Category Archives: privacy

Light At The End Of The Quivira Falls Tunnel

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guest blog by Nila Ridings

Today, I had lunch with one of the escapees from Quivira Falls Community Association. Sixteen years of his life was spent in this rotten hellhole. He finally walked away and let the place foreclose. Only to say today he wishes he had done it years ago.

He tried for years to see the financial records. Filing a pro se lawsuit produced no results. When it rained, the hillside between his and his neighbor’s front door washed mud all over his sidewalk. It was often times over an inch deep so walking to the door resulted in muddy shoes. The front door has big pieces of peeling paint to greet visitors.

A dead tree stood out front for a long time before somebody took a saw and cut it down leaving the stump to rot. His fence around the patio is falling down and missing pickets. The hillside behind it is all weeds.

This is the ‘quality’ of maintenance provided by Quivira Falls if you are one of the “pariahs” as a former board president called those she does not like in the community newsletter.

When this man tells the story about the “blow and go” paint jobs prior to my mistaken purchase into Quivira Falls, it’s hysterical. The board hired a painting company that sprayed the townhouses with paint; windows, screens, doors, and foundations included. One warm night after the “blow and go” he decided to open his second story bedroom window. One push and the entire window flew out and crashed onto the patio below. Fortunately, he had some carpentry skills and was able to install a replacement window.

After lunch we removed all of the new door knobs, light fixtures, tools, and other supplies from the garage. I will donate all of it to Habitat Restore tomorrow. At one time, he had plans to completely redecorate the inside of his unit, but finally accepted the fact it was a waste of time and energy. He stopped paying the HOA dues and mortgage payments. And gave up hope for better days in Quivira Falls. He set himself free of the insanity to live out the rest of his life in a rented apartment which he loves.

To help him walk away and never look back, I agreed to be the Power of Attorney and coordinate the foreclosure with the attorneys and mortgage company. Without any hassle, they were nice enough to give me a set of keys after they changed the locks. Imagine that: A foreclosure company is far more pleasant to work with than the Quivira Falls board members that are also neighbors! They asked me if they should expect the owner to protest the foreclosure and I said, “Oh no! That will never happen because he’s delighted that you are taking the place off of his hands!”

And the light at the end of the Quivira Falls tunnel is getting brighter for another escapee.

Update: Justice served for one Florida Condo Association

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

After Bob Norman of Channel 10 news brought media attention to Board member misconduct at Georgian Court North Condo Association last fall, former president Ed Ryan entered a guilty plea on criminal charges of practicing community association management without a license.

The Judge sentenced Ryan to 3 months probation and 25 hours of community service. Ryan was also ordered to return his ‘borrowed’ car to the Association and resign from the Board. The judge did not order financial Restitution.

The Attorney General opened the case following an investigation by Local 10 News in September.

The media really can be an effective tool to help resolve problems for homeowners. The Association is now pursuing a civil lawsuit in an attempt to recover hundreds of thousands of dollars that Ryan paid himself over ten years.

(link to story on board president misconduct)

 

http://www.local10.com/news/condo-president-admits-wrongdoing-in-court-after-local-10-investigation/32561836‏

Dallas HOA Still Affected by Internal Strife

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

A few months ago, a County Judge dismissed a case brought by Highlands of McKamy HOA against the Toras Chaim congregation. The small Orthodox Jewish congregation thought its battle was over, and then the City of Dallas sued the congregation over permit violations. That case is still pending.

Now, the same HOA community is back in the news, this time regarding a dispute between a homeowner and the Association over a brick wall that was inexplicably torn down, without notice, from the rear border of his yard. That left the affected homeowner’s back yard wide open to a busy road and nearby railroad tracks, significantly increasing noise levels and eliminating privacy.

It seems the brick wall was in need of repair, and the Board, led at the time by former President David Schneider, made the hasty decision to tear it down, rather than attempting to shore it up.

Kind of a metaphor for how all disputes were handled by Schneider and his allies.

The affected homeowner had been trying to sell his house, but that attempt was unsuccessful. Perhaps the gaping hole in the barrier wall is the primary reason the house remains unsold?

According to the report in the Dallas Observer, before a majority of homeowners recalled Schneider from the Board, they also forced a $10,000 cap on the budget, in order to limit the HOA’s exposure to legal expenses over the unpopular decision to sue the Toras Chaim. That led to a lack of funds to replace the wall after it was torn down nearly a year ago.

In the meantime, the City of Dallas was about to levy fines because the wall has not yet been replaced. Fortunately, the Dallas Observer reports that the new Board has authorized an emergency repair, and the wall will soon be rebuilt.

Once again, we are reminded that one rogue Board member and a few allies can wreak plenty of havoc in a once peaceful and harmonious HOA community. Even an HOA with minimal common areas and low HOA assessments can run into trouble and considerable expense. A personal dispute that should have stayed between neighbors of two residences has become a source of ongoing strife for the entire HOA. A contentious and questionable election led to a recall that divided the community.

