guest blog by Nila Ridings
Homeowners are frustrated and tension is high in this Kansas HOA. One of the residents asked me to speak to a large group of homeowners with hopes of shedding some light on how HOAs are structured and lawsuits are financed.
The history of this HOA started with a developer that went broke. Sigh. Yes, another one. Residents claim the CC&Rs state between 1 and 15 people must serve on the BOD. For now they have 5, but until this meeting most of the homeowners had no idea who and how many people are serving on the board. For the most part, the HOA has been dormant for several years. It suddenly erupted back to life with the filing of a lawsuit.
An Arizona woman is learning what kind of power her HOA has. She stores lots of stuff in it, but it’s rarely opened. Somehow, her Homeowners Association got a picture of all her junk and sent her a violation notice. It said that garages should be used for cars only.
But it’s not until she got the media involved that the Lawn Nazis back down. The link below says it all.
(Is my HOA crazy?”)
Permanent link to this post (77 words, estimated 18 secs reading time)
Being caught embezzling from your neighbors can certainly be very embarrassing. Usually, though the embezzler is arrogant enough to not care if he or she is exposed as a thief. But things turned out very differently for a school board president and HOA treasurer.
I’ll spare you the details but just leave the link below:
(link to embezzler story in the Tacoma News Tribune)
Permanent link to this post (66 words, estimated 16 secs reading time)
This one is so amazing it’s not even amazing! I would even go so far as to call the California Legislature racist!
Assembly Member Donald Wagner introduced a bill to make the state’s Open Meetings law apply to the boards of Homeowners Associations. The CAI and its minions of lawyers and lobbyists descended on the Legislature like flies on a carcass. Only one member of the Housing Committee voted in favor of allowing homeowners to know what their boards were doing.
California has many homeowners whose English-speaking skills are limited. Under current California law, you’re not even allowed to bring an interpreter or representative to a board meeting.
It’s ugly to say it, but rich people really do think their rights are superior. At least, that’s what it looks like in drought-ridden Southern California. The entire southwest is facing one of the worst droughts in its history. Yet members of the Blackhawk Homeowners Association have been told to green up their lawns…or else!
There are new state laws that prohibit California HOAs from fining residents who have brown lawns. But do you honestly think the average Homeowners Association has any respect for state law?
California Homeowners’ Association Orders Residents To Add More Green To Lawns Or Face Fines Despite Historic Drought
