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Ward Lucas is a longtime investigative journalist and television news anchor. He has won more than 70 national and regional awards for Excellence in Journalism, Creative Writing and community involvement. His new book, "Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association," is now available for purchase. In it, he discusses the American homeowners association movement, from its racist origins, to its transformation into a lucrative money machine for the nation's legal industry. From scams to outright violence to foreclosures and neighborhood collapses across the country, the reader will find this book enormously compelling and a necessary read for every homeowner. Knowledge is self-defense. No homeowner contemplating life in an HOA should neglect reading this book. No HOA board officer should overlook this examination of the pitfalls in HOA management. And no lawyer representing either side in an HOA dispute should gloss over what homeowners are saying or believing about the lawsuit industry.

How Safe is Your House from Your Homeowners Association?

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More than half of all homeowners in North Carolina live in covenant-controlled developments or Homeowner Associations. One of them is Becky Lew-Hobbs. She and her family owned a home in VillageLakes, near Raleigh. Becky admits the family got behind in their dues when her husband was out of work. But they tried hard to come up with the $1,143.89.

Suddenly, they were told they were being evicted from their own home and had FIVE days to pack up and leave. Becky says they were never notified that their house had been seized in a foreclosure action ten months earlier. That $1100 bill cost them their $160,000 home.

Members of Homeowners Associations don’t realize when they buy a dream home in the HOA, they’re not really buying, they’re in effect, leasing. In some ways, it’s like time-sharing. You think you are the sole owner, but you’re actually a partial owner. In an HOA of 100 homes, for example, a resident owns a 99% share of their home. But it’s the one percent that kills you. If you’re late on your dues, if you plant the wrong color flowers, or if you leave the trash can out an hour after the permitted time, 99 of your neighbors, for all intents and purposes, want you GONE! You don’t even get to talk to a judge. There’s no second chance.

Welcome to the new reality of Homeowners Associations.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

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Well, at least it sounded cool, but I didn’t have the guts to say that to my publisher. I actually did want to hold off for a couple of weeks on my new book, Neighbors At War: the Creepy Case Against Your Homeowner Association. With all the embezzlements from HOAs, I’ve got a last minute update I’d like to make. I want to slip into Chapter 14 a $1000 challenge: a reward for the reader who can compile a verified list of the largest number of Homeowner Association embezzlements.

It’s really too tragic to be funny. But the latest case involves Kevin Douglas Harris, an HOA officer who pleaded guilty to embezzling money to buy himself some golf equipment. It’s the Hi Hill Village Homeowners Association in Orion Township, Michigan. Perhaps Kevin felt he was working so hard as treasurer, his neighbors sort of owed him a new set of clubs.

This theft was only for 6000 bucks. But still, don’t HOA homeowners get it? It’s too easy! Embezzling from Home Associations is out of control.

So, if my publisher doesn’t beat me to death with a tire iron first, here’s the deal: compile and verify the longest list of HOA embezzlements in any 365 day period. I’m the sole judge. If you win the money, I get to publish your research in my second book!

If we both do our jobs quickly, maybe our golf club embezzler will be able to read both books while he’s still on parole…that is, if he gets sentenced at all.

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/articles/2012/01/13/news/local_news/doc4f0f724e2c027029623300.txt

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

A Conversation the Homeowner Doesn’t Know is Going On

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“Oh. you’re moving into the neighborhood? I don’t really want to interfere with your attempt to lease or buy a home in this HOA. But I work for the government. And it’s my job to make sure the landlord didn’t make any misrepresentations to you when he agreed to lease or sell his home to you.

“For example, did the owner tell you whether the ratio of HOMEOWNERS to TENANTS was out of whack here?  Since renters have a reputation for not properly maintaining their homes, FHA loans and company reimbursements may not be available to anyone in the neighborhood.

“And did the landlord tell you that several people own multiple properties in this HOA? He didn’t? Mortgage companies don’t like to hear that, because if the owner defaults, he may do so on more than one property at a time. So this whole neighborhood could be redlined. You didn’t know that either?

“Ah, and one final thing. Did the landlord tell you that you, the tenant, could be hit up for special dues and assessments if the HOA’s kitty is underfunded? Yes, Real Estate law requires buyers and renters be informed about all possible defects before a contract of any kind is signed.

“Oh! You don’t want to live here after all? We hope we weren’t the ones who scared you off.  By the way, don’t tell the landlord we had this chat. Bye bye.”

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

Another Case of HOA Abuse?

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Whenever the news media start trolling for stories about HOA abuse, they seem to be buried with them. This was one of many uncovered by reporter J. David McSwane, of Denver’s Westword Magazine.

He reports that Angela Quinn, a resident in an HOA in Western Washington, was told she could not have an air conditioner in her rental home. She says her neighbor had an A/C unit, and since she was in her third trimester of pregnancy, she figured she could install one in a back window which was not visible from the street.

Angela acknowledges that she has tangled with her HOA in the past, once when she complained about the poor drainage in a mosquito infested pond across the street, once over the state of her lawn, and another time when trash cans weren’t properly stored.

So, Angela shouldn’t have been surprised when she got a letter from her HOA with a picture of her non-conforming A/C unit taken from the back of her house.

Homeowners Associations were created to maintain the appearance of neighborhoods. But it’s a short step from there to micro-managing of affairs of certain homeowners.

Angela says she has rented her home for the past four years, which may actually be her biggest problem. HOAs just don’t like renters. Across the country there are many stories about HOA managers who seem to concentrate their energies on harrassing residents of rental properties, apparently to encourage them to find homes elsewhere.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association

The Bad Side of HOA’s

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Despite a few changes in law in such states as Texas and Arizona, Homeowners Associations are developing an increasingly bad reputation because of the ongoing spate of news stories about homeowners abused by the HOA system. Homeowners wrongly believe that HOAs are created to maintain property values and help homeowners get along with each other. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In city after city, stories are published about homeowners losing their homes or being hit with massive fines for petty violations such as being a few dollars late on monthly dues, or leaving the trash can out an hour after the prescribed deadline. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.  Sometimes a Homeowners Association levies a fine just because a member of the neighborhood does a good deed. That’s what happened to Jim Lane, a resident of the Gilead Ridge Homeowners Association in North Carolina.

Lane says he always enjoyed helping fellow neigbors beautify the neighborhood. He says he noticed the neighborhood park had become untidy and unsightly, so he cleaned it up and planted some flowers there. He should have gotten a commendation from the HOA, right?

No, Lane was slapped with a fine for planting some “unauthorized flowers!’

When he refused to pay, he was hit with a lawsuit, a lien on his house and threats of foreclosure.

Lane’s sad case is not unique either. Cases similar to his are popping up in thousands of Homeowners Associations across the country. The stories are causing many people to have second thoughts about moving into an HOA. Even a Realtor’s claim that an HOA might be “one of the good gones” has to be viewed with suspicion. All it takes is a single election of a “problem board member” to completely change the flavor of a neighborhood, making property values decline instead of remain stable.

Ward Lucas
Author of
Neighbors At War: The Creepy Case Against Your Homeowners Association