Every member of the Highlands of McKamy Association had to pay for legal expenses for what amounted to a frivolous lawsuit aimed at denying First Amendment rights and religious freedom. Now the HOA also has to pay to replace a 9-ft. tall brick wall that might have been saved rather than torn down. Oh, and yet another homeowner has just filed suit against Schneider’s former HOA Board, claiming the Board violated its bylaws by awarding a contract to demolish the wall to a single bidder, with no competitive bids.

Please explain to me once again, how do HOAs enhance and improve property values?

(link to continuing saga at McKamy HOA)

Disaster Relief for HOA Members? Ha!

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I’m linking to the CAI site only for the purpose of backing up a previous blog.

If you are living in a Homeowners Association which experiences a weather or earthquake disaster, don’t count on getting federal help of any kind. An HOA member hit by a flood is not considered a homeowner, but an investor in a corporation. When 20,000 homes were damaged in the Boulder flood two years ago, many homeowners discovered they were flat out of luck. Those inside HOAs found that FEMA wouldn’t help them and they couldn’t get federal loans. They couldn’t buy federal flood insurance either because they didn’t live inside recognized flood zones. Who knew Boulder Creek could ever launch that big a flood?

We learned recently that if HOA boards in California don’t buy earthquake insurance for the whole community, then individual homeowners can’t get coverage either.

CAI reports that a couple of Democratic Congress members have made some progress in getting the feds to help Homeowners Associations badly hit by Hurricane Sandy.

CAI’s press release is about as dishonest and disingenuous as they come. What they should really be talking about is not about federal exemptions, but about the fact that the very membership of an HOA in CAI is a red flag to the feds. You HOA members are investors, NOT HOMEOWNERS!!!

(link to CAI press release)

 

Promises, Promises

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guest blog by Deborah Goonan

Today’s blog features the story of a major developer, Centex, allegedly not delivering on amenities as promised to early buyers in the master planned community,

Sullivan Ranch in Mount Dora, Florida, was supposed to include a private equestrian center, according to Sara MacKenzie, a homeowner since 2007. She says she still has the brochures that describe the plans for owners to ride their horses on lush, rolling hills, and the developer did install a fence suitable for the purpose of keeping horses. But the two-story equestrian center, as described, has never been built. MacKenzie claims recent buyers received an addendum disclosing approval for multifamily apartments in place of the promised amenity. So MacKenzie has filed suit against the developer, with a hearing scheduled for April 21, 2015.

In typical HOA style, as soon as MacKenzie began to talk to her neighbors, she was hit with a “non-solicitation” violation. Free speech in an HOA? Only if you are willing to sue to protect your rights.

Do these owners have a solid legal case? Maybe not.

A quick Google search of Centex and Sullivan Ranch is revealing. The current promotional video fails to mention a single word about horses or an equestrian center. Clicking on the site plan thumbnail opens a web page without a site plan, but with this fine print disclaimer:

“The site plan shown is conceptual in nature and for illustrative purposes only to show general features and the layout of the community, and should not be relied upon in making a decision to purchase a homesite. Any improvements shown may not have been constructed and Centex makes no representation or warranty that the improvements will be constructed. The past, present, future or proposed roads, easements, land uses, plat maps, lot sizes or layouts, zoning, utilities, drainage, land conditions, or development of any type whatsoever, whether reflected on the site plan or map, or whether outside the boundaries of the site plan or map, may not be shown or may be incomplete or inaccurate.

“See the recorded plat, utility plans and construction plans on file in the sales office for lot dimensions, restrictions, easements and other important information regarding these lots and this community. Any landscaping that may be shown is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent the current landscaping within the community or plans for future landscaping. Seller reserves the right to change and modify development plans without notice. This site plan is not drawn to scale.”

In fact, I hate to break it to these homeowners, but these boilerplate disclaimers appear on virtually every developer website and brochure these days. This isn’t the first time Centex has not delivered on all of its promised community features and amenities, and plenty of other developers, large and small, have also broken their promises to finish golf courses, club houses, pools, boat slips, bike trails — you name it. If the economy changes, the builder can alter plans for the community to better maximize profit. Homeowners can sue, but there’s no guarantee the developer will ever finish what was started, or that owners will be compensated for broken promises.

Next time you look at a developer’s website or glossy brochure, be sure to read the fine print. For a true representation of what the developer is obligated to build, check the plats on file with your local county clerk, or ask your real estate attorney to check it out for you before you finalize a sale agreement. Visit other communities that were constructed in previous decades, and check out what was completed, and its current condition in relation to age of the community. Then decide for yourself if it’s worth paying extra for amenities that may or may not be completed someday in the future.”