president of the association interviewed MacArthur in her home for 45 minutes. But the association was still not satisfied that the information provided was sufficient to allow the dog to remain.

Aspen View COA then began fining owner Arnal $50 per day in January 2014. MacArthur moved out of the unit in March 2014, prior to the end of her lease.

Arnal was hit with $1435 in fines, plus $4234 in attorney fees in June. A lien was placed on his unit in July 2014.

In addition to MacArthur’s Fair Housing complaint, Arnal has filed suit against the association and its management company, alleging discrimination, retaliation, and interference with a contract.

The remaining 17 owners of Aspen View better open up their wallets. These two lawsuits will probably cost them a great deal of money in legal expenses and the eventual settlements.

For readers interested in learning more about service animals for people with seizure disorders, I have provided some additional links.

(Aspen HOA denies wrongdoing in service-dog flap)

 

Embezzlement, Texas Style

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

East Texas, Big Woods Springs HOA is a relatively small community of 85 homes, with low assessment payments of $35 per month. They need the money to maintain their road, a small bridge, and a dam for their lake. Homeowners have just been “blindsided” by the theft of $31,000 from their HOA.

The theft allegedly occurred over a 26-month period, by their neighbor and former Treasurer, Letha Anna Thomas. Owners became suspicious when their repeated requests to see financial statements were ignored.

The new Board members vow to operate with transparency, and intend to conduct background checks on all future Board candidates.

Note that $31,000 represents about a year’s worth of assessment payments for the Association. Most of the residents are on fixed incomes.

Just because the community is small and assessments are low, don’t assume that the HOA cannot be a target for embezzlement.

7 on your side: HOA theft victims say, “We’ve been kept in the dark for years.”

(link to KLTV-TV story on latest embezzlement)