Just because you got permission years ago to modify your home, don’t count on your HOA to respect the past. A Georgia man is learning that the hard way. He squeezed three cars onto his driveway, and management company paid attention.
Ralph Isabella says he got board permission six years ago to widen his driveway. It was all fine and dandy until Isabella cleaned out his garage and temporarily parked the cars outside. Suddenly, the HOA says if Isabella doesn’t take out the new pavement they’ll narrow his driveway for him and sue him for the cost.
Long-time readers of this blog know that the most corrupt Homeowners Associations in the country are in Nevada. We know that from the 41 or more organized crime racketeering convictions earlier this year in Las Vegas. Just as I predicted, despite the tens of millions of dollars in losses all but one of these HOA mobsters got less than 18 months in federal prison.
That being said, there are some shining lights of honesty in that area. Dr. Gary Solomon, Jonathan Friedrich, Colonel Robert Franks among others. Sadly, the corruption is so rife within the Homeowners Association movement that the system works hard to stomp out those who sacrifice to help others.
Today, Bob Franks sent out the following letter to explain to his legions of admirers why he has to step back in the fight for homeowners’ rights:
My appointment to the HOA Commission is completed. I did not request
reappointment for a normal 3 year term. So, I can now move on with the
satisfaction that CICCH Commission records show I did my best to make a
difference on behalf of unit owners.
Regretfully, the record shows that legislative and executive branch
authorities do not appear to want the CICCH (HOA) Commission to
effectively perform its statutory mission on behalf of all home
owners. It is under the tight control of industry and government
interests–to the serous detriment of unit owners and other occupants.
The record of the past decade shows that well over 95% of unsettled law
violation complaints filed with the state by unit owners against HOA
boards and licensed managers are summarily dismissed by the state. The
division does not have to show or defend the merits and results of its
secret, multi-year investigations with board presidents and their
attorneys. The division’s dismissal decisions are not subject to
anyone’s review or dispute unless high cost civil lawsuits are
initiated. This is gross injustice for unit owners. Imagine if the
courts only tried 5% of the valid complaints filed with them?
The less than half a dozen cases out of hundreds filed each year that
are actually prosecuted under the administrative statutes by the
Attorney General staff to the CICCH Commission always reflect high level
criminal violations as well. But, criminal investigations and
prosecutions never seem to get prosecuted. HOA and Condo unit owners
are losing many millions of dollars due to known criminal violations
every year and the government is failing to do anything. This knowing
and willing failure of justice for HOA owners is a true outrage for our
state.
The Real Estate Division is also not subject to any kind of outside
oversight of its decisions that almost always favor the boards and
licensed managers. This means the Division is given a blank check by
the Legislature to continue to hide its apparent misconduct and denial
of homeowner justice.
As a result, HOA owners currently have no viable paths for demanding and
expecting to receive citizen property rights protections from the
abusive industry and state/local government controllers.
Unfortunately, it now seems clear that a large, Nevada grassroots
organization and legislative caucus must be formed to represent
aggrieved property owners against the combined business and government
power blocs. The consequences of doing nothing can create a continuing
blight upon the previously attractive Nevada home markets.
The Community Associations Institute (CAI) is famous for testifying before state legislatures that it represents all homeowners living in HOAs. Absolute nonsense. In the beginning it probably did. But in the early 1990s a conscious decision was made to turn the organization into a referral group, sending high-dollar referrals in HOA disputes to its member lawyers, property managers and contractors. Under its phony non-profit shield it sent out surveys on how satisfied Americans were with their Homeowners Associations.
Whoa! Any legitimate, honest survey of homeowners living under the HOA yoke should have told a far different story. Finally, some in the anti-HOA movement are releasing studies which appear to be far more legitimate than the pablum being spread by the CAI. It’s hard to get legislators to pay attention to what they see as a non-issue. But surveys like the one linked below tell a more interesting story about homeowner dissatisfaction and abuse.
Also, housing consumer advocate Deborah Goonan was interviewed about this story today by Shu Bartholomew, host of OnTheCommons.net. It really is worth listening to.
The astounding thing about this four minute video is the level of ignorance among city council candidates in Hopkins, Minnesota. That’s the home of one of the nastiest HOA disputes in the country. But most of these candidates are clueless about what goes on in these gated communities.
Whew! The racket coming from Clay County, Florida is pretty funny. The county is considering an ordinance that would allow homeowners to own up to four chickens apiece, just no roosters.
Backyard chickens are a growing fad all over the country. But three Homeowners Associations on Fleming Island are kicking up a fuss. They don’t mind chickens elsewhere, but just no chickens where gentrified people can see them. The excuses they give (in the story linked below) are pretty amusing. They’re afraid if a dog sees a chicken and jumps the fence it might injure a child. (Huh?) They’re also afraid a county ordinance would supersede their contractual covenant rights. (It won’t.)
But the squawking and henpecking is really something to behold.
I’ve got a great solution for chicken lovers. Just release a truckload of chickens and roosters into the middle of these HOAs. If you’ve ever vacationed on Kauai you’ve undoubtedly seen some of the tens of thousands of chickens and roosters running wild. Seems a hurricane or two knocked down their pens and they’ve been breeding faster than anyone can hunt them. The screeching and crowing is beyond description.
