Category Archives: privacy

Don’t be a Christian in a Homeowners Association!

      5 Comments on Don’t be a Christian in a Homeowners Association!

I’ve said it before: If you live in an HOA keep your religion to yourself. The mindless, self-absorbed bullies who rise to the top in a typical Homeowners Association think it’s OK to harass people for their Jewishness, their Christianity, their sexual orientation, their race or age.

Keep in mind that HOA board members and management companies always know exactly how much equity is in your home. The more equity you have, the bigger a target you are.

Here’s a Christian family in Senoia, Georgia, who use their garage to collect Christmas presents and furniture for people living in poverty. They don’t have garage sales, the collected goods are never visible to others, there’s nothing stored on the driveway. But Barbara Walton, the property manager for the Summerfield Homeowners Association, has decided this Christian family is operating an illegal home business. She’s given the family ten days to shut their charity down or else face fines, liens, lawsuits and possible loss of their home.

I’m guessing this family has some equity in their home. And equity attracts sharks like blood in the water.

There’s a reason the phrase ‘lawn Nazis’ came about.

For shame!

(link to story on family ministry & the Summerfield HOA)

 

“Frickin’ Faggots!”

      2 Comments on “Frickin’ Faggots!”

Dang, I hate using that word. But like the so-called ‘n-word’ it’s bandied about freely in Homeowners Associations. Most HOAs have long-existing deed restrictions which prohibit sales of homes to minorities. Those restrictions, of course, have long been outlawed by the U.S. Supreme Court, but does that stop discrimination? If you think so, you’ve gotta be kidding yourself.

A gay couple in the Monte Sereno Homeowners Association in Palm Springs is being targeted for ‘special’ treatment. One of them, Ken Seeley, is a star on the A&E show, ‘Intervention.’ Once or twice a month he has friends and co-workers over to watch the show. The HOA now says those gatherings are ‘business related’ and home businesses are outlawed by this HOA.

Now, the Monte Sereno board has deactivated Seeley’s transponder to the community gate so he can’t let his friends in.

The arrogance never stops, does it?

(link to story about A&E star)

 

More Stupid Sentences in Las Vegas

      1 Comment on More Stupid Sentences in Las Vegas

Egads, I thought white collar organized crime figures averaged at least 18 months in prison. Now I’m the one who looks totally stupid. My deepest apologies to those of you I unintentionally deceived.

But Federal Judge Mahan in Las Vegas keeps handing down kindergarten sentences to the organized crime figures who stole millions and millions of dollars from Las Vegas homeowners. Kindergarten sentences: You know, “Go stand in the corner for ten minutes, Billie. You’re a bad, bad boy!”

Officially, these criminals stole only 7 million dollars in their HOA scam. Ultimately, history will tell you they stole more than 100 million dollars. And the Las Vegas housing market may never recover. In fact, with the recent Nevada Supreme Court decision that HOA liens are super-priority liens which can cancel the original mortgage loan, the lending market is refusing to lend ANY money to a home in a homeowners association. That means thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Nevada homes are sitting empty. They’re unsalable. The ongoing crime is the one committed by this federal judge!

Some of the worst criminals are being sentenced to one year and one day, like this cop:

(former las vegas cop gets short prison term)

Others are being sentenced to a few months of home detention. (Gosh, I’m at home taking care of an ill wife. That’s home detention and I didn’t steal anything!)

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas housing market is in a free fall.

(las vegas housing free fall)
(this link is a little wackier, but still probably 90% correct.)

 

Committed Christian? Bad Idea To Live In An HOA!

      1 Comment on Committed Christian? Bad Idea To Live In An HOA!

Most HOAs have a regulation about “No Home Businesses.” With so many people working at home on the web that’s an almost meaningless rule…except when Board Bullies want to throw their weight around.

Sure, nobody wants to live next to a neighbor who operates a sawmill in his back yard. But sometimes the local HOA Nazi gets out of control and too full of himself. You’re an author and you write books and magazine articles? That’s an illegal business. You use your computer to fill out medical forms? Illegal home-based business.

The latest outrage comes from Senoia, Georgia, where a Christian family decided to help other families in need. In their garage they collect things like bed sheets, groceries, household goods. Nothing is stored in sight of any annoyed neighbors. Every so often the family delivers the goods to those who desperately need them.

“HOME BUSINESS!” screams the Summerfield HOA. “ILLEGAL!”

When you think about it seriously, Jesus Christ would be unwelcome in the vast majority of America’s Homeowners Associations. Riff raff. Healing cripples without a license. Restoring sight to the blind without permission from the HOA. Claiming to be God, when everyone in the neighborhood knows that only the HOA president is God.

Give me a break.

(link to HOA attempt to shut down family ministry)

 

Condo or Hotel?

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

AirBnB, VRBO, and online vacation rental sites have taken on a life of their own. Now condo owners can arrange to rent their units by the week, with the click of a few buttons. But some Florida condo owners are upset that their condo building has been overrun with tourists from all over the world, making their homes feel more like a hotel.

In the video report linked below, Michele Gillen, CBS4, Miami Beach, features Octagon Towers, just steps from South Beach. One condo owner laments that she no longer knows her neighbors, because they change every week. The problem has been ongoing.

The City of Miami Beach is threatening to shut off utilities to Octagon Towers, if owners do not cease and desist short-term rentals. That’s against city fire code. And Miami Beach already has dozens of hotels and Condo Hotels specifically permitted for vacation lodging.

But that doesn’t stop Condo Board member Sigmund Esposito from breaking condo restrictions and city codes all day long. Check out the interview of his vacation tenants, who were apparently unaware of the City’s ordinance restricting short-term rentals in residential condominiums.

Here’s my take on this. Octagon Towers is but one example of why condo owners frequently disagree about how their Association should be governed and managed. There is almost aways a conflict between the owners who actually live in their units and the owners who rarely stay in their units, but want to collect maximum rent.

So, here’s a suggested solution. If we are going to create RESIDENTIAL condominiums such as Octagon Towers (where long term leases may be allowed), then let’s not run the Association like a corporation! Don’t hand all the power to the Board, and don’t allow corporations to own individual units as if they were actual “persons.” (Searching public records for Octagon Towers, I noticed quite a few LLCs as owners.) Treat residents as actual citizens of their community, albeit a small community. Pre-screen buyers and long-term tenants to be certain they are looking for a place to live in peace and quiet, and not a money-making revolving door for vacationers.

Steer those hoping to make a killing on vacation rentals to what should be called INVESTMENT communities, such as condo hotels. Perhaps this is the kind of Association CAI had in mind when it decided years ago that “Community Associations” are businesses.

Some may be. But most aren’t — or shouldn’t be

(Miami Beach Condominium Reportedly Being Used As A Hotel « CBS Miami)

(Just in case you want to know what a condo hotel is:)