Last night’s post on Neighbors At War referred to a Chicago high rise condo building where many homeowners are about to lose their shirts. Once the developer has control of 75% of the units he can begin to put the remaining owners out of their homes.
The frightening thing is that the American Bankers Association stopped tracking foreclosure rates in condos. We have documented severe erosion of values in condo associations–as high as 77 percent in one building alone where 100 percent of the condos went into foreclosure. The average special assessment in older high rise buildings that were converted in the 1970s and 80s is a whopping $50,000 per door. And we’ve seen some special assessments that high in buildings that were converted in the mid-2000s due to faulty construction. One owner reported a special of $150,000. All this in addition to the “regular” monthly fee.
We haven’t talked about this enough, but one thing our ‘righteous anger movement’ needs is a little more humor. Humor and phone pranks are also a clue that what’s going on in the national HOA scam is finally getting out to the masses. Comedian Roy Wood, Jr. had a very funny one a few years ago, though it was a little too profane for me to want to link.
Of course, the Duck Dynasty HOA fight was priceless.
Mel Pittel has waged a years-long fight to bring transparency to his Meadow Creek Homeowners Association in a suburb of Minneapolis. Pittel was even voted in by fellow homeowners as a board member. But the board got a restraining order preventing him from even attending board meetings. Now, a judge has refused the board’s attempt to get the restraining order extended. “Free speech,” said the judge.
Pittel has worked long and hard to inform other HOA members of what he suspects is financial mismanagement by the board. The fight has taken a heavy toll on his finances. But this country has a long history of people who’ve sacrificed everything for their fellow man. The link below is worth reading.
Florida and Nevada are probably the worst states in the country for HOA abuse. There are a thousand ways to steal private homes from their rightful owners, and it happens many times each day, probably each hour. It’s a national tragedy that state and federal politicians are absolutely unwilling to examine. No, it’s much easier to turn your back in the direction of the proffered cash. A shame, for sure.
At least more and more members of the media are ‘getting it.’ The latest is Orlando Sentinel reporter Beth Kassab. Yes, if she Googles her own name, she’ll see this post!
