Well, well! The sentencing of the Las Vegas HOA scammers has begun. Readers of this blog know that that I predicted the vast majority of these dirtballs will spend no more than eighteen months in prison. That’s what most white collar crime leads to. Steal a million or a hundred million and our judicial system doesn’t have the guts to hand down sentences these people actually deserve. You can get more time behind bars abusing an animal than for ruining the lives of thousands of humans.
This federal judge has already told the thousands of victims of the Vegas swindling machine that they’ll probably never see their money again because it’s all gone. It seems to me these 41 crooks should stay in prison until each and every victimized homeowner gets ALL his money back. It’ll never happen.
Steve Wark is the first to be sentenced. He’s a well-known political strategist in Nevada. Incredibly, he only got 366 days in prison. Counting his time off for good behavior he’ll spend far less time behind bars than the 18 months I predicted.
Other sentences today:
15 months in prison.
21 months in prison.
21 months.
15 months.
3 months of home confinement.
For all the thousands of people who lost their homes and life savings to this mob: How do you feel now?
There’s a fascinating article in the Washington Post about how the foreclosure crisis is leading to increased segregation in American neighborhoods. The article is worth reading, even though it doesn’t directly target Homeowners Associations.
There are interesting implications, though. The big irony is that the modern homeowner association movement started in 1964 shortly after the Civil Rights Act was passed. White homeowners and developers recoiled at the thought of minorities moving into white neighborhoods and made sure subtle racial controls were woven into the HOA system.
The recent mortgage crisis hit HOAs especially hard with foreclosures being done both by mortgage companies and HOA boards. And there’s no question that many ‘private governments’ have used their ‘secret rules and powers’ to come down harshly on minorities. Keep that in mind as you read the Washington Post story, linked below.
David Evans, guitarist in the rock band U2, owns some view acreage overlooking Malibu. He’s now into his 9th year trying to get approval to build five luxury homes, one of which he plans to live in himself. For all those years, opponents have complained to zoning officials that those five new homes will bring in way too much noise and traffic and spoil their view.
Now, it looks like zoning officials are moving closer to approving the project.
It’s too bad Evans didn’t follow the lead of movie director George Lucas, who’s been refused permission to build a small studio on his property north of San Francisco. When Lucas wasn’t allowed to build on his 1100 acre estate, he announced he’d turn his estate into a big development of affordable housing (read that, ‘low rent’). These days it’s next to impossible for county officials anywhere to reject plans for affordable housing.
Evans should use the same strategy on his Malibu property. Heaven knows Malibu could certainly use a few hundred low-rent homes!
Homeowner Association bullies continue to show their utter stupidity in the face of the horrible southwest water drought. I have two links for you. The first is the idiotic treatment of a homeowner by the Aviara Master Association in northern San Diego County.
The second link is even more fascinating. It’s about the mind-blowing drought in the Middle East and what happens when you don’t respect Mother Nature.
